Wow...what an awesome couple of days we've had!!! Yesterday (Wednesday) we decided to not drive anywhere...to just walk around & see what we could see......for free!! :) I had already bought a Groupon for the Willis Tower several weeks ago & since yesterday was super sunny (even though it was super chilly) we decided to go there since we'd have a good view. On a map, it looked really far. But I had my app figure out how long it'd take to walk & it said only 30 mins! It was 1.5 miles from the Ronald McDonald House. So I was super stoked to be able to leave our car in the garage, not worry about driving anywhere, & definitely not worry about parking! So we got loaded up & were on our way. It took us about 45 mins to walk there w/ all the red lights & people walking about. But we had all day so I definitely wasn't in a hurry!
Brooke taking in the view!
It was chilly outside, but was so beautiful!
So just in relation... The RMH is about 2 blocks from the John Hancock building, which is the black one at the very top of the picture. That's where we walked from. Total all day was about 3.5 miles! I'm super glad I have an awesome stroller!!!
At first she didn't want her picture taken. Then she said the reason was b/c she missed daddy. So after calling dad, she was ready for the pictures!
The SkyDeck!!!!! Holy cow I didn't think I was afraid of heights at all...& then I stepped on the SkyDeck. Yikes! They keep that glass super clean, too, so you can see everything below you. It was quite awesome!
When we were done at the SkyDeck we were pretty hungry. We grabbed Cali a cute little Chicago book at the gift shop & the only thing Brooke wanted was a hot dog. She'd actually said as we were walking to the tower that she wanted a hot dog. Chicago --- hot dog --- You'd THINK that'd be easy to find. HA!!! I must have been walking on the wrong streets, or looking in the wrong places, cause I couldn't find hot dogs anywhere. I took some snacks, thank goodness, that she munched on until we could find something. So I was super stoked when, right next to the gift shop, was a Nathan's Hot Dog place. We grabbed lunch, sat down for a bit, then got her medicine & were on our way again...
From the Willis Tower we headed straight east to Millennium Park. We'd already been there before, but hey, why not again?!! There's actually a picture of Cloud Gate in our RMH room, so I thought I'd take Brooke to see the real thing!
Cloud Gate
From Millennium Park we headed back to the RMH b/c our friends from IA came in to town for surgery today. We were meeting up with them for dinner. We took a different way back to the house...State Street (which I'd wanted to walk down b/c of all the cool shops.) We stopped in Target on State St (which was super impressive), grabbed Cali a few souvenirs from the dollar bins :) as well as a couple other necessities, then kept walking. And we ran into this....
When we got back to the house we met up with Krystal Phillipson, her son Brayden, & her mom. Brayden had surgery this AM w/ Dr. Bauer. Here's the 4 of us in front of Brooklyn's favorite area...the doors at the RMH.
After dinner we ran into some super heroes at the RMH!! The lady from the Incredibles as well as Captain America & some other lady superhero that I don't know (haha surprise surprise) were there handing out hats & taking pictures with some kids. It was SO cute!
Brooke loved her hat (even though it was quite challenging getting it on & off!!)
After the ice cream social we ran into some other nevus families so we just had to get a picture!! The little boy on the far left is Jace from FL, then Brayden, Brooklyn, & Michael from Russia! (Jace comes every 6 months & Michael has been here since August.)
I just LOVE that every single night is something fun for the kids to do. Dinner is always at 6:30pm & then the activity is at 7:30pm. Last night's activity was pumpkin decorating!! It was SO cute! They had a boatload of pumpkins & TONS of foam stickers & paint. The kids could decorate it however they wanted...& Brooke had a ball!! Here's her pumpkin...
The funny thing...they let us keep it! So now we have a permanent fixture in our room. Brooke wanted it on her side table... So there sits her pumpkin, until we have to leave! I still haven't convinced her that she can't take it on the plane. She says she will carry it...
And then she went to sleep. She was given a little puffin puppet that helped keep the pressure off her head...little sweetheart.
This morning we woke up & the first thing Brooke did was go grab a drain, 2 alcohol wipes, & her medicine!!! I swear this kid!! ;) She was SO scared of the drain at first, but now she's a pro at it. And her medicine...my gosh I'm glad there's a kids safety cap on it. She draws it up herself (I check it, of course), takes it, then draws up the second syringe (she gets 1 1/2 syringes), I check it again, & she takes it again. We do this 3 times a day & she's seriously awesome.
After we got dressed we decided to head to the Water Tower Place & walk around their mall. It's 7 stories & pretty quiet. The John Hancock building & WTP is only about 2-3 blocks from the house, so it's super quick to get to.
On our way (we took Michigan Ave) we stopped in the Disney Store & got her some little 'Jake & The Neverland Pirates' & 'Sophia The First' figurines that were on sale for $10...couldn't resist!!
After eating lunch at Water Tower Place & walking around in the mall & realized I hadn't had my coffee for the day. Yeah, ummm, seriously. So I snapped this quick picture in front of Ditka's, right next to Starbucks!!
American Girl. I'm glad my girls don't really understand HOW amazing those dolls are. Because seriously it'll be 3 Christmases from now before they get one! I did walk with Brooke through the American Girl store & we picked up a magazine. Coincidentally enough, about 3 days before we came to Chicago we actually got a smaller American Girl catalog in the mail. I'm not kidding... Cali & Brooke would sit on the couch together & go through that magazine every single day. Brooke wanted to bring it with us!!! So she spent a couple blocks looking at HER very own personal American Girl catalog!
Dinner tonight was from The Lurie Foundation & was some pretty good Chicken Pot Pie. And leave it to my daughter to surprise me yet again when she had about 5-6 drink choices & she picked water... Yessssss!!!!!!
Tonight's activity was cupcake decorating by Swirl Cupcake. It was so cute. The owner had some big vanilla & chocolate cupcakes that only had frosting on them. Then she had some mini vanilla & chocolate ones that were already decorated. The kids could eat their small cupcake while they decorated their big one. It was so adorable watching them use every single color & every single topping. Brooke LOVED it!
She was in awe of the lady!
I just love this one...
Eating her big masterpiece
After the cupcake decorating she was able to decorate a princess crown, which she loved, but it was pretty hard getting it on her head!
We had an awesome couple of days. I've had SO much fun with this adorable little girl that I have. I have just loved watching her in awe of everything she sees. She's growing up so fast & I'm truly treasuring every moment I have with her!
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