Chicago Trip Part 3 - Shedd Aquarium + Willis Tower

 We spent our last day in the city visiting the Shedd Aquarium and Willis Tower.

Is it crazy to think that Roman somehow grew during this vacation? How is my middle guy so tall already?

It is always a delight to visit the Shedd - love watching these fish zipping around their tanks.

The best part of arriving early in the day is seeing the scuba divers cleaning the habitat.

We petted the critters.

We marveled at the jelly fish {my favorite creature to watch!} and spotted the cardinal fishes.

We watched the dolphin show and saw the belugas. 

So fun to hang out with the penguins. 

In addition to cute and cuddly guys -

- we also found some creepy characters!

You know my boys adore a big ol' shark! 

We compared our heights to coral growth.

The coolest coral life!

We had lunch at the aquarium and took a cab across town.

Goodbye Baby beluga - 

Hello Willis Tower!

Our first stop was the Chicago Museum at Skydeck! Gotta love a deep dish pizza.

And the Chicago hot dog! Of course this is my boy who does not like ketchup or absolutely anything at all on his hotdogs! 

We admired the local legends - the Obamas and Michael Jordan. 

We learned about the science of lightening strikes of the building and pretended on the Second City stage.

And then we took the elevator to the top! 

 

Good thing these boys are not afraid of heights.

My beautiful girl with the skyline in the background.

We had to drag Grandma Nola out on the ledge. ;)

Love exploring the city with these three.

And here is the whole fam. 

For our last dinner in the city we had German food at Berghoffs. It was a perfect choice!

Pretzels, Beer, Schnitzel, sauerkraut, Spatzel - Wow! Chef's kiss for sure! 

We had this meal in honor of Grandpa Ken's birthday! Cheers to 74! 

Finished things off with some German Black Forest cake! Delish! 

The Storm family loves Chicago!

What a great trip!

Chicago Trip Part 2 - Art Institute + Millennium Park

Next on the agenda? The Art Institute of Chicago - love this building and the big lion statues out front.

We are always on the look out for Roman references. ;)

Always our favorite and first stop at this place is the miniatures room. I recently heard a story on public radio where they interviewed the staff person who meticulously cleaned all of these tiny rooms. What a job!

One of Leo's happy spots for sure! I remember taking him here when he was a tiny guy and he did NOT want to leave! Haha

Who can blame him - these are so enchanting and fun to look at! 

We made our way through the galleries - This Seascape by Renoir was so beautiful.

We were eager to see some Monet!

These pieces make us even more excited to visit France. 

Leo recognized this Van Gogh self portrait from one of his books.

The Sky above Clouds piece was dreamy.

Here is what the Storm kiddos wanted to see - American Gothic!

In addition to paintings, the museum is full of awesome knights + Medieval weaponry.

The boys were fascinated.

Oh yeah - even the horses had costumes!

Hope to see you again soon, Bronze Lions! 

It was a beautiful spring day so we made the short walk to Millennium Park.

We took some fun pictures with the Bean.

Here's the whole crew.

It is the best feeling to get that first truly nice weather day each spring!

Happy Spring Break!

After some time at the Park we walked back to the hotel and freshened up for dinner.

We went out for Italian - how cute is this place? 

Cheers to Chicago's Oldest Italian Restaurant! 

The food was delicious! Would definitely recommend this spot.

What do you do after a huge Italian meal? Hit the pool of course! 

Leo was living the dream on this vacation. ;)