Epic Chicago Adventure

Last weekend Ben, Fiona and I took a road trip to Chicago. To try to ensure the most peaceful driving time, we concocted a masterful plan which did not work out at all, and after an aborted plan to sleep halfway in a hotel, we got to Chicago about 10 hours ahead of schedule. At this point I have to give our friend Shannon the 'nicest person on the planet' award for happily welcoming us into her home a whole day before we told her we'd be there. Just so you all know, if anyone visiting us arrives 10 hours early, you'll be handed a vacuum and told to make your own bed up ;-)

On Friday we took some naps, and went to the mall to give Fiona some exercise. In the evening Tim and Shannon hosted a gathering of people at their house and Fiona and Sophie got to hang out. Sophie is Ben's college friend Tom's daughter, she's 3 months older than Fiona...

Sophie and Fiona had fun playing together. Toddlers are funny... frequently the 'playing' would turn into a battle over the item that was being played with... they both really wanted to push a little shoe rack up and down the hall like a shopping cart, and would get annoyed when the other was pushing in the opposite direction from the other end...

It was a really fun night, and both Fiona and Sophie had a great time playing with Ben's friend Tim, who was happy to build block towers for them to knock over, and balance blocks on their heads.

He and Shannon are expecting a baby a week before us in February so it was good practice :-)

On Saturday after a delicious breakfast we went to the Children's Museum with Tom, Angel, and Sophie. Fiona had a great time, particularly driving a car...

And doing her shopping...

In the evening we got together with Ben's cousin Jim, and some other friends and cousins and played some games and ate real Chicago pizza... mmmm.

It's super deep, with cheese and fillings underneath and sauce on top. (Picture 'borrowed' from here).

On Sunday we went with Tim and Shannon and Tom and Sophie to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Fiona loves animals, and had a great time.

We saw all kinds of primates doing all kinds of things...

Ate ice cream for lunch...

And saw some big kitties...

Here's proof we were all there...

We even managed to tire Fiona out so completely that she did something she almost never does and fell asleep!

We had a great time! On Sunday evening we headed back home, and on Monday morning we all slept in late. It was a super fun weekend! Thanks everyone for making it such a fun visit! We're looking forward to the next time!

Thursday and Friday

The fun continues! On Thursday we hung around the house in the morning... Fiona took a nap, Mum and Dad went for a little walk... we did a lot of laundry. In the afternoon we went to the Como Conservatory... it's this big greenhouse full of plants, so Dad could take lots of plant pictures, and it's free to get in (though they have someone sitting by the door guilting you into donating something). We walked through their tropical section where Fiona, of course, found a big tank with a large turtle in it...

I tried to take a nice picture of Fiona and Granny sitting together on the bench, but Fiona wasn't cooperating, and the best we ended up with was this...

Silly girl...

We looked at some more plants and Fiona had a go at falling in the decorative river and climbing on some things that I'm sure were not designed to be climbed on, then we got ready to go home. Grandpa got some nice photos and Fiona, Granny and I got a lot of exercise. I realised when I was looking at the photos later that Fiona has now mastered the raised eyebrows 'are you kidding me, Mama" face, so that made me a little nervous...

Hopefully it'll be a couple of years before she's asking to stay at playdates later with her friends and texting boys all day.

On Friday we went to the Science Museum in Saint Paul. I thought this might be one of the few places we'd got to that didn't have fish to get excited about, but I'd forgotten that they have some in the "All about Minnesota" exhibit. On Thursday night I had my first photography class, and the teacher told us that we're not allowed to use the 'auto' function on our cameras any more, so most of my pictures of today came out badly and blurry. Good thing I have 3 classes left...

Fiona checks out the fish...

Fiona insisted on climbing up on every available chair, bench, and climbable surface.

We were at the museum for about 2 1/2 hours, and by the end she was totally exhausted.

There's all kinds of cool stuff at the museum, but I can't tell you about much of it because we spent the entire time running around and climbing. She had a great time. I can tell you about this though... she loved it when we were here with Ali and David, and it's appeal had not faded this time... it's a big barrel that represents the size of a Diplodocus stomach that you can climb up into and crawl through.

We did this for probably 20 minutes before some other kids wanted a turn!

Shortly after that we went home again, tired out from the adventures of the day.

And now it is Saturday... what excitement does today hold? Only time can tell...