August 3, 2012
Chicago Bears Family Night!!
Solider Field Stadium
Chicago!
Go Bears!! Family night tickets to watch the team practice, followed by fireworks! We loved being at Solider Field watching the Chicago Bears go through their practice drills and different touch down scenarios. We had great seats by two other close family friends, the McMillans and Woodlands!! As with other stadiums the food was pricey, but still fun to eat pizza and do the wave with the crowd. Clay thought the wave was so cool and Hayden said, "Here it comes!! Here it comes! Get yourself ready, here it comes!"
It was great having our own little section full of friends by us! All the kids loved seeing the players run out of the inflatable bear tunnel and cheered really loud when they announced players names!
Our family decided to take the train to get downtown. We made great time and the boys loved being on the train. This was not to case on the way home unfortunately though. Our night went from a great time with friends, stadium food, and fireworks to a crazy nightmare in downtown Chicago! We decided to walk to the stadium at the beginning and take a taxi back to the train station for the night. So we walked the 2.2 miles from the train station to the stadium which was a good hike on it's own, especially being 9 months pregnant, in sandals and keeping track of three other kids. The plan to get a taxi for the way back to the train station and get on the 10:30 pm train didn't go so well. The problem was that the Chicago Bears family night was on the same night as the Lollapalooza. The Lollapalooza is an annual
music festival featuring popular
alternative rock,
heavy metal,
punk rock and
hip hop bands,
dance and
comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. It was a 3 day concert fest held in Grant/Millennium park and the city was to anticipated having over 300,000 in attendance over the three days it was on. So all of the Bears fans and all the people at the concerts were trying to get into taxis, and buses and made a mess of the streets. Roads were closed off. Construction blocked cross streets allowing no access. The streets were packed with crazy, drunk, immodestly dressed people all over the place and since the streets were closed they felt they had free rain to hoot and holler and act obnoxious. The boys were great troopers and we stuck close together as we weaved our way through the huge crowds. Normal roads that we planned on crossing to get to a taxi were fenced off and we had no choice but to walk around. Buses were not running toward the train station we needed and were not available to access anyway from where we were at. We were all tired. My feet were killing me. I'm sure I looked like a crazy mother duck waddling all over the place, pregnant with baby boy #4 and have my other three out late with eccentric concert goers. The boys were definitely wearing down and by the time we came to a street that was open to traffic and we could get a taxi we were only 2 blocks away from the train station. If having to walk another 2.5 miles back to the station amongst drunks and glitter sprayed concert goers wasn't bad enough for the night, we missed the 10:30 train by five minutes and now had to wait until 12:30 in the morning for the next one!!! The station was packed with people waiting for the next train with us and we all took to sitting and laying on the floor waiting for the time to pass. We needed drinks from walking so much and the water and snacks I brought along were long gone. So just to be the cherry on top for the night I had to pay ten dollars for three 20oz soda pops!! We all were exhausted, tired, and had blister on our feet. Once on the train, Nate and I became really annoyed to be traveling with teenagers, who were talking way too loud, each one trying to top the other with their bigger and better stories for the night. After an hour long train ride we finally got back to our own car and arrived home at 2:30am!
A memorable night for sure! Wish that walking over 5 miles for the night would have sped up my pregnancy but alas this was not the case. I can't say enough on how great the boys were! They kept up with our fast pace and didn't whine and just dealt with our situation with us. At one point Hayden said, "Man, there goes another taxi! That's seven taxis we could have taken if this crazy fence wasn't here!" I felt his pain and was frustrated for and with him. Although, they were super tired once we were home, our boys thanked us for taking them to see the Chicago bears play for the night. Glad to have it all over with and glad to look back and laugh about it now!
