We squeezed in a quick trip to Chicago to see my family during Thora's winter break from school. (Sean was working long days and one 24-hour call shift 4 of the 5 days that we'd be gone, so it kind of made sense to go.) For a look at the whole album, click here.
Here we are having just arrived. NuNu got these very silly but cute hat/mittens/scarf items. The kids love them. Thora wears hers every day to school.
We have some traditions, and one of those is to meet my sister at The Silo, a pizza parlour down the road from BaBa and NuNu's place. NuNu loves to have fancy things for dress-up when Thora comes. She was given these flowers from her mom (I think) and you can see that they're just perfect for the occasion!
Another tradition is to have dinner at the Rainforest Cafe that's near Grandma Jane's place. Thora became very serious all of a sudden, about posing for photos and reviewing them on the camera to make sure that they were just right. This is one of many posed shots, initiated by her, during the trip.
Grandma Jane and Thora.
Aunt Natalie joined us for dinner too. Great fun had by all, including when Natalie and Thora accidentally walked into the kitchen. (Thora thought they'd done something very illicit!)
And of course, we spend about ten minutes riding these coin-operated vehicles.
Auric: "Okay, total mayhem on the count of three. You ready?"
Thora: "I was born ready."
At the Chicago Botanic Gardens, they had an incredible exhibit called Wonderland Express. This was the first part of the exhibit, a gingerbread house village made entirely out of candy. (We liked the log cabin--lower left of photo--made out of pretzel rods, complete with its own outhouse.)
The exhibit was a miniature city, all made out of plant life and organic material, in which sit replicas of Chicago landmarks. It was all so intricate and detailed, I was completely blown away. I tried to express to Thora that in my whole life I'd never seen anything like this. And if that wasn't mindblowing enough, freight trains and commuter trains continually circled the city of "Wonderland."
Here is a replica of the Obama family home, again all made out of plants and trees.
Auric was quite impressed. (On the left is a replica of the Field Museum.)
Periodically, fake snow would fall down over Wonderland. Really it was light, frothy bubbles that dissolved once it landed (on people, or the city). Here is my attempt to capture the magic of a brief snow storm over Wonderland, with the Chicago skyline in the background. The Navy Pier ferris wheel near the shore of the river really rotated.
Auric and NuNu
After some time in the exhibit and a short meal in the cafeteria, the kids needed to burn off some steam. They basically did sprints all around the grounds of the Botanic Gardens.
On New Year's Eve, we met Natalie downtown and redeemed ourselves with a successful trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo! (Our last attempt in September was a bust.) We had a great time!
Aunt Natalie and Thora
If there's a train to be ridden, Auric will ride that train.
This was a great find, in the Children's Zoo--a nice, warm, incredibly involved indoor climbing structure. Thora was still challenged by it, and thankfully feeling gracious enough to help her brother when he occasionally got stuck. But they made it through the whole obstacle course. It only took them a half hour!
I'd read that the Lincoln Park Zoo was putting on a light show and family-friendly celebration for New Year's Eve. But I'd figured that by the time we'd need to leave to head back up to the north suburbs, we would miss it. Happily, I was wrong. Since it was dark at 4:30, they had all the lights on when we emerged from the Children's Zoo. The bear figure in the photo at the left was actually by far the lamest of the lights. (It was the only one I seemed to capture.) There were dozens of these kinds of huge, glowing statues, along with lights in trees and lights over awnings, and one of the coolest effects: blinking and moving lights hung vertically from the branches of a towering tree that gave the effect of snow falling down over us. We were happy to enjoy the lights as we made our way to the carousel for one last ride before leaving the Zoo.
On New Year's Day, we spent the day with Grandma Jane and Grandpa Terry. The kids got to do Christmas all over again and we all enjoyed the time together.
Thora got a deluxe art supply set and set to work coloring in some "fancy ladies" that I was commissioned to draw.
That afternoon, we were happy to learn that Monkey Joe's, a jumping castle play center, was open for shortened holiday hours. And so we drove there for about an hour of jumping. The kids absolutely love this place. And it's great to see them playing together. Usually, for the first 30 minutes or so, they love experiencing all the slides together. Here, Thora waits for Auric to join her.
On our last morning, Thora enjoyed a prolonged story on the couch with NuNu.
Here is a nice little moment between Grandfather and Grandson. I like to imagine BaBa imparting some real sage advice to Auric, like, "It's important to try to always wear pants when someone has their camera out."
1 comment:
The traveler, however virginal and enthusiastic, does not enjoy an unbroken ecstasy. He has periods of gloom, periods when he asks himself the object of all these exertions, and puts the question whether or not he is really experiencing pleasure. At such times he suspects that he is not seeing the right things, that the characteristic, the right aspects of these strange scenes are escaping him. He looks forward dully to the days of his holiday yet to pass, and wonders how he will dispose of them. He is disgusted because his money is not more, his command of the language so slight, and his capacity for enjoyment so limited. Cheap flights to Chicago
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