Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Adrianna got her wish to ride on a train, finally. Not only that, but she got to ride on a bus and an tairtlane (airplane) too, all in one day. So now our “Daddy, bye-bye, tairtlane” conversations have a new sentence to them.

Adrianna: “Daddy. Bye-bye. Tairtlane.”
Me: “That’s right. Daddy went bye-bye on an airplane. So did Mommy and Adrianna.”
Adrianna (with excitement): “Raw-ra too!!”

We left on Friday to fly out to Chicago to visit Jeff, Jess, and baby Charlie. This meant riding a shuttle bus from the far-away airport parking, the train at DIA to get to our terminal, and of course the air plane to take us to Chicago. All three modes of transportation were exciting for Adrianna.

Unfortunately our plane was delayed for 45 minutes. For a toddler who was already missing nap time because of the time we had to be at the airport, this was not a good thing. Greg and I took turns trying to keep her entertained. Once we got on the plane and the initial excitement of the tairtlane wore off, she prompty fell asleep. Which was what I had planned for her to do when I booked a mid-afternoon flight, so at least that still worked out, even if it was delayed and made our time at the airport difficult.

We have been having a great time so far. We were all looking forward to meeting baby Charlie for the first time. Adrianna really enjoys helping with her baby cousin “Chaw-ee.” He is such a smiley baby; always flashing his huge, toothless grin.

And when Charlie isn’t using his carseat or bouncy chair, Adrianna commissions them for her bears. She also has decided that her bears need shoes.

Yesterday we got to go to an Ikea for the first time. I really wish we had one near us in Colorado.

Today we went to downtown Chicago and had a picnic lunch at Grant Park. While we were enjoying our lunch, we were joined by two ducks looking for handouts. Adrianna liked feeding the “baby ducks.” (Every duck is called a “baby duck, probably due to her having two toy ducks at home that really are ducklings.”)

After lunch, we took a walk near Lake Michigan. Adrianna is fascinated by water these days, so she really enjoyed seeing the fountain and the Great Lake. After the kids started getting tired, we went back to the van and drove around downtown Chicago before going to dinner. We went to Gino’s for dinner, which is the same pizza place my sisters and I stumbled across back in December. Although this might have been a different location. I never was able to decide for sure.

After the kids were put to bed tonight, we played Farkle. I won. 🙂

Looking forward to another fun-filled day tomorrow.