Chicago Trip - Playing in Lakeshore Park

After our trip to the zoo on Sunday, we returned to the hotel and decided to take a walk around town before Carson's bedtime... which we were pushing since we really didn't want to be done with our day at 6:30pm local time! So we took a little stroll and then went to play in the park (Lakeshore Park) that was located across the street from our hotel. It was a great park! They have a walking track, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, and a playground - all in the middle of the city, it was so great! We just loved our hotel location, it was absolutely perfect! We spent time in the park every day/night we were in Chicago. Carson just loved climbing up all the stairs, sliding down the slides with Kevin, and swinging. He could have been happy just playing there all day, probably!

Chicago Trip - Lincoln Park Zoo

So I figure I'll break up the posts for our Chicago trip... since I have a lot to say and a lot of pictures to share. So keep an eye out for more posts over the next few days. I'll start with our trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo on Sunday. After Carson woke from his morning nap on Sunday, we got packed up and took a walk up to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a long walk (just shy of 2 miles from our hotel), but it was a nice one, though still a little chilly at first (and rainy before we left the hotel). The day warmed up quickly, though, and we had an awesome time at the zoo! We still can't believe that such a nice zoo is FREE... yep, free admission for everyone! Another bonus... they have an organic cafe!

We were a little worried that most of the animals would be inside or something due to the rain earlier that morning and the cooler temps, but we were able to see just about every animal with an exhibit (the exception was the polar bears). We were very excited for Carson to see a real lion... lions are probably his second favorite animal (second to dogs) and he loves to roar like a lion. So we headed to see the lions fairly early on in our adventure to make sure Carson was fully alert. The zoo had two females and one male lion, all of which seemed pretty relaxed when we first walked into the cat house. After a few minutes of being inside, Carson roared at the lions... within seconds one of the females started roaring! Then the male and other female got in on the action, and the leopard across the way, too. It was quite loud with all the roaring for a good 3-4 minutes. It was soooo cool! Carson jumped at first and put his head down on Kevin's shoulder for a couple seconds, but after that he was just staring and smiling, totally loving it! That was definitely the highlight of our trip! And now, Carson is roaring even more often than he was before! :)

Carson also really enjoyed watching the gorillas and monkeys in the primate house. We had a nice show from a family of four monkeys, swinging around on ropes and playing. But the gorillas seemed to be what Carson enjoyed most. They had a family of six gorillas and the 23-year old dominant male was huge! They were pretty active and were sitting up against or very close to the glass, so we were able to get some good views. Carson just stared and pointed at them... like he was just in awe or something.

We were able to see lots of other animals, too, but those were definitely Carson's favorites... though he did miss the giraffe because he was taking a snooze at that point... he likes giraffes, too. We all really loved the zoo and will definitely make a trip back the next time we're in Chicago! After our trip to the zoo, we took a little walk around Lincoln Park... and decided that we think we'd enjoy living there... but don't worry, we're not moving anytime soon! Even though we'd love to, there's no way we could sell our house in this market. For now, we'll just have to live with visiting Chicago. :) Anyway, I'll be uploading pictures from Saturday and Sunday soon, so keep an eye out for them in our Shutterfly albums (link to the right).

We're in CHI-TOWN!!

Yesterday we arrived in Chicago at about 2:00pm local time... a little later than anticipated, but we just took our time getting here. Carson did really well on the trip. He slept the majority of it. We left mid-morning from home, right about the time of Carson's first nap, so that worked out perfectly. He slept till we were just through Lansing and then played nicely till we were just past Kalamazoo... and it was POURING! So we stopped for an early, long lunch at Bennigan's in Portage. The place was pretty dead when we got there, so we let Carson run around in the empty part of the restaurant while we waited for our food. Then we just had fun playing at the table for awhile while we ate and then relaxed for a bit after we were done. Once we hit the road again, Carson took his second nap, a little earlier than normal, but that's ok. He slept till we got on the Indiana Toll Road. Carson got a little restless when we were coming into Chicago and moving VERY slowly on the highway, but we made it. Once we got off the highway and into the downtown city traffic, Carson was just fascinated with all the huge buildings, people walking around, and horns honking (gotta love the cabbies!).

We took a drive around the city since the weather was looking a little if-fy... it wasn't raining, but kept sprinkling on us here and there. We decided to just head back to the hotel and get checked in. This is our first time staying at a Ritz Carlton hotel. They have great service and the rooms are nice... though we thought they'd be a little less normal-looking if that makes sense. The Ritz is a great place to bring kids - they're very focused on being kid-friendly. Carson received a free toy (a very soft teddy bear) when we checked in and our room has a full-size crib, refrigerator for his bottles and food, and all the items needed for diaper changing and baths. Carson loves the hotel room - though I wish I'd have thought to bring our little foam door stopper things so he can't slam the bathroom and closet doors. We have some great views from our hotel room - we can see lots of the downtown skyscrapers and we have a clear view of Navy Pier and the lake. We're up on the 27th (of 31) floor.

