Happy holidays continued

Part II of holiday blog
The second day at Chicago we took the train donwtown to Millenium Park. The main reason for taking the train was S refusal to sit in the car seat- sometimes she cried from the first minute, sometimes she would be okay for about 15 mins and then get upset...anyway we didn't want to risk a 11/2 hour drive downtown and also wanted to take S for her first train drive
S loved the train journey-with the trees and cars zipping by and the freedom to jump around however much we wanted. We walked to the Millenium Park to the Bean- that's a metal sculpture on which the clouds look amazing. We met up with my cousin and her husband- had been ages since I had met her and the first time i got to spend time with them as a couple so it was great fun. After a relaxed and very heavy lunch with lots of wine and fried stuff (my favourite stuff) we walked down to the Magnificent Mile. S unfortunately got a chill then and looked quite frozen and we had to rush her to the nearest coffee shop to give her warm milk. The problem we have with Chicago is the sudden weather change-one minute its nice and sunny and the next time the weathers changed and its windy and cold. We were caught unawares and S got a bad cold. We rushed back home and generally relaxed with my cousin and my brothers family and i also got my first NBA league match- Boston Celtics vs Chicago Bulls- was quite interesting and I was surprised to see that my nephews (who are 7 and 6) also were hooked onto it and the end of the match had to be recorded for them since it was past their bedtime.
The next day ws a Sunday and we spent it at home relaxing mainly due to S cold. WE played basketball with the boys and my cousin, relaxed on the hammock, played with S on the swing/slide at my brother's backyard and enjoyed a lunch in the backyard soaking in the sun. I was quite appalled to hear that people in the States don't enjoy an afternoon siesta and protested and went off to catch my afternoon nap. We caught a movie on the TV at night.
The next day was our travel to Tampa -it was a 2/1/2 flight- the airlines didnt give us a seat together though we checked it quite in advance (can you believe we would have to pay extra to get seats together) and we had to request a lady to exchange seats with us so that we could sit togther, and she was quite rude about it and at first refused to shift (from an aisle seat to window seat) and then made a statement that she would prefer to sit at the window that next to a loud baby ( i found that really rude) and then went to sit with two other people who proceeded to bitch about us forcing them to change seats loudly for the next ten minutes. I found the whole episode quite upsetting, i guess in India we are not used to this, airline firstly give people seats togther without charging them extra and then people are usually accomodating and nice to people with children. Anyway S was quite troublesome for the first fifteen minutes by kicking the person in front and generally wriggling around. After that she was asleep for the rest of teh flight and i guess that rude person got her sleep.
My brother and his two sons were at the airport to pick us up and S was only midly troublesome in the car seat. First nigth at Tampa was S running around after her two cousins, climbing up their ladder to their top bunk bed, playing under the tunnel there, breaking her cousin's curious, banging on the piano while her other cousin played, playing with the small toys in the jar, and generally enjoying the warm weather; while her parents relaxed with Margaritas and a nice movie (Seven Pounds).
The next morning we did some shopping - we got some cute toys for S from the Party Shop- i could have spent the whole day there they have tons of interesting party stuff. In the evening we drove down to Clearwater beach where S had her first beach experience-she loved the water and sat down in it and played. She then watched her cousins fly kites on the beach and the hubby made ducky shapes for her on the sand and also took her to play with the birds. Dinner was at a lovely pizza place California Pizza Kitchen- they served some unique stuff there- salad on pizzas!!! etc etc.
Today we went to Busch Gardens- the last time we came to Tampa we were too lazy to go and this time the hubby did good on his promise for me to go on teh rollercoasters (i love fast high rollercoasters). He doesn;t like them so he babysat S while I went on them-a few alone and some with my bro after he joined us. S also had a great time- she saw Pelicans, a white peacock, tigers up close (we were in a closed peep room which is full glass and were between two tigers -one white and one yellow), elephants, rhinos, alligators, turtles, rabbits, eels, deers, parrots and more birds in the aviary. She also went on some rides- the merry go around, the bouncy play area (she was scared at first and then started running after one girl who was running up and down and enjoyed herself refusing to some out when we called her), mini giantwheel, spiders den (with the hubby). I went on the Zwamba- a rough and fast rollercoastr ride, then the Sheikhra- a ride whcih taked you some 200 feet above the ground and then drops you down fast- a lovely ride, then the Montu where you hang from the railings and take sharp turns, the rhino rally which is a jeep come boat ride, the Pheonix which is a ship which goes 360 degrees, the Cheetah Chase (more for kids but the hubby agreed to some on thsi with me while my brother baby sat), the Rapids where the hubby and I got drenched and the Kumba roller coaster ride which was a fast thirlling and long roller coast ride.
S enjoyed the day and we got a good break after a long time.
Will blog later