Vacay!

Several people asked me why we would choose Chicago for vacation. The main reason was the opportunity to meet several of the moms and their little ones from my Rockin Moms online group and the other because we haven't seen that part of the country. I'm glad we went because we really enjoyed the city! We stayed in the suburbs about 45 minutes outside of downtown. There is so much to do there. There was no way we could have fit everything in the few days that we were there. We tried to do as much as we could though. We spent a day in Milwaukee since it was only about an hour and a half away. We took a boat tour out on Lake Michigan which was gorgeous. Sure we have lakes all around us, but they don't compare to one of the Great Lakes. Saturday was the day we got to meet our new friends in person. We first met at GiGi's playhouse which is a Down syndrome awareness and educational center. There are quite a few around the Midwest area and now even in Mexico. We attended a crawler's class where they were showing parents techniques and exercises to assist with strength and crawling. This was actually pretty informational. They showed me things I never even knew to do with Camden. Afterwards we all met up for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. We had our own private room which was really nice. I got to snuggle and love on the babies that I've been seeing in pictures for the last six months. Carter had a blast with all the siblings, especially G. These ladies are absolutely amazing! I feel like I have known them forever now. I wish all the moms in our online clan could have been there. It was truly something very special. One of the moms lives in the area so she was kind enough to invite us over for dinner. This gave some of us some more time together and we had so much fun. I was sad to say goodbye but so very thankful for the wonderful experience! The next two days we spent downtown trying to see everything we could. The weather was amazing. All my fellow Texans would be jealous. It was high 70's to low 80's! It's not usually that cool there in August, so we just got really lucky! We went to museums, hung out at Millenium Park, took a trolley tour, and so much more. Chicago is beautiful! I thought Downtown Dallas was big, but it doesn't have anything on Chicago. I could talk about this vacation forever, but I think I'll just photo bomb you instead!

On our way! He did so good in the car!

It was a looooong drive.

Our first night in the hotel.

You know you're getting old when you end 

up back at the hotel by 8 pm every night!

Touring Lake Michigan.

I loved that we were able to spend so much

time outside!

On the Riverwalk in Milwaukee.

Hangin with the frog.

I think he was a little tired of smiling for

the camera!

One of the awesome Jenny's (there were 3)

and baby N.

Carter loved B! They were playing and 

chasing each other all over the place!

My amazing cyber sisters and their precious babes. Thank you Jenny J for creating something

so amazing!

Having dude conversations at the barbecue.

Thank you again Angela! 

Camden was smart...he was chatting up baby G.

Major cuteness on a blanket!

Carter and G chillin on the hammock.

Soldier Field was on our way to the museum.

Carter picked the Field Museum because of the dinosaurs. This place is HUGE! It would

take days to actually see everything!

Playing a little froggy music.

Navy Pier was really fun. It's a pier about a mile long on Lake Michigan and is full of shops,

rides, boats and restaurants. 

Millenium Park is a must see if you're ever

in this city!

They have these big wall fountains in the park

that people can play in. We had no idea so we 

didn't bring Carter a swimsuit, but it didn't stop him!

He only fell and busted his head once. This

is good. Really...it is if you knew how clumsy 

this boy is.

The silver bean. I think that's what it is called? Anyhow...pretty cool.

Under the bean.

We stopped by a couple of malls downtown.

 I swear there are about 100 of them!

The coolest thing of all...Camden did some

tripod sitting on his own for the first time! He 

could only do it for a second or two before this

trip. On our last day he sat like this for several 

minutes at a time with no help! Yay Camden!