Chicago

I am tired.  A good tired, but really tired.  We packed a lot into today and, according to my fitbit, it took us almost 20,000 steps.  So a bit of an update, then off to bed for me.

Chicago was a blast.  We left Ann Arbor having had so much fun, and had an easy drive into the city.

Saying goodbye to new friends

We pulled in to the friends' we are staying with, and then pretty much headed right out for the Field Museum, which everyone said was awesome.  It was really cool.

This is a very big museum

Thumbs up for a bighorn sheep

By the time we had gotten to the evolution of the dinosaur, they were pretty tired.

We got picked up there and then we picked up some pizza.  Chicago style is both delicious and extremely filling.  Of course, not so filling that we couldn't find space for a Rainbow Cone.

She liked every flavor.  Even the Orange Sherbert.

What with the long day driving and the time change, after we gobbled up some ice cream we headed back and pretty much collapsed into bed.  Which was good, because we had a lot to do today.

First, we took the L into the loop (look at me, with the lingo!) and then walked to the Skydeck.  (Oh, this is where I caveat that I still don't have the camera connector thingy and a lot of pictures were taken there instead of my phone, so we'll make do with what we have here for now).

Looking south?

The glass juts out and you're standing 103 stories over Chicago.  It's suprisingly nervewracking.

We were way up there...

From there, we walked over to the Institute of Art, which was a great art museum.  I really liked the layout.  If I had been there on my own, I definitely would have spent more time.  But the kids were good and we took in a bunch of stuff.

Jax climbed in to that suit of armor.  Just kidding.

From there, we head off to Millenium Park, where we grabbed a bot dog and admired the Bean.

Finally, Maggie Daley Park, where the kids had an amazing time running all over the place, sliding down super fast twisty slides, and generally having a good time.

We walked back to the L, rode a couple of stops, and then walked back for some downtime.

Completely unstaged, upon getting off the L.

We had already had pizza, and tonight we were lucky enough that our gracious hosts, whom we have been eating out of house and home, made a delicious dinner of pierogis, which the children gobbled up.  They rallied to attend "Family Night" at camp along with our friends, and then came home and went to bed.

For not too much time in Chicago, we packed in a lot of fun.

Tomorrow morning we head off to Wisconsin, for a couple of nights with the last Bryn Mawr friend for a while.  But after that, and we're all very excited about this, we head off to Sioux Falls, SD where we meet up with Pete.  We've been having a great time, but we've all been missing him terribly.  It'll be very good to all be back together again.

So between the 20,000 steps and the 375 miles I have to drive tomorrow, I should get to bed.  Onward to more adventures!

for more pictures, click here.  This will be updated again when I can connect the camera.