Vacation with Babies: Day 4

We had grand plans for the final day in Chicago. We only had until about 11am, but wanted to squeeze in a quick swim in the indoor hotel pool and a shopping trip to the HUGE Macy's to see if we could find me a "Chicago" t-shirt. Oddly enough we didn't see any shirts like that on sale anywhere else, so we thought Macy's might have some. We stopped into the Macy's on Day 1 to pick up our Go Chicago cards, and made a mental note to come back. It's 9 stories tall [I think that's right....] and a whole city block big, and filled with gorgeous architectural details. This is a picture Keith took inside of Macy's that day.

See all the floors of shopping just waiting to be done?? The interior of the building has Corinthian pillars (no, I did not learn that on the Architectural cruise, that pure genius is all me) that were begging to be photographed. Yet another reason to return. So we set off for the 1.4 mile walk to Macy's only to get there and realize that it only opens at 10am. It was 9am at the time, and according to the Ellerman Day 4 Travel Agenda we had to be back at the hotel by 10:15 to start heading to the airport. Boo! So no Macy's for us. Instead, we talked around for a while and admired the window displays. This was a good one.

Then, like a beacon of light at the end of a tunnel, we saw a TJMaxx! Oh how I love TJ. Keith humored me by going inside. I think he really wanted to feel air conditioned air, but whatever the reason, I'll take it. Here I am admiring a gorgeous leather jacket.
It took all of my willpower, but I managed to make it out of the store without buying anything.

With a final loving glance back at TJ, we pointed the strollers back towards the hotel and walked. 20 minutes of whirwind packing later we emerged with 2 strollers, 2 backpacks, and 2 rolling suitcases. Public transportation, here we come! We had to walk a few extra block to an El station that we thought was handicap accessable, only to get there and realize that we're screwed and would need to carry everything up a steep flight of stairs. Thanks to the guy who carried my small roll-on up the stairs so didn't have to leave Grady unattended. Day 4 was a hot & humid morning in Chicago, and we were drenched in sweat by the time we got through the turnstiles and onto the platform to await the train. By walking the extra blocks to the El we avoided having to switch trains, so now all we had to do was sit and wait for the Midway station and [hopefully] let our shirts dry. I'm not kidding when I said we were super sweaty.

The rest of the pre-flight was fairly uneventful. Our flight was grounded before take-off for an hour and a half, giving us more time to roam about and play. Thankfully we had not boarded yet when they made the decision.
We were a little worried about the flight being delayed since it meant the boys could possibly be hellians on the flight, but the extra time they ran about just made them more tired and they slept most of the flight. Nice job, boys!

Once we landed we made a quick trip to Peachtree City to pick up Madam and Elvis from their vacation at Nana & Grandpa's, then headed home. Nothing feels as good as coming home!

While we can't say that this was a restful vacation, Keith and I loved being out and about with the boys. They did so much on the flight than we expected and seemed to really enjoy being schlepped all over Chicago. Makes me wonder... what city will be explored together next?