Happy Birthday

My mother had started a tradition that once the kids were past their 9th birthday they could travel with gramma. Alex went with her to Kentucky and Mammoth Cave for her first trip, then she and Fox went with gramma to Mackinaw Island, and Fox got to travel with her to a family reunion in up-state New York then to historical sites in Philadelphia. Because of mother's quickly declining health and subsequent passing, Ben and Ethan got gyped on the deal. So I decide to pick up the tradition myself .


This past weekend was Benjamin's birthday so he and I took the train to Chicago and went museum hopping. We left out early Thursday morning from Lapeer, arrived on time to Union Station and walked over to the hotel to get a feel for the hustle and bustle of the city. Along the way we checked out the Model Chicago exhibit. I intended to catch the hotel shuttle out to the Lincoln Park Zoo but was informed they do not shuttle you out that far and was given bus instructions instead. We made our way up to the Magnificent Mile but when we got off for our transfer the weather started to look rather omnimous so we opted not to not get stuck in the rain and instead decided to explore the Mile and have a marvelous meal at Big Bowl. We decided to take some culinary risks on this trip too so Ben tried the Chicken Thai Lettuce Wraps from the kids menu and found them quite tasty. We also had the chicken/veggie potsticker combo, and I did the signature Big Bowl buffet with shrimp, noodles, and tons of fresh veggies. A delicious raspberry lemonade was shared and our desserts were delish: Mochi ice cream (orange) with rice wrap for Ben and the Banana EggRoll with brown sugar and chocolate sauce for me. After that we walked down to the Chicago Children's Museum and explored the Navy Pier which we both agreed would need further adventuring in the summer months. Although most of the exhibits in the Children's Museum are geared for preschool and early elementary students Ben did find several that were intriguing. We met the skyscrapper challenge, built with giant wooden erector-set-type pieces, and did some physics experiments. Caught the #29 Bus back to 9th Street and State then walked the last 2 blocks back to the hotel.

Friday was fabulous and jam packed with good times! We woke to our own internal alarm clocks, grabbed some continental breakfast and took the hotel shuttle over to Shedd's Aquarium. Bought the CityPass which covers your admissions and shows to five attractions around Chicago, well worth the price and ease. Arrived right as it opened to virtually no line, by 10am the line looked like one from a Cedar Point attraction. Took our time purusing the upstairs tanks, watched the Aquatics Show which was a phenomenal production and very interesting. They explained some of the training techniques used with the Beluga Whales and dolphins, very cool. From that show we zipped into the theater for Pole to Pole 4-D which consisted of footage from the Planet Earth production with effects of blowing air and seat rumbling thrown in, eh. By now we were hungry, and Soundings Cafe was just the ticket, the meal was the best: Fish Sliders, with organic apple sauce and fresh carrots sticks for Ben and a 1/2 chicken flourentine panini, spicy oriental vegatable soup and a superb salad of fresh greens for me. After lunch we headed down the Beluga Trail to watch some more training up close, then made way to Wild Reef to spend some time gazing into the huge shark tank.--

A little past one we walked down the way to Adler Planetarium, it was a beautiful, clear, sunny day much better than the cold and overcast yesterday. Journey to the Stars was the feature we watched first, picked to skip the second traditional planetarium show and explore as per Ben's request. Fine by me, and good thing we did because they closed at 4pm and we wouldn't have had much time if we sat through it. Since it was nice we walked back on the Water's Edge Walkway to the Michigan Ave. underpass then up to the hotel.

It was such a clear day I thought we should take advantage of it so we quickly left our museum goodies in the room and hailed a cab over to the SkyDeck on Willis Tower (fomerly Sears Tower). We Fast Passed in because of our handy dandy CityPass and got in line for the elevator wait quite quickly. By the time we hit the deck the sun had set and the city lights were all aglow. Far Out! The new feature "The Ledge" is a total trip and a bit freaky. The wait to get back down was a drag but I struck up a conversation in line with a couple from Saugatauk and a mom with two young kids from outside the city. Finally made it back down by 7pm, hailed another cab and went for some Chicago-style pizza at Lou Malnati's right near the hotel. Mmmmm, yummy. Pool - Sauna - Nighty Nite!

