Brookfield Zoo and the Metra

We headed to Union Station to catch the Metra to Brookfield Zoo. Union Station itself was really neat. If you ever watched The Untouchables, there is a huge scene filmed in Union Station and it was like we could reply it in our minds.
Spencer thought the train was cool and it went WAY FAST!
Our excitement for the zoo quickly diminished when we arrived along with 50 school buses loaded with kids.  The first couple of hours were AWFUL! We couldn't see any exhibits and it we were indoors, it was SO LOUD due to the yelling kids.
We finally got away from so many of the groups and started to see some animals. The polar bear was pretty cool, it was awake and moving around. Most of the other animals were sleeping. Another favorite was the giraffes.

 We stopped on the carousel and Spencer didn't want to ride an animal, he wanted to ride in the couch. Ha, he was hilarious. It wasn't the typical carousel music either. We went from Lady Gaga to Michael Jackson, strange.

 We headed to the aquatic show with a HUGE line. We took seats that were available in the SPLASH zone. The 6 dolphins were awesome. They interacted with the crowd and, as we found out, splash the crowd without being instructed to do so. We all got wet and Spencer just laughed!

 It was time to head back, Justin and I enjoyed a cup of coffee and Madi and Spencer enjoyed some ice cream.

 The clickety-clack soon put Little Man sound asleep on the train. The only problem was our train was arriving at Union Station at 5:23pm. YEP, total RUSH HOUR. I placed Spencer into the stroller and we inched our way through the sea of thousands of people towards the exit.
We knew we were not going to make it getting on the subway with him being sound asleep and them being packed with commuters, so we walked the whole way back to the hotel. He slept the entire time.

We got back to the hotel and waited for him to wake up.
He didn't.
We were all hungry, so we decided we would go around the corner to dinner and he would wake up to eat.
He didn't.
He slept through rush hour, thousands of people, a busy restaurant and still didn't make a peep.
We got back to the hotel.
He woke up at 8:30pm, not ready for bed.

The Shedd

Tuesday's stop was the Shedd Aquamarine. We had HIGH expectations for this place and the variety of life that was contained in such a small place was neat. Spencer and Madi really enjoyed the aquatic show which was beluga whales and pacific coast dolphins. Spencer giggled the whole time. Most of the other items were hard for Spencer to grasp, but he did well and was happy to finally see Nemo and Dora.

 Spencer enjoyed "The Rivers" in which a play camp site was set up. He loved the canoe.

Most of the museums have had 3D or 4D movies, which were also pretty neat. We have all done well manouvering through Chicago's mass transit system. We have experienced some hiccups due to a down subway and thousands of commuters not having a way except for the bus (the one we happen to be on).
So far we have traveled by car, plane, taxi, subway, the L, bus and Metra (high speed trains).

MIS

The Museum of Science and Industry was our stop for Monday. This place was sooo amazing. Everyone had an absolute blast and there was plenty of hands on things for Spencer to touch and do. One of the most amazing things was the viewing of the first U-505 German submarine that was captured during WWII. The history behind the U boats and the untold stories were simply amazing. Unfortunately, the pictures I did take don't do it justice, so I didn't post them here.

 Madi and Justin went into the 80 mph wind machine. This picture just cracks me up.

 We avoided the Agriculture area until the very end because of the two very large John Deere tractors that were there. Spencer thought they were there just for him. He was sooo excited to crawl up and drive. Every button was pushed, every wheel was turned and he grinned the entire time.

We decided to have dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Madison was in heaven the entire time.

The Day at the Museum

We started our day at the Field Museum where I was excited to Sue, the largest and most complete T-rex ever found. Sue was found in 1990 in the Badlands of South Dakota. Justin and I moved to South Dakota in 1994 and it was during this time when the fight for Sue began. The people of South Dakota really wanted to keep her in South Dakota and a large number of businessmen grouped together to try and keep (buy) her. Unfortunately all of the businessmen  (including the one I worked for at the time) in South Dakota couldn't compete with the big money of Chicago.
Sue was every bit of amazing and so was the museum. If you have ever seen "Night at the Museum" you would swear you were on the movie set.

