CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Jett’s Wild Flight: DAY 1, Village Nutrition, Magnificent Mile Shopping & the 95th floor!

By: Jett Lillie, 7/7/22

I’m going to tell you all about Chicago. First, we went to see my old nanny and her shake store, her name is Kenzie. It was fun and I did a magic trick then taught it to her. We had fun but we had more plans.

Then we went to downtown Chicago and to the American Girl store. IT WAS SO BORING!

After, we went to Heaven AKA the LEGO STORE! I chose to do “pick a brick” and picked different Lego bricks, which I made vehicles out of them. Then we went to the Hancock building and ate “Linner” (Lunch + Dinner) 96 stories high! Then we went home.

Jules’ Journal: DAY 2, Navy Pier, Shedd Aquarium, & Deep dish pizza

By: Julianne Lillie, 7/8/22

We headed into Chicago mid-morning (wanted to avoid the weekday morning traffic) and arrived to the Navy Pier right as they were opening – perfect timing! Securing a parking spot for our huge truck today was much easier than yesterday’s adventure on the Magnificent Mile. Jett had been wanting to ride the grand Centennial Wheel so we headed that way first. Jaycie had no interest in soaring high, so her and daddy stayed down below and scoped out the other activities to do. Jett and I enjoyed the magnificent view of Chicago’s downtown buildings and Lake Michigan from high up in the air. We got to ride 3 full rotations and Jaycie and Jason were able to spot us from the ground.

After the wheel, Jett rode the spinning swings by himself while all of us got dizzy watching him. He said that was his most favorite swing ride, EVER! We then ate lunch at some local eateries at the Navy Pier, did some souvenir shopping, and headed back to the truck. We met up with John & Amy Nicolosi and their son, Isaac, at the Shedd Aquarium. The Shedd Aquarium is HUGE and the home of several dolphins, sea lions, and 9 Baluga whales! Jett’s favorite part was seeing the ribbon eels and the Amazonian Anaconda. Jaycie enjoyed the many different types of jellyfish. And I think we all were mesmerized by the massive Sea turtle as it swam around in its tank. If Jett and Isaac both huddled together they still weren’t as big as this turtle was!

After we explored the aquarium, we headed to Giordano’s for deep dish pizza. The Nicolosi’s informed us it was a definite Chicago “must do!” John has been my boss at CerpassRx for several years and it really great to catch up with him and Amy. (I think the best part was just engaging in adult conversation for a change!) And Amy was so thoughtful… she had a little gift for each of us (Chicago themed T-shirts for Jason and I, Friendship making bracelet kit for Jaycie, and Pokemon cards for Jett). And she even put together 4 Escape room packets that we can do together on a rainy day or have the kids do when we need a break! We will definitely put those to use!!! The pizza was absolutely delicious and Jaycie loved how thick the crust was! Jett’s favorite part was how cheesy it was. Jett also got the chance to show off his new magic trick to the Nicolosis!

After dinner, we said our goodbyes and walked off the pizza strolling down the Magnificent Mile one last time towards our truck. We passed by the Special Olympics torch with the flame lit as well as Soldier stadium.

One last thing, I would be remised to not tell you about our RV campground we stayed in. Lakeshore Camp Resort in Portage, IN has been the most interesting campground to date. For starters it is MASSIVE and contains a very large pond which is very pretty. And the majority of sites in this campground are actually permanent residences – some with RVs, but most with manufactured homes. And it’s a mix between extremely manicured lawns/gardens with completely neglected lawns with old junk piled up. There were some RVs that looked like their owners parked it in 1972 and haven’t been back since. And then others had brand new manufactured homes with sunken patios, decks, pergolas, built-in outdoor fireplaces and a fishing dock down to the pond. To make it even weirder, it appears this used to be a Jellystone franchised campground that no longer is. All of the street names (& wifi password) are Yogi Bear themed and there are still Yogi Bear murals on some of the manufactured homes or private sheds throughout the park. However, on one of our family bike rides one evening, we came across the site that wins the award for “largest eyebrow raise” from the 4Js. See below photo:

We packed a LOT into just 2 days in the Windy City and made lots of fun, lasting memories. Now onto the next adventure!