Anniversary Trip to Chicago

It's kind of crazy to think that Steve and I have already been married for 5 years! Isn't that nuts? It seems like the time has flown by but at the same time it seems like we've always been married. Kinda crazy how life is like that.

Anyway, we haven't celebrated our anniversary really at all for the past few years due to not having any extra money. But this year, we decided we really should celebrate. Steve and I have been through SO much over the past 5 years and it's been really stressful lately with moving and everything so it was really great to reconnect.

We decided to take a weekend trip to Chicago. Neither of us have really explored the downtown Chicago area and done the touristy things around there. I know I've been there when I was a kid, but not lately. We also decided to take a trip to Ikea to see if they had any furniture for our new house. Steve's parents watched the boys and we are SO grateful.

So we set off on a Friday morning and drove through. My fabulous sister in law found us a Groupon for the ACME Hotel. Which was so perfect for this trip. They were super nice and it was in a great location for everything we wanted to do. We would definitely go back to that hotel.

Coming into downtown.

On the first night when we got there we checked into the hotel and changed clothes and went to a really nice dinner. My friend Jenn has a sister that lives in Chicago not too far from where we stayed so she asked her for some recommendations. This restaurant was one of them, Coppervine. It turned out she had great recommendations because this place was awesome!! It had a really neat concept of tapas with different pairings. So each plate had a suggested wine, beer and cocktail to go along with it. We went with it and tried a bunch of different drinks. It was super yummy!

Steve is eating a baby octopus. Gross

After dinner we went to see the Blue Man Group at the Briar Street Theater. Neither of us had ever seen them before and we both heard it was really neat. They did not disappoint. We didn't get any real good pictures while we were there but this is us after the show.

Selfie!

After that we went out to a couple bars near our hotel. We were out pretty late, go us!

The next morning we went to the Shedd Aquarium. It was only 2.5 miles from our hotel so we took a cab there. It was like a 7 minute cab ride ha ha.

Isn't this so cool?

The Shedd Aquarium was SO neat. We both loved it. It was pricey to get in but I think it was well worth it. They had several different areas with different exhibits. My favorite was the underwater tank with all the big sharks and fish that you can see swimming above you.

Big Shark!

Sorry for the bad picture but isn't this a huge tank of gigantic sharks!!?!

A close second favorite would be the jellyfish exhibit. That was so cool to see all the different kinds of jellyfish and learn about them.

They had a lot of neat exhibits and we spent a long time exploring and watching the shows.

Touching the starfish.

It turned out to be such a beautiful day and we were in a really pretty part of Chicago so we decided to walk to a pizza place for lunch. We ended up at Lou Malnati's and OMG it was delicious.

We had brushetta for an appetizer, which was excellent.

Yum

Then we got the classic deep dish pizza. I think it had sausage or something in it. I think this was a quarter of a small? lol

so good

After lunch, we decided to just walk the rest of the way back to the hotel. It was really cool walking though Chicago like that on such a pretty day. We went by a HUGE Target in downtown Chicago. It was 3 stories! Glorious. ha ha! When we got back to the hotel we were pretty tired so we took a nap.

We woke up and decided to go walk Michigan Ave and look around. Our hotel was literally 2 blocks from the Magnificent Mile so that was really fun. We walked through a lot of stores but the only thing we bought was some Disney stuff for the boys. Go figure. Oh and I got a skirt!

After that we went back to the hotel and changed. We had made late dinner reservations(9pm!) at another of Jenn's sister's recommendations, Hub 51. This place was within walking distance from our hotel so we just booked it. We walked a LOT that day. I have blisters still.

Don't we look good?

Hub 51 was awesome. They had a lot of different wines and beers. They have a Hub punch on draft which was delicious. They had such an interesting menu, there was tacos, burgers, pasta, fish really you name it and they pretty much had it. I had read on Yelp that their pulled pork nachos were really good so we ordered those first. OMG so delicious. They were huge though!

Best guacamole I've ever had for sure.

We were pretty stuffed after that so we decided to split an entree and I let Steve choose. I think he picked pork shoulder with apricots or something? All I heard was garlic mashed potatoes and I was in. I dunno but it was excellent.

I really enjoy that about Steve. He usually picks the weirdest thing on the menu and almost never picks things he's already had. I used to be the order the same thing every time kinda gal, but because of him I'm branching out a lot and really liking a lot of new things!

