Why I'm beginnig to LOVE Chicago!

So after my vent, I said there'd be a "Why I love Chicago" part....
Here it is:

1. The weather: The weather has been somewhat less than desirable but has just changed! It is so nice here-Fall has finally come! And, the thing is, Fall actually is a season here-not a straight Summer to Winter thing!
2. Free Stuff: We have gone on the Jelly Belly tour now twice...it's about 15 min away in Wisconsin. They take you on a train (for the kids), then tell you all about how they're made (for the adults), and then at the end you get a free bag of Jelly Belly's (for everyone).
The Museum of Science has free days as well...that's what we're doing for FHE on Monday
And the Lincoln Park Zoo is free too (how often does that happen?)
3. The shopping: HOLY COW! If I had a million dollars, I'd spend it all here!!!! We live about 5 minutes from the BIGGEST MALL I've seen! It's AWESOME and has every store you can think of!
4. The Parks: Okay, so just about every two to three intersections off the main road going through town there's a park. And, these are not just trees and a big toy...they are awesome parks! The one that is closest to us, we walk to every day and it has a big toy, PLUS a huge toy for kids Tally's age!!! Which never happens!
They have parks with water sprayers and really just parks for ANY age so it's great!
5. The activities: So now that we're in a big city, there's tons to do everywhere! Each weekend there is a differnt celebration (october fest, gurnee days, etc). There are also big shows that come to the city (concerts, kids ice shows, etc). We haven't been to any yet, but are planning on one or two (and the prices are REALLY GOOD too). OH yeah, and we live right down the street from Six Flags (seriously, a 10 min walk).

So now that I've done good and bad, I am definitly loving Chicago! It's gorgeous and we live in a really quite peaceful area. Anyways, it's a good spot to vacation--hint hint :)