Chicago

Navigating public transportation in to downtown Chicago was seamless. Thanks to Google, I was able to map my route and find a Metra station to park at to take the train. I was even able to pay the parking fee via an app:

Boo was excited about the double-decker train and wanted to sit on top:

It took around an hour to get to Chicago's Union Station, where we had the option to find a bus to get to Millenium Park about a mile away. We chose to walk so we could grab some more breakfast for Bottomless Pit Boo and coffee for me. I also grabbed an extra ham/egg/cheese bagel for later to avoid any interruption to our fun. 

We took a side trip into a Barnes & Noble at De Paul University to pick up some books I think Boo is ready for me to read to her:

If Boo was older or this was a solo trip, I would have gone in to the Art Institute of Chicago. Alas, it was not meant to be, so we enjoyed the gardens and fountains next door before heading to Millenium Park.

Once we arrived to Millenium Park around 11:30am, Boo was ready to play in Crown Fountain. Lots of other children had the same idea. Fortunately, I had packed her swimsuit for this very reason. 

I let her play about an hour and then took her to Cloud Gate, aka "The Bean," which is just up a flight of stairs. 

After a few pictures, we went and sat down in the outdoor theater area to eat lunch and rest a minute before heading back to Crown Fountain. 

By this point, we had already crushed our 12,000 steps for the day, with Boo taking way more by far. That silly kid ran full speed back and forth between the two fountains over and over and over. She's going to sleep like the dead tonight.

We headed back to the train station around 2pm. I let Boo have a strawberry cone with sprinkles to appease her on the mile walk back. Unfortunately, she ran right into a nice guy in black jeans and down went the cone, ice cream all over said guy. Commence hysterical crying, everyone apologizing to everyone, and me thanking my lucky stars I had a handful of napkins for Boo's victim. I then bought her a ridiculous $3.50 Popsicle because we had only gone like 0.25 miles. Balance to the universe restored, we hopped on the 2:30 train, returned to the hotel without incident, and now wait for John to be done because it's time for some Chicago-style pizza. Bottomless Pit Boo ate most of my breakfast and all of my lunch, so I'm famished.