Train Trip to Chicago, Part Two

The boys slept hard on Thursday night after two busy day of traveling and sightseeing. See?

And when we woke up on Friday morning, it was to much cooler temperatures. The boys actually wore jackets much of the day!

Our plan that day was Legoland. So we drove the 45 minutes to it, Riley chomping at the bit the whole way. When we pulled up, we discovered it wasn’t quite what we expected. Most of us thought it would be an amusement park, with displays and rides alike. Instead, it was actually one of their discovery centers, located in an outside shopping area. Not nearly as impressive or as big as we thought, but we had tickets already and tried to go in with an open mind.

Riley said a few times that he was disappointed, but we still managed to spend more than three hours there. And the displays really were cool.

 

We left Legoland and had a great lunch at nearby Ram Restaurant and Brewery. After that we went to the Lego Store, where Riley and Zac each got a new set from Grandma and Grandpa, and then to the truck store (a.k.a. Toys ‘R Us), where Rory got some new trucks. (Oh, and somewhere in there Rory fell asleep in the car and got a decent 45 minute nap in.)

 

When I realized Toys ‘R Us wasn’t too far away from Wrigley Field, I requested to go by there on our way back to the house. I don’t really care too much about professional baseball, but I wanted to at least say we had seen the famous ballpark. Kenny and Steve stayed with the cars while the rest of us walked around the outside of the stadium. Very cool, even if the Cubs had just lost a game. We also saw some neat water fountains along one side, as well as a Chicago fire truck just pulling out of its station on a call.

 

 

We had dinner at the house, and then Kenny and I snuck out super quick before bed. When I realized that our rental house was right around the corner from Schuba’s, I knew I had to try and get a picture of in front of it. Schuba’s is a popular Chicago music bar where a favorite artist of Jeff’s and mine (Jason Mraz) recorded a live album back in 2007. Kenny and I couldn’t go in on account of a special, ticketed, post-Lollapalooza concert, but we at least got to see it.

 

Saturday was our last full day. And the heat was back. Luckily, we were inside almost the entire day: we spent more than 6 hours in the Museum of Science and Industry. There was SO. MUCH. to see. There were even things to look at in the massive lobby while we were waiting to get our tickets!

  

We saw a huge marble run machine (the Swiss Jolly Ball), giant airplanes, a sprawling miniature train set, and storm and avalanche simulators.

We saw the captured U-505 submarine, a mirror maze, a huge tractor and a combine harvester, space capsules, bicycles throughout the years, and more. Despite how long we were there and how many exhibits we walked through, we still didn’t see all that the museum had to offer.

The Jolly Ball machine was the first thing we saw and it was also the last, per Rory’s request. He could have watched that all day long! And both boys went home with two fun blow mold souvenirs each that we watched being made: train and tractor for Rory and train and shuttle for Riley.

We finally left the museum when they made us, at closing time. After some debate, we headed back towards the house (passing Navy Pier and the giant Ferris wheel along the way) and ended up at Yard House (where they had beer flowing above our heads) for dinner. A great last night out!

 

We woke up the next morning, packed up, and headed to O’Hare airport to fly back to NOLA. This was Riley’s third time on a plane and Rory’s second. They both did great, and before we knew it (after a fairly bumpy flight), we were back home.

  

 

Thank you so much for taking us on this trip, Grandma and Grandpa. It sure will be one to remember!

And now…..back to school. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!