Chicago Fun

I actually wrote this post over two months ago, but failed to get the pictures uploaded until just recently.  But better late than never, I suppose - a post sharing our birthday trip for Maia up to Chicago just after New Year's....


At the end of this past week, we took our birthday experience/trip for Maia's first birthday.  Jackie and I decided that a trip up to Shedd's Aquarium in Chicago would be a neat trip, and something, based on Maia's fascination with the small aquarium at the doctor's office, that Maia would enjoy.  Initially, we thought we would just drive up for the day, but as we got closer and analyzed our and Maia's schedule, we thought that going up the night before made more sense.

"A hotel room, you say?"

So we ended up getting a great deal on a hotel just north of the Aquarium, and headed up on New Year's Day.  The timing of our drive worked perfectly - with Maia sleeping the majority of the drive, and us getting to Chicago before some bad weather arrived.  After settling into the hotel, we ventured outside and walked around a bit, enjoying what I like to call the "energy" of a big city.  Just near our hotel was a burger place, called Epic Burger, where we had dinner; and the burgers there were very, very good.  Afterward, essentially walked around the block and got some ice cream to take back to the hotel room.  Maia had rainbow sherbet for the first time, and I believe she came away a big fan.

As we settled in for the night, the weather became more of a concern, with the local forecasts calling for another 8 inches of snow via lake effect throughout the day on Thursday.  When we woke up the next morning, and the forecast hadn't changed, we decided that while we would still go to the Aquarium (as it was only a couple miles from our hotel), we would stay the extra night before driving back home.  With that decision made, we all enjoyed the deluxe continental breakfast buffet, with Maia eating more than she ever has for breakfast.  Then we headed out for the Aquarium.

And we had a small adventure getting there.  The drive down was fine, but we failed to realize how far the parking garage was from the entrance.  Also, as we were there right as they would be opening, I think they had failed to property clear all their walkways and driveways (for example, as we found out when we left, there was a drop off circle near the entrance, but we couldn't tell that when we arrived).  Anyway, on our walk over, we seemed to have timed it perfectly with a little lake effect squall, that made it difficult to see, among other things.  While this was not the best start to the experience, and while all of us were a bit stressed by the time we made it inside the entrance to Shedd's, its now just another part of a memorable trip.

Once inside, we got ourselves settled and calmed, and got our tickets (Jackie, with her teacher ID, and Maia were both free; so we paid $8 general admission for me, and $19 to park - makes sense).  In the general admission area, the Aquarium has a Caribbean Reef circular habitat, and it caught Maia's attention right away.  At that moment, all the worries and stress and "traumatizing" from the weather and the walk to the entrance vanished - the trip had become what we hoped it would be, something that would create a sense of awe and wonderment for Maia.  And the Aquarium did.  Outside of the circular habitat, Maia's attention was also grabbed by the sea horses, which appeared to just float effortlessly through the water.

The first glimpse at the circular habitat in the Aquarium.

Have to get a closer look.

Have to try and touch it.

Getting up close and personal.

Staring at the sea horses.

Following the Aquarium, we headed back to the hotel, and hunkered down as the snow kept falling.  While there was some challenges for Jackie and I trying to entertain a 1 year old in a hotel room (and trying to get said 1 year old to nap), Maia seemed to absolutely love the hotel, exploring every square inch of the place.

"I got a penguin at the aquarium and I can't stop
moving because this hotel room is awesome and
the penguin is awesome and...!!!"

But we managed Maia's energy, enjoyed a second helping from the continental breakfast buffet (where Maia again rocked it), and started the trip home in much better weather.  In the end, Maia's first birthday experience was what we wanted - an experience where she felt true wonder; but where we also made additional family memories due to the weather and hotel cabin fever.  Ultimately, that's what we want out of these birthday experiences, so we couldn't have asked for more.