Luke Does Chicago!

The weekend of November 14, the three of us took a weekend trip to Chicago!  The first time Justin and I went to Chicago (Fall 2010), we fell in love with the city!  I grew up close to San Francisco, so big cities are my thing!  Justin grew up in a small town in southern Ohio, so he wasn't as familiar or comfortable with the busy, crowded, hectic city life!  Our first time there, we vowed to one day take our children there so they could experience all that we had.  We loved how it was big yet friendly.  Busy yet orderly.  Crowded yet clean.

When we found out about Luke's condition, taking him to Chicago was one of the things we really wanted to do!  We wanted to be with him in our favorite city.  So, we planned a weekend.  We looked at our calendar and decided to go the 14th, 15th, and 16th of November.  Our weekends are typically very busy, especially with Justin's job, so we planned the trip rather quickly and went the first available weekend we had coming up.

The last time we went to Chicago with our friends, Robb and Wendy Hildreth, we got up very early that Friday morning and arrived in the city by 9am local time.  So yeah, that meant we were out the door by 4am Ohio time.  Early yes, but worth it to arrive and still have your whole day ahead of you. We did the same thing this time.  We left our place by 4:15am and arrived in Chicago by 9am.  We had a fantastic breakfast at Bongo Room (so good!) and went to Shedd Aquarium later that morning.  We hadn't been to the Aquarium yet, so we knew it was a perfect place to take Luke.  Everyone raved about how great Shedd was.  We were really excited to go!  It did not disappoint.  It was amazing!  Here is a pic of us outside of the aquarium.

One of our favorite restaurants to visit while in Chicago is called Hot Chocolate.  We try and go there every time we are in the city.  It's fantastic!  Yes, they're known for their hot chocolate, but the food is out of this world!  We went there for brunch the morning we left.  Here is Luke and I outside the restaurant before heading home...

Overall, we had a wonderful weekend in Chicago, despite how cold it was!  We were so glad we got the chance to take our sweet boy there and experience some new, and some old favorite, things with him.  We are thankful to the Lord for His provision and kindness in allowing us to make it there with him!  I'm sure Lukey loved Chicago, just as much as his mommy and daddy!