Keeping Up With...Family (Chicago)

Last weekend we went on our second vacation of the summer, a quick long weekend trip to Chicago.  We left Friday afternoon after I taught and Adrian worked a half day.  We were pretty tired, but the ride went pretty well.  The boys travel pretty well, only Zak had a breakdown because he was so tired and didn't want to sleep.

Finally arriving!

By the time we got there and got settled Fri night, it was time for bed.  We got up early Saturday morning and headed to Six Flags Great America.  We were lucky to be able to stay with friends, Kenny & Christian and all of us are Six Flags season pass holders.  We got on the road a little later than we wanted and knew we were in trouble when we hit traffic on the highway to get into the park.

The park was beautiful and I really liked the themeing the layout.  However it was VERY crowded.  We did our best and rode as many rides as we possibly could.  We were very thankful for the parent swap, we both got to ride a few of the bigger coasters with the boys and they got to ride them twice in a row without waiting in line.  AJ and Daniel did their first upside down roller coaster and loved it!  And Zak got to ride his first (two) roller coasters.  So thankful all the boys like rides!!

Zak's first coaster, but first let me take a selfie!

In line for their first upside down ride

Sunday we decided to relax a little and Daniel and I slept in until almost 9:00.  This probably wasn't the right decision, but it was a nice one.  When we were finally ready, we headed out to go to the beach on Lake Michigan.  We couldn't find a parking spot anywhere!  We drove around for almost an hour before Adrian dropped off me, Daniel and Zak.  The three of us had a blast in the water while Adrian and AJ drove around more and finally found a spot.  AJ had fun hanging out with Dad and walking around to come find us.

After some time in the water and some rain we headed over to the harbor to meet up with Kenny and a few other friends to go out on Kenny's boat.  We had a blast out on the lake, then boating down the Chicago river.  It was so fun to see the city from that perspective.  And Kenny was extremely crazy brave and let all of the boys drive the boat.  It was a great day, even though we got some more rain while we were out there.

AJ & Daniel are ready to go!

Me & Adrian on the boat

We're on a boat!  With an adult beverage!

Daniel driving the boat

Captain AJ while Dad drives

Zak checking out Chicago

Monday morning was another early morning as Kenny and Christian had to head out to work and we wanted to hit the Lego Discovery Center before heading home.  We hit the road around 8:30 and got to the Lego Center around 9:15.  The website said it opened at 10, so we were just walking around wasting time until we noticed people were going inside.  We walked over and they told us they changed the hours that weekend and opened at 9:00.  Score!

The boys ready to play!

The Discovery Center was pretty cool, although I am very glad we had all the other things to do in Chicago for the weekend and didn't just drive up for this.  The boys enjoyed seeing all the models, building with the Legos and riding the rides.  We also did a factory tour and watched a 4D movie.  We were there for about 3 hours, just enough time.  It also was getting more crowded and things were starting to have long waits.  We grabbed some burgers and fries for lunch and hit the road.

With Lego Batman

The ride home was awful.  We were all tired and cranky.  Thankfully Daniel and Zak grabbed quick naps while we drove.  We got stuck in a ton of traffic due to bad weather, accidents and missing the loop around Indianapolis and didn't get home until after 10:00.  We were due for a bad road trip and are hoping it's out of our system before our 2 day drives to and from Florida in a few weeks!

All in all it was an amazing weekend!!  We are so thankful to Kenny and Christian for opening their home and boat to us, including our crazy 2 year old!  We will definitely be back soon!!