Chicago numero dos

Today was my day to plan what we were going to do! I had seen a lot of friends' pictures with the infamous "shiny peanut" and I was determined to go see said peanut today! We were on our way to Millennium Park (the home of the shiny peanut) when all of the sudden there were LOTS of bicycles all around us! Turns out there was some sort of international bike race in Grant Park, so we got to see lots of really good bicyclists go fast and in big packs!

On the way to my shiny peanut, Christy and Daddy were taking lots of "artistic photos" of flowers and sculptures. I think there are more photos from today than most people take in an entire week ;)

Finally we found the magnificent Shiny Peanut (Chicago thinks it's called "The Bean"...they are so sadly mistaken!) and we took lots of cool pictures of holding up the peanut, reflections, distortions and all sorts of fun stuff! The Peanut was all I hoped it would be and I loved it!!! After the peanut we continued through the park looking at the theatre and the art institute. Eventually we called a cab and then went to Navy Pier.

Navy Pier was a lot more fun in the summertime than I remember it being in February! There were tons of seafood places and little touristy shops with people EVERYWHERE. We ate lunch at Bubba Gump's which was absolutely delicious, and then Mommy and I continued exploring while Christy and Daddy went back to the hotel to recuperate (Christy's tummy hurt). Mommy and I then went on a skyline boat cruise and got lots of wonderful pictures :) Afterwards we went shopping for little knick knacks which was fun! We then walked all the way back to the park and ultimately to the hotel, getting some great pictures on the way!

For dinner we went to Gino's East pizza place, authentic Chicago pizza! I got to hail the cab driver and he somehow managed to cut across 3 lanes of traffic within 20ft!!! His name was Vlad and he liked techno so he must be European. He got us to the restaurant very quickly! We then got to eat our delicious deep dish pizza and sign the walls, booths, and whatever other free space we could find to prove we were there! Ironically enough as soon as we exited the restaurant a taxi pulled up, and as we were getting in I noticed that the drivers name was Vlad! I was pretty sure it wasn't a coincidence, and sure enough when we tried to tell him where to go he said that actually he knew where to take us because he was the same cab driver as before! I thought this was very cool, and he got an extra good tip!!

I just let Anand know I had to go to bed after finishing this post because we have to wake up early tomorrow to go to Long Grove tomorrow. He then informed me he is getting up at 5:45 (EST) and asked when I had to get up...........7:30 central. I felt like a wimp!! At least he's good natured about it all :) He and his family have a 14 hour drive tomorrow, so they need to start early!

Now, however, I will go to bed and feel lucky to only have to wake up at 7:30 ;)