Getaway

As of today, I have 9 days left until I turn {gulp!} 30! A few months ago, D asked if I wanted him to throw me a big bash for my birthday and I quickly {perhaps too quickly?} replied, "no, but I would like to go on vacation without the kids." This sounds selfish I'm sure, but let's do the math. L is almost 3 years, 8 months old (that's roughly 1,335 days) and I have been away from her for one night the entire. time. she's. been. alive! Baby I, he's almost 17 months old (roughly 500 days) and I have never spent a night away from him. Yes, we occassionally go on dates and have grandparents who are more than willing to watch them while we go fishing. For the most part, though, I am with them every. single. day! Somewhere along the way, I even lost my name and am now known only as mom or mama or mommy. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my kids, I love that I am able to stay home with them, but what I really, really wanted for my 30th birthday was a little getaway. A chance to be 'just me' instead of mom. Enter my husband {he's the best!}, willing {I think?} babysitters and a weekend getaway to Chicago. The. perfect. present!

Friday morning, we said goodbye to the kids,

left them in good hands,

and headed to the airport.

From which we flew {I love cloud pictures from the air!},

and took the train,

to the windy foggy city!

Because of the fog, we scratched our plans to see the John Hancock Observatory and went to Navy Pier instead.

Before we met up with J,

for some Chicago style pizza

and a walk through the city.

On Saturday, I slept in {bliss!} before we happened upon the Chicago theater {since we missed our El station, oops!},

on our way to the Art Institute of Chicago

{some of their more famous works of art}.

Later, we met up with this cute couple for lunch and then ice cream,

on Navy Pier {it was considerably less foggy this day!}.

This is the view from J's apartment where we stayed while in Chicago {thanks again, J!}.

We saw Peter Pan on Saturday night.

And later we watched the fireworks,

from the top of J's apartment building.

On Sunday morning, we went to the John Hancock building.

{the view}

Later, we met J and K for lunch and then packed our bags and headed back to the airport for our flight home. When we got back, the kids were super excited to see us. Apparently, L had told Grandma that morning, "I think my parents are staying away for a week!" she seemed happy to have us back. Baby I seemed a little upset with us for being gone and would not let me out of his sight without crying. I gotta say, it felt pretty great to see that we'd been missed! Mom and A said the kids were good and that they'd all had a good time {but I'm pretty sure that they were glad we were back too!}. ;-)

They must have had a good time, since this was Baby I shortly after we got in the car to head home.

L didn't sleep {of course!} but she did watch Cars in almost its entirety (here she is covering her eyes because Mater and Lightning are tipping tractors, which is apparently scary?)!

Thank you Mom and A for watching our kids {we promise to wait a while before we ask you again!}. Thank you J and K for hosting us in Chicago {we had a great time!}. Most of all, thank you D for this wonderful getaway, it is the best 30th birthday present I could have asked for, you really are the best! Now, I better get back to it, I think someone is calling my name {you know, mom or mama or mommy!}...