Anyway, we had a good time, walking around and seeing everything, and even trying out the different modes of public transportation that are readily available in big cities.
When we first arrived in Chicago, we decided to walk to Navy Peer. We figured after three hours in the car a nice walk would be nice, then the girls could explore around in the Children's Hands-On Museum there.
So off we set, figuring we'd catch the free shuttle eventually. Well, turns out that the shuttle does not run until Memorial Day. So we walked. And walked. And walked.... to the tune of 2.5 miles (I had to map it later on when we got home.) It did not seem that far away when we set out, but we just kept going and going. Oh well, the girls were troopers and did a wonderful job.
And along the way we encountered Millennium Park and the Bean sculpture (apparently it is called Cloud Gate, not The Bean as I have always heard it referred to ... I think it looks like an upside-down Bed Pan, but hey, that's me!)
We finally made it to the museum, and found out that in 45 mins the price was reduced to half price, and then an hour after that it was free. We decided to poke around the peer for 45 minutes (grab a snack) and then come back for half price. Glad we did too, because in no time flat that museum was so crowded that you could hardly even walk around.
It was fun, however, because they had a special Chinese Culture "exhibit" that was very hands-on. Lauren loved it, and we could hardly drag her away, Annika however was overwhelmed ... as was I!
She finally sought refuge in some of the permanent exhibitions where it was not as crowded. Here she is digging for dinosaur bones. 
We ended up taking a bus back to the hotel, which was fun for the girl, but I got motion sick of course. dreaded motion sickness! Then we headed out for some Chicago-style stuffed pizza. The Hotel told us of a good place near by, which was a good mile away. So off we huffed yet again on a good walk thru Chicago. The girls were troopers, even though it was 9:00 at night and they were getting tired! We thought Annika was going to fall asleep right there in the restaurant waiting for the food to arrive. But she made it. Now for the long trek back to the Hotel.
Well, ended up I was cold, so I jogged a bit, and chided Annika to run a bit with me. So we ran up to Bill and Lauren. Well, that started off a good natured challenge to see who could stay in front, and Annika woke right up, I was not cold, and soon we were at our hotel again. It was fun, running and laughing up and down the street. We were "loud" and made a little bit of a scene, but in a good way.
The next morning we walked around the corner to Yolk , probably one of the best breakfast restaurants we've ever eaten at. Click on that link and snoop around the menu - so many good things to eat!!
Annika was passing time by playing with the crayons - not by drawing of course, everyone does that, but she chose to build with them. Log cabin or something, I'd guess!
Not to be out done, Lauren started building with the creamers. Lucky us, we had different color/flavors to use too!
When we finally finished our yummy breakfast at the best breakfast restaurant ever, we headed out across the way to the aquarium. On the way was the coolest art installment - they were giant legs and feet. That is it, but we all had a great time dinking around them!
The legs and feet were just outside out hotel room - see it there?
Feet and legs. If you look in the back of this photo you can see Annika's foot as she steps off one of the sculptures.
And just to prove that Bill was indeed there : ) My awesome hubby!
Long LONG L O N G line at the Aquarium. Think 2 hours worth of waiting in line! But it allowed me to get a snapshot of Navy Peer off in the distance. And, yes, that is how far we walked the day before! 2.5 miles!
The girls were really good at waiting, and being kinda cute too.
Here is Annika getting a close up of the ray.
And my yummy lunch; who'd a thought museum food would have been so tasty and diet friendly?
After lunch the girls found this penguin kids play area. They had little costumes the kids could put on and pretend to be penguins in this habitat area. Ummm, they were in heaven!! They played in there for an hour before we adult said, TIME TO MOVE ON!
Sunday we went to the Museum of Science & Insustry, which I have to say is one of the best museums for multiple age groups, or older kids. I could have spent longer there than we did, but with huge crowds due to spring break, and with the long drive home ahead of us, we had to go home "early."
Wen did, however, happen to see a baby chick hatch out of its egg; somethng I've never seen happen before. I know, hard to believe that me, the farmgirl, has never witnessed this. I've seen lots of mammels give birth, but never a chick hatch out of an egg. I was pretty excieted to witness this!
Also had to get shots of the girls inside the big John Deere tires. It was just too funny not to do!
All in all we had a really good time in Chicago! We did ride the El-train at one point. Train ride went well, but the adventure after that quickly went south when Your's Truely had a Crowd Induced Breakdown. Oh well. We survived. The girls were awesome troopers and did everything with little to no issues, which included lots and lots of walking and exploring. We had a blast and I'd go back again. Wow that is saying alot, because there were big crowds, long lines, and lots of "issues" for me.
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