Taylor/Rawls Vacation - Chicago

WARNING: The following post has A LOT of pictures!

I'm finally posting our Chicago vacation. Instead of dragging it out over various posts, I'm overloading this one with a lot of pictures. Our vacation started out with a bang, so to speak. Mom's arm had doubled in size the day before. We went to the Knox ER where they told us her dialysis graft had internal bleeding. They "fixed" the problem and released her. We went to the Burton/Brady gathering before heading out the next day for Chicago. The next morning, her arm just kept getting larger and larger. We decided to head to Chicago and take her to Northwestern Hospital. We literally pulled into the city and mom and I went to the ER. Not only is this hospital awesome, being ranked as one of the top hospitals in the US, but it was 2 blocks from our hotel! Talk about things working out! Within an hour mom had been seen by 10 doctors! Long story short, the fabulous doctors took good care of her and she was released with 3 days left of vacation.

While she was in the hospital we mostly went site seeing. Walking all around downtown and of course, getting pizza. Erin and I spent most of the day at the hospital but were able to slip out and spend time with everyone.

Nate's goal for he and the boys is to go to every baseball park in the US. He was able to mark two parks off the list by going to a White Sox game and a Cubs game. We all went to the Sox game (minus mom). It was a boys only game for the Cubs game. Rylan is at the age where he appreciates going and enjoys staying for the entire game.

Mom's only request was to go to Navy Pier and to the Children's Museum. We saved that for her along with going to the Sears Tower. We made sure to enjoy her final 3 days out of the hospital before heading back.

Even though it wasn't the greatest vacation for mom, we are thankful the circumstances allowed us to be close and able to still enjoy some of the vacation as well.

Enjoying Chicago style pizza.

The kids loved the bean!

Walking hard....and hardly walking!

Best part of the hotel swimming pool...it was on the roof top!

White Sox Game

Racing was a big hit. The first time Mal ran she started to cry because she didn't want to run into the big Sox sign that all the boys were jumping into. Hilarious!

Our awesome seats thanks to Trish & Jimmy!

Cubs Game

Visiting Gigo in the hospital.

Gigo's first adventure out of the hospital was to the Willis (Sears) Tower. She did great, considering she doesn't like heights!

The only place Gigo wanted to go when on vacation was to Navy Pier and to the Children's Museum. Even though by the end of the day she was worn out. She had a great time!

Children's Museum

Rain Forest Cafe

Our final full day in Chicago we went to the Museum of Science & Industry. Trish, Jimmy, Nicole, Alex, Keenan, Shailyn and Brenna met us there. It was a lot of fun. Rylan and Austin loved the tractors and combines they could sit in. Along with the submarine tour we took.

Frame-able shots