Chicago!

In early December, Andy and Julie took Todd, Lyla, Laura, and I to Chicago to visit Spencer and Sydney. It was so much fun! We loved seeing where they lived, seeing the sites in the city, and getting to know their ward.  We had such a great time and ate way too much food (two kinds of deep dish, lots of ice cream, the best pumpkin pancakes at Bongo Room, and Sprinkles cupcakes).

We also got to see A Christmas Carol at Goodman's Theater, shop at the coolest Macy's, see the American Girl Doll store, and visit the Shedd Aquarium. I never thought that I would want to go to Chicago in the winter, but I really loved going right before Christmas. It felt so festive to see all the decorations, and having a little cold felt like we were getting a little of the real Chicago experience--but on a very tame scale. Sydney and Spencer were the best tour guides, and we love that we can now picture their lives in Chicago! It was such an awesome trip, and it already has me pining to go again someday.

Us on Michigan Avenue!

We started the trip off right with a visit to Shake Shack

Did you know that there's a river through the city? I didn't!

It was so fun to share the trip with these two

Exploring the American Girl Doll store

Julie with Julie

It might be a good thing that we already got Lyla a doll for her birthday, or you better believe we would have walked out of there with a Bitty Baby

She had a blast playing with the babies

But Gwen is still her favorite baby

Our family at the American Girl Doll store

Lets be honest, this stop was for me, not Lyla

At Millenial Park by the Bean statue

Bean Selfie 

Laura Bean selfie

Family Bean selfie!

Julie was super patient while Syd and I tried on fancy dresses at Macy's. We were both seriously wishing we could go to prom again!

Lyla's favorite trip--playing with Gwen's binky

Sprinkles sampling

The two people who made it all happen! Love them!

Hot Chocolate the size of our face!

So long Chicago! Thanks Andy, Julie, Spencer, and Sydney for the best trip ever! It was definitely one of the highlights of 2014!