The Wagners: Chicago Trip

Last weekend we headed up to Chicago to spend some time with Danielle. We've been trying to figure out a time since spring when to come up but between both of our busy schedules, August was the first chance we had. The girls had a birthday party Friday night and Danielle had a volleyball game, so we got up right away Saturday morning and left around 9:45 a.m. I thought for sure that traffic would be fine because it was a Saturday morning and we were doing great until we hit 90. Apparently this weekend was Lollapalooza, a music festival, so there was extra traffic for that. It took us probably an extra twenty minutes, which wasn't terrible. I was hoping that Coye would take a nap on the way up, but he, of course, did not. He actually wasn't too bad though on the drive. I finally just quit giving him toys and books because he just kept throwing everything on the floor. Once we hit Chicago, there was tons of stuff to look at so he was pretty entertained looking out the window. The girls were awesome. We got to Danielle's just in time for lunch. We ate and then I put Coye down for a quick nap. I woke him up after about an hour - it was already after 2 and we wanted to head downtown. We got the kids ready to go and had to rush to the train station to get on the right train on time. We made it and got on the train for one stop before switching to another one. This time there were tons of people waiting to get on the train (again for the music fest) and I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to get on. The train came and we pushed on and barely made it. Danielle was holding Chloe and carrying the stroller. I was carrying Coye and holding on to Aubrey's hand. The doors literally closed right behind my back - we were that scrunched. I had nothing to hold on to so I was rocked back and forth trying to hang on to Aubrey and Coye. I was so glad when we got to our stop and could get off! The first place we headed was The American Girl Doll store. Aubrey had been saving money since her birthday so that she could pick out an outfit for her doll. We walked around the entire store I think twice before she finally made her decision - a ballet outfit complete with tights and a tutu. It's pretty cute! Next stop was the Lego store. Ever since Aubrey got some Legos for Christmas, the girls have been very into Legos, especially with the launching of Legos "Friends" line for girls. They each got to pick out a small set and I bought Coye a set of Duplos. Hannah's birthday was that day so Danielle and I were looking for something for her so we went into Macy's, but didn't really find anything. We decided that we might have better luck at Kohl's so we headed back to Danielle's apartment. The train was still full, but two nice men got up once they saw us with our arms full of kids and bags and gave us their seats. It was so much better sitting down! Coye loved looking out the window and watching everything go by! It was starting to get dark out (it was supposed to rain) and we were hoping to make it home before it started pouring. We were just about ready to make a run for it when it thundered really loudly and Aubrey and Coye started crying. We went back inside and sat in a corner waiting for the rain to stop. I figured it would be over in less than 5 minutes - that's what it does at home, but it didn't stop. After about 15 minutes it had let up a little bit and we came up with a new plan - Danielle would run through the rain back to her apartment, get the van, and then come pick up us since we were going to go to Kohl's anyway. The kids and I stayed where we were and waited for her. She came after about 20 minutes - it was still raining! Crazy I know. There was so much water in places we even had to turn around because we couldn't make it under a viaduct. We found lots of good deals at Kohl's and then went back to her place for supper, baths, and bed. The kids fell right to sleep - they were exhausted! Sunday morning was lazy - breakfast, playing, and watching the Olympics. After Coye's nap, we went out for lunch and then had frozen yogurt that was amazing! The girls wanted to go to the park and play, so we changed into our suits (there was a splash pad there) and walked to the park. Danielle had to coax the girls into the water at first, but then they loved it. Coye, on the other hand, was not a fan at all. He preferred to just watch. After playing for a while, we went back to Dani's, changed, packed the van, and headed home. Coye slept again on the ride home, and the girls were pretty quiet. It had been such a fun, busy weekend.