Living It Up!

I would be lying if I didn't say that Monday morning, our last morning in Chicago, was a bit sad. Oh, I love my kids. And I would have missed them eventually. (And I did miss the dog a bunch) But I wasn't ready to come back to reality quite yet. And honestly, if I had known what I was coming home to (grouchy and naughty children, some school situations, a broken dryer, etc), I might have hopped aboard the subway and just kept riding as far from the airport as possible. And no, I am not joking.

We took our time getting up and around, packed up our things, and headed downstairs to leave our luggage in the hotel luggage room. Then we headed down the street to take advantage of our few remaining hours.

We strolled by the art museum, planning to stop by when it opened. (We had a ticket from our Chicago City Pass) But we did go ahead and stop so Mark could get a snapshot with the almighty lion.

We ventured on down the street a bit further until we came to Millennium Park. I had been hearing about "The Bean" and wondered what all the hype was about. I have to admit, I was really impressed. It was quite large. Grand. Sleek.
This is a picture of the top looking up on the inside of the "Bean".
Here is a picture of ourselves. The funny thing is I didn't notice right away that it reflects the beautiful city behind it. Once I truly understood that, I was more impressed and understood the hype.
Seriously, how cool is that???
I just thought this "diamond" building was fascinating. And I love the red tree peeking through.
Another city scene. I would so not like living in the city. But I sure do like visiting.
Though I would have enjoyed the art museum, I knew a certain husband of mine was really wanting to go to the "skybox" in the Willis Tower which we also had a ticket to. And we only had time to do one. So I threw caution to the wind and we headed several blocks over (via foot) to the famous Willis Tour, a.k.a. the Sears Tower. And then also against my better judgment, we hopped on the elevator and went up to the 103rd floor. Yes, the 103rd...

This was our view. Looks different (and much scarier from a height perspective) during the day.
Yes, I really stood that close to the window. And held my breath a lot.
Can you believe the other skyscrapers look small compared to where I am standing?
Finally, the famous Skybox. He is such a daredevil. He didn't think twice walking out there. (What you can't tell is that there were several people also in it over on the other side...it was a popular place to be!)

Just sitting and hanging out...
Yes, that is my foot. I stepped a foot out there...
And then both feet. What you can't tell is that I had one hand holding onto the wall, like that was going to save me if the skybox suddenly collapsed and plummeted 103 stories???
Then I just stepped in and didn't look down. I tried not to think about what I was doing.
My last Chicago photo as I stepped into the elevator to go back down...to the ground and to reality.

The rest of the day involved airport security, eating Subway (the food) in the airport (when I really wanted more Chicago pizza), hopping on an airplane and heading back home to the lovely bickering children who had saved a weekend's worth of tattles for me.

And that is where I sit today.

And I must admit, I find myself wondering, "Why did I come home again?"

Reba