Spring Break 17: Chicago Legoland

Kevin woke up Monday morning with the flu.  He was not going anywhere...and we did not think that 3 hours in the car was wise either.  He slept in the afternoon while Camden and I headed to Legoland Discovery Center.

The Lego displays were so incredible!  The Einstein head at the entrance had eyes that moved and followed us.  Cool!

We walked through two main areas - one of the Chicago skyline and one of a jungle.  The details were impeccable.  O'Hare airport, the skyline, a St. Paddy's Day parade through the streets, even an Obama statue.  I could have stayed longer to discover more of the small touches.

We passed Indiana Jones on our way into the jungle.

Next we came upon a Star Wars area.

She wanted to punch Darth!

One of our favorite activities was the Knight's Adventure Ride.

We rode in dragon boats and shot lasers to hit targets along the way. 

Next we went to a giant play area where a second Merlin's ride was found.

She had to pedal the contraption in order to make it fly up.

Next we headed to a 4-D movie.  Emmet and Wyldstyle from the Lego Movie welcomed us to the theater entrance.

We just missed getting in to one showing, but there was a nearby Lego "Friends" station next to the line where Camden played while we waited.  She created a magic potion container for us.

Finally we got to enter the theater and watch the high action movie.  It was cute, even if the 4-D effects needed to be revamped a little.

We did another round of the Knight's Adventure, then hugged Batman on our way out.  We, surprisingly, spent about 3 hours here and had a ball!

Spring Break 17: Chicago Baseball, Hot Dogs, & Sickness

After swimming Camden was fading but was willing to walk to the corner nearest our hotel to get some donuts for breakfast.  Glazed and Infused has been voted number one donut in Chicago for the past several years.  Funny, they still don't hold a candle to Mary Lou's.

Camden crashed without eating a donut and started moaning and groaning.  She was definitely not better and she definitely made it known that she wanted to go home!  But we had to get the keys back to my friends house in the nearby suburbs where we had planned to stay the next few nights.  We decided we would take a long route in order to get some Garrett's Popcorn, see Wrigley Field and have authentic Chicago dogs at Superdawg's Drive-In.

Hancock tower through our sun roof and rain.

 

Camden would fall asleep in between things and wake up periodically begging to go home. 

I loved seeing Wrigley.  Kevin and I couldn't get over the neighborhood setting.  We were disappointed that the construction made it impossible to get a selfie at the main entrance, but glad to see it all in person regardless.  Now just to go to a game!

We were super excited to have a good Chicago hot dog at this iconic place.

Too bad the smell made Camden get sick again.  Ugh!  Thankful that we thought to get a few ice bucket bags from the housekeeper at the hotel on our way out.

Spring Break 17: Chicago Swimming

Once at the hotel, Camden immediately changed into her swimsuit so we could head to the pool.

We got down to the pool entrance, I put my key in the door, and Camden said, "I feel like I'm going to be siiiiccckkkk...." and threw up all over the carpet in the hallway outside the pool area.  Kevin took her back to the room and I waited for housekeeping to come clean up the mess.

She spent the next few hours throwing up every 15 minutes or so.  She also took about 4 showers.  That is her go-to remedy when she is not feeling well - hot showers.  She takes them whenever she is awake...so one was also had in the middle of the night (think 2am).  Whatever works.

The next morning she said she felt well enough to try the pool again.  She had slept and hadn't thrown up since the evening before.  It was the whole reason we got a hotel room, so we went for it.

This pool had a cool light that turned the water (and the room) a funky shade of blue.  She happily swam by herself for 45 minutes - entertaining me on the sidelines.

She spent about 10 minutes in the hot tub as well and then said she was ready to head back to our room.  I saw the look in her eyes that said she was not feeling well again.  It may have been too much exertion, but I don't think she would have missed the chance to swim.

Spring Break 17: Chicago Pizza

After the MSI we headed to Giordano's for some Chicago deep dish pizza.

 

 

Then we headed to our hotel for a night of relaxing and swimming.  Or so we thought...

Spring Break 17: Chicago

We only had 4 days/3 nights to do something over spring break because of Kevin's work.  We decided that was enough time to spend in Chicago and see some sights.  We headed up Saturday morning, stopping at Albanese Candy Factory for road trip subsistence.  Our first activity in the city was the Museum of Science and Industry.

We used the passport exchange from our local museum for our free admission.  Kevin was tired from working and I was at the end of the flu so we were dragging a bit.  We did a quick tour of everything that was part of general admission.  It was a good overview of some cool things.

This train picture is my favorite of the day.  Camden looks so grown up!

The chick hatchery was her favorite spot.

The hands-on idea factory was a close second.  She could have spent more time doing the activities here.

Her pick from the gift shop was astronaut ice cream - Neapolitan flavor (because it had strawberry in it).  She really enjoyed the flavor and texture, but said chocolate was actually her favorite.
 

Austin is 23!

I am way out of order from the events of the past week, but I have TONS of work that needs to get done so needed to get something posted that wouldn't take much time.

We celebrated Austin on Friday night with a good meal of some of his favorites - venison tenderloin, mashed potatoes, and peas. 

Afterward, we had a yummy Reese's Pieces cake.  It is a chocolate cake with a peanut butter cream cheese filling.  I frosted the outside with a simple white buttercream and decorated with Reese's Pieces.