It's The Final Countdown...

I know you all are itching, just itching, for several more instlaments of "Windy City Wonders", but I am going to wrap up our last three days in one tidy bundle. One tidy bundle of 27 pictures and enough narrative to make you scream!

As yesterday's preview suggested, we did indeed wake up to about three inches of snow. Wet, heavy, Seattle type snow. However, we would not be deterred. We donned our warm coats, hats, and gloves and were out the door...
Our first stop was Mara's church. Now we Lovetts don't attend church on a regular basis...we are more your Easter Lily/Poinsettia crew, but if somehow we could magically transport Mara's church to our town I can guarantee we would be "getting to the church on time"! It isn't a big church and because of the weather there were maybe 20-25 people there, but it is a special church. The people were so warm and welcoming (there is a homeless shelter in the basement so it is a very service oriented congregation), the pastor was fabulous, and the music, oh the music. The piano player was AMAZING and the congregation can sing. There wasn't a choir, just the members in the pews, but oh can they make beautiful music. It brought tears to my eyes and goosebumps to my arms. The girls were also very into it. Annika paid attention for about 45 minutes and then quietly colored the rest of the time and Lena followed along word for word and participated when called for. I was so proud of them and thank Mara for sharing this experience with us.

After church we hit up the Whole Foods' (a really great grocery store) Sunday morning brunch. For $5 you got a huge, fantastically yummy breakfast. Hardly anyone was there...apparently they haven't gotten the word out because I would expect it to have been packed. We got to meet Mara and Mike's good friend Cianne and her cutie patootie little Carlo...

After brunch we hopped in the strollers and headed for The Bean. The Bean is a cool Chicago landmark in Millennium Park. Millennium Park is the sight of where all the people gathered for President Obama's acceptance speech. Along the way we encountered several other interesting sights...like these gigantic legs. They make a fun obstacle course...

The Bean is a huge shiny silver structure shaped like a bean. It is highly reflective and fun...especially when you reflect your booty...

Standing in front of The Bean. The image you see before you is actually the reflection of us standing in front of the city...

The girls underneath The Bean. The Bean was created to reflect all of Chicago's downtown buildings in one shot...

My two favorite girls and one of my favorite cities...

That night Mara and I decided to have a little "grown up" time. We hired a city (the sweet Claire...Mara's boss's daughter) and headed out to dinner. We happened upon a wine bar that was also playing BINGO. I love to play BINGO and apparently Mara is very good at it, because she won on her first game. Her prize? A wine guide and a bottle opener...SCORE...

I had to snap this picture of the Lena and Annika sleeping. The entire vacation they shared a bed and each night they looked so sweet all snuggled in together. They were actually lucky to share a bed because they got to sleep in a water bed while Mara and I got to sleep on "the rack". Perhaps some of you have slept on "the rack" before...a really, really uncomfortable hide-a-bed? We actually had to sleep sideways between the bars and the next two nights we took turns on the couch and in the love seat with the ottoman pushed up next to it. I miss my little sleeping partner, though. We would stay up talking and giggling past our bedtime...just like old times.

Our last day in the city brought chocolate, shopping, high heights, museuming and upside down pizza. The girls at the infamous Ethel's Chocolate Shop noshing on chocolate covered marshmallows topped with jelly beans. I think the wall quote is caption enough...

It was so nice and sunny that day that the girls had to shield their eyes from the strange bright object in the sky...

After the perfect combination of chocolate and shopping we headed to Navy Pier. Navy Pier is a 3,300 foot pier that juts out into Lake Michigan. It was built in 1916 and originally used for shipping and other boat related activities. However, today it is a tourist attraction that houses museums, a pavilion, an amusement park, shops, and restaurants.

Inside the Crystal Gardens. Who knew you could visit Florida via Illinois...

We came to Navy Pier to check out the children's museum, but as soon as Lena saw the 260 foot Ferris wheel she was all about going on. I tried to tell her that it was really high, but instead of backing down I just got a (rather sassy), "Mom, I have been on a Ferris wheel before. I am not afraid!" So we bravely stepped right up. However, her bravado wore off a bit as the car started to climb higher and higher. She was more about sticking close to my side, then peering over the edge.

At the top. Get it? "T" for top...

We made it to the top, the top, the top top top...

After our descent from the highest of heights we headed on inside. Fun house mirrors are funny...

Oh, I lied. One last outside picture. Walkin' the pier...

We finally arrived at the children's museum at 3:55pm. If we waited until 4pm the cost could only be $4 a person (down from $10) because they closed at 5pm. So we headed off for a bathroom break and when we came back to pay the lady at the register asked if there were any teachers, firefighters, or military personnel in our party. I said I was a military spouse and she sent us over to customer service because our entire party would be granted free admission. As I showed the woman at customer service my military id she searched and searched and tried to figure out what USPHS stood for. I told her it was the United States Public Health Service. She said, "Is that like the Army?" I said, "No (I didn't want to get into the whole entire history of PHS and explain that Jason didn't carry a gun like the Army and instead armed himself with a slide rule just to save $12) it is littler, like the Coast Guard (which totally doesn't make sense, but whatever)." She looked a little confused and said, "I'll just say it is the Army." Thank you Surgeon General of the United States of America...we had a fun free hour!!!

Driving the L train...

Our shady shadows...

Firefighter Lena and her trusty fire dog Annika...

Not quite Doc the horse from Nana and Papa's ranch, but pretty groovy...

A scary place to rest. Contrary to the image being captured on film, Annika is enjoying herself. The three musketeers were trying to mimic their bench mate's expression...

For dinner that night we tried out a pizza pot pie. Mara calls it the upside down pizza and it is interesting, but yummy. It is basically a pizza in a bowl (with the crust on top) and when they bring it to your table they flip it over onto your plate. It is very cheesy and the girls loved it...

An official member of the clean plate club...

Lena enjoying her very cheese pizza pot pie...

Boohoo....the time has come to go home. The girls didn't want to go (and neither did I), but of course we all missed Daddy (or if you asked Annika she only missed the cat and the fish). We wouldn't miss Chicago so much, we would (and do) miss Mara! However, we are keeping our fingers crossed that one day we will live somewhat close to each other...here's hoping.

One last picture with Mara. After I dried my eyes and composed myself we headed on into the airport. We had left plenty of time since we assumed it was going to be busy. However, it took us all of 10 minutes to get our bags checked and through security. Apparently at Chicago O'Hare if you have small children they open up a special gate and you get to go to the front of the entire security line...did that business traveler just glare at me??

Chillin' out, maxin' and relaxin'...waiting on the plane bound for home. Daddy here we come...

When landed in Seattle we decided to forgo the drive home to an empty house and slip into the city and surprise Jason at work. It extended our trip by a couple of hours, but it was well worth it to see his smiling face as the girls jumped into his lap. All in all it was a fantabulous spring break, one we'll remember always, and I can't wait for our next adventure!!