Today was a rainy, windy day in the Windy City, but thankfully, all of our family activities were indoors today. Highlights of today include visiting the Museum of Science + Industry, swimming, dinner with a dear high school friend, and just relaxing in the hotel.
We had another late start this morning, due to very important tasks of eating Cheez-Its for breakfast and watching TV. All of these years of documentary watching combined with no advertisements has led Daniel to believe that any commercial must be the gospel truth. "Mom!! I need to get Sketchers so that I can jump high!!"
The Museum of Science + Industry! This is about 5 miles away from the "main" park area, so we opted to drive there. The building itself was part of the World's Fair of 1893 and was the original home of the Field Museum; after the Field moved to its current home, the Museum of Science + Industry later took over. The museum is currently celebrating its 80th anniversary (including a special exhibit on memorabilia from Walt Disney World, which we did not see since it was not included in the City Pass).
Ready to go on! My friend Angela described this very well, that Daniel was busting out his Travolta Moves.
The great hall. I love this part of the saying, "Science discerns the laws of nature."
Will is probably the World's Best Guide in science museums.
The light room! You can combine different types of light for different effects. Will's excellent commentary again proves the many practical implications of an optics PhD.
All aboard! The kids' photo strike was back in full force at this point.
Flight Simulator! This was included in our packet and we could either opt for the "Mom Approved" ride (which was so tame you did not even need to wear a seat belt) or the "true" flight simulator (where you actually flew the plane and went upside down). Obviously, 4 out of 4 of us chose the Wimp Version.
Pendulums!
The expanded human body!
Exercising on a treadmill, which is like a hamster wheel for people.
Slices of the human body. This was created in the 1930s and 1940s - two people donated their bodies to science, and the bodies were then frozen and cut in very thin slices. They are very well preserved and just a little bit creepy.
One of the very memorable exhibits here was on prenatal development, and consisted of a series of different embryos/fetuses in jars at different stages of development. More than a little creepy and kind of said, but really fascinating to see how development unfolded.
Shadow Images.
Circus Entertainers. There was a large circus exhibit - I am not sure how this relates to science, but perhaps it was the "industry" angle.
Omnimax Movie! We opted to see "The Last Reef," which is about coral reefs and how they are disappearing. It was also kind of depressing, come to think of it. ;)
Our astronauts! I think it is a sign of how excited Daniel was about this that he not only requested to have his picture taken, he stood in line for several minutes just for this distinct privilege.
Annika decided to join in, too!
A huge jollyball display - like a giant pinball machine. It was designed by a man from Switzerland in 1990 to highlight all of the country's tourism highlights. I honestly think this was the kids' favorite part of the whole museum - they were utterly transfixed watching the ball wind its way through like a giant "Mouse Trap" in motion.
Learning about DNA! There was a very helpful guide here in the Genetics section who took a lot of time to explain things to the kids and work with them individually. I was impressed with how much Annika already knew about genetics.
The chicks! The museum has had a chick hatchery since 1954, but it was originally part of the "Food of Life" exhibit. In 2002, this changed to be part of the "genetics" exhibit, which is much more upbeat than admitting that we will actually eat those cute, adorable little baby chicks.
After our full day at the museum, we headed back to the hotel, where Will soon departed from to go run 10 miles. Marathon training stops for no vacation! The kids and I headed down to the indoor pool to go swimming. The pool was a little chilly for my taste but did not seem to bother the kids as much.
Tonight, we had a very special dinner - we met at the Grand Lux Cafe on the Magnificent Mile to have dinner with my dear high school friend, Ashley, and her husband, Matt. This is on Michigan Avenue on the 2nd floor and was a great view.
Ashley and Annika! Ashley and Matt were both so sweet to our kids and did not seem to mind at all that all of our conversations were devoted to Annika's dragon or Daniel's hypothetical questions. Thank you for the great dinner, friends!!
Tomorrow is our last full day in Chicago before we depart on Friday morning. We are planning to hit the aquarium and planetarium, and hope to actually leave the hotel by 9:00 a.m. Crazy talk, but hey, it could happen. ;)
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