The Gatzke Family

Monday, August 30, 2010

Chicago Trip - Jackson Park Beach and Millennium Park

Saturday, August 14th: Every day Amaya asked if we were going to the beach and finally, on the coolest day of the week - 85 degrees - we went to Jackson Park Beach. It was a beautiful beach and wasn't crowded at all! The water was clear and the bottom was sandy - absolutely perfect!

Amaya was a little nervous going in the water, so she spent quite a bit of time digging in the sand.

We built her very first sandcastle on the beach!

Our bathing beauty.

Amaya's name in the sand.

Steve trying to stay cool.

I finally convinced Amaya to come into the water with me and look for rocks to decorate her sandcastles.

"Mama, I found a good one!"

The water was cold... but eventually, Amaya got warmed up enough to go "swimming."

We picked up Subway sandwiches before we got to the park, so we had a little picnic.

After our lunch, we drove downtown to visit Millennium Park. When I went to school, this wasn't built yet... I can't even remember what was here before...

The Stadium

Steve and Amaya in front of the "Bean"

A closer snapshot...

The Fountains...

Amaya and I were a little startled when all of a sudden, the mouth opened and water came shooting out!

This girl had an absolute blast! (I kinda wish I had my swimsuit on too!)

Fortunately, Amaya stayed awake on the way back to the hotel so she could have a quick nap in her pack in play instead of in the car or stroller.

For dinner, we picked up Jenn, Helen, and Jason at North Park and headed to buca De Beppos.

Steve and I had never been there, but we have wanted to try it for quite some time. If you're looking for family-sized Italian dishes - this is the place to go! Amaya LOVED her macaroni and cheese!

After dinner, we went to Oberweiss for yummy ice cream! Amaya ordered "pink ice cream" (strawberry)! YUMMY! Then it was time to say good-bye to our friends and go back to the hotel...

Sunday, August 15th: Leaving for Rochester... we slept in a little, ate breakfast, and packed up our things... We were definitely ready to get back to our own beds and routine, but were going to miss our friends and all the fun things to do and see! Here Amaya is getting out the last bit of energy before Judy leads us home. (I'm having some problems uploading the last of the pictures, but hopefully, Steve can get it figured out.)

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Chicago Trip - Adler Planetarium

Friday, August 13th: After the heat from the zoo, we decided to visit Alder Planetarium. One of their shows is called, "Big Bird: Big Sky, One World." Amaya was super excited about seeing Big Bird and Elmo!

Adler Planetarium is located right by the Shedd Aquarium, so we knew right where to go.

Over half of the second story is geared for toddlers called, "Planet Explorers." Most of our time was spent here learning to be astronauts.

Checking out the moon.

She was even able to dress up as an astronaut!

Her pack was a little heavy, but she managed to stay upright!

Here she and Steve are getting ready for take-off!

She said she liked it, but I'm not quite convinced...

Amaya did like driving the rocket... anything with buttons!

Going down this slide was one of her favorite things to do at the Planetarium.

And explore in the tunnels with Daddy... fortunately, no one was claustrophobic.

Our little astronaut walking on the moon.

This was called an X-Mover - the kids could drive it and pick up moon rocks, etc.

Amaya tried to drive it, but it was pretty hard and she ended up at a dead end.

Steve and my favorite part was walking through space. Amaya liked it too, but she was a little afraid to walk through it by herself, so Steve carried her through it.

There was a dark room with grab bars along it and it was covered with stars - above us, below us, all around us! It really was like we were walking in space. My camera flash gives you a little idea what it looks like - mirrored walls with tiny lights.