Saturday was Super and So-so. Woke early and hit the pool again, Ben likes to go when there's not a crowd of people. He swan, I had another sauna, then we got dressed and did a light breakfast at Starbucks. Caught the #6 Bus out to the Museum of Science & Industry and ran into the couple from Saugatauk at the stop. We had a fun chat on the way over but got separated once we hit the attraction. Ben wanted to take the U505 Submarine tour so we bought tickets for that and tickets for the Hubble Omnimax movie was already included with our City Pass deal. The Hubble movie was our second favorite thing of the trip (Shedd's was the best). This museum is a bit overwhelming, it is huge and there is a lot to see. I would have prefered to have two days to split things up because after 4 hours or so you're just tired of pushing buttons and reading plaques. The Smart Home was closed which really bummed me out and the food situation completely sucks! Next time I will definately plan on brown bagging it for this venue. The Brain Food Court is very poorly run and the food was cold and nasty. Jumped on the #10 Express back to Michigan Ave. and Balbo, chilled at the hotel for a bit then boogied up the block for some Sushi at Izagaya. It's been a while since I'd had real sushi having only California Rolls from the Meijer deli on occasion so I sort of over bought not realizing how big these things really are. Ben tried a few but got discouraged because he couldn't bite through the seaweed outer shell and his mouth was to small to shove them in whole. He loved the seafood rolls and his salad though. Ended up taking some with us. We were going to do a walking adventure again and investigate the Buckingham Fountain and Hyde Park but it was too bloody cold and windy so back to the hotel it was to watch one of Benny's favorite shows, Wipeout. I must say I got a few good chubbies out of it myself. Went down to the pool later; there were too many people for Ben's taste so he went back up to watch "Over the Hedge" while I got one last sauna in. Organized and packed our belongings then had a sushi snack before lights out.

Final Day was fine but rainy. It was just a slight mist as we sauntered down to Yolk for a birthday breakfast of Strawberry and chocolate chip pancakes for Ben and an Irish Benny for me (Eggs Benedict with corned beef hash and roasted tomato with big potato browns, and fruit for me. Yummo! Checked out of the hotel and rode the shuttle with backpacks and activity bag in tow to the Field Museum (formerly the The Natural History Museum) as the rain began to come down steadier. Kinda sucked to check our stuff there at $2 per item but worth it to not have to lug it around all day. This attraction can be a little confusing and irritating with all the separate prices and tickets for various traveling exhibits. We navigated through 'Gold,' 'Evolution of Earth,' 'Mammals of China,' 'Tibet,' 'Ancient Egypt' (complete with way-cool tomb), 'Hall of Dinosaurs' (an amazingly extensive bone and fossil collection), a Miori meeting house from New Zealand, and more. But honestly by now we were both getting museumed out. The food choices at Field were also a disappointment, there was a McDonalds and a Corner Bakery and they both hosted tremendous lines. The final vote was to collect our bags and hail a cab to Union Station as it was now officially raining cats, dogs, and small ponies. Since last night's experimental meal was so out there Ben was ready for a good ol' fashion chicken sandwich from Mickey D's so I obliged; we ate, checked out the train station street people, grabbed a Yoga Journal and Sudoku book from the news stand then waited until the chaos of boarding began.

Played a game of Garbage, then Ben played his DS while I listened to my iPod, he read his Percy Jackson book, I read Yoga Journal, did Sudoku, he inihilated me in War, then finally crashed out about 9:30pm. We pulled in to the Lapeer depot around 11:30pm, a little late due to a freakin' blizzard! The drive home sucked bad, since they hadn't done ANY plowing at all. I barely could find a two-track on Lake Pleasant to follow and never went over 30 miles an hour the entire way home. But, we made it and were so happy to be snug in our own house and very own beds once again. Ben is a great guy to travel with, he likes planning, setting a schedule and sticking to it, he is organized with his belongings, and has unexpendable energy. He is even getting better about the waiting periods. This will definately be something I remember and cherish. So sad mother missed out on this experience but very blessed to be able to have precious time with my bestest Benny!