Wednesday June 30th
The official start of our summer staycation.
With our first 4 houseguests in tow, we headed down to Chicago. We first stopped in Oak Park to tour Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio. My dad is an architect, or an "art attack" if you ask Alex, who also wants to become an "art attack" or a builder someday.
The tickets were $15 a piece and there were only 2 left. My dad grabbed them both and then we had to decide who would take the tour with him. Me and Seth were the only ones who were really interested in going, so I got to go. They don't let you take pictures, but I loved the house. This guy should have designed a house for me. Everything is built-in so NO clutter. He even built the piano into the structure of the house so that it wouldn't create clutter. And the architecture itself is so artistic that there is no need for nick nacks and other such clutter. This place was totally my style. I love that homes used to be individual works of art, no decorative clutter required. Can you tell how I feel about clutter?
My dad of course can understand it on a totally different level, and he loved the studio far more than the home. He declared it the most perfect structure on earth. I don't understand all the hows and whys of it, but it really was a beautiful space. I love old buildings. For all the technological advancements we've made, we sure haven't made much progress. Quantity has made quality obsolete.
Then we hit the town.
We walked to Millenium Park for pictures at the ever popular "Bean", and let the kids splash around a bit.
The city reflected in The Bean
Us in The Bean
Alyssa took a quick liking to Christian. We all did, the minute he was born. He is the oldest grandchild and an incredibly lovable human being. Alyssa wanted to be wherever he was, and they could often be found walking hand in hand. She got very shy whenever I tried to get a picture, but it was so cute.
We thought about taking a boat tour, but since it was $30 a person, we opted for the Water Taxi. We went from the Chicago River over to Navy Pier for just $4 each, and to the kids a boat is a boat, right?
When Alyssa saw that Christian was on the opposite side of the boat, she quickly made an excuse to move seats. She made these kinds of faces when she saw me with the camera.
But she was really loving her cool older cousin.
We walked around Navy Pier and then back to Michigan Ave to get our cars and head on back to Wisconsin.
I love Chicago!!!! In all seasons and all kinds of weather, but that day the weather was perfection (75 degrees, light breeze, no humdity...ahhhh!), which made Chicago even more intoxicating than ever. I wish I'd grown up in a high rise apartment in Chicago, or went to college there, or lived there as a newlywed...so many magical things to dream about when I go to Chicago. It's just bliss, until you climb back into your car and exit the parking structure to a big fat $50 punch in the nose. Still though, I really am a city girl at heart. I LOVE New York! I LOVE LA! And I LOVE Chicago, maybe most of all...shhh!
4 comments:
What a fun time! I love those pictures of the "bean". Very cool! Frank Lloyd Wright could design a house for me anyday, too. I'm all about no clutter and having a place to stow EVERYTHING OUT OF SIGHT.
How cute of Alyssa with her cousin crush. Annie was totally like that with our friend Matt we had stay with us a couple of Christmases ago. Even when she was around 12 months old, she was smitten and aglow around him. So funny.
No clutter sounds great to me too! :) Kaden wants to be an architect as well. The city offers some little mini-architect classes, and I am going to try to sign him up in the fall.
I love Chicago too! Remember when we stayed in the hotel and we could peep into the apartments across the street? I would totally fantasize about living in one of those places or wonder what the hell those people do for a living that they can afford it.
That is so cute Alyssa had a crush on Christian! He definitely has that likable quality about him.
Val, we stayed in that same Embassy Suites again this trip and were wishing we could spy on the people, but we were facing another direction. Let's all buy a high rise apartment one day and take turns living in it, just to see what it's like. I wish you'd been there. I know you appreciate Chicago the way I do so it is always fun to be there with you.
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