Chicago Day 2

We started our first full day early so we could fit in as much as possible! There was a cute coffee shop I saw online that I was looking forward to trying called Hero Coffee so we stopped there first and it was...not great. I don't think anybody liked their drinks (Owen especially when he tried matcha for the first time!) and the bagels were just ok. 

We kept walking until we got to the Field Museum and we had fun but were a little underwhelmed there as well! The architecture was amazing and it was neat to see Sue the T.Rex but more interactive exhibits would have been nice!

After the museum we walked back along the river and stopped at Cloudgate (The Bean!) for pictures and grabbed lunch before we headed over to our Architecture River Tour! This was actually one of our favorite things for the whole trip. We got a boat ride up and down the river while they told us all about the history of the city and the buildings we were passing. 

We went to Portillo's for dinner and walked around a bit until it was time to check out Art on the Mart which was a digital art displayed on one of the buildings. It started out great and then we were all wondering how long we should stay...but still a cool idea! When we were walking back to the hotel Pat had his favorite moment when he saw some players from his favorite soccer team, Manchester United! He tried to get their attention but settled for taking a picture of them walking away!

 

Chicago Day 1

Paige and I got to go to Florida and the boys took their trip to Philadelphia but we still wanted to fit in a trip together so we scheduled a long weekend in Chicago! We all loved our trip to New York so this felt like a good fit for a quick trip and even just driving in and seeing the city lit up, the kids were already loving it!  We left after Pat finished work on a Thursday and had a fun drive, stopping for food, sunglasses for Owen and we also ran into some traffic which was hilariously upsetting to Pat. We listened to music and the kids attempted to find out what color their auras were from an old book I had. They skyline of Chicago is beautiful and driving in at night with the music of Lollapalooza playing was such a great way to see the city for the first time! We ended up on the 18th floor of our hotel and had a beautiful view!

18 1/2!

Happy Half Birthday Owen! He got his traditional half of a birthday card and sprinkle waffles!

 

Takashi Murakami

Art Museum trip! The special exhibit at the museum right now is a showcase of work by a Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami. I'd been seeing ads for it and it looked so fun, it was a great reason to visit! A lot of the works were fun and looked happy and bright but he also had some darker works that were interesting too. Afterwards we were all starving so we drove over to Il Rione for pizza. It had been on our list of places to try for a long time and even though we all liked it...I think we were also fine with our local Capri pizza for when we want New York style. Everyone insisted they had room for ice cream so we also stopped at Mason's Creamery for dessert. I love going there!!

 

Florida Part 2

After 4 days of dancing, it was time for a break and a vacation! Paige and I packed up and headed to Caribbean Beach Resort so we could do 4 days of Disney parks. We did each park once and got to do it with friends which was so nice! It was also exhausting...but in the best way! Here's the rundown-

1. We had dinner reservations every night and ate at Crystal Palace, Teppan Edo, Sci-Fi Dine in Theater and Rainforest Cafe. 

2. We also had lots of treats- Dole Whip, Mickey ice cream bars (classics), huge doughnuts and yummy drinks from Joffrey's. 

3. We got to meet fun characters-Edna Mode, Rey, Piglet, Eeeyore, Tigger

4. We got to try new rides and loved them-Guardian's of the Galaxy, Tron

5. We missed Pat and Owen and can't wait to go back again with them!!

 

Philadelphia!

While Paige and I were gone, Pat and Owen took a trip of their own! They found out Chelsea was playing a club world cup game on the 4th of July in Philadelphia so they snatched up some tickets about a week before and then made the trip out. They weren't there long but had enough time to see some of the city and stop at the Liberty Bell. They ate some good food and then Owen got to watch his team win! Sounds like they had a great time!

 

Florida Part 1

Paige and I took a big trip to Florida a couple weeks ago! Her studio decided to travel for Nationals this year so we went to Orlando with all of her dance friends (and mine!). We traveled down on July 3rd and had a few different ATB families on the same plane with us which made the morning pretty fun. The we traveled by shuttle to the Gaylord, where we stayed for the next few days. The hotel was amazing and had a ton of amenities that we didn't really get to use but I'd love to go back when we have more time! The first night we went with a big group to Disney Springs to eat at the T-Rex cafe. The girls all then went to watch a friend/teammate compete at ODM nationals while most of the parents went back to the hotel. The next day was the 4th of July and the first of four days of competition. Paige and her studio did amazing and there were so many highlights! She was 20th out of 180 soloists, multiple crystals (Million Reasons, Charged Up, Ya Ya, I Don't Think About You, Eleanor Rigby, A Day in the News) and had 3 dances qualify for the final showdown on the last day! 

We arrived at the hotel!

Ready for dinner!

T-Rex cafe