We had a wonderful trip to Chicago this week. We took advantage of our flexible hours as realtors and had a mid-week getaway with the children. We went downtown one day to the Shedd Aquarium, Grant Park, Lincoln Park and the general downtown district. We stayed in Woodstock and took the Metra train downtown on Tuesday morning. We woke the kids up in time to catch an early train, so we were downtown by 9:30. It was worth the effort of having our sleep-until-8-am children up early because the next train from Woodstock would have had us downtown almost two hours later. I must say that the train is the only way to go downtown. It was so nice not to have to deal with traffic or parking, and the cost was less than gas would have been and certainly less than parking. We will certainly do that again.

From the Metra station, we took the free trolley to Shedd Aquarium. Personally, I wanted to go to the Art Institute, but common sense took over and I realized that the kids would enjoy the Shedd much more. We had to start our Shedd visit with the obligatory picture of the family with the giant man and fish fountain.

We lucked out with our timing, and they happened to be feeding the fish in the giant Caribbean Reef, so we were able to immediately listen to the talk about that. The kids were in awe of the giant tank teeming with animals, and Vincent really liked seeing the diver up close. Though the kids were disappointed that the belugas were not available to the public due to a new calf, they still loved the Shedd. The dolphin show awed them, and they were amazed at the variety of sizes and colors of fishes (a word I always thought was grammatically incorrect, but if the aquarium uses it, I suspect I was taught wrong).


After the aquarium, we took a walk through Grant Park past the Field Museum and along the shore. There is a fascinating display of globes there, each detailing a different aspect about the planet or some other educational concept. Plus they are quirky dotting the landscape like they do. On our walk, we were tantalizingly close to the Art Institute, but still I resisted. I wanted to take pictures with the lions, but no one else was game for that. The kids wanted to get to the fountains in Millennium Park so they could splash around. We did walk through the peaceful garden next to the Art Institute, a little oasis on Michigan Ave.

After a long break splashing around in the fountains, during which the children somehow managed to keep most of their clothing dry, we journeyed over to The Bean. Now, I'm not sure if that is its official name, but this strange sculpture is simply fascinating. As you approach it, you see a distorted reflection that is interesting, but once underneath, it becomes intriguing. It was impossible to capture with the camera. We spent a long time there looking around at the myriad reflections the angles of The Bean create. When Luis said he wanted to stop to see it, I thought "how goofy", but it was beguiling. I am really happy we stopped.

Following The Bean we had a long walk down Washington back to the train station with tired children in tow. They were troopers, and I think they were a little awed by the towering buildings around us. Simon did wonderfully all day, hanging out in the mei tai and the sling. The train back to Woodstock was an express, so it was only an hour back. Even so, Vincent quickly fell asleep, and even Isabella and Luis dozed on the train. All in all, it was a great day trip that must be repeated.

The second day was spent as Six Flags Great America's homeschool day. It was an amusement park, so obviously there was a great deal of riding rides, playing in kiddie areas and eating cotton candy. I must say that we are now spoiled for any other day at an amusement park after this experience. Most of the time we had to wait 2-3 minutes for a ride, even on the hugely popular roller coasters. In 6.5 hours we managed to do 5 roller coasters, 8 rides, spend time at all three children's areas, have a picnic lunch and a cotton candy break, and see a show. It was exhausting and tons of fun.