St. George

We went to St. George with my family, Mom, Dad and Missy, and Missy's boyfriend, Tanner, over the weekend of September 19-21, 2014. (Ty and Ashley couldn't make it.)  We had a ton of fun doing some tiny, Kaden-friendly hikes, playing in the sand at the sand dunes, playing at the hotel pool and just relaxing. 

Kaden absolutely loved the sand! He loves sandboxes, so this was like a dream come true to be surrounded by so much of it. (Please excuse his random outfit. I just picked the 2 darkest things in his wardrobe that I didn't think red sand would completely ruin and had him wear those together.)

Kaden thought it was pretty cool to get buried with Mommy and Daddy in the sand!

Kaden is such a good climber. He just gets better every day. He was absolutely in heaven with all this red rock and sand. He was climbing on EVERYTHING! He's only 2, but he can honestly keep up with kids that are twice his age most of the time. Curtis is hopeful that he'll have a rock climbing buddy in a few years and that they can go rappelling and climbing together. 

We went to Tuacahn Theatre both nights we were there.  We saw the Wizard of Oz the first night and the Little Mermaid the second night, which was AMAZING! I liked the Wizard of Oz, but seriously LOVED the Little Mermaid. Maybe part of my love was the nostalgia of my favorite childhood Disney movie come to life, and knowing all the words to all the songs, but it really was incredible, nostalgia or not. It was so clever the way they used the set to make it appear that half the scenes were underwater. Their special effects were awesome. Even Curtis loved it too and he didn't even initially want to go see it at all. Glad I made him go. :)

We also went to this little Children's Museum in St. George. I was a bit skeptical that it would even be that decent since it only cost $3 to get in. (In my mind, usually cost determines how awesome it will be.) I must say that I was pleasantly surprised and Kaden had a blast! It was cute and we ended up wishing we'd had more time there. Kaden loved flying the airplane, dressed as a pilot and towing this suitcase from room to room.   They also had a stage that you could perform on and wear costumes, and Kaden was loving the songs that were blaring.  You may recognize such hits as "The Wheels on the Bus" and the "ABC's" (or "ah-bee-chees" as Kaden calls them).

Chicago- Day 5

Tuesday September 9, 2014

Curtis and Scott had to work again today, so Megan and I headed over to the Willis Tower by ourselves. I feel bad because we had initially planned to go on a day when Curtis and Scott could go too, but since it rained all day Friday we figured the views wouldn't be too awesome that day.  

I get super motion sick from elevators, so the multiple elevators it took to get up to the 103rd floor about killed me, but it was worth it.  The view of the city from the top was awesome!

 I am also terrified of heights, so it took me quite a bit of gumption to talk myself into going into the Sky Deck, the clear glass box that overlooks the whole city.  It was terrifying, but cool at the same time! I was shaking like a leaf when I was done, but I'm glad I did it.  Everything at the bottom looks so tiny, like the cars. Eek!

Probably one of the coolest things about our time at the Willis Tower was that I ran into some Hungarian teenagers. I overheard them talking in Hungarian and couldn't believe my ears! I can count on one hand the number of times that I've ever run into a Hungarian outside of Hungary since my mission. I don't know which I was more nervous for- to talk in Hungarian, or go out on the Sky Deck.  (Since I don't use Hungarian on a regular basis b/c I have no one to speak to in it,  I'm pretty rusty. I can still understand well, but I'm slow to reply because I have to think hard to remember vocabulary words.)  Anyway, they were astonished to hear another person speaking Hungarian, especially since I'm not from Hungary. They honestly couldn't wrap their heads around why I knew their language.  They were nice and they told me I still spoke well, even though I know I don't speak as well as I used to. It was really nostalgic for me to get to use a language I so love.  I wish I would've gotten a picture with them, but didn't want to weird them out. Ha ha!

 Poor Ella was so tired that she slept through almost our entire time up there. Not that she'd remember the trip anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter. 

