Every year David's students present their research at a conference at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. Every year we get to spend one night in a SUPER expensive room, in an amazing, luxurious hotel for FREE. Over the course of the year there are a few opportunities similar to this one, but Palmer House is my favorite! It's historical and gorgeous, it's busy and relaxing all in one.
Usually the date sneaks up on us, because it is such a crazy hectic time of the year (the end of the semester before summer break). So there isn't a lot of anticipation and waiting for the night to come. It turns out like an awesome last minute surprise complete with a comfy down covered bed and a deep bathtub! This year our stay included an all out HOTEL PARTY, hosted and pretty much orchestrated by the BABE-O!
We arrived in Chicago around 10 o'clock on Wednesday night. This was our stealthy plan: do the drive during early bed time so that we can get some talk time on the drive down (one of our most favorite ways to spend time together), sneak him into the Palmer House and put him to sleep for a little extra quiet time before we rest.
Here's how it went down: E did sleep for one hour of the ride. And then he woke up just as we were entering downtown, in time to see the lights, cars, trains, buses, and bikes of "CAGO"! Then he proceeded to indulge in the amazing splendor of the "tea party" room. I have to say he was best dressed in his Cars jammies! Once we got to the room he tried all the phones (there were three), pretending to call Grandpa. He pressed all the buttons on the safe and ran the stroller from the bathroom to the bedroom to the sitting room...until 12:30am.
It was SO FUN, especially for "Diet Coke Papa" who had to be in tip top condition for the poster session at 8:30am. Best part: we seemed to have lost all evidence of the late night ruckus. We took several pictures and videos of the party but somehow (in the middle of the night) they were mysteriously erased from the camera.(Hmm? We are still sleuthing out that one.)
Moving on - The night's sleep was horrible. I think we maybe got 8 hours between the two of us, while E got a total of maybe 7 hours (not enough)! But this was not about to prevent us from having a tea party in the tea party room! David went to the poster presentation and E and I had a pre-breakfast snack in the tea party room.
When David finished the presentation, he and E explored the Empire Room, where we had a private breakfast for three.
After a much needed nap we ventured out to the "Fishies House" (the Shedd Aquarium) by bus.
Yes, those that know me well, I said the Shedd Aquarium. This is the place where they keep fish and marine life behind glass - the place where Mama's worst fear in the entire universe originated. Turns out having a kid reduces fish behind glass anxiety. (Except when there are HUGE eels and shiny fish that approach out of nowhere. In these cases, you will find Mama with her back to a wall that does not contain fish or aquatic creatures of any sort).
Babe-O had a blast playing with the turtles, dressing up as a penguin, watching the belugas, and playing campsite (so did Mom-O and Papa)!
As usual, and awesome Palmer House experience and tons of fun with E!
Needless to say, fishie house anxiety is not genetic (Phew!). We will be going back!
HI THIS IS ANDY... YOUR MOM'S BESTEST BUD.. i LOVE yOUR BLOG AND YOUR BABY IS SOOOOO ADORABLE i WISH i COULD SEE HIM SOMEDAY.. yOU MA SHOWS ME ALL TH PHOTOS OF HIM.. i LOVE HIM TOO. bYE!!!
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