We tried to walk to a few clubs that we had recommended to us, but there was a long line to get in. We were both stuffed and pretty tired from our busy day so we just went back to the hotel.

The next day we checked out of the hotel and headed to the motherland, I mean IKEA. I had never been to Ikea before, which is crazy. I have heard great things about their furniture and we need quite a few things for our new house so we went to check it out.

Well Ikea did not disappoint. There were so many neat things there, we wanted to buy everything. The store is HUGE too. Like ridiculously huge. We spent 3 hours shopping there and I could have stayed way longer. We had to stop for lunch and refuel in the middle.

Tried their famous meatballs.

We ended up getting quite a few things. We got so much that our car was FULL. I mean this is a lot of stuff!

So many boxes.

A lot of people have asked me what we got so I'll link it for ya. We ended up getting ourselves a bed, a bunk bed for the boys (Steve has been talking about wanting to have bunk beds for them forever, he was so excited), a dresser for Steven, some shelving for the toys/playroom, and I got quite a few picture frames, some toys for the boys, spice racks I'm going to use as book shelves, a magnetic knife rack and I'm sure a few other things I forgot! I can't wait for the Ikea to open in St. Louis next year!!

After that we headed home. We had a GREAT trip. We did a lot of fun things together and it was so nice to reconnect as a couple. We got to talk about a million things which we never get to do usually because there area always little ears around and when they go to bed we are usually both beat too! It was really a super great trip and we both really liked the city and want to go back soon!

Steven at 3 Years

Steven, you are turning three this weekend. But it feels like you should be turning 4 or 5! You have always been more mature than your age developmentally and also you have always looked older. It sort of feels like you've been 3 for a while now. Sometimes I think you might be a teenager! You act so old and big.

So proud of his school work.

You are really wanting to do a lot of things by yourself these days and you can do so much! You can get dressed by yourself, you can even put on your slip on shoes. Sometimes you put them on the wrong feet but you are quick ot fix it. You go to the bathroom all by yourself sometimes. I will walk by and you'll be coming out pulling up your pants, toilet flushed and everything correct. You are getting so good at cleaning up your toys by yourself. You even take your plate to the sink after dinner. Recently you figured out how to turn on the TV, turn on Netflix and even how to put in and take out a DVD! It's crazy!

On the other hand you have a temper! You run from emotional highs and lows very quickly, which I think is really normal for your age. The smallest thing can set you off into a temper tantrum with screaming and crying. Sometimes when you get determined to have something your way you can be SO stubborn! For instance if you want mommy to put on your shoes and I won't (because I know you can do it by yourself) you will cry and scream and be so determined to win that fight! You are persistant for sure!

Vegging out.

You have a really sweet side to your personality as well. You will do sweet things for other kids like give them their coat if they forget or comfort them if they are crying. You get really concerned when other kids are upset and that is so sweet. You will cuddle with me and give me spontaneous kisses and hugs. I love it! You get sick of mommy always attacking you with kisses though and I can see my baby boy growing up in that way.

3 years old!

As you can see, you have many sides to your personality. You are equal parts rough and tumble and sensitive and sweet. You love to climb, jump and run and be silly. You also love to sit and play with my jewlery or makeup for pretend. Your favorites right now are Spiderman and My Little Pony. I love that you are diverse in your interests and I am just encouraging you to explore everything right now.

My boy. 

Steven, you have developed into such an amazing big brother. You LOVE Logan and it is so sweet to watch you develop a relationship with him. You want to be around him all the time now. You love to help us hold his feed him or go get a bottle or blanket. You will go get his pacifier all on your own when he is crying. You share your toys with him and give him kisses in the morning and kisses goodbye. When we bring him to your daycare to pick you up and the other kids swarm him, you will protect him. It is so sweet.

Brotherly love.

You love to make your brother laugh and you will be silly to get him to laugh. You are so proud of yourself whenever he does. You are just the best big brother to him already and I know you two will only get closer as he gets bigger and is able to play with you more.

Two goofballs in the morning.

Three years old already, Steven, and you are an incredible kid. You have so many different facets to your personality as well as being incredibly smart and mature for your age. You always keep mommy and daddy on their toes. You are developing into an amazing big brother and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us all!