After we checked in, we just played in the room for awhile since it was starting to rain a little more. We had plans to meet up with Sara's friend from MSU and Phike sister, Ranae, for dinner. We went to Giordano's, which was only about a five-minute walk (in the pouring rain!) and had some awesome Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. Yum! It was very good! And it was so great to see Ranae - we hadn't seen each other since the wedding in Key West! Carson was quite restless at dinner. He was already getting tired since it was getting close to his normal Michigan-time bedtime... and we were sitting right next to a short staircase... and it was just way too tempting for Carson. So he wasn't the happiest little guy for dinner. Once we got back to the hotel room and got ready for bed, Carson crashed hard and fast. He slept great in the crib, too! Didn't wake up all night, just like at home... I'm so thankful!! :)

Today we're heading out to the Lincoln Park Zoo. We're just waiting for Carson to wake from his morning nap, then we'll be on our way. The weather looks great today, so let's hope it stays that way! We're hoping to check out some parks in the area after the zoo if we have time anyway. We'll see how it goes. Looks like tomorrow will be storming the majority of the day, so we'll go to Navy Pier and check out the Chicago Children's Museum and maybe Shedd Aquarium, too. Then Sara is in meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. Kevin and Carson will probably spend some time playing in the park that is across the street from our hotel and swimming in the pool.

14 months old!

Our little man is 14 months old today! He's growing up so fast these days, learning something new and expanding his vocabulary each and every day. His favorite things to say this past weekend have been "uh-oh!" "me!" and "haee" (hi - which he says into the phone all the time now)... and of course "nuh" (no). He is getting quite good at communicating - these are just his favorite words these last couple of days. He's even put a few different two-word combinations together... "my bear," "my bah" (ball), "my bo" (boat), and "nuh dedt" (no Jet). Speaking of Jet, he and Carson are still best buds. They share toys with each other - though Carson is learning the hard way that he can't give his toys to Jet so freely... unless he wants them chewed up and in the garbage. We have had to throw a couple of things away that Carson wanted to share with Jet, which Jet then took to chew up, which I then threw away and explained to Carson why we can't give our toys to Jet, which upset Carson and caused him to stick out his lower lip and fuss at Jet, getting mad at him. But an hour or so later, Carson is trying to share his toys again. :) Carson and Denver now have a pretty good relationship going on, too. For the longest time, Denver just ignored Carson, acted like he wasn't even around. But now they love each other. Carson loves to pet Denver and cuddle with him - he'll give him hugs many times a day. Jet gets kisses, Denver gets hugs. :)

Carson is still quite the little climber and dare-devil. He continues to stand up on his four-wheeler and now has started climbing over the handlebars to stand on the front fenders. If this keeps up, I have a feeling we'll end up knowing all the ER doctors in town. :-P We bought Carson a tricycle this week. Its the kind with a removable foot rest and push bar so that he can ride it this year while his legs are too short to pedal... and it'll grow with him next year and the year after when he can ride by himself. He loves it! He runs his motor mouth ("brrrrooom brrrrroooom") almost constantly while he's riding it. He definitely thinks he's a hot shot, that's for sure.

We're finally giving Carson his baths in the "big boy tub"... yes I know its about time. :) He still hasn't fully outgrown his baby tub, but he has a lot more fun in the big tub and can play with lots more toys. And he doesn't make quite as big of a mess when he's splashing around. Although, being in the big boy tub has caused him to "find" a certain boy part of his body... I guess that day was coming eventually, I just didn't think it'd be quite yet. :) On a slightly more disgusting note... Carson seems to have also picked up on some other "guy" things. He has already started laughing when he burps and toots... but he's also started trying to force them out, too. He'll burp (or toot) once because he has to, then giggle, and try to force another one out. He's so goofy. :)

On a better front, Carson is a great helper! He loves to help clean up his toys (I really hope that continues!!) and he always brings me my slippers and says "on" to tell me to put them on. So far, Carson isn't too interested in TV. That is, unless there are animals on TV... especially dogs. If he sees an animal, he'll start giggling and running around like a fool with Jet (Jet gets excited when he sees animals on TV, too... he thinks they're either invading his house without his permission or coming over to play with him). :) Carson still loves his books, his musical toys, and his sports. I think he'll end up playing basketball one day, for sure. Carson loves to look at the pictures of his cousins and family that we have around the house. He can (when he wants to at least) point out Rebecca, Anna and Joel, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Burge, and Sara's cousin Jason. He loves looking at the pictures, especially of the kids - he tells them hi all the time. Carson has also finally evolved into a wonderful sleeper! He goes to bed by 7:30pm every night and will sleep till 6am on work days and 7:30/8:00am on the weekends. I hope this streak continues - its so nice to sleep all night again! I'm really hoping that our trip to Chicago in a couple of weeks doesn't screw up his sleeping. Its going to be tricky, all three of us being in one room and Carson going to bed by 6:30pm local Chicago time... I'm sure it will be fine, though.

Easter with the Burge Family & Meeting a New Cousin!

Today we had a family party with Sara's mom's family to celebrate Easter and to meet the newest addition to our family, Mackenzey! What a beautiful little lady she is! Carson wasn't too sure what to think of her, but he did show some interest at times. I don't think he totally understood that she is a little person, just like him. He didn't understand why she had small little hands and fingers like he does (only hers are so much smaller than his!) - he was trying to figure that out for a few minutes. He did watch her pretty closely while she was lying on the floor kicking her feet, but he was kind of timid around her - he definitely didn't want to get too close yet. I'm sure they'll be great playmates - especially in about a year from now. They'll be chasing each other around and I'm sure Mackenzey will be knocking over a tower of blocks that Carson has built, or something (like Carson knocks down the towers of blocks all the time right now). It will be so fun to have a cousin on Sara's side of the family that is close in age!! Be sure to check out our photo albums for lots of pictures from the party!