fortnerfamilyhappenings: "It's not goodbye, but see you later" Chicago Day 3

With days one and two in the books (you should read about them first), we woke up rested and ready for a full day three, before our evening flight back to Jackson.

Wouldn’t you know that the first words out of Holt’s mouth in the morning were, “Mama, you remember how you said we would go swimming this morning.” It was our last day in the hotel and I had promised the night before, so we all put on very cold bathing suits and went for a swim. Holt had so much fun swimming inside and even stuck his toes in the hot-tub for a moment "just to see." Although we did a ton of stuff, some of the memories that I will really treasure (and that I think will stick with Holt) are the things we really could do anywhere like swimming in the hotel pool or pushing the buttons on the fancy elevator. Holt got to swim a little every day and he and I had fun holding hands and jumping in the deep end. It is fun being a kid with your kid. After our swim, we packed our bags and straightened up our hotel room (the thought of leaving a hotel room in shambles is appalling to me - I think I straighten up more in a hotel than when I am at home). We were able to pack everything in the bags we came into town with. Everything that is, except the penguin/toucan from the night before. Holt said his goodbyes and was unbelievably sweet about "leaving it for some other little boy to play with." It was a touching moment for me and Jonathan to watch Holt be so good and unselfish. Once we were all packed and had our necessities for the day, we checked our luggage with concierge and set out for one last day in the Windy City.

The first stop on our list was Sears Tower (recently renamed the Willis Tower) we grabbed breakfast on the way and hopped on the loop and again Holt got to count down our stops. The building is, well, towering, and the line to get into the observation deck is almost as long as the building is high. I was afraid it was going to put a glitch in my itinerary, as I had only allocated 2 hours (including travel time) for the Sky Deck, but I also thought that, since we had CitiPass booklets, we might be able to skip the long line. I saw a group going in a different door with a shorter line that led directly to the elevators. Once we were inside I asked the elevator attendant if we could just go up with our city passes. She told me that we could be on the next elevator. Great! I thought, looking at the hundreds of people in the winding lines working their way out of the building. Then I realized we had come in the exit, then I realized the group we followed in was all a part of a special tour group. It was very awkward standing there, as there was no discreet way to slip out and we could feel hundreds of eyeballs staring holes into the backs of our heads. Jonathan and I shuffled awkwardly onto the elevator and up a few floors to the ticket level. It was at this point that CityPass holders were supposed to skip the lines, oops. I suppose it’s a good thing neither the Navy Pier security guard nor the feisty lady in front of us were at the Tower that morning. We made it to the top from out on teh street in about 15 minutes. Jonathan and I both felt our ears popping on the way up in the big elevator, but Holt never complained. It went incredibly fast and in less than a minute we were 103 stories up. Holt had a grand time looking through all the different viewers and trying to spot different sights we had seen from a birds eye view. Holt had absolutely no fear when it came to stepping into the plexiglas “Ledge” to view the city and look down at the street below. We were trying to get some good pictures of Holt and he kept begging us to let him take a picture. We finally gave him the camera and he stepped into the glass box and faced the inside of the building to take a picture of us. Jonathan and I simultaneously told him, “not this way, that way," and pointed out to the sky and city below. All the other tourists within earshot got a kick out of the exchange and commented on how cute Holt was. Well, you can’t argue with fact (well, unless you work for the justice department).

We begged the security guard to let us peek int he lobby (it was closed because of storm damage from the Friday Night monsoon)

I didn't realize until we saw it on the computer how scary this picture turned out.

Jonathan is such a good daddy

Don't we look frightened

After stepping off the ledge and free-falling in the fastest elevator ever, we stumbled upon (may have researched significantly to find) a great pizza place, Giordanos, where Jonathan ate the biggest salad ever, I had a delicious Caprese salad and we stuffed our faces with the best pizza I think I have ever had. On our way in, there was a bum outside begging for money saying he was hungry etc. so I got a to go box and took him our leftovers, but I made sure, since he was wearing an anti-Bush t-shirt, that he knew republicans are significantly more philanthropic and give a way higher percentage to charity. I think he was grateful for the food, maybe not the extra info.

Holt giving me his best t-rex

We made ourselves miserable we ate so much.

Per Jonathan’s suggestion and thanks to his observation skills we ended up taking a water taxi from the Sears Tower at Michigan up to Navy Pier where we were able to hop on another water taxi to the museum campus where our last stop of the trip, the Shedd Aquarium was waiting for us.

