Airplanes, Subways, Cars... Oh My!

So, my spontaneous, car-flipping husband decided to sell his new car and buy an old one in Chicago last week. He and my pastor are into the whole car-flipping/money-saving thing and have both sold their own vehices in order to pay less and have the potential to flip them at some point. I was very excited about this for many reasons: 1. One less car payment. 2. Cheaper car insurance. 3. Teaching our children a valuable lesson about not having to have "nice" things. 4. A trip to one of my favorite cities... CHICAGO! 5. Ella getting the chance to fly in an airplane.

On the otherhand, I was not too excited about leaving behind my sweet Grayson! I tried and tried to talk Kermie into letting me take him, but being the rational one of the two of us, he finally convinced me that it would not be a pleasant trip. We were leaving late Friday night, would not get to our hotel until late, it would be cold, and we would be driving home.

Mom and dad dropped us off at the airport in Louisville around 5:30 or so and of course I boo-hooed as they pulled off. It's so hard to leave your kids, even if it is what is best for them! The three of us (Ella, Kermie, and myself) proceeded to check our bags and grab some dinner before our plane arrived. Ella loved every minute of the whole experience!

Here she is getting in her last minute call before boarding! :)


Ella could not wait to take off! She kept asking, "Are we flying yet?"


We finally landed in Chicago at 8:15 pm their time and hopped on the Blue Line. Did I mention it was 33 degrees when we landed and that it takes a good hour or so to ride the subway into town? Ella is a tad exhausted at this point, but was such a trooper!


The next morning we woke up and while Kermie went to square away his car deal, Ella and I headed to the American Girl store. We went ahead and made Miley an appointment to get her hair done and Kermie met us to watch her get pretty. Ella made her a shirt and bought her a new skirt. And, I can honestly say that I will never go back to that store this time of year again! It was insane!!


For lunch, we headed to Giordano's. They have super yummy pizza and this was Kermie's only request for the weekend!


I think the late travel made Ella a little grouchy on Saturday because there were quite a few moments like the one pictured here! It didn't help that I had promised her that we would swim (and the hotel did not have a pool---really??) and that when we got to the aquarium the wait to get in was an hour and 40 minutes!


She cheered up though and we headed to do a little shopping around. Being the photographer she is, she sat the camera up on a ledge and made us squat for this timed photo :)


After shopping, we headed to a playground where she enjoyed playing with a few other little girls who were waiting on their bus.


The next morning, we woke up early and headed to the Shedd Aquarium in order to bypass the horrible line. We had no wait and went right in!


This aquarium is one of my favorites for sure! Ella loved mimicing the penguins she saw and thought touching the sea stars was cool!

Here is our last family picture before heading back to Kentucky! I was super happy that the "new old" car made it safely back!

I captured a few videos of Ella's first flight! She was so excited in this one!