Calling all Chicago DISers #3

[KimRaye]

WOW! I was so thrilled to see this thread - Sure could use your good advice. We'd like to visit Chicago in June for about 2 - 3 days during a driving trip from Pittsburgh to Minneapolis.

Obviously, the hotels out of town are less expensive than in town - and the parking! OUCH.

So, the question is - how hard is it to get from the outskirts to in town where the attractions are, using public transportation.

Would you think a hotel near Midway would be a good location for that, or do you have an area you would recommend more?

What else should I know?

TIA for your help! I surely will appreciate it!

I too would recommend staying near O'Hare, maybe in Rosemont, or maybe near the Cumberland station, where there are a bunch of hotels and most have free transportation buses to the public transportation which is blocks away, usually. The "EL" as we call it, is the fastest way downtown and, while they run on schedules, the most you might ever wait for one is 15 mintutes maybe, so they are very regular and consistent. Hope you enjoy your stay here!


Chicago DISers, hope you all had an enjoyable Easter/Passover.

 

[slo]

Well gang, it's the start of another week

Did you all have a nice Easter?
We did - it was nice!!!
The brunch we went to was lovely, and we ate way to much food.
Then we went back to my inlaws house, and had more food (dessert).
Then we visited my parents for awhile.
Then we came home and I was in my jammies by 7pm
It was a great day!!!


Donna - I"m sorry to hear about your son's school closing Please keep us posted on how everything is going with that, and I will pray that there is a good outcome.

Leigh - Can you set Twitter like Facebook so only people you know can see what you are doing? That would freak me out if people I don't know is responding to my posts

LindaBabe -
I would agree with what others have posted about where to stay. Please always feel free to ask any questions you want here. We've done it for many many other people before




Well, I'm off to take out the dog before it starts raining alot, and then I need to get ready for work. Have a great day today everyone!!

 

[paintnolish]

Good rainy morning to all of you! Hope you had a nice Easter/Passover! We did. We decided not to travel to Chicago to have bfast at my Gpa's. I felt bad, but we would have had to leave home at 7 a.m. and the kids wouldn't have had time to look for eggs and stuff. I sent a card and have been trying to visit him more often. Anyway, we ate lots of chocolate, then dd and I went for a long bike ride. Dh and ds stayed home (ds can't/doesn't like to ride without training wheels...don't get me started). Then, we used our new grill and made some steaks. Finally, we watched Bedtime Stories, which was pretty cute.
slo- I'm with you on Twitter. It seems to be the "cool" thing now. I don't know much about it at all!
Sk8- Getting my taxes done today. Let's hope for a big refund-that's my WDW spending money!
Donna- So sorry to hear about your son. They made some cuts at dh's school and he was nervouse, as it is only his 2nd year there! If you pm me with where he is looking and waht he teaches, I will keep and ear out. We have several teachers in our family, ll around the Chicagoland area.
Bunchkin- Hope you're feeling better. I had thatcold thing a week or so ago. I am still stuffy when I first wake up!
Hersey- What'd you bake?
ID- Enjoy Phase 2! We are hard core here until summer. No more days off until the holiday. I think I can, I think I can...so many papers!
Dgal, Criss, Mac, Gef, everyone else!
Lindababe- I'd be happy to offer suggestions for dining and entertainment. Kids? Ages?

 

[geffric]

Morning..

Kids are off today.. so I am going to take Geoff to Meals on Wheels so he can get in some of his hours needed to graduate.. Eric has band pracrice as they are playing on saturday in Hoffman.

Yesterday we had DH's brother and wife over for dinner. I got a ham from Costco and it was very good.. made salad, asparagus, green bean cassorole and had fresh pineapple. DSIL brough pototes, a bean thing and desssert.

Be back later..

 

[Sk8Leigh]

Leigh - Can you set Twitter like Facebook so only people you know can see what you are doing? That would freak me out if people I don't know is responding to my posts

Well that's why I'm anonymous! I wouldn't want people to see what I was posting if they could figure out who I was, but since no one knows who I am, it doesn't really matter. But yes, you can set it to private so that only people who you approve can see your posts.

I got a lot of random people following me when Ryan repsonded to me. Total randoms!

