We took on Chicago

For months Ryan has been scheduled to attend an OMS Trauma conference in Chicago on August 4th and 5th.  The question has always been will Robin and Rue and myself accompany him on this weekend venture. 

As the trip has gotten closer and I learned that Ryan's schedule in Chicago was going to be intense with classes all day on Saturday from 8:00AM to 6:00PM and then again on Sunday from 8:00AM to 1:30PM, my vote has been to stay home alone with the kids and spend the weekend swimming with them.  But the Dr really wanted his family to come with him.

So I got online and looked into things the 3 of us could do on Saturday while Ryan was in meetings.  We decided to attend the Shedd Aquarium on Saturday, and then go to the Lincoln Park Zoo with Ryan on Sunday for a few hours before we headed home.

So we bit the bullet and cut off a few arms and legs in order to buy tickets to get through Shedd's doors and then I spent the day Friday packing and getting us ready to drive off into the sunset Chicago bound!

Chicago is about 225 miles away.  Ryan got held up at work with an infection that came in late so we ended up leaving Iowa much later than we had hoped on Friday night. We got to Chicago well after midnight.  It was a long drive.

Nonetheless, on Saturday, Robin and Rue were both up by 9:00 AM and were biting at the bit to go see some sharks.

So that is what we did!!

 

The Jelly Fish display was pretty impressive.

Jace loved this submarine and could have spent the whole day just playing in it.  I will remember that for our next visit!

I personally thought the 4-D movie experience was fun.  We watched Ice Age-Dawn of the Dinosaurs.  I am not sure what I liked most about the movie, -if it was the fact that I could sit down for 15 minutes and stop fighting the crowds with a tired, crying 2 year old and a stroller,  -or if the movie was really good, but all in all, Jace and I really liked it!

This is Gracie's look after the movie.  She hated it.  It was too loud and a little scary for her!  But I held her on my lap and she did fine-for the most part.

Row, row, row your boat.

 Waiting for the Aquatic Show to begin. 

The large windows in the Aquatic Show room overlook Lake Michigan. The lake was full of sailboats and it was beautiful. 

The outside of the Shedd Aquarium building.

 The Shedd aquarium was defiantly a wonderful experience for Robin and Rue.  I think I would have enjoyed it more if Ryan would have been along to tend Rue for me all day!  But Jace will always remember the king crab, the Amazon Bullet Ants that were at least 1 inch long and very venomous, and of course the sharks. 

Sunday brought the Zoo!

Every zoo should have a carousel and a train!

Fortunately this one did!! 

A BIG -and stinky- rhino!

The giraffes!

The zoo was fun and a good way to end our trip before we began our 4 hour journey home.  Grace loved the train and the carousel, I think the giraffes were my favorite, Jace liked the gorillas and the tiger, and Ryan loved that the free zoo charged $30.00 for parking!!

And now we are home safe and sound and I am happy to be here in our little Iowa town, with the city life left behind!