You'd think that having 5 kids would force us to be planners. You'd think that we might think a few things through before we leap, but I have found that there is little of that in our day to day.....
Friday around 5:30 Kevin comes upstairs and points out that this is the first weekend this summer that we have no swim meet, or baseball on Saturday.... By gosh he is correct. Why don't we go downtown Chicago? he suggests. HMMM sounds fun, a night in a hotel, swimming, going out to eat in the city lights. Okay!! Let's do it!
By the way, he adds, the train leaves at 6:30..... Okay that gives me 30 minutes to dress 5 kids (who were in jammies after the pool), pack our stuff, find a dog sitter, and be out the door-doable? yes, but hectic. After 28 sweating, hurried minutes, we are on our way to the train station. So far not the relaxing, family-fun night I was imagining, but look on the bright side--things can always look up. And look up they did. After all it so easy to please little kids. Ours were thrilled to spot the "hotel" (a spray-painted projects building) as we were pulling into Union Station. I knew then, that the real hotel would be a crowd pleaser.
Fast-forward about 45 minutes and a cab ride later. You have never seen 5 kids so excited to be anywhere as the hotel. They were bouncing off the walls to go swimming, (which we do every day) and HUNGRY. We head out on the hunt for the perfect dining experience. At 8:45 on a Friday night in Chicago, that means whoever will seat us. That would be nobody for at least 45 minutes..... Back to the perfect hotel for some perfect room service.... After that and a swim, we were tuckered for the night.
Saturday was much better. We went to the Field Museum, a place I have heard about since I was a kid, but never been. It was such a hit. I have to highly recommend it to anyone going into the city with kids. What's not to like about a real T-rex skeleton, thousands of animals, an ancient pyramid, and an exhibit of unicorns, mermaids, and dragons?! As per usual, we are now season pas holders, as it was $1 cheaper to buy the year, than a single day admission. We hope to return later this year for a pirates display in March.
Another Taxi ride, which is almost as cool to kids as the train, later we were at the Rainforest Cafe. The big kids thought it was pretty cool, Hadley was unimpressed that she was seated next to a life-sized elephant who kept moving, and going wild on a few occasions...
After a long, busy day, we hit the train station with about 3 minutes to spare, and were on our way home. The girls were thoroughly entertained by the rubber snakes that they chose as souvenirs from the museum, and played "boyfriend/girlfriend snakes" all the way back. Hadley mercifully napped most of the way.
All day I had a nagging stomach ache, that got progressively worse. By the time we were home I was curled up in a fetal position puking, and shivering. Not sure where that came from, but I do feel better today, so we'll call it a short-term bug. Kevin was good Dad/husband and stepped in to make dinner, tuck in kids, and bring me my electric blanket. He even went to the store for 7-up-- almost like having a nurse.
It is fun to spend a night away, and we always pull it off, I just wish that we could spend an hour getting the house picked up so we weren't embarrassed to have the neighbors see it when they let the dog out (Thanks Monica--hope we didn't give Brian a coronary), and time to pack so we did not have to turn undies inside out......
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