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.)