It was 96 degrees in Chicago and we were all hot, tired and hungry and thank goodness for the McDonald's at the Field Museum. We grabbed lunch and 6 hours later took a break at the hotel. I asked Spencer was his favorite thing was,
"my toy from McDonalds."
I'm so glad we went to the museum for the McDonald's toy.

We finished the day at Willis Tower (Sears Tower) and the Sky Deck. Let's just say that the family had a blast. A blast of watching me freak out.

• 4 elevator rides to the top that were hot and stuffy and JAMMED pack full of people speaking four different languages.
• The elevators swaying and the feeling on the 99th floor of movement.
• Looking out the window and watching a helicopter go by BELOW us.

We finally got to the top floor (103 or 104), I really don't know because I stopped looking.
It was really hot and packed full of people, but we managed to get to see some great views. I waited with the stroller why the other three ventured out onto the glass floor.

 We finished the evening with pizza pie. An old pizzeria that is famous for their pizza pies. Needless to say, we came away STUFFED.

After all of that, we came back to the hotel and crashed!!

Vacation Antics

We hadn't even started our vacation yet and Spencer's antics were in high gear. We got the suitcases down on Thursday and he couldn't contain the urge to put stuff inside. It was a great motivator to get him to go to sleep that night with the thought of us being able to pack on Friday.
He helped everyone pack on Friday night and Saturday morning came E-A-R-L-Y. Not because our flight left early, but because Spencer came in at 6:30am, two inches from my face and whispered,
"mama, get up, it is time to get on the airplane!"
He was so excited to go. This was going to be the first time he remembers being on the plane.

Our friend Becky drove us to the airport and when she asked Spencer where we were going, he replied,
"on cation to Cago."

We made it to Kansas City with grins, wanting to fly the plane, giggles and watching out the window. He LOVED the plane. We headed to Chicago and the flight was much quieter.

The taxi ride to the hotel was like a roller coaster; hanging on for dear life! Spencer was back seat driving and kept asking the cabbie, "Why you driving so fast?"
Ahh, the honest of a 3 year old.

Prove It

Today was an awful day. Someone stole my wallet. Yes, this probably happens all over the world to hundreds or thousands of people each day. Today it happened to me and it is awful.

I have no driver's license or photo ID of any kind.
I have no Social Security card.
I have no debit or ATM cards.
I have no credit cards.
I have no insurance cards.
Someone has all of our (my entire family) social security numbers.

It probably took someone less than a minute to steal my wallet and I have so far spent about 3 hours trying to get it fixed. Tomorrow I will probably spend at least another 4-5 hours trying to prove who I am.

Thank goodness for the lady at work who stayed past 5 o'clock in order to get me a new work ID (with a picture on it). I will go to get a new driver's license tomorrow armed with my birth certificate and work ID to prove who I am. These are the only two things I have to prove my identity.

Next is on to the Social Security office. I will have to show them my newly acquired driver's license in order to apply for a new card.  Then to the bank to get new debit cards also with my new driver's license.
The list goes on and on.

When this first happened, I was in shock. Freaked out, what do I do, kinda at a standstill.
Now I am mad, ANGRY to be exact.

I ate lunch in the cafeteria of OU Children's Hospital, right next door to my building. My entire day is spent running tests on children and adults from OU Medical Center.  The only reason you come to OU Children's Hospital is because you have a child there or you are visiting a child there. So what disturbs me beyond words is that someone would steal from someone who is helping the children in the hospital.
I have a pit in my stomach because of this.

I learned so many lessons from this today.

EEEEKKKK

I came home last Friday evening and pulled into the garage like normal. I had some trash in my van (like I always do), so I went to throw it in the trash bin. I was about two steps away when a black head and slithering tongue came up out of the grass.
B-A-C-K
A-W-A-Y
SLOOOOOWWWWLLYYY

Holy, cow! Run to the front door and poke my head in and ask Justin if he can come kill a snake for me. He nonchalantly says yes and says he will be out in a minute.
A minute, the ginormous slithering thing could go into the garage, no I need you now!
Justin was TOTALLY thinking that this was a garter snake.
Nope,
not even close.
It took MULTIPLE stabs with the garden hoe to stop it from moving.  It kept twitching, eeeewwww.
Yes, I scream like a girl and I am pretty sure they heard me in Indiana.