Chicago with the 'Mates

 I finally got all the pictures gathered from our trip to Chicago so I can now post about our trip to the Windy City.  It was just about the funnest time ever!  We flew out Wednesday after work (Tricia and Olivia on an earlier flight than me because work paid for my flight...woop woop!).  We stayed at a hotel near Midway Airport because we got a killer deal thanks to our dear friend's (Haley Smedley) dad.  We slept in a little Thursday morning, and then it was off to the big city!  First stop....The Bean!!

 

Yes we are pretending we are on a ride at Disneyland and yes we are all wearing the same shoes!

I had been to Chicago twice before and had never seen the Bean.  It's so rad!

 Next stop...The Art Institute of Chicago...

A little pointillism by Seurat...LOVE this!  Ferris Bueller where you at?

A little Van Gogh

Some American Gothic...is it me or does the man look like Pres. Eyring?  Just sayin'!  And I think I nailed the facial expression!

A little Picasso

Loved these stained glass windows...

Pretty sure Angel Moroni made an appearance!

Museums can be exhausting and confusing!  We got lost a time or two!

Special thanks to the fellow BYU fan who took this picture for us and didn't get the whole sign in (see pic below).  There were Coug fans all over Chicago for the Notre Dame game.

Love hitting the highlights of a great museum in less than 2 hours.  Done and done!

 Next stop...Lou Malnati's for lunch....yummmmm!

Stuffed spinach bread?  Don't mind if we do!

Now that is a Chicago style pie!

 

 

You will begin to notice a general theme to the rest of the trip...FOOD!  We did not scrimp on feeding our faces with delicious Chicago eats!

Nothing better than some chocolate to back up the delicious pizza!

Next stop...The John Hancock Observatory...

Sears Tower in the background there.

 

Next stop...The Magnificent Mile for some window shopping...

Always love the Lego store!

Olivia with Lego Olivia

So smokin' hot in these mini skirts!

 Next stop...Portillo's for dinner...

On the way to dinner, I had to stop by RPM Italian to try and see Giuliana and Bill Rancic.  No such luck!  They were probably at home with their new baby.  This restaurant was completely booked for the entire time we were there otherwise, we would have eaten there.  Love G&B!

 

Now that is a Chicago style hot dog!  Peppers, pickle, NO ketchup.  Ketchup is forbidden on a Chicago style dog we learned.  Makes me sad, but it was still delicious!  Notice Olivia's bling...she got engaged a few days before we left on our trip.  Hurray for marriage!!

Chocolate cake shake...yummmmmmm!

 Next stop....hotel and sleep!

We popped out of the "L" to change trains and stumbled upon this Chicago landmark in the theater district.  Love it!

We talked ourselves into hitting the gym at the hotel for a little run.  Olivia and I had a race coming up the next weekend...had to at least get a couple miles on these legs!

Day #2 in Chicago started off with a fail.  We headed up to Wrigley Field to do the 10am tour but it was sold out.  Booooo!  So we grabbed tickets for the 4pm tour and headed down to Museum Campus for some more fun! First stop...The Field Museum...

This was hilarious...the cycle of a tree growing an apple, the apple falling and biodegrading, a mole eating the apple nutrients, pooping and nourishing the soil for the tree to grow more apples.  The magnifying glass is highlighting the pooping.  I probably spun that wheel around 6 or 7 time watching the whole cycle and laughing.  Awesome!  Love poop!

So profound, FDR!  This whole first exhibit was about soil and underground stuff.

This is Sue, the most complete T-Rex skeleton on earth!

T channeling her inner Katniss in the Latin America exhibit...nailed it!

A Mayan calendar.

Me channeling my inner Shaman...nailed it!

O channeling her inner totem pole...nailed it!

A little buffalo butt tap never hurt anyone!

Walk like an Egyptian and yes, that little black head in the bottom left corner is a mummy.  Rest in peace old Egyptian dead person.  So creepy!

 Next stop...The Shedd Aquarium...

Jelly exhibit

Waiting for our 4-D Planet Earth movie.

The aquarium was insanely busy.  I've never seen so many school groups in my life!  It put quite a damper on our experience.  We couldn't wait to leave.
Next stop...Buckingham Fountain...

This is the face you make when you get to the fountain and it isn't turned on.  Lame!

This is the other face you make.

And this is what you do when the fountain is not turned on.

 Next stop...Wrigley Field...

In the dugout.

That sorry pitcher has got to go!

They were replacing the field so that was kind of a bummer, but there are bleachers on top of the houses around the park.  So crazy!  They told us that the lady with the Miller Lite billboard on top of her house makes $1 million a year just for having that billboard up there.  What?!?

The Wrigley Field tour was one of my most favorite things we did.  It was so awesome to learn all about the history of the park and all the cool things that have happened there.

Next stop...Sears Tower (now called the Willis Tower, but it will always be the Sears Tower to me)...

Such an amazing view!

They have this thing called the Skydeck Ledge which is basically a plexiglass booth that you can stand in on the outside of the building.  You feel like you are standing in the middle of the air.  So awesome!

T is scared of heights.  It took some coercing to get her out there.

Way more terrifying to lay out on the ledge than to stand.  Don't know why.  Can you see fear in our eyes?

Handstand on the Ledge...yep!

We paid top dollar for this picture that they took for us there.  It was too awesome to pass up!

103 stories high!

Some fun in the Sears Tower gift shop...Honest Abe

Civil War reenactment!

 Next stop...Giordano's...

This experience was nearly ruined by a group of guys who followed us from the Sears Tower to this restaurant and kept shouting things at us and then wanted us to join them for dinner.  Ummm...excuse me you nasties?  I don't think so!  Luckily, my friend James came down from Madison, WI and met us here for dinner so it wasn't just the three of us alone!

We definitely adopted this commandment during our time in Chicago!

 

 

Between Giordano's and Lou Malnati's, we came to a consensus that Giordano's was the better Chicago style pizza.

Every single establishment in Chicago has a revolving door, and this is how we maneuvered every one of them...all in one slot.  Love these girls!

Some Giordano's apple pie to go...consumed back at the hotel.  What a great day!

 Our time in Chicago was so fun!  It was all in preparation for the BYU vs. Notre Dame game the next day.