Saturday, December 7, 2013

Chicago in 48 hours

When we moved to  Iowa, one of the top items on our to-do list was to find Leah a new neurologist. We made an appointment with a nuero in Chicago recommended by a few fellow Rett families, but when I made the appointment in August, his first availability was in December! I guess that's a sign of a good doctor!?!? We hoped so. 

And then, since we were driving 3 hours to get there, we decided to make a quick weekend out of it. So, after a quick commute, we stopped at IKEA, then made our way to Rush for the appointment. Where we got lost once or twice. Then had a lovely appointment with the neurologist (who we like very much so far). Then got lost again. Then we had Leah get some blood drawn (she is a full fledged champion at this). Then we got lost again (Rush is huge!) Then we waited in a waiting room for an HOUR to get an EKG. When I had finally had enough, I went out into the (deserted and slightly dark) hallway to figure out what the hold up was...and a nice gentleman working in one of the only lit offices told me that he was pretty sure everyone else had gone home. It was "Friday afternoon after all, ma'am". 

I will spare you my thoughts. 

So, we packed up and left and made our way into the North Bridge area of Chicago where our hotel was. We got settled as quickly as we could, then bundled up to walk a few blocks to Rainforest Cafe to eat. We initially wanted pizza, but with our delay at the hospital, we knew the girls wouldn't last waiting for deep dish to cook at a restaurant. And they loved Rainforest. Win win. 

Then we bundled up again and took them out to Michigan Avenue to see the shops and the lights. It really was a magical place, but the magic was lost a little in the chill. Those little ladies were troopers. So was Ryan clomping along in his big, fat boot. 

When we got home, we had a late night facetime with grandma and grandpa Layton and then went to bed. 

In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel where Leah was pleased as punch with her fancy pants pancakes and Kate thought she was the bomb dot com to be using a big fork. I didn't have the heart to burst her bubble...

And then we made our way about 30 minutes out of the city to meet up with our friends the Fosters. They took us to their community's Christmas celebration. We got to see a reindeer (named Snowflake). 

Jolly Old St. Nick met his jolly match. 

Not Kate, Leah! 
Kate didn't like the red/white suit...but she did like the red/white candy the man in the suit gifted her with. 

After that we had a tractor ride that nearly sent us to our graves and then made our way back to the Foster's house to have some delicious chili and just hang out. This picture sums it up perfectly. And Kate and Olivia aren't in it because I'm certain they were off participating in toddler shenanigans together. They are trouble. Cute trouble. But trouble. 

We made a stop at Trader Joe's before we headed home. Obviously. 

Other than the waiting room fiasco, it was a fabulous 48 hours in Chicago and we will be doing it again. Hopefully on a warmer weekend next time. 

2 comments:

Erica said...

i wanna be a layton!

colleen said...

We LOVE your visits and can't wait to check out your hood in February!!