Spring Break - Part 2

Monday morning Matt went into work for a meeting, but was home by about 9:30, just in time for us to take a short trip to Chicago with the kids.

We (I) have been hoping to take our crew to Chicago for a few years now.  In fact, we had reservations for the February that Anna was diagnosed, but life hasn't been stable enough until now to be able to actually do the trip.

We made the drive down easily and started out at the Field Museum.  Kate's teacher talked about it with her class last fall and Kate has been itching to visit the T-Rex named Sue ever since.

Kate and I could have lasted longer exploring the different exhibits, but Ethan and Anna lost interest within an hour or two.  We decided to visit the kids' area as our final activity; it fit our family well.  Anna completed an art project and investigated the hands-on section; Kate explored many topics; Ethan was free to roam and pretend.

We left the museum before rush hour so we could get settled in our hotel before dinner.  Our room's window looked out over a city street; the view was a highlight for all the kids.

We headed out for dinner and found a great BBQ place.  Our crew was surprised that we could just walk down the street to find a place to eat; we are certainly country mice :)

Originally, we had planned to visit Lincoln Park Zoo on Tuesday, but the weather turned out cooler and windier than we expected, so we spent the morning at the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier.  The change of plans worked out very well.

The girls enjoyed the "pet place",

while Ethan and Matt had fun fighting some fires.

Ethan and Anna explored a skid steer together,

and we all had fun with the puff ball catapults.

Kids' Town was also a highlight of the museum,

followed shortly after by the Treehouse.

Kate's final activity was digging for dinosaur bones in the mock dig.

After a quick lunch at Navy Pier, we left for home.  Although the drive home took a big longer, our kids were entertained by all the planes, trains, and automobiles we saw while still in the Chicago area.  It's fun taking them new places and allowing them to experience a different part of life.  These quick 24-36 hour trips seem to work right now for us, too.  If we plan it well, we can pack a lot of experiences into the short time, but not wear anyone out too much.