Fishes, dolls, and even more fish.

Spring Break reached our house the first week of April, and we tried to make the most of it by heading to Chicago for a few days of relaxation and fun. Stop #1 along our route was to the "Fish Store" aka "The Bass Pro Shop." Caleb was in heeaavveenn!! He couldn't believe his good fortune to be in a store that not only had an aquarium, but also an assortment of taxidermy animals. It was quite possibly the most exciting store he's ever been to. I suppose having 3 boys warrants more trips to hunting, fishing and all-around outdoor stores, but hello...I'm a girl and usually prefer the mall over a bait shop.

Once we made it to Chicago Kevin and I decided to wipe the calendar clean of most everything in favor of sitting poolside with a good book while the kids swam. It was so relaxing, and just the sort of break we needed this week.

On our second day in the Windy City, we ventured into downtown Chicago where we ate at the Grand Lux Cafe, and can I just add that it was Mmm...Mmm....good! Kyler even got an edible birthday card from our waitress.

We also checked out the Disney Store on Michigan Avenue, and just for fun we ventured into this "little" boutique:

Yep...That's an American Girl Store, and let me assure you, we were like fish out of water walking into a girls doll store with 3 little boys. Kevin's always wanted to take a peek inside one of the shops though so we seized the opportunity and went inside this enormous store . What we saw amazed us. I'm talking jaw hits the ground while eyes pop out of your head amazement. There were hundreds & hundreds of dolls, doll stations, doll dressing rooms, doll photo booths, a doll hospital, and even a doll salon. Unbelievable! We watched one dad who was obviously from out-of-town with his wife and young daughter while they waited in line for their new American Girl doll to be called in for her spa treatment. Yep...you read that right. You can visit an American Girl shop and for around $20 your doll can have a relaxing day at the spa which includes a visit to the salon for facial scrub, cucumber stickers for the dolls eyes, flip-flops, a salon cape, a faux face mask, and nail decals. You can even get your doll's ears pierced. The dad we watched had his camcorder out filming his daughters new doll sitting in the salon chair as she was getting her make-over. Every so often he'd look down at his feet and give a slight shake of his head. You could practically hear him thinking out loud, "Man, I saved all year to visit Chicago so I could pay this much money for a doll and her day at the spa" It was sort of hilarious. Not that I'm knocking anyone who has an American Girl doll. Believe me, if I had a daughter I'd probably be lined up to pick the perfect doll, too, but this guy was so clearly out of his element that Kevin and I couldn't help but chuckle. We would have had the exact same look on our faces if our places had been swapped.

Alas, our time in Chicago was winding down. We had enough fun in downtown Chicago for the day so we went back to the hotel for some more poolside reading and swimming. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. I'd do it all over again today if I could. The next day we drove home and decided to let Caleb hit nirvana once again, only this time we stopped at Cabela's where the boys tried their hand at rifle shooting:

Pretended they were back at a zoo with all their favorite animals.

and relished the time we had before arriving back home.
This has been an awesome Spring Break!