Chicago Trip

As Brad and I were approaching our seven year anniversary we decided we needed to do something fun.  For the past 4 anniversaries I have either been pregnant or nursing a baby and didn't want to leave them.  However this year both the boys were a little more independent than in years past.  Since Chicago is less than three hours away we thought it would be the perfect spot to go on a quick getaway.

Mimi and Poppy came to our house to stay with the boys.  They are always excited to see them and the boys never seem to mind when we leave them with the grandparents for a couple of days.  They had a lot of fun activities planned and Owen hardly blinked when we said goodbye.

Brad and I hadn't been to Chicago since 2004.  We went with our friends Eddie and Katherine for new year's eve.  I had to take a picture in the same spot from 11 years ago just to do this side by side...

We had a great time on that trip until Brad came down with the stomach flu and was stuck in bed in the hotel room for most of the trip...

We left Thursday evening so we could have all day Friday and Saturday to hang around the city.  Here are some of the highlights from the trip.

My favorite place in all of Chicago that we experienced - Eataly.  It is this amazing Italian market with a bunch of small little eateries throughout the market.   When you walk in the doors this is what you see (my photos don't do it justice)....

 Each small restaurant had a speciality such as fish, pasta, pizza, etc.  
                                               
 I of course wanted to eat pasta....

 So we sat at the bar and watched the chef prepare our food...

 And had some delicious birra (beer in Italian)

 I had a spring vegetable pasta with ricotta....

 Brad had some kind of pasta with ribs - which was absolutely amazing.  We said it reminded us of the wild boar pasta we had in Tuscany...

I could have spent hours in here, or I could really just go back to Italy.  A girl can dream, right?  There is also an Eataly in New York so if you are ever in either city I highly recommend trying it out especially if you are an italian food lover like I.

We stopped by the lego store to pick up a surprise for our little men back at home.

We even saw a lego mommy...

We went to Dylan's candy bar to pick up some goodies as well...

 We rented bikes and rode around on the beach and explored the city a little...

We also went on an architectural boat tour.  Brad was in heaven....

And of course we saw the bean at Millennium Park...

 We enjoyed long dinners and lunches without children to interrupt real adult conversation.

One night we decided to go to a comedy show at The Second City.  This comedy club has housed many famous comedians throughout the years such as Joan Rivers, Tina Fay, Mike Myers, and many more.  The show we watched was called #dateme - it was hilarious!

 We went to a rooftop bar one evening - it was really beautiful and had the most amazing mixed drinks.  And this is coming from someone who does not really love mixed drinks.

We stayed in a beautiful hotel and had a relaxing weekend.  We are so appreciative that we have grandparents who are willing to watch our little ones so that we can enjoy time alone every once in a while.