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| The Westin. Why can't everyone look straight ahead!? |
Hi all,
Today I'm going to move away from recipes and talk about our weekend in Chicago. With all the snow days we've been experiencing, it was nice to have this small trip. We were all suffering from cabin fever. Since Noah was going to be off for President's day, we figured it would be a good weekend to go out and stay at a hotel.
To give you a little back story, Noah loves staying at hotels. To say that he loves them would even be an understatement. His passion for hotels started after we visited Florida for the first time in 2017. I feel that he enjoyed hotels before that, but in 2017 he began to vocalize his true love. His new thing lately is to pass me the calendar and ask me if I can show him when we're going to the hotel next. Oh Noah, as if it were that easy. Makes me laugh every time.
We were going to be in Chicago for three days and two nights. I have kids who would find a way to get messy in an empty room.
My first toddler traveling tip is: Pack extra clothes!
Try and pack at least two extra outfits for the kids. Depending on the amount of time you will spend away from the hotel, I would even recommend packing an extra shirt in a backpack that you can carry with you. For us, our three-day trip consisted of 6 outfits for the kids. The nice thing about kids clothes is that they're generally small enough where they do not take up a lot of space. I can tell you that they used all the clothes I had packed them!
Now, I have a five-year-old and a two-year-old. While I love my kids to pieces, I know what will usually set them off into tantrum land — thus leading me to the next tip.
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| Pictured here is Noah and I. After he cried and said he didn't want to take a picture with me, then cried when we didn't take said picture. This is the result. |
Tip number two: Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
I don't want the fear of taking small kids anywhere to get in the way of traveling as a family. I want them to go out and create new memories that we can look back on. I also want them to develop a sense of adventure and grow up wanting to travel as much as they can. Growing up myself, we didn't do vacations or explore. I always knew that as an adult and later as a parent, I wanted to do what I could to be able to travel with the kids.
Before we even left home, I told myself that first and foremost this trip was a "get out of the house" trip. I had a general idea of where I wanted to go this weekend but not a set schedule. If you can do this, I highly encourage you to do so. Let's face it; tiny humans will throw a wrench in your plans. They won't want to spend all day walking; they will be hungry and tired at odd times. If you can keep this in mind and essentially have lower expectations, you will be surprised at how much fun you can have.
Once we finally hit the road, Devon decided we should make a quick stop at the outlets in Michigan City. If you're looking for name brand items at discounted prices, Lighthouse outlets in Michigan City is your place!
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| Here you'll see that the kids were full of love and affection. Needless to say, that did not last long. |
Toddler traveling tip number three: Snacks are your friend.
We had eaten breakfast later than usual, and at this point, the kids were tired, and hangry which leads to grouchy questions. Why is this thing closed? What is penny doing? Penny isn't listening (as he is also not listening). Is this Chicago? You said we were going to Chicago! Followed by the fake crying and grunting that Penny would occasionally throw in. We decided that it was time to go and continue our trip to Chicago. We gave the kids some chocolate to hold them off and soon they fell asleep.
Tip number four: Choose your hotel location wisely.
We had the pleasure of staying at The Westin Michigan Avenue. The location was ideal for shopping as it was close to all sorts of different stores. We didn't have a chance to visit the Willis Tower, but if that's on your list, it is right across the street from The Westin. I got a good deal through Priceline secret deals. It's a great way to get a four-star hotel for a lower price. The hotel is updated, with a Chicago theme decor in each room. The bathroom was my favorite part, with the light up mirror and the rain head shower. I wanted to have a location that would be easy and quick to get back to just in case. Most trips back to the hotel were under seven minutes and ideal the afternoon naps/quiet time.
Toddler traveling tip number five would be: Try to choose family friendly restaurants.
Our first restaurant stop in Chicago had to be Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. It is my favorite seafood restaurant. The appetizer we always choose is shrimper's net catch. You get a pot filled with peel and eat shrimp, and you can choose between garlic seasoning, cajun seasoning, or a mixture of both. We love the mix of both. Another great reason to visit Bubba Gump is that it's based on the movie Forrest Gump. I could watch that movie a million times and never get tired of it. The waiters/waitresses will come around and quiz you on trivia from the movie, which makes waiting for your food fun! Another exciting aspect is the sign system. On your table to you have a sign that says "run Forrest run" on one side and "stop Forrest stop" on the other. You use these to communicate with your waitress if you need anything. The food and service never disappoint us. We have a goal to visit all of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. that we can! So far we have gone to the one in Chicago, Florida, and Las Vegas. While we were waiting Noah felt it necessary to communicate via moans and crying. I knew that once he had some food in his belly, he'd ease up. Luckily the appetizer fed the four of us and we kept piling the shrimp on Noah's plate so he'd stop complaining. I mean so that he could get nourished. The entire restaurant is laid back and full of families. The waitress had us place the kid's food order before we put our drink order and would come by and try to engage the kids in conversation. I'm not saying you can't eat anywhere fancy. By all means, you know your kids best! I would try to have plenty of items to entertain the kids such as small toys, coloring/puzzle books, or even dare I say...tablets! When the kids are content, as parents we are more likely to relax and enjoy some warm food as well.
