Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Happy Birthday, Jim Lovell!





Tuesday we went to the Planetarium, where they were having a birthday party for Jim Lovell. Does anyone remember Jim Lovell? We sure didn't. The kids had more fun skipping rocks out on the beach than they did inside the museum.
Yesterday we went to the Field Museum. We'd checked the website that morning for parking and admission info. Got all the way out there only to find a sign on the door stating they were closing 2 hours early for a special event. Damn! So, we'd already paid for parking, and we'd already gone to the two other museums over there, so we decided to just go. Unfortunately, we missed a ton of exhibits due to the time constriction. But we still had fun, and the kids enjoyed seeing Sue (the biggest, most complete T Rex in the nation!) Above you see Belly in the Ancient Egypt exhibit. He thought the Egyptian merchant was looking for someone to give him five...
Afterwards, we went back to the beach, where the kids played and ran around, enjoying the day.
Remember my post about going to my friend's art gallery opening? She came over last week and gave me my favorite painting as a gift. How awesome is that??
Last night we played a very long game of SpongeBob Monopoly. I've had such a great time on vacation with my family, I don't ever want to go back to work! I must confess though - I check my work email every day and still stay on top of my large accounts. Can't help it.
By the end of yesterday's trip, the kids were exhausted and dare I say, bored with museum hopping. Turns out my mistake was taking them to the Aquarium first. They had so much fun seeing the swimming, climbing creatures there. Then I took them to a museum full of rocks, and then to another full of DEAD ANIMALS. No wonder they got bored!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Stingrays, Blood Etc.

Today the kids and I went to the Shedd Aquarium. We had a fabulous time. We took bussed and trains, which my kids are sooo not used to doing.
Here are a few pics, we saw stingrays, of which Belly is terribly afraid. At one point, he actually screamed when one swam toward him. Mind you, it's behind approx 27 inches of protective glass. The SpongeBob 4-D show was so much fun.
The only mishaps were A) Belly's nose bleed while we were waiting for the dolphin show to start (he's so calm about it, he just announces he has a nose bleed, like it's a small inconvenience and nothing more) B) Some museum employee going into the penguin tank and removing 2 penguins, which made all the kids yell out that he was kidnapping them and C) we got off the bus on the way back at the wrong stop. Probably a mile from the right stop. BUT since this momma spends an awful lot of time downtown every stinking day, it was just a small hitch. We got on a different train and viola! We're home and exhausted. Tomorrow it's on to the Planetarium....
Here is a seadragon, relative of a seahorse. Right after the sharks, this was my favorite thing in the whole joint.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Requisite Bunny Pose



Happy Easter to all, and to all a good ham!