 

[slo]

I'm getting really bored of these cold days - when is Spring coming
My Magnolia bush has flowers on it, so I guess that is a good sign that warmer weather is around the corner


paint - It sounds like you had a nice Easter
I"m sure your Grandpa understood why you didn't see him - I wouldn't want to make the kids leave that early either In fact, from now on, we will be going to Easter Vigil Mass every year on Saturday night, so I don't have to rush the girls out of the house to go to Easter Sunday morning Mass.

geffric - That's great that Geoff went with you to do Meals on Wheels I would eventually like Stephanie and I do volunteer our help with the food pantry at our church.
**I'm glad you had a nice meal with BIL and SIL

Leigh - Thanks explaining Twitter to me - maybe I'll check it out someday



I've just eating my Easter poppyseed coffeecake (I feel like I'm getting fatter by the second with all the crap I've been eating lately), and now I must get Steph out of bed. It was nice having her on break Friday and Monday

Have a good day today!!!

 

[paintnolish]

Taxes went well yesterday! Nice refund for WDW spending!I also need to get an eye exam and contacts and ds needs new glasses before we go. I'd also like to get a new camera. Mine is a few years old and looks like and archaic brick by today's standards! Other than that, dh and I went to Olive GArden for lunch-soup, salad, and bread! Yum!
slo- I have been eating way too much candy, too. I don't know why dh buys me this stuff. He knows I'll eat it! I am trying to lose a few before our trip so I won't be when I get home from DDP!
gef- I made me Easter ham on Monday! We ended up grilling out on Easter!
Better get moving! Hasve a great Tuesday, and like Slo said, Spring weather (hopefully) is right around the corner!

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

Sigh. Well, I can get a good deal on flights through Southwest for our trip...except that we'll have to come back earlier on Sunday than I would have liked Not totally sure what I am going to do about that one, since I think it will mean not being able to do KttK on that last day.

Oh well. Not sure what I'm going to do now...

 

[disneygal922]

Good Morning Everyone! let me tell you, i sure am glad i have a shortened work week. Yesterday was such a long day and today is already off to an iffy start. Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. I was busy but it was nice. my hard boiled eggs turned out more like soft boiled eggs i've never boiled more than one egg so i followed a receipe in my Culinary Institute of America Breakfast and Brunch book.... oh well, there's always next year. Speaking of always next year, Cubs won their home opener!!!! I the Cubs!

Slo ~ I hear it's supposed to get to the upper 60s by friday

Paint ~ mmmmmmm Olive Garden! Best breadsticks ever. Yay for nice tax returns!

Disneymoon ~ sorry to hear your flight will need to be earlier than you wanted. Can you do KttK another day during your trip?

Everyone else ~ have a wonderful day!

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

DisneyGal...I think we can, but it just means I have to rethink our plans a little. It had tentatively been to go to MK on the first day in the afternoon (just because I want to go there first, DH has NEVER been) and then do a day there, and then two days at Epcot, and 1 each at AK & DHS...not sure how I am going to change things exactly

 

[irish dancer]

Hi guys! I'm SOOO looking forward to the warmer weather they're forecasting for the rest of the week. I'm tired of the cold/grey/damp, it's time for Spring!!

Took the girls bowling yesterday, it was fun. Got my haircut today - yikes it is short!! DH teased me that the older I get the shorter my hair gets! Tomorrow my DSis is going to take my girls and her DD to Timber Ridge in Lake Geneva for an overnight, they can't wait!

Leigh - glad you got your taxes done. Ours have been done for a long time, refund received and spent-lol.
*Kind of freaky about Twitter, I'd want to be anonomous on there too. I'm not up on Twitter or Facebook but I think I should figure them out before my kids do!

Donna - is that Driscoll Catholic that you're talking about? I saw that on the news. I hope for your son's sake that it doesn't close.

LindaBabe - Welcome to our thread!! I agree with the others that the O'Hare area might be a bit better. There are a lot of hotels right on the "L" line into the city.

slo - I forgot to congratulate your MIL on being initiated into the Church, glad you guys had a great Easter and such.

paint - I'm sure your grandpa understood but I know it must have been hard. Our kids got Bedtime Stories in their basket too, we watched it last night. Very funny and cute, we all loved it!
*Congrats on the refund!

