Maybe If Chicago Wasn't SO Awesome...

..then this wouldn't be the longest post known to the history of this blog. But Chicago is that awesome, so here we go!

In celebration of our 6 year anniversary, we headed up to Chicago last weekend, and it was the best trip we've taken there so far. We went to the temple, like we do every year on our anniversary, and took turns hanging out with the kids in the hotel. Honestly, who knew a mini-fridge could provide so much entertainment?
The plan on Saturday was to go to the Shedd Aquarium, Millennium Park and the Cheesecake Factory. And we did all that, plus an impromptu trip into the Field Museum of Natural History.

The aquarium was fun- we'd gone there recently and it was much busier this time, so we didn't stay very long. But the dolphins, beluga whales, and penguins were still fascinating. And we loved the new show they have- Leah was entranced by the "underwater fairy godmothers" (they couldn't have been mermaids without tails) and the girl who got "randomly selected" out of the crowd to participate in the show.
After we left the aquarium, we walked past the Field Museum, and decided to check it out. It was much quieter but still a lot of fun.
There was a cool exhibit that took you underground to see dirt and bugs. It started by taking you through two "shrinking" rooms, and I guess Jason and I were very convincing because Leah was freaking out by the time we started walking around underground. And it didn't help that there were HUGE mechanical bugs moving around. She started out on Jason's shoulders but was in my arms, hiding her face by the time we left. Then she kept telling us for the rest of the day how much she didn't like shrinking and didn't want to go underground again. Oops!

And we spent ample time paying homage to corn at this exhibit. Corn pays our bills, you know!
Any guesses to what country we're pointing at? It's in Asia!
After the museum we were all exhausted, but we still had a tasty dinner ahead! My parents sent us a sweet anniversary present and we headed over to the Cheesecake Factory to enjoy it! We didn't realize it was at the bottom of the John Hancock Center, one of the tallest buildings in the world. We planned to head up to the top after dinner to see the city skyline at night, but the kids didn't make it that far. So we're saving that for our next trip to Chicago- with my sister Allison!
We had to pay homage to the American Girl Place store- where I'm already planning Leah's 6th birthday party!
And after a delicious dinner- thanks again, Mom and Dad!- we piled in the car and headed back home. The kids passed out in the first 5 minutes of the drive, and Jason and I were practically slapping each other to stay awake for the 2 hour drive home. We pulled in around midnight, safe and sound.

And so, if you've made it this far, I will now reward you by breaking down the trip by numbers.

Number Of...

miles driven- 326

times we got lost (even with our GPS)- 2

pictures taken- 105

dollars spent on parking- $45

tolls paid- 8 (including one where Jason said, "Thank you. Come again!" Ha)

clothing changes due to potty accidents- 1

pancakes eaten by Adam at breakfast in the hotel- 3

toys bought for Melanie- 1

spoons dropped by Adam at dinner- 5

naps taken by each kid in the stroller- 1

activities we added to our "next time" list- 4

times Jason said, "It's our anniversary. Let's do it!"- 14

times we said we're glad we get to do stuff like this - 7

times we said we're glad we married each other 6 years ago- too many to count!