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| This picture was mid Noah breakdown. Luckily they serve alcohol. |
For another exciting family friendly restaurant we picked Rain Forest Cafe. Parents can enjoy a conversation while the kids marvel at all the animals around them. Noah and Penny would stop whatever they were doing as soon as the animals would move and make noise. They found it fascinating. We would try and point out the different animals and see if the kids could name them. The food here is also delicious. As always, the seafood lover in me ordered salmon with shrimp while Devon chose the steak, shrimp, and ribs plate. While we were there, we were approached by a person who creates balloon animals. He did not charge but did accept tips. Luckily we had some cash on us. How many of you out there still carry cash with you? We honestly usually do not, but when we're on vacation, we try to have some cash.
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| Yes, even the best of us let our kids have phones while waiting for dinner. Shocker. |
I want to point out that on Sunday we had breakfast at the famous Yolk. I have heard raving reviews on this place. I also heard that the wait times on the weekends could be long. I was a little nervous to go somewhere new with the kids while possibly having a long wait time, but referring myself to tip two I decided what the heck let's do it. After having breakfast there, I can see what the fascination is about. They have out of the box breakfast meals. I decided to try the Yolk all-star combo with very berry french toast. You guys! As I basked in the glory that was french toast with house made greek yogurt, fresh berries, almond granola and a drizzle of honey, I can't see myself eating french toast any other way. I'm a die-hard pancake lover, but the french toast may have been enough to make me switch sides. If you're looking for me this weekend, I may be at home trying to concoct a replica that will hold me off until my next visit to Yolk. Devon chose the works omelet with cheesy grits. After seeing his five egg omelet get placed in front of him, I can safely say that you won't leave hungry.
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| Food is the way to Penny's heart. |
Last tip for you all: Remember to have fun, you're on vacation after all.
Shedd Aquarium was our intended stop for the kids. I mean, we were both pretty excited to go too, but it was mostly for the kids. I wanted to choose a stop that would allow them to play and move around; something that would captivate their attention but not feel forced. Shedd's has multiple exhibits, and their favorite part was being able to touch the starfish. For those of you with little ones, they will enjoy a visit here. Most of the time we find ourselves telling them no, don't touch, don't get too close, etc. This trip was perfect for their curious minds. There are also 4D shows that you can add to your ticket. We chose the Splash and Bubbles. Noah is usually a little hesitant when attending 4D shows, but he was able to laugh and sing along to this one.
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| Shedd Aquarium |
The Wright's have a major sweet tooth. I'll be the first to admit after loving seafood; dessert is almost always on the menu for us. I had been dying to try two different "snack" locations — the first being Bombo Bar. Yes, the ever popular, Instagram worthy hot chocolate spot that makes me drool a little thinking about it. I had my eye on the love monster. Now, Bombo is an Italian hole-less donut which is their signature item. The love monster is hot chocolate with a red velvet marshmallow, sprinkles, a heart cookie, cotton candy (yes I said cotton candy) and a mini Bombo. Perfection has never presented itself in front of me in the form of a hot chocolate drink. If there is only one thing you try in Chicago, I highly encourage, stress, plead, cry, that you try Bombo Bar. On a side note, while at Bombo bar, Noah was not too happy. It seemed like a reoccurring theme this weekend. At this point, I've learned to either ignore him or ask him questions that are straight to the point. All the walking, excitement, minimized sleep, and sleeping in a new surrounding seemed to be sensory overload for Noah. Surprisingly Penny did great this weekend. And so with two kids, I find that usually, one will do better than the other. Having both kids be content at the same time would be blasphemy. Most of the time the grouchy feelings will subside, and they get over things a lot quicker than we do. Therefore, taking his grouchiness personal will cause us to be grumpy a lot longer than he would. To that, I say, "whatever Noah, you'll get over it."
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| The Love Monster at Bombo Bar |
On our way out we stopped at Sprinkles. They feature a cupcake ATM outside of their store. I was thrilled to be able to have time to stop there. Cupcakes to me are sunshine that fit in the palm of your hand. They have locations all over and if you get the pleasure of running across one of their cupcake ATM's, do yourself a favor and stop by! The sprinkle cupcake I ate was excellent. Devon enjoyed the peanut butter chip. He felt that if someone loves Reese's peanut butter cups, it's vital that they try this. I would agree.
For those of you who stuck around to the end of this post, I can't thank you enough. If you have any comments, questions, or more topics you'd love for me to cover, feel free to leave a note for me at the bottom!
With love,
Carolina
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