Chicago Christmas

One Christmas morning about 5 year ago,  John and I made a decision to not give our kids presents on Christmas.  Sounds drastic, I know, but it has been wonderful.  Our reasoning was this:  we sat amist the mountains of wrapping paper and boxes and toys piled so high that we really didn't know where to start.  Everyone had been so generous in giving to us and to our children (at the time, our children were the only grandkids on both sides, and the only nieces and nephews).  We were so thankful, as were the kids.  Santa had come and delivered abundantly.  And then John and I had given gifts to the children.  It was total carnage. 

Instead, we decided that as parents, we would give our children the gift of good memories at Christmastime.  We would choose several activities that we would not normally spend money to do, and we would do them as a family during the Christmas season.  The first year we went to a big production of the Nutcracker, and attended a huge indoor ice show, appropriately called "Ice" at the Gaylord Texan Resort.   Another year we added a little road trip to a live nativity near Austin, Texas, and a stay in a hotel to our plans.  The kids were fans, and so were we.   They didn't miss the extra gift under the tree, and we got to enjoy time with and make memories as a family. 

This year, we attended the Nutcracker once again.  This was Nathan's first time, and he ate it up.  We also surprised the kids with a trip into the city just days before Christmas, complete with a stay at a "fancy" hotel (fancy to us at least) right off of the Magnificent Mile, with an incredible view of Lake Michigan and Navy Pier.  We were lucky enough to convince some of our close friends to make the drive up from central Illinois to join us for a few crazy, fun filled days in the city. 

First we stopped at Macy's in the old Marshall Field's building to check out the holiday window displays, the ornate decorations in the store, and the famous tree.

Then it was on to the American Girl store and the Lego store for some last minute wishing.  Back at our hotel, we ate dinner and then swam until way too late (okay, so maybe it was only 10:00, but for us that is way too late!

The next day we walked the few blocks to Navy Pier to spend the day at Winter Wonderfest.

Between our two families, we had nine children under the age of 10!