Day four. Last full day! Also the day we went to the American Girl doll store, finally! But I'm going to post about that one separately cause it was all kinds of wonderful and really deserves it's own post.
We started off the day by grabbing donuts and coffee at Stan's Donuts. Amazing, huge, donuts but the service left much to be desired. They were seriously so rude.
Grabbed breakfast and hopped on the bus, headed for the aquarium. We planned to be there when it opened and beat the crowds. It actually never got that bad but we needed to be finished by lunch time so we didn't miss our reservations at the AG Cafe. ;)
The aquarium was really cool. I wasn't expecting to like it this much. The girls really enjoyed it too and asked a lot of questions and I think learned a lot.
It was super impressive and they had some really awesome exhibits.
Emily liked these cause they were born or something on her birthday.
They also had a few spots where you could touch the fishies!
We bought tickets to the penguin show but the projector wasn't working so they booked us for a later time. Lucky for us, we got to see the beluga whale show and it was so cool! Then we walked underneath and got to check them out, still doing tricks. It was pretty awesome.
They had a cute little penguin playground and the girls had a blast on that. The slide looked like ice, everything was seriously so well executed.
Proof of mom. Yes, we are all wearing pink. No, I'm not matching their print but it's close.
petting stingrays!
penguin show. So cute! The air blew on our faces, water spritz'd us, it smelled like the outdoors. It was seriously a cool experience!
And as soon as the show was over, the girls turned to full on AG experience! We ditched Brian and grabbed an uber back to the hotel to grab Summer and Rebecca. Brian got an eBike and had his own fun. I'm going to have to track down his pics and add those in the end.
We tried to get the bus to the store but it was delayed. The store wasn't that far so we started walking. How excited they were! And what a memory. Walking down Michigan Ave with dolls on their backs, headed to their favorite place?! Again, I'll have a whole post on this but we ate at the AG Cafe, shopped and then had salon appointments with our dolls! It was so fun and magical to watch them enjoy it so much.
it's Emmy's hand on her hip that does it for me! And Kate's hair!!
Back to the hotel and they all changed into matching PJs. It's the most precious thing. We also had to do a photo shoot with our girls.
We had an hour of down time and then got ready for the reservation we were really looking forward to.. Monteverde! Again, big top chef fans here!
I will always take this picture! It's the sweetest. And she's looking so grown up and tall.
The girls loved Bailey from Top Chef last season.. or maybe the season before. She was actually working on this day but had left by dinner for some kind of celebrity chef thing. So sad! I love this picture because I had told the girls how it was good manners to put your napkin in your lap when you sit down. They overheard me telling Brian how Mrs. Shelly does it and then they thought it was cool. So Emmy did it here and said, "Look! I'm just like Mrs. Shelly!"
Shirley temples all around!
Appetizer was Sarah's Spuntino, which was 24 month parmigiano reggiano, artisan salami, hand rolled grissini, and balsamic. It was incredibly good. However, Emily grabbed most of it before we could even eat!! That balsamic and cheese was out of this world.
We also got the fusilli con ragu alla Napolentana, which was braised pork neck bone tomato sauce, italian sausage polpettine, pecorino romano, gremolata, calabrian oregano. Top two favorite item while in Chicago! The fresh pasta and that sauce. Slap me. I'm in heaven!!!!!
We also got some grilled asparagus with pea shoots. It was the best asparagus I've ever had in my entire life. We also had a salad before all of that. I don't remember what kind but it was really good. Simple yet crazy flavorful. And then there was dessert...
The girls didn't like it. Which made me thrilled because it was only for me and BJ. It was killer. We got the butterscotch budino and I didn't think I would really like it that much but wow. It has a brûléed top, buttered pecan toffee, whipped mascarpone and it just got better with every single bite.
We enjoyed this meal so much!! When I took the girls to the restroom, Kate got to see Bailey on the wall :) We walked super slow by the pasta counter to see them making it. 11/10 experience. Amazing food. Awesome vibe!
Everyone is sad this trip is almost over!
Waiting on our uber cause we're too full to walk.
the sweetest sister!!
Back in PJs. Not wanting to take our adorable hair out. Had to get a snap to remember it!
Anytime Emmy poses and asks me to take her picture, I'm taking it! It doesn't happen often. We had such a lovely and fun day. Soooo many memories and like I said, no one is ready for this trip to end!
XOXO
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