St Pats in Chicago!

HELLO CHICAGO!

yes we were crazy and took 8 children and 4 adults in to the city for the St. Patricks day celebrations!

we got up Friday and made our way into the city, which is only about an hour from our house.

by the time we got there, it was time for lunch. we decided we wanted to try some real Chicago pizza.

this place was recommended to us. so we thought we would give it a try.

we thought the kids would think that it was fun because you can write on the walls. (we all know from my previous posts that my kids are experts at writing on walls!)

so we decided on what to order and just decided to relax. we had fun chatting and the kids played at a table next to us. unfortunately the service was horrible. HORRIBLE. our waitress never came to fill our drinks. they brought the kids meals, but did not bring drinks for them. she said she figured we did not want them. WHAT?!?!

anyways an hour after ordering our food finally came. (still with no drinks)

I am thinking Ed's face sums up what we thought of the pizza!

not our favorite.

oh well maybe we will try something different next time we are in the city!

after lunch we checked into our hotel (thanks George!!!)

we got everything settled there and headed to Lincoln Park Zoo.

Little did we know, we did not pick the best day to come. a lot of the exhibits were closed, however we still had fun walking around the park.

we looked and looked for animals. i found these two hiding in an observation tunnel.

this was one of the few animals we did see and this was the only view we got! ;0)

We did find this super cute area and decided to take some family pictures quick.

Palmers

us!

we walked around some more looking for some thing fun to see. the boys even took turns riding in Ollie's wheel chair every once in a while.

after the zoo, we headed back to the hotel to let the kids swim in the pool and just relax. after all Saturday was going to be the big day!

we woke up early to get our selves all festive!

oh the things this sweet man will go along with to help me make fun memories!

i personally think green looks very good on him.

of course he was not the only one that i got all done up for our big day.

Kael got so many compliments on his hair.

our fam ready to head our for the day.

the palmers are ready too. can't you tell how excited Eden is?

I think Kael and Jaren won the award for most festive.

and so the crazy day began. we headed out with 4 adults, 3 strollers, 1 wheel chair, and eight kids.

to say the least, it was a crazy adventure!

we stopped at the only place we could find on the way to the parade and grabbed some hot chocolate, (it was kind of chilly) and some other breakfast goodies.

Stacy had never EVER been to a Dunkin Doughnuts. Of course I had to take a picture to capture the moments. These kinds of things don't happen every day!

After breakfast, we went to watch them dye the water green. This was really fun. I know my kids thought it was pretty cool. Although this was the beginning of the end when it came to easily navigating through the crowds.

Here we are in front of the green water. cullan was really cold. so we had to move quickly.

we snapped one of the palmers too. just to prove they were there ;0)

Here is Ollie checking it out. Like I said the crowds were crazy.

there were people lining the bridges, streets. they were everywhere.

i decided to try and snap one more. at least i got almost everyone looking at the camera and that lovely green water. woo hoo for me!

well after this we had to stop for some mittens. ya it was a little chilly. then off to find the parade. this was an adventure in and of itself. we basically just followed the crowds. we had watched the news that morning, but where they had said the parade would be was wrong. go figure. so it all worked out. following the crowd was just fine in this instance.

on our way, there were all kinds of crazy things going on, but there was this kid standing in the middle of a closed off bridge. i thought he was so cute and what a funny idea. i have no idea if he got any kisses but i do think its hilarious that up in the corner it says... Girls Only!

some how we made it through the crowds to find a spot. it was not great but it was ours. well..for a while. here are the boys waiting for the parade to start.

i think this was the happiest we all were at the parade. i don't mind crowds that much, but i really hate when people are rude to my kids. I am sure you are thinking, "Meghan, of course there are going to be drunk crazy people everywhere. ". Ya i got that, it was the sober ones that made me a little upset. but ever with all that we still managed to have a few good laughs and make some memories.

see, look how happy oliver looks.

we even got to hear some bag pipers.....

(ya you can see how far back we were in the crowd from this picture)

however, that cuteness in the far left, with the hot pink jacket on is Briea. Daddy was nice enough to crowd surf up there so that she could see a little bit of the parade.

and a green trolley. however after a while, it was time to go.

the parade was three hours long, and our poor kids were just not going to make it through a parade that they could not see half of. so we decided it was time to move on and continue our adventure and have some more fun.

we left the parade and headed over to millennium park.

of course we had to get a picture with the giant bean!

some of us girls!

and of course some couple shots. got to have those. ;0)

we did not stay at the park long either. it was craziness there and their were a lot of people that for some reason were not feeling very well. (wink wink)

so unfortunately we had to hit the road so that our kids did not have to watch the show of people getting sick. not to pretty. our next stop was going to be great though and we did not even know it.

stacy had been in contact with a man whose niece had passed away from a DIPG tumor and he lived in the city. he was a pastry chef for the Marriott in downtown Chicago. he invited all of us to a behind the scenes tour of what he does.

Here is Nic showing the kids just some of the treats he had ready for them. He had three different kinds of cheese cakes, a carrot, a banana, a chocolate, and a coconut cake. He also had chocolate creme brulee. On top off all that he had stuff for sundaes, with every topping imaginable. oh yeah and i forgot. he also had stuff ready so that the kids could dip strawberries in chocolate and decorate them.

as we were standing there, cullan looks up at me and says "mom, i have been waiting for this my whole life!".

here is eden decorating some of the strawberries with white chocolate.

the boys hard at work. i love that cullan has his tongue hanging out. that means he is really working hard.

the finished strawberries.

did i mention how awesome Nic was with the kids. He was amazing. He said that having the kids there reminded him of his nieces and nephews and home. He was such a great guy.

after decorating strawberries...next came sundaes.

ya did i mention...EVERY POSSIBLE TOPPING.

i could not believe all of the trouble he went to. what a great treat for Oliver and all the kids.

I am sure you can imagine how excited the kids were to get to make their own sundaes.

Kael's looks like a work of art.

Cullan just looks like he is already in a sugar comma!

Before we left, I snapped a quick picture of the Palmers and Nic.

We had so much fun with him. He is an amazing pastry chef. Let me just say that if you are EVER in the city and are at the Marriott. order the Banana Cake!

Oh my goodness. It was like a little slice of heaven!

Delicious!

oh and there chocolate creme brulee is pretty awesome as well.

as we were leaving the hotel in a sugar bliss i saw this.

i don't know if i was just high on banana cake or what but I thought this was really funny and took a picture. I know it is potty humor...hahaha....get it, potty humor.

ok..moving on.

well i just thought i would end things on a cute note.

i mean...really...could it get any cuter than this.

nope, i just don't think so.

we had a wild adventure, with lots of funny stories and great memories.

i am so happy that we were brave enough to do it and that we have pictures to remember it by.

hope everyone has a great st. patty's day!!

ps. im posting all our extra pics on facebook.