Chinatown, out to eat, playing cards

Our final full day in Chicago was a lot of fun. We ventured out to Chinatown first thing in the morning, and you know what? It makes you feel like you're in China again, really. Same smells, sounds, food, stores, etc. We started out at the Chinese/American museum, which wasn't much to write home, or blog, about, but we're glad we went anyway. They had a nice display on adoption, so that was a neat thing for us. From there we headed out to explore Chinatown. It really did make me feel like I was back in China. Most of those feelings were nice, but I again felt like people were staring at us in a not so friendly way. I do wish I had a better understanding of what the Chinese people felt about us. Some of it is just my own insecurities, wondering if they are upset with us and reading their expressions as disapproving rather than just expressions they were wearing before they ever saw us. All in all, people were very friendly, as they were in China, and we had a good time exploring.

My favorite part was playing in the little park that had all the zodiac signs. Even though I don't really believe in those signs, my husband is spot on for the rooster, that's for sure. He and his rooster daughter had fun playing by their sign while I had to hang out by the snake, which is NOTHING like my personality, I might add. Allison enjoyed making snow angels in front of her sign- what a hoot!

From there we moved on to lunch, at CPK (not like we can't go there every day at home, but we weren't in the mood for Chinese food. Now that Allison is an avid card player, we can bring those to restaurants and other places to pass the time. What fun we had. Daddy did a huge photo shoot in CPK- I'm sure people thought we were weird, but he got some precious pictures! We also pass time by calling people to visit with them. You can see Allison is an expert talking on the cell phone. "Hello, Grandma Judie, this is Allison. What are YOU doing?"

For dinner we tried a local restaurant and enjoyed a yummy "breakfast for dinner", which is my favorite thing to do! Allison played with her Mickey Mouse pancakes but was much more interested in her jelly toast. :)

Once we arrived home I had to take a picture of her modeling her first tu tu. We spent a lot of time at a store called Land of Nod- you MUST check it out if you haven't already, and while Daddy was maxing out the credit card in line, I sent Allison up in this tu tu and told her to say, "Daddy, can I have it?" I knew with lots of people around and his daughter looking precious in her tu tu, he could not refuse. :) It is a darling get up with little petals inside the mesh- ADORABLE!! Now I must get her a leotard so she doesn't look so "fashion challenged" next time she wears it.

Tomorrow's post will be "back home" stuff from this week so far. I hope you enjoyed traveling with us to Chicago. If you've never been, it's worth the trip!