Whirlwind tour of the Windy City...

We started the day by taking the "L" into the city.  (First we tucked slips of paper in all the kids' pockets with our phone numbers and other information on them in case we got separated. Yeah, I'm just a little paranoid!)

MaKenzie chattered non-stop on the train ride.  Well, when does she NOT chatter non-stop?  She was having fun with all the new sights and sounds of the train.  When we told Jared we'd be riding the train, he was expecting more of a "Thomas the Train" type train, so he was a little less than impressed.

Here we are deciding what we're going to do first.  William decides to cast his vote as to whether one should roll under or over.  It's OVER, for the record.

We visited Millenium Park.  You'll notice that Matthew's not here.  He stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.  Feels funny for him not to be with us, but I'm sure he's having lots more fun there than here.  I miss him, though.

We were told by some transplanted Chicagoans that we should be sure to visit the "Bean"--so we did and here we are.  It's just a great big reflective bean-shaped sculpture. 

We had fun playing with our reflections in the Bean.  Here's a pic of us girls.  I'm the one with the big forehead!  :)  I decided to simplify my life this morning and chose to NOT fight the Chicago wind and I just pulled it all back. 

 

This was an interesting piece.  It was a glass-bricked wall with lighting and imaging within.  The face would change from time to time.  Lena is standing at the bottom, just for reference to let you see how tall it was.

 

 Having a wheelchair has changed Jared's life.  It's given him so much independence.  It was so fun today to watch him see a pigeon and actually chase it!  Without asking or commenting, he wheeled away after it--under HIS OWN power.  I love that he's able to pursue his own interests in his chair.  So, I just followed him to see if he'd "catch" it.

 That moment of happiness that he was able to pursue his own interests, was followed by a bit of a downer, though.  As we watched the people ice skating, he turned to me and said, "Mommy, I want to ice skate."  For a minute I was tempted to wheel him right out there and give him a spin around the ice.  Doggone it, he SHOULD be able to ice skate.  He SHOULD be able to do what all the other kids can do.  Most of the time, I do just fine with the knowledge that some of my kids have their limitations, but other times, my heart hurts for them and I have to have a quick little pity party. 

 Window washers scaling the side of a skyscraper.  Doesn't look like such a big deal until you look at the next picture.

 We decided to eat at Gino's East.  It turned out to be a great choice.  We all oohed and ahhed over every bite.

 Gino's had a fun atmosphere, lots of graffiti everywhere.  I helped Jared use his red crayon to leave his name on the wall near our table.

 Harold dubbed this "the best pizza he's ever eaten."  Must be good, huh?

 Cody thought so!  Check out that cheese!  Mmm-mmm good!

After eating, it was back to the train station and back to the hotel where several of us took a nice nap.  Heading home tomorrow!