Weekend in the City

As far as my boys are concerned, Chicago is the best place on earth. 

Forget Disneyland.  Chicago has everything these boys seem to want.  Hot dogs, museums, fountains, popcorn, pizza, and Lake Michigan, the closest thing to the ocean they know.  When we say we are going to Chicago, the boys get very excited and there is (almost) not a single complaint the entire 4 hour drive.

Due to time constraints, this last trip was not going to include any museums, much to the consternation of Bug ("But Mom, the Field Museum has an exhibit about prehistoric mammals!")

We instead, spent the day walking around Chicago, showing my sister the must-see sites.

There was The Bean...

My boys must always act they they are being squished by everything, especially art.

There was Millennium Park...

There was Buckingham Fountain...

There was the the Chicago Theater sign...

There was the Main Street Bridge...

We ate hot dogs from street vendors.  We ate Garrett's Popcorn.  We ate amazing deep dish pizza.  And we walked about 8 miles that day.  Needless to say, the boys were a little exhausted by the end of the day.

So what better way to finish the weekend than by more walking.  This time through the lovely Chicago Botanical Gardens.  

These gardens were so beautiful, I had to restrain myself from taking a picture of every single flower.

The boys were finally rewarded by going where they wanted to go most...Lake Michigan.  They played in the always surprisingly clear water.  We collected sea glass along the beach.

We love living in our small town, but every now and then, even small town boys need a weekend in the city.