{Chicago}!!!

As you may already know, we took G to a new Autism specialist in Chicago a couple of weeks ago.  G did amazingly great through it all and I was SOOO grateful we could then spend a couple of more days and play with just G:)  Mr. D's sister was so generous with her time as she flew out to TX to stay with our girls so we could go do this appointment and not have to deal with the little girls at the same time:)

It was super hazy the afternoon we flew in, if you look super close, you can make out the Chicago skyline:) 

G chilling at the airport as we waited for the car service to come get us. 

G's doc is located in a suburb of Chicago so the first night we got there we stayed one night in the suburbs before moving onto downtown.  Across from our hotel in the suburbs was a true mid-western pond complete with a black top trail that we could walk around the water (just like the good ol' days).  I immediately missed the mid-west, such fond memories:)

The next morning we woke up and went to G's appt.  It was 3 hours long which was draining and informative all at the same time.  The physician is hopeful we should be able to clear out the toxins that have caused G's hypotonia among other issues.  She was a very bright woman and we feel really good about her.  We have decided she is worth seeing from now on.  So, lucky for Chicago-ans, they will see us yearly:)  The only suck-y part is, although she took G off of 4 of his current supps, she added 8 more in and pending test results, even more could be added:(  However, the approach with G is to start slow with herbs and work our way up if needs be.  So, some of his supplements are herbal drops that we apply to his skin which is easy-peasy:) 

After G's appt we checked out and high-tailed it into downtown to take full advantage of the time we had left since it was such a quick trip.  We took a walk down to the river from our hotel and hopped on a water taxi for a fun little ride.

Chicago is BEE-U-TEE-FUL!!!  The architecture is stunning, I would seriously consider living here:) 

The next morning we had tickets to go to the top of Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears tower).  It's funny, as the locals all still call it the "Sears tower" as if to make it a point that they are all angry over the name change:) 

Downtown Chicago is chalk full of skyscrapers, not as many as NYC but still impressive:) 

We did this solely for G as he wanted to go see really tall buildings.  He walked right out on these windows with ZERO hesitation and Mr. D followed!  Me, well, I did do it, it was just the worlds most awkward sensation!!  I had to take a picture of mine and G's feet to prove I did it.  103 stories down is a LOOONNNGGG way to fall if the glass was to break under our feet. 

After we came back down there was a nice lawn across the street with these über comfy adirondack chairs. The weather was awesome too, it felt amazing to just sit and enjoy the view.  Something you can't do in TX, it's way too hot, we hole up in our houses here, it's sad:(  G was just staring up at the Willis Tower and relaxing:) 

We also went to the planetarium later that day.  It was a lot of fun, great place to visit.   

G loved it, tons of hands on stuff for kids:)  We ended up spending more time there because some super dark, mid-western clouds were rolling in and fast!  However, we couldn't wait out the storm as we had tickets for a boat cruise so we had no choice but to purchase some choice, cheap plastic ponchos and take a run for it all while trying to hail a cab:) 

The first part of our boat ride it was still raining so I sat downstairs on the inside of the boat till it let up.  G and Mr. D didn't care, they went straight upstairs and braved the rain:) 

It's always fun to hear about why things are the way they are.  We learned that back in the late 1800's due to  too much toxins coming in they had to reverse the flow of the river.  So, when you leave the river area to go out to Lake Michigan, there are these locks that you approach and stop.  The locks then slowly open (it took about 15 minutes) and we couldn't proceed until our boat rose another 15 inches.  The locks then close behind you to keep the river running a totally different direction.  Cool eh? 

The Chicago skyline. 

Wouldn't be the great lakes without lighthouses:)  This one was seized after the gentleman who purchased it held too many loud, rowdy parties.  It's been vacant for years now. 

After the boat cruise we had to go find Millennium Park to see the famous "bean" sculpture.   

They have these really fun fountains that project images behind the glass bricks.  Every so often a face will appear and look like it's spitting water.  We were told that all the faces are of locals that came down to the project to have their faces photoed making the "ooo" face.  Love city culture! 

G and Mr. D wading in the water of the fountain:) 

We then took a walk to see this HUGE fountain called the, "Buckingham" fountain.  It was named in honor of Clarence Buckingham.

That evening, we still had some daylight hours to burn and since we were going home the next day, we had to take advantage of one last attraction we could fit in.  So, we went to Navy Pier:) 

This was my first time EVER being on a ferris wheel.  Crazy right?  It was about as exciting as I thought it would be;)  

Mr. D paid for G to drive some cute little water boats.  Mr. D got a little frustrated when G was just driving his boat all crazy without aiming it through the tunnels and such.  G didn't care, he laughed and had a good time anyways:)

All in all, it was an awesome short trip and to be able to take just G was a lot of fun:)  I'm again super thankful to my sister-in-law who watched our girls and kept them safe and for Mr. D and his hard work he puts in at his job to be able for G to have the care he deserves:)

But now, my work begins....  At the appt G was taken off of sugar, yeast, refined carbs, fruit juice, peanuts and pistachios.  So, even though it doesn't sound that bad, take into consideration the list those things were added to.  He is now GFCF, egg free, soy free, garlic, oysters, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, yeast, sugar, cranberry, orange, fruit juice & refined carbohydrates free.  If you ever stopped to read ingredients, you'd see that pretty much, G can't eat anything unless it's homemade. So, I've got a food dehydrator to make G some chips for lunch as well as crackers and dried fruit for snack time at school.  I also bought a Yonanas to make ice-cream and popsicles w/o added sugars.  Also, his new supp schedule is quite daunting but I'll get it down, just give me some time to find a new "normal".  

With all of this, it's a wonder I've never smoked pot or became an avid friend of wine, LOL!