Trip to Chicago

We took a quick overnight trip to Chicago this weekend. It was my friend Angela's birthday and she invited us all to come to her party. We thought we should take advantage of the fact that we live so close!

We drove up Friday after school and had pizza for dinner. There was a Giordano's right next to our hotel! Not quite as good as Malnati's, but it was still amazing. I think pizza is the official favorite food of the Newton family. For sure.

Side note: you might notice the little owie beside Norah's right eye. A few days ago she ran into a table at the public library. Literally ran into the corner of it. Screamed at the top of her lungs, multiple times. And being the rule-keeper that I am, all I could think about was that my child was screaming in the library and majorly breaking the number one rule of library etiquette. It was hard to tell at first how bad the injury actually was since the blood was mixed with her tears. It kind of made it look like there was a lot more blood than there really was. Thankfully, it was just a scratch and I got her calmed down and out of there before the library police came to arrest us for being too loud. :)

Back at the hotel ready to go swimming!

Our first stop on Saturday was the American Girl store on Michigan Ave. The last time the girls were at my parents' house, they got to play with mine and Sara's American Girl dolls. Anna has been slightly obsessed ever since. We thought it would be fun to take her here, but it kind of ended up being a non-stop repetitive explanation session about why she wasn't old enough to get one yet. Still fun to see, especially since when I was little there were only three dolls to choose from. Now you can even create your own!

I really wanted to get a picture to commemorate our visit, but by this time Anna was majorly grumpy because we wouldn't get her a doll and Norah was the only one willing to pose. But this is what she did. Right in the middle of the store. With other people waiting their turn to take a picture in this very spot.

Next stop: Apple Store. You can tell how excited the girls were about this. Actually, they love the Apple Store and could play on the computers for hours.

There was a lot more walking involved than we had realized. We were trying to "play the game" and not spend much money. So we dragged our kids all the way to Navy Pier. They perked up once we got there and ate lunch.

This fountain was across the street from Navy Pier. It was very fun to watch.

Instead of walking the many blocks back to our car, we decided to take a taxi. The girls were so excited. Anna has been wanting to ride in a taxi ever since we saw some at the Denver airport and explained to her what they were.

And the reason we came to Chicago in the first place...to celebrate Ang's birthday! Her parents had a cookout for her at their house. It was SO FUN to see Ang and her family and friends.

Happy Birthday, Ang! Thanks for inviting us to be a part of it. We can't wait to see you in Champaign sometime soon.