Chi-town, continued

After seeing Chicago from a bird's eye view and in the reflection of a giant bean, we set out to see it on foot.

It was lunchtime, so we headed to the Navy Pier for Chicago-style hot dogs. Mustard, tomatoes, pickles, relish, peppers... you know, the usual.

We took our time walking around the pier and enjoying the views of Lake Michigan and the city. You have to remind yourself a million times that it's a lake and not an ocean. So pretty!
And then it was onto the Magnificent Mile of pretty stores and malls.
(Window shopping only, Heidi, I swear!)
We were so excited when it was finally an acceptable hour for dinner--we'd been craving Chicago-style pizza all day! Shaun & Amber's wonderful friends recommended a local favorite, Giordano's. As you can see, it's pretty popular--and for good reason!
You would think we'd be stuffed after all of that yummy pizza, but people, there is always room for dessert.

And finally, we waddled the 3 miles back to the car, passing by the beautiful bridge and Bill Ransick's beautiful building along the way. Bill Ransick as in Guiliana & Bill. Also the 1st Apprentice. But mostly Guiliana & Bill. And if you're aware of that fact already, we just became best friends.

Oh, and did I mention that Chicago is awfully romantic at night?
Because it is.

Such a lovely little trip.

(And to Shaun & Amber--miss you already!)

Chicago!

We drove to Illinois on Friday night with our friends Shaun & Amber and woke up bright and early Saturday morning to visit the tallest building in America (and the tallest structure in the world!).

In case you didn't know, that would be the Sears/Willis Tower in downtown Chi-town.
At 1,730 feet, it towers above the Chicago skyline and many other iconic buildings like the Empire State Building & Eiffel Tower. Guests visit the Skydeck, located on the 103rd floor. It takes just 60 seconds for the elevator to make it from the lowest level to the Skydeck. Can you imagine taking the stairs?
The coolest part--by far--of the Skydeck is the glass ledge that you can walk out on. Just don't look down, right?
After playing on the glass, we spent some time enjoying the view from every direction.
We lucked out with GORGEOUS weather in November and could see pretty far in the distance. On a clear day in the summer, visitors can see 4 different states from the tower.

Once we were back on the ground, we began a long day of walking through the city by heading over to the popular Millennium Park.

The park, which is actually a part of Grant Park, is home to the Pritzker Pavilion which hosts music festivals and concerts throughout the year.

Our favorite part of Millennium Park (and possibly Chicago?) was the Cloud Gate, better known as The Bean. In its reflection, you can see the entire Chicago skyline.

Of course, the skyline isn't the only reflection you see.

In fact, you can quite feasibly spend hours taking pictures of your reflections on the inside.

It took awhile to tear our easily-entertained selves from The Bean, but eventually we succeeded and found ourselves walking along Michigan Avenue toward the Magnificent Mile.

And the rest is to be continued!

Kirtland

Fresh off the heels of visiting Hiram the night before, Matt and I shared an incredible Sunday in Kirtland last week. We enjoyed visiting all the key historic sites and remembering all the wonderful things that happened there. We feel so blessed to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and for the opportunity that we had to reconnect with our rich heritage.

To learn (or relearn!) what happened at each location, just click on the links!

The Historic Kirtland Visitors' Center:
The stream:
The Newel K. Whitney Store:

The Johnson Inn:

The handsome husband who grew tired of taking pictures:

The Newel and Elizabeth Whitney Home:

The view from the Sawmill:

The engineer enjoying said mill:

The Ashery:

The Isaac Morley Farm:

The Kirtland Temple: