CHICAGO (Part III): Wrigley Field & Lake Michigan!

When we decided to take a road trip to Chicago, one of the first things we put on our list was Wrigley Field! If you haven't guessed by now, we are definitely a baseball-loving family!! Jordan grew up in a baseball family, and I grew up in a baseball family, and then we had FOUR BOYS...so yeah. Baseball is a pretty big part of our life. Haha! I love it.

We really wanted to go to a Cub's game, but couldn't squeeze it in this trip. But next time we go back, we are SO going to one!!

^^WRIGLEY^^

^^Just outside Wrigley Field! Such a cool place^^

^^My baseball-loving Boston!^^

^^I thought he would explode from excitement. He was in heaven!^^

After we wandered around the stadium for a bit, we hopped in the car and headed downtown to grab some lunch!

Okay, now if you know Utah food (where we're from), you know the goodness of Cafe Rio and Costa Vida mexican food. It's like, out of this WORLD good!! We seriously miss it sooooooo bad living closer to the East Coast. So when I was looking up things for our road trip and discovered that there was a Costa Vida in Chicago, I basically DIED of happiness.

You'd better believe that we trekked downtown (in the middle of business lunch hour) with our four crazy kiddos crammed into a double stroller, and paid $23 dollars to park for forty minutes so that we could hit up one of our favorite restaurants ever!!

THE SWEET PORK WAS SO WORTH IT.

^^So excited for Costa Vida!^^

^^HEAVEN^^

^^Brighton, eyeing the good stuff!^^

After lunch, we had big plans of more sight-seeing and going to museums, but it just wasn't working. Our kids just wanted to PLAY. They had been such troopers dealing with crazy crowds, being jammed in the car as we searched for parking spots...etc.

So Jordan said, "Let's scratch it. Let's go play at the beach instead!"

The kids were so excited they could not even handle it.

We found the perfect spot on the shore of Lake Michigan, and just soaked everything in while the kids played and ran and giggled...and it was perfect.

^^Pure joy!^^

^^I loved the contrast of digging in the sand at the beach, while looking at skyscrapers. Such a cool city.^^

^^Love this guy. Like SO much.^^

^^We were super classy and brought some extra Costa Vida tins to dig with. Haha!^^

^^Be still my heart.^^

^^Mad Brights.^^

The boys love taking turns getting buried in the sand. They giggled and squealed and got covered from head to toe...and it was pretty much the cutest.

Totally worth the insane amount of sand that we found for weeks and weeks afterwards!! Haha.

^^Trying to catch little tiny fish!^^

They loved the beach SO much... they wore themselves right out. (See next picture)

^^Naked and out.^^

^^Boston pointed to this building on our way back from the beach and yelled "Mom!! A giant FIDGET SPINNER!!"^^

After we had washed off alllllllll of the sand and rested at the hotel for a bit, we ventured out to find some dinner!

We were looking for a restaurant we had heard about, but ended up getting super lost. Which actually turned out perfect, because we found the cutest old-school diner with Chicago-style hot dogs! Such a happy accident. That's one of my favorite parts of exploring new places!

Also, they had the best lemon and chocolate cake of my LIFE. If you go to Chicago, go to Portillo's. (And send me a piece of that cake!!)

^^Jordan, about to dive in to a Chicago dog!^^

^^"Yook at my coin face!"--Camden^^

So yummy!
When we finally got back to the hotel, it was super late, and the kids crashed HARD. It was a fun day of sight-seeing and playing at the beach, and they were completely pooped.

The next day, it was time to head back home to Kentucky! We woke up early, binged on mini hostess donuts on the bed while watching Sponge Bob, and loaded up the car. Then on our way out of town, we taped some construction paper spots to our clothes, and hit up Chick-Fil-A for Cow Appreciation Day! We will basically do anything for free Chick-Fil-A. The BEST.

(To see tiny Boston and Camden cows, go here!)

^^MOO!^^

^^Love this little bean^^

And there you have it!! The last of the Chicago pics.

It was seriously SUCH a fun road trip, and I'm already itching to go somewhere new again. Any ideas of places we should hit??

Also, we're making a video of our Chicago weekend, and I'll post it on the blog asap! Can't wait for you to see it.

Thanks for hopping on my blog!!!