"Chicago, Chicago ... I love it"

We did the Chambers thing (going to the library), the big-city thing (forsaking wheels for feet) and the Windy City thing (braving the chill) today in undertaking our first true Chicago adventure as a family.

We trekked 1.2 miles to the Chicago Public Library's central branch "on State Street, that great street" and 1.2 miles back to the apartment building, stopping to touch the snow, to pose in front of the lions guarding The Art Institute of Chicago and to eat lunch at Prudential Plaza.




And we not only survived. We had fun.

Levynn sang it best: "The cold doesn't bother me, the cold doesn't bother me, the cold doesn't bother me" - borrowing from her own original composition, "The rain doesn't bother me, the rain doesn't bother me, the rain doesn't bother me."

Lincoln showed it best: Bundled in his Gram-given snowsuit, he slept soundly for most of the walk and even lunch.

Meanwhile, Mom and Dad looked at each other and marveled at it all: Yes, we really live here.