Day #9...CHICAGO!!!!

So many people gave us a hard time about going to Chicago...It's so dirty...People are always getting murdered there...There is nothing fun to do there...It is so expensive there...and the list went on and on. I will just say this, I LOVED IT!!! We really did our homework and got the kids opinions of what to go do and see. I felt like it was one of the best parts of our trip and I would definitely go back. The only rules you should stick to are #1. Take lots of money (it really was expensive) #2. Stay at a hotel that is not right downtown. Ours was 12 miles out side of the city, and it was great #3. Do not stay out after dark #4. Do not walk under the freeway (this one was for you Shelley:)

We went to the Pier on our first full day there. There is so much to do here. The kids posed in front of a bunch of pirate statues with part of the city as the backdrop.

This is a great photo of the pier. We decided to take a ride on the ginormous Ferris wheel. So much fun...but if you are afraid of heights you might want o avoid this attraction.

 Shelley and her family.

 The girls and I were on one side, Shawn and the little two were on the other side. There was Plexiglas on all the sides of the ride...so no worries about falling out :)

This was our view from the top.

 

Then we went on the swings ride.

We ate lunch at the pier and the kids had their first "Chicago hot dog", they weren't that impressed. Then we went to the children's museum. It was huge inside. As my nephew Everett put it "it was like the Salt Lake City Children's museum on Crack".

 After the museum we went to the botanical gardens. The kids thought it was amazing that outside it was so windy and hot...and inside the garden it was humid and slightly cool. They had these neat water fountains that sprayed water from one flower bed to the other.

 Then we went to the "Willis Tower" or as most know it as "The Sears Tower". We took the little tour and then road the elevator 103 stories up to the observation deck.

 They have this glass hangover that you can look out over the city. It has a glass bottom too, so it feels like you are standing in the air and could fall 103 stories at any time.

 It sort of scared the kids...but really it wasn't that bad haha

  I had to do a handstand in the box to prove I wasn't scared :)

 After this we went back to the pier to get our car and decided to walk to the other end of the pier and take a few pictures.

We went back to the hotel, the kids were so wiped out! We ordered true Chicago style pizza...like $95 worth of pizza and the kids hated it! 

Oh well, now we know if we ever go back there, do not order anything that is authentic Chicago styled food. But on a positive note the hotel had a great swimming pool. The kids swam in it the first night we got in, the morning before we went to the pier, the night we came back from the pier and again the next morning before we began our long drive home.The extremely long drive home :(