After a day of science and industry, I was
really ready for a day of critters and being outdoors. The weather in Chicago remained beautiful during our entire stay. It was kind of a bummer to be inside the entire previous day. So, we went to the
Shedd Aquarium, which is right on Lake Michigan.
It's a pretty neat aquarium. It includes a huge area made to look like the Pacific Northwest, including dolphins, beluga whales, sea otters and a sea lion. It was packed on the day we were there. Lots and lots of day camps obviously spend some time in the local museums. The kids' favorite thing at the museum was the dolphin show.
But there were lots of other neat things...a big lizard exhibit, including a huge Komodo dragon. There were penguins and sea turtles, sea horses and eels. We had a great time, but we were also glad to be done shortly after lunch.
Our last destination for our Chicago stay was
Millennium Park. Aunt Susan told us we
had to take the kids there, so we took her seriously. Although we'd taken the subway and a free trolley to the aquarium, we walked to the park, through another park. We ran across Buckingham Fountain...pretty impressive. You can see Smunch there in the foreground for a sense of scale.
It turned out to be a long walk, but I think the kids had been feeling like caged animals being in museum-type places for so much time. They ran most of the way and didn't complain once. Of course, we'd also promised they could get soaking wet at our new destination. First, we ran across the park's "band shell", the Pritzker Auditorium. It looked so interesting that I was sorry we'd missed the show that day.
Next, we came across this sculpture, which I later learned is called the Cloud Gate. It's a big, jelly-bean-shape, stainless steel sculpture that reflects
everything, including the skyline and anybody standing near it, or sitting under it...
Our final destination was Crown Fountain, a truly bizarre piece of art, but a whole lot of fun. Not only did the kids have a great time, but we had a great time watching them. This fountain is two towers of glass bricks with a giant video monitor behind them. The videos that play are of the faces of various, nameless Chicagoans. They blink and twitch. And if you wait long enough, their mouths form an 'o' and water gushes out. At other times, water cascades down the face of the tower and collects in a rectangular area where kids going splashing around.
It was the perfect way to wrap up our visit to Chicago. It may not have kept the kids from insisting on a trip to the hotel pool that night, but it was a great last day. Maybe next time we'll make it to Navy Pier and the Sears tower...
The bell tower of the old Woodbine school house
At the foot of the Alpine Slide
Grant Park in Galena
and last but not least (well, maybe also least) Millennium Park in Chicago
I launched a few hitchhikers along the way too. I even took one with me that I'd found here. But I carved three more. It'll be fun to see where their travels take them.
As you can imagine, this creates a little bit of a problem. Smunch lost his tooth in Chicago, but we had to make sure it arrived safely at home to put under his pillow here.
He was one happy camper...although he didn't recognize the dollar coin. I guess I'd failed to introduce him to one of those since he understood money. 
Then we had a long walk to the terminal, down a hallway fully of neon artwork...
Finally, we arrived at our gate where Smunch could finally look at real airplanes. And after all that beautiful weather we had, it started to rain...
The rain didn't hinder our flight any, although something did. After we boarded, we still sat on the ground for 45 minutes, but alls well that ends well, I guess. I skipped the most exciting part of waiting for our flight. It really deserves its very own post...
It's a pretty neat aquarium. It includes a huge area made to look like the Pacific Northwest, including dolphins, beluga whales, sea otters and a sea lion. It was packed on the day we were there. Lots and lots of day camps obviously spend some time in the local museums. The kids' favorite thing at the museum was the dolphin show.
But there were lots of other neat things...a big lizard exhibit, including a huge Komodo dragon. There were penguins and sea turtles, sea horses and eels. We had a great time, but we were also glad to be done shortly after lunch. 
It turned out to be a long walk, but I think the kids had been feeling like caged animals being in museum-type places for so much time. They ran most of the way and didn't complain once. Of course, we'd also promised they could get soaking wet at our new destination. First, we ran across the park's "band shell", the Pritzker Auditorium. It looked so interesting that I was sorry we'd missed the show that day.
Next, we came across this sculpture, which I later learned is called the Cloud Gate. It's a big, jelly-bean-shape, stainless steel sculpture that reflects everything, including the skyline and anybody standing near it, or sitting under it...
Our final destination was Crown Fountain, a truly bizarre piece of art, but a whole lot of fun. Not only did the kids have a great time, but we had a great time watching them. This fountain is two towers of glass bricks with a giant video monitor behind them. The videos that play are of the faces of various, nameless Chicagoans. They blink and twitch. And if you wait long enough, their mouths form an 'o' and water gushes out. At other times, water cascades down the face of the tower and collects in a rectangular area where kids going splashing around.
It was the perfect way to wrap up our visit to Chicago. It may not have kept the kids from insisting on a trip to the hotel pool that night, but it was a great last day. Maybe next time we'll make it to Navy Pier and the Sears tower...
Naturally, there was a big space exhibit too, with lots of information on the Apollo missions to thrill Smunch. Mam was more thrilled by this...
Mostly, this visit cemented something I'd long since forgotten. Museums aren't really my thing. They're big, they're overwhelming, they feel like work. I'm pretty sure I won't feel the need to go to another big museum for at least several years!
Oh, and after stopping for dinner, we made one last stop before walking the kids back to the hotel. A special little trip down Michigan Avenue for Daddy...
As soon as we got back, we took a few final photos...
and packed into the car for the long drive into Chicago. Daddy and I have been through O'Hare lots of times, but neither of us had really been to Chicago before. It seemed like something we should do. So this time, I booked a hotel in downtown Chicago for a few nights. I probably should have known that going from Woodbine to downtown Chicago would result in whiplash. 
Although there are tons of impressive structures in Chicago, I think my favorite is the Chicago Tribune tower. It was built in the 1920s as the United States' entry into an international most-beautiful-building contest. It won. It's not hard to see how. 
In addition to the kinda cool architecture, the outer walls of the building are studded with stones (and a few other items) from notable historic sites all over the world. Pretty neat stuff...
There was a stone from the Great Pyramid in Giza, Edinburgh Castle, California's Petrified Forest, even one from the moon...
paddle boats...which have to be experienced with all possible adults doing the work...
and a great playground.
It looks like I spent a lot of time there taking photos, but I spent a ridiculous amount of time off looking for the six letterboxes that are resident in that park. It was a mistake. I would have had a much better time just hanging out with everyone else. I need to remember this stuff when I need to control my letterboxing compulsions. Still, it looked like everyone was having a good time, particularly Mam...
