Chicago...

Chicago was a good time. Of course, all three of us are still exhausted, but it was worth it. We flew in Saturday morning and, like the nomad that he is, Juice was able to meet up with us at the rental car terminal after he had flown in from somewhere in Mexico and spent the night before vomiting his brains out from food poisoning. Juice is the best--he's like a little sprite that just flutters in for a few moments, or if we are lucky, a few days, and then he's gone just as fast as he came. We were lucky to be able to hang out with him Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

With Ryan and Juice navigating our way into the city, we made it to our hotel for a quick stop and then onto the Lincoln Park Zoo where we meet up with Ryan's friend, Jeremy and his family. The zoo was great. And free. I love free. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We ended our day with famous Chicago style pizza at Giordano's.

We had two very interesting nights with Lilly in the hotel room. She would go down for the night fairly easily, but right around midnight both nights, she was ready to host her own talk show. Oh, the cooing. You would have thought she was dictating her (short) life story to someone. Ryan and I were exhausted having stayed up to watch t.v. when we should have heeded the famous words of parents everywhere who say, "Sleep when the baby sleeps (especially when you are on vacation). We paid for our silly mistake and it cost us dearly. Ryan and I were exhausted, but inspired by the sophistication and beauty of the city and so we forged ahead and set out to explore Chicago on foot.

Downtown was virtually a ghost town on Sunday morning. I found it calming to be at the feet of such majestic buildings knowing that the very next day the same deserted streets we were wandering would turn into bustling thoroughfares. We walked all along the Chicago River which took us by some of the most amazing architecture and then ended up walking back up Michigan Avenue to our hotel. I loved Millennium Park and the cool water features that are there.

Monday, Ryan had to work, so Lilly and I ventured out to the city together. I put her in the bjorn and off we went. We walked all the way up Michigan Avenue and all the way back. Monday happened to be a freak of nature weather day and the moderate temperatures we enjoyed Saturday and Sunday gave way to humidity and temperatures in the low 90's. I was a sweaty mess most of the day. Imagine a chubby white girl with a chubby white baby strapped to her frontside and then imagine the sweat pouring down my face and my back. I had to stop and two different Gap stores throughout the day and buy cheap tshirts to change into.

Our last stop of the day, before we had to head to the airport, Lilly and I took our sweaty selves to The Art Institute of Chicago. They have a great impressionist gallery and the Richard Misrach exhibit was pretty cool.

Then the day got really interesting.

Ryan was in meetings all day, so I was on my own when it came time to get us to the airport. Now, pre-baby this task would have been simple. Post-baby, not so much. Remember, I'm still a mess from walking all over Chicago with a twenty pound infant strapped to my chest. After I got everything packed up and ready to go, I called the front desk for help with my luggage. They sent the maintenance man. I don't know why they sent the maintenance man to help me downstairs with my luggage, but they did. Perhaps all the bell men were on break? Once we were downstairs, I had to get baby and luggage (one large suitcase, one pack 'n play, one stroller, one car seat, one car seat base, one camera case, and one very large carry on/diaper bag) the three blocks to the rental car. I left my stuff with the doorman, while Lilly and I got the car and proceeded to navigate the one way streets and pull up in front of the hotel. The first stage of operation "Destination Gate B1" was complete. Baby and luggage were all accounted for and safely in the car.

Stage two of operation "Destination Gate B1" was getting the rental car returned and managing to get all previously mentioned luggage to the airport curb. This was a tough stage. But, not as tough as stage three. Stage three was a killer. But, back to stage two. Oh wait. I forgot to mention that I had to stop at a McDonald's right outside of the airport because Lilly wasn't having it anymore and she was hungry. We ran inside McDonald's, made a bottle, drank bottle, and then headed on to the rental car return. But then I forgot I had to get gas. So, we turned around and headed back to the gas station where it took me a good 15 minutes to figure out how to open the gas tank. Finally, we get to the rental car return. As I started to unload the car and the pile of stuff I still had to get to the check-in counter at United seemed humongous, I started to panic, but just for a second. About 20 minutes later, everything was loaded on the cart and Lilly was once again strapped to my sweaty chest. We walked 20 feet to the waiting shuttle just to unload the cart that I had just spent the last twenty minutes loading. Awesome. The shuttle driver earned his five dollar tip and got me, my baby, and all our stuff to the airport curb.

And then there was no one to help me. No more bell boys, no more maintenance men, no more doormen, no more shuttle drivers. Just me. Just me with sweat dripping down my face and my cute baby still strapped to me.

I manged to get us another cart after abandoning our luggage to jog (with baby strapped to my chest) to the end of the terminal where the stupid carts were. Then, I managed to get the cart loaded up--again. I was struggling with the stroller when this very nice woman and her young son came over to help me. They didn't speak English, so all I could do was smile and nod my appreciation. I thought it funny that the entire time I was struggling with all of the luggage, there was a group of American business men not ten feet from me. A few of them even turned around to see what all the commotion was about when I started to talk to myself. Thanks for your help guys.

I finally got to the check-in desk, after the stroller and the car seat had tumbled off the cart at least twice. The people around me must have thought I was a mess. Or crazy. I looked both. Messy and crazy.

I still had to get through security, but after what I had just been through, security was nothing.

Luckily, Ryan made it to the airport and from then on it was smooth sailing. Of course, our plane was delayed almost two hours and we had the rudest, most annoying flight attendants ever, but we made it home nevertheless.

It was a great trip.

Millennium Park

Lilly's first carousel ride at the zoo. She wanted to eat it.

Not too sure about the carousel.

Lilly wasn't a fan of the bumpy steps...

Me. Looking thoughtful.