Firsts and Nots

Today was the first time:

* We visited Frank Lloyd Wright's beautiful prairie style Robie house
* We narrowly missed being caught in a Chicago storm!
* We ate at Noodles Etc
* We visited the Museum of Science and Industry
* Lavender saw chicks hatching
* Lavender "drove" a real tractor
* I took at two year old to a 45 minute film about D-day. (It was excellent and she slept the whole time. Win-win!)
* I took a two year old on a motion simulator ride (She loved it.)
* Evan stood inside a tornado (Twice! Once he even took his little sister.)
* Evan experimented with ferromagnetic fluid.
* I heard of ferromagnetic fluid
* Lavender tried repeatedly to steal a ball from the air pressure exhibit.
* We took a taxi to the magnificent Buckingham fountain where the kids got completely soaked!
* We soaked our tired feet in the creek in Millennium Park
* Evan tried Chicago deep dish pizza
* I have eaten pizza in over a year (they had gluten free, so I decided to try the chicken pesto pizza.

It was not the first time:

* We visited a Frank Lloyd Wright House in Chicago. (Love his work!)
* I realized my kids are smarter than me.
* I was grateful to have Evan along on this trip
* One of my children has tried (or succeeded) to steal something
* I wished we had cool fountains at home (we've got the beach though, and you can't beat that!)
* My feet have gotten tired while site seeing
* We took pictures at the bean AKA Cloud Gate. It is so cool you have to keep going back.
* John and Evan went to the Sears/Willis Tower. The view is worth another trip up to the 103 floor!

Today's Top 10

10. Meeting a T-Rex named Sue at the Field Museum
9. Discovering that Evan's hand is not as big as a gorilla's and that Lavender "DO NOT LIKE that gorilla!"
8. Visiting ancient Egypt and trying to explain mummies and sarcophagi to a 2 year old.
7. Taking a Marianne-style selfie (I have dozens of silly poses of my two girls. Today it was my turn.)
6. Jellyfish and seahorses at the Shedd Aquarium
5. Watching Evan pet stingrays and sturgeon while little sister desperately wanted to and stuck her hands in the water over and over again, but exclaiming, "too scary" every time.
4. A willing, cheap babysitter! (We brought him back Chipotle)
3. Finally finding the sushi place (even though it was closed)
2. Finding a fabulous Asian Fusion restaurant with some of the best sushi John's ever tasted
1. A stroll along the river with my sweetheart.

Bonus: A toddler who slept over 12 hours last night and then took an hour nap in the stroller this afternoon.

Out of This World!

The title is a good description of our day--and not just because we went to the Adler Planetarium!

Before our trip, Evan learned about an event at the planetarium called "Civic Hack Day." He signed up for two workshops and earned us all free admission. I thought it was brave of him. I never would have done something like that at his age! He spent the day with local teens and had a great time. He especially enjoyed the Rube Goldberg challenge.

One of the employees was nice enough to let John, Lavender and I into one of the space shows for free. Then John headed to work while Janey and I explored the museum. I am so grateful that they have an amazing children's wing! It is the best I've ever seen in any museum. She spent hours playing and we didn't cover it all!

Evan joined us for lunch and I tried to get a picture of the kids touching a moon rock. I never know what face she'll pull when I ask her to smile! We closed down the museum and then joined the crowds outside for a selfie with the skyline view. There were lots of wedding parties and prom goers getting their pictures taken on this beautiful afternoon/evening.

Evan put our exhausted girl to bed while John and I went out to celebrate our 27th anniversary. We ate a great meal at the Walnut Room in Macy's. We have fond memories of eating there with Susan and Dave (John's sister and brother-in-law) when we took a trip together back in 2009 (I think I've got the year right!?)
The restaurant isn't quite the same without the giant Christmas tree, but it was still beautiful! I loved spending time with my sweetheart in this fantastic city. We decided it has the sights, shows, parks, museums and shopping of NYC, but it is cleaner, cheaper, less crowded and less crazy!

Almost Perfect

It was a wonderful, busy day. Here are the highlights. I'm sure you can figure out how the pictures fit in.

We started out with a trip to the Hancock Tower. The views were spectacular and we tried the "Tilt" where you lean out over the city. It was definitely worth the extra 5 bucks. We bought lunch at an Italian deli and ate it next to a waterfall while Lavender napped in her stroller. The sun was shining and Evan fed little birds out of his hand.

We walked all around the Tribune Tower where rocks and pieces of monuments from around the world are embedded in the walls. Then we walked down to the shore of Lake Michigan where scores of teenagers thought it was perfect beach weather even though the temperature was barely 70. Evan had fun with the awesome mural.

Next up was an architectural tour down the river. Our guide was awesome and we loved learning about the city. Just as we got started, the little ladies in front of us pulled out an umbrella for shade and completely blocked the view ahead of us. Evan and I just started laughing. Fortunately Evan had his GoPro on an adjustable pole so he still got lots of pictures!

In the evening we headed out to Chicago's other favorite skyscraper, the Willis (AKA Sears) Tower. We enjoyed the sunset and took lots of pictures out on the glass ledge. Evan even did a handstand! Lavender ran around and around and made lots of new friends.

On the way back to the hotel we saw several cool sculptures and finally met up with John. He was the only thing lacking from our practically perfect day!

PS

This is the view from our room. City lights + river = simply splendid

The Windy City Really Was

These 10 little piggies are cute as can be, but they drove me crazy during our four hour flight. We talked repeatedly about not kicking the seat in front of us. So she didn't kick, but those little toes could not hold still. They wiggled and bounced and tapped in a way that I'm sure felt nothing like kicking. Otherwise, she was very happy with the 59 snacks, toys, activities and constant attention I provided. We don't have to mention those ear-piercing shrieks, do we? They only lasted a few seconds . . . each and every time.

Let's skip ahead over a few more rough patches, shall we? Here's the good part:

We had a lovely evening in Millennium Park. We enjoyed a concert while Lavender ran and played on the grass. There was no kicking involved and nearly everyone smiled at her. Then we played at the bean while she ran some more and jumped on the stairs. Finally the wind got so cold that we headed to Panera for a bowl of soup.

We're ready for tomorrow--a day of adventures that doesn't include a cross-country flight!

Say Cheese

This girl loves the beach and she loves looking at pictures of herself. That's a little tricky because lately she doesn't want her picture taken. She frowns, ignores me or runs away. She finally did agree to smile and this was the result: