Chicago Trip!

Lincoln was asked to spend a couple of days interviewing future associates in Chicago this summer. We decided that it would be a great idea to bring the whole family since we have never been in Chicago before. 

We drove there. It was a 10 hour road trip. We split it up between two days on the way there to spend some time in Kirkland Ohio. 

Eva and Emerson were a dream. They were super sweet to each other. (See them holding hands!) There were minimal fights and everyone was really good. 

Eliza was awesome too. Eva asked to play with my phone and she took some of these pictures. 

One of Lincoln's ancestors is Newel K. Whitney. It was neat to go in and see the store and where he used to live. 

A lot of amazing things happened in this room. This is where the "school of the prophets" was. Also, because of the mess created in this room, the Word of Wisdom was revealed. 

Inside one of the houses where Joseph Smith lived for a short period of time. 

Inside the visitor's center

We stayed at the Days Inn in Kirkland. It was a pretty gross/dirty hotel, but super cheap. And the perk was the pool. The kids loved it. 

Then we went and toured the Kirkland Temple. The kids had a hard time being quiet. 

We then went and visited the grave/memorial of President James A Garfield. His burial monument was the biggest out of all the presidents we had seen. It made us curious as to why the people loved him so much (especially since he wasn't even President for very long because he was assassinated in 1881--soon after he got in office.) But then Lincoln and I both read The Destiny of the Republic which is a book about President Garfield and his assassination. And it was easy to see why he was so loved. (I highly recommend reading that book!)

Inside the monument

Downstairs in the monument, in front of his grave. 

It was beautiful!

Then after a long drive we finally arrived in Chicago. After checking into our awesome hotel (I love the Embassy Suites!) we decided to walk around town. This part of Chicago (and specifically this church) was one of the only parts standing after the great fire. 

Then we had to try out the famous deep dish Chicago Pizza. The kids liked it. 

The next day Lincoln had to work so I took the kids out on my own to explore the city and visit museums. 

This is their planetarium

Don't be fooled by this cute picture. The kids hated the movie and it was kind of a nightmare dealing with tantrums in the middle of it.

SO after the museum we played around outside for a bit. 

Then we visited their Natural History Museum. Nothing too special compared to all the museums in DC, but it was still enjoyable. 

Lincoln joined us after his meetings. 

The kids were exhausted. 

Then we visited the Aquarium. 

And we went on an awesome boat tour of the city. 

And the kids were so good the whole time. Perfect angels...NOT! Emerson had a hard time sitting still. He wanted to run around the boat. 

The girls were great though!

Such a pretty city!

Then we went to the fair on the pier. The kids loved it. 

They wanted to go on the ferry go round about 10 times. 

I enjoyed the swings. It had been a really long time since I've done that. 

The next day we went to the SkyDeck

Because I'm married to a very efficient man, we made sure to get their right as it opened. Then we were able to avoid the massive lines. 

The views were awesome!

Just a little pilates. 

Our favorite museum by far was The Museum of Science and Technology. It was awesome! And we don't have anything like it in DC. Totally worth it. 

When Lincoln was working I took the kids to the Children's Museum. They loved it. 

Another boat ride. 

(We paid for the skypass to see everything in Chicago. It was worth paying one price to see unlimited sites and museums and boat rides etc for two days)

Another view of the city. 

And of course I was able to sneak away for a great pilates class at this beautiful studio. 

Our hotel room

This cutie!!

My awesome friend Maren lived about 45 minutes outside of Chicago, so for one of the days when Lincoln was working all day, we drove and spent the day with her and her cute kids. 

We also tried the famous hot dogs at Portillo's

Cute Eva. 

This was another day that I was site seeing on my own. We did lots of walking. It was killing my shoulders holding Eliza in the sling so I figured out a way to hang her from the stroller and push all 3 kids :)

We met up with Maren again and went swimming in Lake Michigan. I LOVED it. Not having to worry about sharks was great. The kids loved how it was shallow for a good portion so they could really play without it getting too deep. 

Then after Lincoln finished working we made sure to visit Millennial park and see the Bean!

These cuties enjoyed themselves. 

Emerson's favorite face. For whatever reason he loves to do that with his lower lip. 

On the drive home from Chicago we made sure to visit more presidential grave sites. This was President Rutherford B. Hayes. He was president from March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881 and he died in 1893.

We had some crazy lighting going on. It was almost like President Hayes wanted to join our pictures in spirit (JK)

Emerson being a stinker on the walk back.

Then we visited President Warren B. Harding's gravesite. He was president from March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923, His grave site was pretty cool. He died August 2, 1923.

Then for the last gravesite visit in Ohio we saw President William McKinley's Memorial and burial site. He was president from March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901. He died September 14, 1901. After the long drive it was nice to let the kids run up all those stairs.  

That was the last of our site seeing. Then it was time to go home and come back to real life. 

We loved visiting Ohio and Chicago!