The water taxi was such a treat for all of us. There was an adorable little family on the boat with us and the kids and Holt became fast friends. Louis, Angelica and Gabby were very sweet to Holt and it was fun to watch the four of them on the boat and how excited they were about the ride. I could hear them talking to one another, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Watching their facial expressions was treat enough.

The taxi made a few stops along the river and our new friends got off at the first one. When the boat had started to pull into the dock Holt came and sat down in our laps and was showing us that the cut he had on his finger was almost all better. Well when Louis, Angelica and Gabby got off the boat they all waved goodby and said “bye bye Holt.” And Holt, being the sweet kid that he is, waved and then wanted to show them his mended finger, his mended middle finger. Now Holt was telling them, “look, my finger is almost better” but the boat engine drowned him out so for a few seconds, before I had a chance to pull his and down and wave with a borderline creepy smile, Holt signed a not-so-friendly sign to their whole family. I don’t think they actually saw but I kept hoping we might run into them at the aquarium so that I could explain. It was not long after they got off that Holt, I suppose he was too distracted by the other kids before, began his drunk frat boy dancing and I panicked slightly, as visions of Holt either wetting his pants or teeteeing in the Chicago River flashed in my head. Fortunately there was a bathroom on board the boat, so Holt and I made our way to the stern, where the restroom was located. When we were in the potty Holt looked up with a very happy smile on his face and said, “I’ve never teeteed on a boat before, but I got to go on a bus once.” Add this adventure to our list of things Holt will remember that really aren’t exclusively Chicago.

I have a very sweet story that I don’t want to forget and of course want to share. We had to switch boats at Navy Pier and Jonathan had, on the boat ride, taken off his hat and put it in his back pocket. As soon as we were off the boat and Holt saw Jonathan’s hat in his pocket he decided he wanted to carry his hat in his back pocket too. It was so cute watching the two of them walking down the sidewalk with their hats flopping against their tushes. What was even funnier was that Holt kept looking back over his shoulder to make sure his hat was still there.

Yep, still there.

We finished up our vacation with a trip to the aquarium. When we deboated at the museum campus, Jonathan saw a duck in the lake. I was several feet ahead when I turned around and realized that the boys were squatted by the lake’s edge pointing at the duck. I went back for the five minute lesson on duck molting patterns. Then we were ready. We skipped a ridiculously long line, thanks to CityPass, and went to the aquarium. It was fun and there were lots of buttons for Holt to push. We saw a sea lion named Biff branded with some numbers on his back (Holt remembers this quite vividly) and some beluga whales and dolphins and sharks. But, Holt really enjoyed dressing up like a penguin and waddling around the “Arctic” He would slide down the slide and then hop on the rocks saying peep, peep, peep. But his favorite part was playing in the yellow submarine. I thought we would never get him out of there. The other day we were talking about the trip and he said, “I sure did have fun playing in the submarine at the Shedd Aquarium.” I thought he was talking about the U-boat at the Museum of Science and Industry and tried to correct him. He quickly corrected me, “Not that big one the little yellow one with all the kids in it.” He’s definitely retained more than I realized at the time, but he always does.

Next time, if we go somewhere with the potential of crossing paths with waterfowl, I will factor that time into our itinerary.

I'm pretty sure this is when Jonathan threatened to feed Holt to the anaconda

"In the town where I was born/ there lived a man who sailed to sea..."

Our little penguin

That is a big fish

We left the Shedd and headed back to our Hotel one last time to get our bags and head to the airport. We walked up to Lakeshore Drive and waited for the bus. It was pretty hot standing in the sun under the bus stop canopy, so Jonathan and Holt found some shade under a nearby tree while I stood and waited for the bus. It was very endearing watching the two of them chatting away and sword fighting with blades of grass. It was a wonderful way to cap off our vacation. We got our bags from the Hotel, rode the El one more time and got to the airport with just enough time to get to the gate and unwind for a half-hour before boarding our plane. Holt fell asleep on the plane ride home (it didn’t land until 10:30) and I carried him to the car sound asleep (it has been a while since I have had to do this) while Jonathan got our bags. Jonathan and I talked about our wonderful trip on the way home laughing about all the funny things that Holt did and said, holding our noses the whole way (spilled Muscle Milk, while it may be a milk substitute, is still rather rancid after 3 days in a hot car).