Chicago Day 4

I leave on my new vacation tomorrow so I needed to finish this one today.

 

Our last day was spent at two museums.

The Shedd Aquarium and The Field

Which was nice since this was the day that super hot and humid.

Tori and I loved this day since we are museum junkies and loved every minute of it.

Before we went to the the Shedd we checked out the entire skyline of Chicago.

So pretty!!

The Shedd was awesome and for $8 it was cool

We didn't see everything cause it was a bit pricey and plus we wanted to spend our time at the Field but we saw a bunch of fish.

The Field was da bomb!

We were there for 3 or 4 hours and didn't see half of it.

I need to go back.

But we saw a real mummified lady, Sue the T-Rex, weird mammals, early American artifacts, and we "shrank" down to the size of a bug and roamed around underground.

 



They had an exhibit at the aquarium featuring jellyfish but that was more and this was all we saw.

Smiling Fish

We weren't sure if this frog was alive cause it was so pretty and still, but we saw it breathing

This "Sue"
She is the most completed T-Rex at 90%
She was AWESOME!

Giant totem poles

Tori was in her element in the dinosaur exhibit

The 2 signs that are featured in this picture we couldn't take pictures of but they were pretty cool.

Waiting for our plane watching 'Adventures in Babysitting'

My pano of the skyline

I loved this trip!

I got to spend it with some amazing people and experience new things.

I recommend everyone to go.

So much history and beauty, it was lovely.

 

 

Gratitude Rocks!!!

 - Elder Bednar, my many "ah-ha" moments the night he spoke to us, hot dogs, disney songs, that some friends finally got the experience of NYC.

Chicago Day 3

I need to finish this trip before my next one in 11 days!!

 

Day 3 started off with us going to visit the Chicago Temple

Very beautiful temple that is surrounded by beautiful greenery.

We walked around a bit, enjoyed the peaceful feeling that is there

 and of course Dave snapped a ton of pictures.

 

After the serene place of the temple we went to the chaotic place of Wrigley Field

Cubs fans are out-of-this-world!

They are a whole other breed that I was completely entertained the whole time

I'm not really a fan of baseball but Ryan is a Cubs fan so that is one thing he wanted to do.

And bonus, they were playing the Dbacks. Go figure!

And we, meaning the dbacks, lost.

During the game there were these 3 guys sitting in front of us that were playing a betting game. Dave and I were trying to figure it out and once we think we got it they would do something completely off that we were lost once again. We never saw who ended up with the money but I guess it didn't matter.

It did rain during the game but not enough for them to call if off. And luckily we were under the "roof" so we didn't get wet but that didn't last long. It was pouring by the time the game ended that we were soaked yet again.

The infamous sign

This just goes to show how crazy these people are.
They need more seating that they added bleachers to the top of buildings outside of the stadium.

Goes to show that we were at the very top of the stadium

Look at us :)

After the game we headed up back into the city to do more sight seeing

 and eat the famous Chicago style hot dog.

We parked at Navy Pier since that is where were going to end our day.

They have fireworks there during the summer so we couldn't miss out on that.

We finally got to see Cloud Gate aka the bean.

It was seriously so neat that we were there for a good hour taking pictures.

We are seriously such nerds.

 

The front of Navy Pier

These hot dogs were so good!
In fact that sounds good right now.

Finally riding the 'L' red line

Anyone seen 'Adventures in Babysitting' and recognize this building?

The Bean!

Those are fingerprints all over it! That's why it's so dirty

I love this picture for the fact that the skyline is in the picture even though we are facing it.

Beautiful skyline at night

Us waiting for the fireworks at Navy Pier

 While we were waiting for the fireworks we found out that Ryan has never been on ferris wheel!

We found that a bit outrageous and luckily there is a ferris wheel at the pier so we bought our tickets and waited in line like we were at Disneyland. 40 min wait!

I say it didn't count as it was a caged ferris wheel. So in my opinion he needs to go on a legit carnival ferris wheel.

Afterwards we just headed home as we knew we had to wake up early for our last day before flying out that day and we had a jam pack  day!

Ryan and Tori

Dave and Yours Truly

This picture is the last of collages and it does include some pictures from our last day

 Gratitude Rocks!!!
 - My trials, this amazing monsoon season, my amazing counselors that I get to serve with, the blessing of tithing, Mexican food (I can't get enough of it right now)

Chicago Day 2

Day 2 started with us taking the metra into the city.

The homes in the Chicago area are something else.

Every house is different and beautiful with luscious greenery surrounding it.

Seriously I wanted one.

 

We got into the city and went straight to the Willis Tower. Popularly known as the Sears Tower and soon to be called the United Tower.

And yes we went to the top.

Money well spent and recommended for those who go to Chicago.

And bonus, they had a plexy glass ledge that you can walk out on.

I loved it since heights don't bother me at all but Tori on the other hand had a little hard time walking out onto it.

It was quite memorable :)

The views were amazing and they say on a clear day you can see other states!

Waiting in line to purchase tickets

That's how high up we were

All the views were pretty but this was my fav

Us standing over the city

This was a replica made out of Legos!

Afterwards we were hungry and knew we had to have the famous Chicago stuffed pizza.

Words honestly can't express how amazing it was!

Basically you have the crust that is FILLED with cheese and the "toppings" are stuffed into the cheese then topped with the sauce. YUMMY!

I am a huge lover of cheese and it satisfied me like none other.

Giordano's...go there! You won't be disappointed.

 

While we waited Dave and I went outside to snap a few pics

Deliciousness right there!

I could have stood on my chair and stretched it further

After lunch we headed to the park to see the famous bean sculpture.

Alas it started to rain then that turned into pouring.

Lightening and thunder surrounded us.

Got to the bean and we couldn't go near it because of the storm so we stood under a tree for about 15 minutes and then decided to run for actual shelter in this underground bathroom tunnel thing. We were there for quite a while just waiting the storm out.

Took out a chunk of our day but hey, what is a vacation without some mishap.

 

Soaking wet in the tunnel

Once it stopped raining we headed to the river to take the architecture tour.

Which by the way was my favorite part of the trip.

So fascinating and educational.

Well maybe not now cause I don't really remember the stories of the buildings but still.

Homes on the river are super expensive, I remember that.

Once the tour was over it started to rain again!

At that point we didn't care much and just went ahead with our activities.

 

From the tour

We went down to Navy Pier to check it out.
Kinda cool with rides and restaurants and tons of shops.
We would be heading back here on day 3 to eat and watch the fireworks that they have twice a week during the summer.

A quick shot from Navy Pier

from the pier

We walked back into the city to catch the last train ride home.

Before we got to the station we headed to the famous Chicago sign.

The city is very different at night. Not as many people and it was a bit creepy with the deserted streets and sketchy people. Kinda reminded me of 'Adventures in Babysitting' when they are out and about.

Here is the other collage that Dave made from our second day

Gratitude Rocks!!
- reading D&C, a bathroom that right now doesn't exist (more on that when the fiasco is done), peaches, funny moments with Ollie, moments with all my grandparents