Jesse's Third Birthday

We did something a little different for Jesse's birthday this year. Instead of a big party, we decided to do something fun together as a family that we wouldn't otherwise do. Since Jesse has been pretty intrigued by the Willis Tower for months and months (maybe even the whole past year, but I can't remember when it all started), it seemed a no-brainer that we would take a trip downtown and go up to the top.  Of course, we made sure Jesse liked this idea, which he did :)

Jesse's birthday was on Sunday this year, so we decided to go on Saturday, so that we didn't miss church and also because he could get in for free until his third birthday. We took the train downtown, which is also a special treat for Jesse. This did force us to walk nearly a mile from the train station to the Willis Tower in the cold, but Jesse stuck it out and made it, and Max rode snugly in the baby carrier.

The tower opens at 10 a.m. and we arrived a few minutes early, to be greeted by a few workers showing us pictures of what it would look like from the top with zero visibility (it was a very cloudy/rainy/dreary day). They wanted to make sure we knew that the view would be mostly clouds and that tickets were still full price. I felt like they probably thought we were silly to be going up on such a day, but I told them that it didn't matter because we had promised it for Jesse's birthday (and there was no way we were going to let him down after hyping it up for so long). It was nice that I let it slip about his birthday, because they told us to be sure and let them know at the ticket counter so that he could get a special present for his big day (he got a huge button to wear, which you can see in the pictures). The nice thing about going on such a cloudy day was that we didn't have to wait in line for tickets and it wasn't crowded at all at the top.

We spent a little while perusing some of the exhibits down below (as much as a 3-year-old would allow) and watched the short video, and then we got in line to ride up to the top. Jesse was pretty excited the whole time, and as soon as we got to the 103rd floor he ran straight for the big glass boxes that hang above Wacker Drive.  He had no fear at all, but I, on the other hand, could barely put one foot over the edge.

Since his own Mother refused to get out on the glass ledge for her son's special birthday adventure (and James couldn't handle more than a brief walk on it), Jesse made some new friends out there. These tourists were eager to get their pictures taken with Jesse. At first he said no, but then he warmed up to them and obliged.

After spending a little while in the tower we headed across the street for a lunch at McDonald's, and then we walked back to the train station to catch our ride home.

It was fun and memorable to celebrate Jesse's birthday this way, and he definitely had the time of his life.

Even though we didn't do a real party, I wanted to do something special with our community group Sunday night, since that was his actual birthday. Two of Jesse's best buddies are in our group, so it was kind of like a mini-party without the decorations and games. We usually have dinner twice a month with our group, so I made all of Jesse's favorites: hot dogs, homemade macaroni and cheese, strawberries and blueberries, and chocolate cake. Jesse looked so happy when we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him (actually, he started us off with the singing...ha) and he got to blow out the candles for the first time.