Today was our last full day in Chicago and we celebrated with a trip to the Alder Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, Millennium Park, and dinner tonight with our great friend Karen.
We asked the children tonight what their favorite part of our trip had been, and Annika replied, "Watching TV in the hotel room!" Well. The kids have both enjoyed having access to Cartoon Network and the Disney Channel.
First stop: Alder Planetarium! Will and I both opted to run on the hotel treadmill this morning, but by the time we left the hotel in the morning, the snow had stopped and it was a beautiful day.
The moon! The kids' photo strike for posed pictures was back in full force at this point.
This was a cool exhibit where the kids got to simulate a rocket launch with the help of a guide.
A "Moon Launcher" ride that Will and Daniel enjoyed.
Exploring on Mars.
Looking through the telescope. The vest goes everywhere.
This was a telescope from the 1600s that was very long and skinny. The consensus was that it was difficult to see anything through here.
The highlight from the planetarium was seeing two different shows in the star dome - "Cosmic Wonder" and "Welcome to the Universe." These were both fabulous, with all kinds of views of the night sky and stars in our galaxy and beyond.
When we finished with the planetarium, we walked over to the aquarium and enjoyed more of the beautiful weather.
The Shedd Aquarium! Daniel insisted on walking through the giant white tunnel to enter.
This picture below shows a small portion of the largest snake in the world (by weight), the Green Anaconda.
Giant Snow Crab!
They had a great penguin display...not quite as big as Sea World's, but you could get right up next to the glass and stay as long as you wanted.
Right next to the penguin exhibit was a giant "Polar Play Place," which the kids both loved. We visited it twice during our time at the aquarium and I think they could have stayed there all day.
You could also dress up like a penguin at the play place, which Daniel took full advantage of.
We saw a 4-D movie here, "Ice Age." It was like a 10-15 minute spin-off of the movie, complete with chair vibrations, squirting water, and other fun effects.
Submarine! Daniel had a ball with imaginative play here.
One of my favorite images of the day:
After the aquarium, we headed back briefly to the hotel before venturing out to meet our great friend Karen at Millennium Park. More of beautiful Lake Michigan. The kids agreed that this was about the most beautiful body of water they had ever seen.
Daniel insisted on bringing his half-eaten bowl of dry Lucky Charms (vacation cereal....) with him on our walk. I'm sure we were quite the sight walking down Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago. :)
The art museum! We did not visit (we opted to go to the planetarium instead of the art museum with our City Pass), so I am glad we at least got to see the outside of the building.
Posing by one of the giant lions.
Millennium Park! The kids are posing at the bottom of this giant exhibit.
We met up with our great friend Karen!! We figured out tonight that Will and Karen have been friends since 1995, and me since 1998 - I think we are all truly cut from the same cloth. It was very ironic that both of us live in Kansas (Karen in KC), but thanks to Facebook, figured out we were both in Chicago at the same time, and staying less than 2 miles apart!
Posing at the Giant Jellybean. Will is taking our picture.
Daniel and a reluctant Annika.
Will's selfie, while Karen and I photo bomb him in the background.
We ate dinner at Cosi's, which was a causal place right on Michigan Avenue. It was so awesome to get to visit and catch up, although I think that Karen and I need a girls' weekend sometime soon....
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped at Dairy Queen, although this time for dessert instead of dinner.
Daniel with his "ice cream cone in a cup," which was first, logically, brought out as just ice cream in a cup. Luckily this was rectified and all is right with the world again.
We have had such a good time in Chicago. I have my annual accounting meeting here next year in August 2015 and I am already planning what we will want to hit then - Navy Pier, Children's Museum, the zoo, Legoland, the art museum, architectural boat tour....looks like we will need even more time on our next visit! What a great city.
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