Chicago Day 4

Monday September 8, 2014

Curtis and Scott had to go to a work training today. (Hence the whole reason we were in Chicago in the first place- a business trip, mixed with a little fun.)  We had breakfast together at Lou Mitchell's (since Scott and Megan weren't with us on Sunday and wanted to try it).  Can I just say the difference between Sunday and Monday breakfast was staggering? We got right in on Monday, no line, no wait, there was hardly anyone there. It was quiet and calm.  Completely opposite of our experience the day before.  I guess the work week will do that to you. No one has time to eat out since they're all rushing to get to work.  I just have to laugh that I only ordered a single blueberry pancake and small glass of juice and it was $18 before tip, for just my breakfast! (Curtis' was paid for by Zions.) See what I mean that it's a bit of a tourist trap? Ha ha. 

While the menfolk headed off to work, we kind of just hung out for the majority of the morning. Poor Ella hadn't been sleeping much the last few days in just a baby carrier or stroller and she was super sleep deprived so Megan put her down for a regular nap at the hotel and I just hung out in my room and read and relaxed. It was nice. I love to read and rarely get a lot of time to, so that was a true vacation to me- sleeping in, not having to clean anything and just getting some quiet "me" time. So lovely.

Megan, Ella and I headed off for a girls' day of shopping that afternoon! We hit the "Miracle Mile" which consists of Michigan Avenue and a few other intersecting streets where all the best shops are.  We spent a lot of time in Nordstrom Rack and H&M and Megan's favorite, TJ Maxx.  I love H&M. It is my favorite.   Before it arrived in Utah I used to plan an H&M trip into all of my out of state trips, because I love it that much. 

That night we met up with Curtis and Scott and did the Chicago Architecture tour. So many people recommended it and I honestly think it was one of my favorite things that we did. It was so enjoyable and interesting. Chicago is such a lovely city with a lot of history.  The city became a big architectural hub after the great Chicago fire burned more than 1/3 of the original city. It's set right on the shores of Lake Michigan and there's a river that runs through the city and divides it into thirds. 

Trump Tower

 The Corn Cob towers- they were the first round skyscraper apartments in the world. Tenants are not allowed to park their own cars since they back them up right to the edge (see the lower part of the building- scary!)

The view from below of the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower).  103 stories tall- It used to be the tallest building in the world until they built the building in Dubai that is 1000 feet taller than this. Ridiculous to imagine anything could be taller than this.

Willis Tower far away

The Chicago cityscape

I think this was one of my favorite buildings with the clock tower and gothic architecture on the top.

I think Ella enjoyed the tour too! Such a cutie!

Chicago-Day 3

Sunday September 7, 2014

We ate breakfast at Lou Mitchell's. It is the start of Route 66 and has had a few movies filmed there. We heard from everyone that the breakfast there was the best breakfast in Chicago. The line to get in was out the door and down the block. Unreal! We waited for what felt like forever, but we got homemade donut holes and Milk Duds upon entering. (Random combo)  Every single seat in that place was full, it was loud, crazy and totally chaotic. It was really good food, but definitely an overpriced tourist trap. Oh well. The true Chicago experience, right? 

We had kind of a lazy morning, hung out for a little while, went to sacrament meeting nearby (which was interesting since they hold it in an elementary school auditorium), then we headed over to Millennial Park to see the sights and explore the city in that area.

I love this "L" (subway) stop name- it's a nice hybrid of Curtis' grandpa- Clyde Fairbourn. :)

  Flowers at Millennial Park

 Buckingham Fountain- stunning! It was one of my favorite things we saw while we were exploring the park and the city.

                                      

 This was so cool, but such a strange idea at the same time. It's a giant fountain/sculpture that water pours down both sides and then projects faces onto the other side. The faces keep changing and smiling at you, laughing, talking, etc… until all of a sudden, the eyes close, the mouth opens and the person starts spewing water on the people below. 

Modern art is so strange sometimes. I don't get the point of this "sculpture," but the kids sure seemed to love it every time it changed to the bottom face and spit water.

  The "Bean." This sculpture is famous because it's huge, but all seamless, as far as the metal was put together. It's pretty amazing that something that large you wouldn't see any lines where one piece of metal starts and one piece of metal ends.

                                                 The city view from the Bean's perspective

The funniest part of the Bean was that everyone was using it to take these hilarious selfies with pouty lips and what not. Curtis and I decided to do a really ugly picture or two, just to see what everyone around us would do. The ladies behind us were really confused, then tried not to laugh, but couldn't help it.

We watched them film part of the Chicago 10 o' clock news on our way back to the hotel. This weatherman was very excited/happy about the upcoming forecast.