Weekend Recap

We had quite a busy weekend!  But I think every weekend lately is a busy weekend…

Friday night, W had Craft Night at his school.  I will admit that I was dreading this.  It had been a long, busy week and all I wanted to do was relax.  But W had expressed interest and any opportunity to expand his social skills is worth exploring.  We ran into W’s teachers and had a chance to say hi to them.  I swear, W’s teachers are ALWAYS at the school – they are so incredibly dedicated.  A few of W’s classmates said hello, which I thought was so cute.  The crafts were lots of fun (albeit messy) and the boys had such a great time.  I’m happy we went.

Saturday, we headed to Chicago.  I think I mentioned that we wanted to gift an “experience” instead of presents for W’s birthday.  We arrived at Navy Pier and grabbed lunch at Harry Caray’s restaurant.  After that, we headed to Winter Wonderfest.  My honest opinion: it was just ok and I wouldn’t do it again (but now we know).  The boys tried ice skating (emphasis on TRIED).  W made it around the rink – barely.  S made it about 3 feet.  Poor guy just couldn’t get the hang of it.  After we got off the ice, they both said they wanted to try again so I admire their perseverance.  There were lots of inflatable slides and rides to go on, but the lines were long and it was just really crowded.  We went down a few slides and went on the carousel and eventually decided to head out and go on the Ferris wheel.  Once we got outside, S declared he was scared and refused to go on.  W didn’t want to go on without all of us so none of us went.  I was disappointed – the Ferris wheel is the one thing I wanted to do at Navy Pier (and the ride was included in our ticket), but that’s the way things go with a toddler.  We grabbed a soft pretzel (W) and cupcake (S) and headed to our hotel.

The hotel/staff were really great.  The location was right off of Michigan Ave and the Christmas lights were so pretty.  We found a little Italian restaurant down the street for dinner.  I think S ended up wearing most of his spaghetti.  W got the cutest bunny shaped pizza.

We really wanted to go to Zoo Lights, but by the time dinner was done, it was already around 7:30pm.  Back to the hotel we went.  I always try to find a suite with a sleeper sofa if possible.  It works out great because the boys can go to bed early and A and I can have some downtime.  The boys loved the room and kept talking about how the hotel was their favorite part of the trip (I’m not really sure why – the did have their own bed, refrigerator, and tv so maybe that had something to do with it). 

Sunday, we walked to nearby Holy Name Cathedral for mass.  The boys repeatedly told me that being in the city and seeing the church reminded them of New York City – I love that they made that connection and will continue looking for opportunities to visit new places.

I’d really like to make this an annual tradition, but skip the Winter Wonderfest and instead let the boys swim in the hotel pool and visit Zoo Lights.