Mother's Day 2011...

was a day I will ALWAYS remember! Not just because it was Mother's Day AND my birthday (the first time that has happened since I've been a mom, but not the last!), but because we just had a really, really great day and it reminded me to stop and smell the roses (or tulips) more often!



We took Luke on his very first train ride into the city! I think I was more excited than he was at first. We drive by the Metra station everyday, and we always talk about taking the train to "A-Cago" to see the big buildings (which he knows from his Chicago book - thanks Linds!) so we were finally doing it and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day as far as weather goes! Luke's been to the city many times before, but we've never been walking downtown surrounded by the big buildings!

Being it was a weekend, the train wasn't an express so there were a lot of stops in between ours and Millenium Station. I was a little concerned that Luke would love it for a bit and then after so many stops, he would want to get off, but as always, he completely surprised me and loved every second of it! He thought he was the conductor - he kept saying "tickets please! C'mon people! All aboard!".





We didn't really have a plan for the day once we got to the City other than to just hang out at Millenium Park. Our train comes into Millenium Station so all we have to do is walk across the street to the Park. We brought a blanket to lay on, a kite to fly (which we ended up not being able to fly since the Windy City wasn't so windy that day which was actually perfect!), and Luke's baseball glove and ball.

As soon as we walked out of the station, Luke said (in the deep voice he uses when he gets excited), "Dook Daddy! Big buildings!" It was great!



Then of course, we had to take a picture with this bull in front of the Cultural Center since Luke loves bull riding!



The flowers are just gorgeous at Millenium Park and while I could have forced Luke to sit there forever with me to get the "perfect" picture, I decided to get what I could with one or two shots and move on. This day was going to be remembered forever - pictures or not! There was no need to make a 2-year old who was dying to go see the fountain sit for pictures with flowers!

So these are what I got!



I guess we both weren't ready!


On to the fountains - Luke threw every penny I had in my wallet into this fountain! There was one little duck swimming in there which Luke thought was hilarious!







It was a warm day and how could I ever deny Luke the chance to splash around in the water.



Wally asked me what we were going to do, and I said, "We will take off his socks and shoes, roll up his jeans, and let him go!"









His jeans were getting really, really wet, but I figured we would deal with it, and then, in true Luke fashion, he fell, face first and was SOAKED! All I could do was laugh! Luke wasn't thrilled about it at first and kept saying "I want to take my shirt off", but then he went right back in and of course fell again!


My favorite picture of the day!


When he was all done playing in the water, Wally was like what are we supposed to do now? He couldn't stay in those wet clothes all day SO we walked a couple of blocks to Old Navy and got Luke a new outfit (underwear and all)! The cashier was laughing and knew exactly what happened (apparently parents come in with wet children quite often!). It was so funny because it was as if Wally and I switched roles for the day, usually I am the worrier and stressing and he is carefree and fun, but on this day, I didn't have a care in the world! We learned our lesson (and here is a PSA for all other parents out there): Always bring an extra set of clothes when going to Millenium Park!

We headed back to the park and of course had to take some pictures at "The Bean".

See us there in the middle!




Next, we decided to stroll over to Buckingham Fountain at Grant Park. We knew Luke would LOVE this fountain, but wouldn't you know, he fell asleep on the walk over. We tried to wake him up to see it, but he wasn't moving. So we found some grass and rested!









Luke was still pretty sleepy when it was time to head back to the train station to catch the train so he still didn't really get to see Buckingham Fountain - I guess this means we will just have to go back again!

We picked up some ice cream cones for the train ride home and once again, Luke did awesome! He is still talking about it everyday when we drive by the trains.

It was a day to never forget!

And of course Happy Mother's Day to the best mom and mother-in-law around :)

(Oh and my present - a Kindle - which I am absolutely LOVING!!!)