the time we went to chicago

 A week ago Jon had to work in Chicago Monday through Friday so he invited me and the kids to come along. That's the short version. The longer version is that he tried to make it a secret by telling me famlies couldnt come and would be in the way of his client dinners even though I kept insisting we weren't planning on hanging out with him at all, and I would continue to be the most awesome and unobtrusive spouse in investment banking history. Turns out he was trying to throw me off from his plan to give me the tickets for Mothers Day. But I ruined the surprise somehow. I don't really remember. Great story, right? No wonder I only posted nine times in 2012. Sigh. 

I loved Chicago. Loved it. The weather was so mild. It rained one day but even then it was mostly misty and not much of an inconvenience. I know if it had been freezing or super muggy I'd be less thrilled with the place, but we got lucky so I freaking loved it even more. I had no idea Chicago could have nice weather in June. I did pack wrong though and ended up having to go buy the kids extra sweatshirts and pants to get us through the week. 

I kept describing this trip as being just me and the kids on vacation. Jon joined us for Friday afternoon and Saturday before our flight home, and I guess we did meet him for dinner one night too. Anyway, Chicago was really fun and conquering a new city on my own kind of made me feel like Super Mom.  

Highs: 

The kids loving the beach

Mexican food at Frontera Grill (I'm obsessed with finding good Mexican food in NYC this summer)

Everything about the Museum of Science and Industry

Children's Museum at Navy Pier, loved it so much we went twice

Having the Nature Museum to ourselves for the afternoon

The old lady on the Pink line train who was telling me about the Disney Movies her granddaughter likes who leaned in to whisper loudly, "They even have a black princess now. Maybe two." 

Jacob walked everywhere like a champ. I quit using the stroller after the first day. 

Jon believing me when I told him I ran into Rahm Emanuel 

 

Lows:

We should have eaten at Frontera twice

Jacob peeing his pants, but at least we were still in the Loop and able to go buy new clothes and go back to the hotel for a bath before heading back out. 

Didn't make it to the Art Institute of Chicago but it's a must for next time

I forgot my camera so all our pictures are terrible cell phone pics

Not knowing about Firecakes until after we got back

My battery dying before I got home everyday since I was using it for directions and pictures. I sometimes had to guess that the bus we get me back to the hotel

Jacob's inability to look nice in a picture and the inability get a decent picture of the kids together. I decided it's an accurate depiction of life these days though; constant motion. 

So great to have help at the airport. Seems like I rarely get to fly with Jon.

Not sure what this structure is but Jacob liked walking past it everyday. I think we were calling it the squid. Thank you Octonauts.

Field Museum

Obviously not as rad as our Natural History Museum but we got in free so on a scale from 1 to awesome, I'm ranking it as pretty great. 

Jacob trying to tether Rebecca to the fence. And yes that's freaking Sue. The T-Rex I've been avoiding since a cast of her was on display in Idaho Falls. That sentence will only make sense to Cassi. 

Children's play area: 

 

Trying to crawl inside a drum

 

Looking down at a mummy buried in an Egyptian Temple

Dinosaur selfie...

Sitting in dinosaur footprints:

The boy enjoys button pushing 

Making a dinosaur face 

Actual Olmec head between the museum and the aquarium. You can see how much Jacob enjoyed taking pictures, and we were just a few hours into our trip. 

Shedd Aquarium 

I know our aquarium is getting a three year makeover since being destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, and I'll probably head out there to check it out this summer (should I brave Coney Island on my own? Recently watching Uptown Girls makes me want to shout  an emphatic"Yes!") , but our aquarium is terrible. I went two years ago and I swear there were rooms full of tanks and the carpets were squishy and the whole place smelled musty. Killer Sea Lion show though. Anyway, this place was fancy and expensive. We opted to just see the the fresh and salt water fish in the tanks for 8 bucks, but when we go back I'd  spend a whole morning there and pony up to do the touch tanks and play areas.

Some kind of Ray that Jacob couldn't get enough of.

Rebecca and this Australian fish stared at each other for.ever.

Here's a shot without the fish, you can see how excited that fish made her:

Spider crab, I think. Jacob liked this one.  

This one's for you Kate. Is it sad to see a lobster in captivity?

The view from one of the outdoor patios. Do people even say patio anymore? 

 Decided to take a Water Taxi to Navy Pier just for fun. Discovered that Navy Pier is one of the most worthless tourist destinations. Worse than Pier 39 in San Francisco. Also worse than the Seaport. They sold a lot of fried dough, and probably mediocre gelato. 

Admitting to feeding the kids McDonalds on the interwebs again. 

A really aggressive bird on our table left Jacob in tears. We opted to eat on the go.   

I tried to explain planking to Jacob and here's what I got. Kidding. 

A tug boat in action

Lighthouse. Anyone know if you can get out to it? I'm obsessed with visiting a lighthouse. Curvy staircase and all. I think I need to get me to Maine. 

Lighthouse selfie. Selfie is the dumbest word. This is your fault, Twitter. 

My phone died and I wasn't sure how to get home so I walked. Terrible idea. Chicago, you are not a super walkable city. I had to walk under a highway and carry the stroller up and down stairs to get over the river. So we rewarded ourselves for not getting lost by ordering room service for dinner. 

This series is mostly to show Rebecca's faces. She's a hoot. 

 

And that was just day one. More terrible pictures to come.