Chicago

The first weekend in November we went to Chicago. We kept the kids out of school on Friday, and had lofty goals of leaving at 9am. Unfortunately, D. got the stomach bug on Thursday evening, and was unable to help get ready. I had spent most of Thursday getting the oil changed on the van and other necessary errands. As of Thursday night, 2 kids didn't want to go and were being uncooperative and the others were being only marginally helpful. Friday morning dawned with a trashed house, tired mama, and sick dad. We almost changed our minds about going, but the kids had better attitudes, one of the naysayers had changed his mind, I went back to bed for another hour and awoke feeling fresher, and by midmorning D. was feeling a little better. So we left at noon, arrived in Chicago around 4pm local time. We walked around Millenium Park, enjoying the art and sculpture, and then went to Giordano's Pizza for Chicago style stuffed crust pizza. From there we proceeded to our friends' home in Downers' Grove. They have one child, who is 18 months old, and he was amazed to see all of us arrive, and overjoyed to have so many kids to play with.

The next morning we laid around and relaxed. After lunch, we went to the Field Museum of Natural History where we spent about 4 hours with our friends enjoying the exhibits. Exhausted, we returned to their house and had carryout Mexican. On Sunday, having exhausted our hosts, we headed home, stopping to enjoy the free Lincoln Park Zoo on the way. Unfortunately, my digital camera was in my daughter's pocket, which was unzipped, when she visited the restroom. After a dip in the toilet it no longer works, so there are no pictures of the trip or anything else until I replace it.

The trip was a much needed respite from real life, after a whirlwind fall that included many sports and other children's activities and a very intense work and travel schedule for D.