Greetings from Chicago!

We have enjoyed such an incredible time here in the Chicago suburbs so far. Last night, after getting settled into our hotel (a Holiday Inn with the most incredible comfortable beds and goose-down pillows we have ever had in a hotel!), we ate out at the Cheesecake Factory. My husband took a walk on the edge and agreed to order a dinner of various appetizers...spring rolls, lots of avocado-type dishes, calamari, sweet corn cake....I really enjoyed it, but let's just say he would have rather had a burger. Of course, we took a couple of pieces of cheesecake home for dessert....carrot cake cheesecake for me and Hayden, and cookie dough cheesecake for Kennedy and Matt....gotta love the real stuff, so yummy!

After a great night's sleep, we headed for the Brookfield Zoo, where we have a family membership. It is definitely one of our very favorite zoos. Some highlights from today's visit included:
The kids pretending they were little joeys in this cool kangaroo statue:

Watching the gorgeous giraffes, including a baby giraffe.
A ride on one of the country's only carved-wood carousels...look at that joy!
A little break for blue raspberry Icees and rainbow Dippin' Dots....cool and yummy.
OK, this is the first time we have ever witnessed an elephant pee and poop. Let's just say....totally amazing. This elephant peed enough to overflow a bathtub and that poop was larger than my four-year-old son. My husband was severely impressed.

We alway love the dolphin show!
Kennedy's pure love for all animals shows in this candid photo I caught of her watching the elephants.

Touching and interacting with several different types of stingrays.


A great day at the zoo capped off with another Chicago classic......a Giordano's pizza. We worked up an appetite with all the walking so really dug into this yummy pie. But, we still came home with almost half of the pie left.....scrumptious. Pizza, anyone? We are back at the hotel resting now and getting ready to head down to the pool for a swim. Tomorrow, we plan to sleep in, swim, have lunch at Mike Ditka's new restaurant, and leisurely head back to Michigan.