DisneymoonJess - DH and I did the KttK tour on our anniversary trip a few years ago, we really liked it. We have been having better luck with American and United rather than Southwest lately, have you checked them?

disneygal - sorry your eggs didn't turn out. I have a "cookbook" type thing I got when I was first married and their directions for hard cooked eggs works perfectly. Put the eggs in cold water, bring them to a boil, cover and remove from heat, let sit for 20min then rinse in cold water. Works like a charm!

to KimRaye, Crissup and geffric.

Well, the in-laws have decided to come to WDW for part of our stay so I'm off to start researching off-site ECV rentals, airfares and such. MIL uses an ECV due to a stroke many years ago, we're also trying to encourage FIL to get one as he tires so much since his chemo but he is resisting. Should make for an interesting trip .

Have a great night everyone! We're supposed to see the sun tomorrow.

 

[dex0x1]

im in the chicago area

 

[slo]

We haven't seen Mac lately
Does anyone remember if she said she was going out of town?
Mac, where are you?
Please check in soon - we miss you!!!!


paint - Congrats on the tax refundWe are getting one too

Disneymoon - What is KttK?

DG - My directions for making hard boiled eggs is from Kraftfoods.com. The directions are called "How to hard cook eggs". I've never failed while following this.

ID - Thanks for the congrats
**I need to get my haircut so bad - it hasn't been cut since JulyNeedless to say, my ends are looking very split. Everytime I need to go, something else comes up. I eally need to go soon!!!!

dex -
Please come by often and visit - we would love to have you!!!!!




Time to run and make Stephanie's lunch
Have a good day today everyone!!!

 

[geffric]

Morning Happy Tax Day... we got ours done last weekend too and mailed..

Yesterday was so busy.. I worked at Meals on Wheels for most of the day.. my family loves the reward.. i got leftover donuts and croisants.. two boxes of each.. the boys were so happy and they are almost all gone.. Geoff got home from school and ate 3 donuts and 2 croisants..i guess he was hungry..

Eric had a track meet so I brought him 2 sandwiches made on the croisants.. it was so cold watching him pole vault.. I I gave him my jacket.. the poor kid was freezing.. then I called Geoff and asked him to bring Eric's jacket and a sleeping bag so he could keep warm.. they make the kids wear the shorts and sleeveless shirts.. brrrrr

irish dancer - i had looked into an ECV for my dad years ago.. I looked at all ears or mouse savers for the info.. I found the one delivered to the resort was a great deal..

SLO - KttK is keys to the Kingdom tour at MK.. I did that a few years ago .. and it was well worth the time and $$..I loved learning about MK and seeing the parts backstage..

Hopefully the rain is over for a few days.. but I feel sorry for the boys as they has BSA Spring Camperee this weekend and it is gonna be cold and wet at Great Lakes..

 

[paintnolish]

Do I see the sun today?!? Maybe...I don't want to speak too soon! Well, yesterday I was waiting to go into class when ds' school called- he threw up. A lot! So, I missed class since it was such short notice. My teachers were really understanding, though, TG. I was worried since I missed several days already, between Gma's funeral and wake, ds' 2 rounds of strep, and dd's virus in Oct.! Of course, when I was sick the other week, I went to school, though!
slo- Have you figured out what else to sell in your store?
ID- I finally caved and set up FBook a few months ago. It's pretty cool actually. I've found people I went to grammar school with!
Dgal- I put the egss in water, bring it to a boil, and keep it there for ten ins or so. Then I put the whole pot in the sink and let cool water run into it for a bit. I've never had a problem.Maybe I should publish my recipe!
Gotta' run. My mom's coming down to watch DS while I go to class. BTw, he isn't even sick! Nothing else happened to him and he felt fine all day. He has a sensitive stomach and sometimes stuff doesn't sit well. Anyway, since he threw up at school, they said he needed to be out today, too, since thatis over 24 hours.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Hey all! Home again. I see not much has changed. Still chilly and no sunshine.I tried to bring some back for you all.
Weather was OK. First couple of days were really nice. Sunny and 80s. Then it cooled a little. 60s. But not really any rain to speak of-drizzled the one day in the morning that we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but the sun was back out before lunch. DD thought being in DL on her birthday was quite awesome. She got lots of Happy Birthday wishes from CMs as well as just ordinary people passing by. DL was not crowded at all on Palm Sunday. No more than 10 minute waits. Except for Toy Story Mania at CA which is not fastpass capable. We went again to the park on Thursday. The Easter crowds had arrived by then and it was a bit busier. We used that day to see the parades and fireworks and just do the smaller line rides.
I'll check in with more later. Need to get the dog out for a walk with my friend and her dog.
Later

 

[disneygal922]

Good Morning Everyone! I'm quite pleased the sun is shining and it's supposed to be around 70 on Friday

As for those silly eggs... it appears that I did everything the same as those who posted their directions. I put the eggs in cold water, let them boil, then took them off the heat and let them sit for 20 minutes. After my timer went off i ran cold water on them until they were cool to touch... i don't know. maybe i just wasn't meant to make eggs

ID ~ what is an ECV? i'm gonna assume some sort of villa but i'm just curious!

