There were several negative factors that weighed in for the day that made for some concerned anticipation. Namely:
- The recent cold rainy days we were having
- Being around my 9 year old sister for longer than 20 minutes. (love her, but...)
- Feeding my 9 year old sister banana pudding for breakfast and then remembering I have to be with her for a period longer than 20 minutes.
- Missing the 810am Metra train (completely my fault) and navigating the entire way into downtown with no maps. Relying on my memory. The memory that failed to remind me what feeding my 9 year old sister sugar for breakfast can result in.
Whee.
Well, I navigated the crew properly into the parking garage (as chicagoans would call it the 'parkn gratch') and put us squarely in front of a mcdonalds in which to fuel my bubs with some breakfast. We think a bum took a dump in the stairwell and was getting yelled at by security. Triple gold points for me!
Knowing full well we arrived a clear 45 minutes before our tour guides anticipated us, I suggested we go on a riverwalk. Little girl being adorable in the big city:
So far, so GREAT! It was a gorgeous day for us to tackle Chicago, so I was very happy with our little walk. We then promptly called our tour guide shop and hurried their little bums through their morning routine. Profuse apologies owed. Minus myself 4 points. We took a hasty visit out to their balcony quickly keeping an eye on all their sneaky kitties. Found all their cool action figures and geegaws which always entertain. I get served water in a Guiness glass. Bitchin. We boarded the MHP tour bus and she showed us THE 7TH FLOOR including some dude casting evil sweat glares from his treadmill in the exercise room. Iwanski gets snared by a spider web. I hate it when that happens.
Ok. We moved onward to THE CORN COBS!!!!! Through the tremendous generosity of JBuckW (funniest thing is that I can sometimes only think of him as "Buck" and he can only think of me as "Sfoofie". Apparently we are asking MHP all the time what our "real" names are!!!), we got to go up to the roof of the building. It was completely free, completely without lines, completely memorable, and totally thrilling! I grew up seeing these buildings all the time in Chicago, but never thought I would ever be running free up on the roof with family and friends. I like these three pictures I took -one from the outside, the other from the rooftop, and the final of my adorable MHP and I!
Although the visit was brief, I hope Buck knows how much this opportunity was appreciated. I can't believe someone so cool is tucked away into the corncobs!
We all then headed to Millenium Park. I've come to really like this area. I don't get bored from seeing 'The Bean', the acoustically perfect outdoor theater, the plants, or the Crown fountain. Us girlies kicked off our shoes and socks and even splashed around in the fountain waters. Here are my favorite pics from the park:
(note: at this point my dear sis is still being an ANGEL. It was fun to see her enjoy her first visit to a huge city!)
We decided on a visit to The Field Museum (since we were doing so well on time!). Along the way Iwanski entertains the crowd by yelling out "I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER" which had all of us in stitches - especially my younger siblings. I also got two of my FAVORITE pictures from the day headed over to the museum. First, you can see two skyscrapers reflected perfectly in the skyscraper across the street and a cute lamppost and flowers are tucked into the picture as well. I am pretty proud of the shot. Also there is lovable Iwanski fervently trying to seduce our bus into stopping.
At the Field Museum was the big red ball! We counted ourselves lucky to see it tucked right up against the Field Museum's columns.
We quickly divided into two camps at the museum: people willing to fork over a few dollars to see the weather exhibit (and, it should be noted, that they were EXCITED to see a weather exhibit) and the other camp being "haters of forking over extra dollars for a weather exhibit". The haters chose to see the awesome "Native Americas" exhibition and some relaxation time. (Hey, if I wanted to experience a tornado live, I'd head to Kansas sometime.) We then all toured the Egyptian and Animals exhibitions. The animals exhibition was COOL and GROSS and sometimes COOL BUT GROSS. I guess it was cool to do "The Bear":
Guess that's Iwanski's way of meditating for a good NFL season. Or else he wants to go crazy and live in Alaska like a bear like this guy. We then decide to head to Wrigleyville and dinner. Things quickly went sour when we boarded the "free trolley" to only go about 2 minutes away. As we slowly become confined in the small back corner with no driver in sight, you can see the mental notes being made in the Iwanski brain: We could have been there by now. When did we get on? 8 minutes ago? Yeah, definitely could have gotten there by now. This is why Chicago really doesn't deserve the Olympics. I'm never taking this free trolley ever again. All seven of us will have to get out of this corner at the very next stop and inconvenience the eight people standing in the aisles. I hate inconveniencing people. Also: Iwanski don't tell stories on stairs. etc. We made a smart strategic move putting MHP and my mom next to each other. Those two can chat their ears off of one another and become oblivious to their surrounding environment. Until Journey begins to play, in which case they sing loudly and get in fits of giggles. Very much sisters:
The trolley finally did move and, yes, we inconvenienced the packed aisles by shoving our 7 asses (as Chicagoans would call them 'aces') out at the next stop. Our trip on the brown line over to the Belmont stop was another event filed under "Reasons Why Chicago Might Not Be The Best Choice For The Olympics." You see, for that day (and that day only. Oh. Hmmm. Maybe.), the brown line was running on an orange line rail. And then shuttles (?!?) were set up at the end to provide additional confusion to the party. Luckily we got off before the shuttle service began.
Our dinner at Mi Tierra was (in the annoying manner of Giuliana Rancic) A.MAZING.
We had margaritas, real queso fundido, and I tried a plate of 3 different A.MAZING. items. (guacamole taco, chicken tostada, pork tamale). We all laughed and us margarita girls giggled when the tequila hit our systems.
After dinner, we made our way over to Navy Pier. Yes, after this entire day of awesomeness, we still had energy for Navy Pier. Navy Pier was really cool - despite us hitting one of the only non-firework-weekends they have. We walked out to the point, headed back through the buildings and the stained glass exhibition SO COOL,btw), got the kids some souuuvenirs, and ended the night with ice cream. Actually, the night ended with getting our driver (bubs) some coffee from 7-11 to make the trip home.
None of us can believe we did all of this in a single day. Besides one heart-attack-inducing trip over Iwanski's foot at the station platform and a couple other sugar rushes, my little sister was very well behaved. I also took special pride in my navigation skills on the fly and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.
Overall, I had nothin to worry about. Especially because we hired the MHP & Iwanski tour firm....If anything they provide the comic relief in any cramped free trolley corner.
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FYI: You can find some of the coolest Chitownphotos here
