Navy Pier

Yesterday we went to Navy Pier - it offered some spectacular views of the city. This is speedboat tour - not my cup of tea!

This is the city skyline from Navy Pier.








And this boat was some kind of tour but I was awestruck by the helicopter on the back - it must have been a private yacht or something. It look kind of like a Donald Trump-y sort of thing!

Only 2 more sleeps until Oprah - I found out that the Olympians are being filmed on Wednesday as the first show of the new season so no clue on who we are going to see. We've all bought new clothes for the big day - no beige and no white!

It's Was A Wicked Birthday for Lisa!

Wednesday was Lisa's 40th birthday so we celebrated by going to see Wicked in Chicago - it was amazing! I loved it!

Here's Greg, Emma, Lisa, Tiana, Katy and Wendy outside the theatre.

We decided to walk a couple of blocks from the theatre to find a cab back to the hotel. Here we are on the Michigan Avenue bridge. We ended up walking all the way back to the Omni - it was a wonderful day!

We stopped at ESPN Sports Centre for a drink and some snacks - they have over 160 video games. Here's Emma on a race horse game - what else for a horsey girl like her.

Today, we took a double decker bus all over the city - the architecture in Chicago is wonderful and it is

definitely the cleanest city I've ever been in - even the alley ways are clean.

Greg and Emma went to the hotel pool after dinner tonight - which was at the Melting Pot - a fondue restaurant - and met the Executive Chef of the hotel. After they'd been back about 15 minutes this arrived from the chef. Beer for Greg, bottled water for Emma, red wine for me, 2 boxes of Truffles, smoked almonds, cashews. What a treat! I'm thinking I'm glad my husband is such a nice friendly guy! Oh - and it's possible that the Olympic Gold Medalists might be Oprah's guests for our taping.

The chef told Greg they are expected here on Tuesday so we might have hit the jackpot! Michael Phelps is a possibility!

Tomorrow it's off to Navy Pier.

American Girl Place

Today was the day that Katy and Emma have been waiting for since we left home. Their day at American Girl Place - my mom started them on these dolls. She loved dolls and it looks like 2 of her granddaughters have inherited that love. These dolls are really wonderful - they are beautifully made, with lots of outfits and accessories that give both Emma and Katy hours of fun.
Our first stop was the Hair Salon - yes, there is a hair salon for dolls. They can choose the style for their doll and ribbon colors - both Katy and Emma decided to get the hairdos before they had their pictures taken for the American Girl magazine cover. Each of them received a special copy with their pictures on the front.
Here's Nicki's finished do - just like new!
Here's Emma at lunch in the American Girl Cafe - they provide chairs for the dolls that attach to the table and even little china cups for them to drink from. The girls were in a hurry to leave here to go back to the hotel to play with all their AG stuff - no time to take pictures because the boxes were flying open. Suffice to say that between the two of them w had 4 big bags!

This picture is the same as the first - I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get rid of a picture that I don't want in the post.

The Big Reveal

I have always wanted a Tiffany bracelet so when Greg and I were walking by Tiffany yesterday it seems like the right time to make the big splurge. And....of course, I didn't want the sterling silver one - nooooo! I wanted the 18K gold one - it's so pretty! I just love it. I felt kind of bad spending that kind of money on myself but now that it's on my wrist, I feel soooo much better! Did I mention I went to the Oprah store? Got a present for Sarah (the new married girl knitter)there! Today was spent at American Girl Place with Emma and Katy - they had a blast seeing all the stuff they usually only see in the catalogue up close and personal. Tomorrow is Wicked and Lisa's 40th birthday. Good thing there's not alot of walking tomorrow because right now I don't think I could walk another step.

More Chicago News!

Greg, Emma and I had a wonderful day today - we were off by ourselves because Lisa and her family went to Six Flags - they are theme park junkies - us? not so much! We did some exploring on Michigan Avenue and then took a 1 hour carriage ride around the city. We saw some amazingly beautiful homes in the Gold Coast area of the city, saw the shores of Lake Michigan from Lakeshore Drive. Our horses' name was Prince and our driver was Omar - he told us lots of fun facts - like where the original Playboy Mansion was and he pointed out where the new Trump Tower is in Chicago.










This is it between two buildings - it's not finished at the top yet but the bottom is open for business.









Emma enjoyed a visit to the Hershey store - she came home armed with chocolate bars








Oh and this little bag - well - I bought myself a little treat! Stay tuned for the pictures tomorrow!