Chicago is so much fun in the summer. All the festivals and parties in the park have kicked off this week.

But last week I started the week with an 8 mile round trip walk to the zoo. The Zoo is free but it is medium sized and has loads of cute animals. They also have fantastic decorated runs for the animals, especially in the bird house that recreates an outdoor paradise. It was a fun day, and quite a walk but it was so nice, along the lake front and down Michigan avenue.

On the way back I stopped at the cinema and went and saw Sex and the City. It was a really fun movie, and a nice way to spend a wet afternoon. I then met up with some of the other girls from Chicago for dessert.

On Thursday one of the biggest festivals in Chicago arrived. The Taste of Chicago is a week where about 100 restaurants set up booths along one of the roads in Chicago and there are fair ground rides, games and fun activities for the kids and then in the evenings there are free concerts in the park.

I went down on Saturday and had some amazing food from one of the really expensive restaurants in Chicago, called Mortons. It was fantastic. THe best lamb chops I have ever had. They also had the Anheuser Busch clydesdale horses there. But by 3pm it was over 90 degrees and completely crowded so I headed shopping and then back to the airconditioning!

On Sunday I had my last day on Sunday school duty, it was so sad. I have had so much fun in the infants and toddlers room this year and will really miss all the kids. It was pretty stormy on Sunday but it cleared up enough for me to head to Summer Dancing in the park. Every Thursday-sunday there are free dance lessons in Grant Park. The lesson lasts for 1 hour and then there is a band and dancing for 2 more hours. On Sunday it was Salsa lessons, and it was so much fun, even with the on and off rain showers.

Today I was out for lunch with Lesley and then I headed down to Taste of Chicago hoping it would be a little bit quieter. It was much quieter than Saturday. At 6pm they had a fantastic concert with songs from all the current and some of the future musicals in Chicago, with all the current cast members. It was so much fun, but it has made me want to see so many more musicals, Legally blonde, Jersey Boys, spring awakening and wicked (again!!). It was so much fun, and I had to line up for 1.5 hrs before hand to get a good seat but it was so worth it!

Have a great week!