Disneymoon ~ good luck planning out your days. I really hope you can still do KTTK. It sounds like its pretty cool!

Dex ~ welcome! stop by often!

Slo ~ I was also just thinking about Mac and her absence from the thread...

Paint ~ hope DS feels better soon!

Tigg ~ welcome back! glad to hear you had a nice vacation!

Everyone else ~ have a wonderful day!

 

[geffric]

welcome back Tiggern..glad your DL adventure was great and the weather held for you..

 

[piglet too]

Hi everyone! Sorry to not be posting a lot, but I do read everyday. I am having such a hard time with words, getting the right one and getting them in order. That makes it very hard to write because spell check does not catch it when I make goofs.

ID ~ I keep getting shorter hair cuts as I get older too. In fact, thinking about going real short this next cut, maybe at my ears.

Geffric ~ The cold weather makes me kinda glad Kevin held out of track this year. He really misses it, but his class load was real heavy, and he was afraid of his work suffering. (three of his honors classes have major research papers this last semester)

Paint ~ I have loved Facebook for the "old" friends I have found. I found my closest friend from 8th grade a few months back, and this weekend, I found my best friend ever. We had lost touched about 6-7 years ago so it is great to find her.

for everyone else, I know I am forgetting a lot.


Taking Lauren to see the Hanna Montana movie today, and maybe to get our haircut as well. Tomorrow I will take Nathan out to the Little Red Schoolhouse so he can take pictures. He got a tri-pod for his birthday and wants to go try it out. Friday, Kevin is taking his girlfriend to a movie, so I have to drive for that.

Oh, I have been bumped up for my Neurosurgeon appointment, but am still on the wait list to get in sooner. My primary care doctor really wants me to see this one guy, he is the director of neurosurgery at Loyola, and is the main one who specializes in brain tumors. I guess it is good to wait for the best, but still frustrating.

 

[slo]

Not to much going on - a very uneventful week.

Oh...I know what I want to share
My waterbill is normally around $95, and lately we've been really needing to same money. So 2 weeks ago I told my family that I'm only doing laundry when I really have to (I normally do laundry all the time so I can say I don't have laundry). I've done very little laundry, and I got my water bill yesterday and it was $65This wasn't with a whole month of doing this, so I'll be curious on what my next water bill will be. I hate having all this laundry hovering over my head, but if it saves me $30-45 a month then it'll be worth it


geffric - that's great about getting the leftovers, my family would love that too!!!
**Thanks for letting me know what KttK is - I would love to do that someday
**Poor Eric and the rest of the team. You would think the coach would let them wear a hoodie, or something, when it's not their turn to do something. Then the coach's will be complaining when the kids are sick and are not in school

paint - I"m sorry about your DS being sickI hope he feels better soon
**I haven't thought about what else to do with the store, because I just don't have the money to buy more inventory right now. I thought about scrapbooking, but there's a nice store like that in the next town, plus there's a JoAnn's in the next town too. I'm so confused on what to do with this storeI love having my own business, but this economy has made it very very difficult. Now that I basically have no employee's, I'm working 100% of the time, which isn't easy on the kids, because it takes a toll on them. If I have a crappy summer, then Kevin and I have a very important decision to make

TTTTTTiggggernnnnnnnnn - Welcome home!!!! I'm glad you didn't have huge crowds at DL and please tell your DD Happy Birthday!!!!

DG - I have a couple of things that I can't cook either - we all have things like that!!!

piglet - I'm glad you are seeing the doctor from Loyola, so he can give you the best medical diagnosis. Just so you know, we don't care if you misspell words, we are just glad to see you!!!!We are hear when you need us - we love ya!!!!




Well, I guess it's time to get going and feed STephanie breakfast.
Have a good day today!!!