Camera pictures

Without a memory card the camera will hold about 4 pictures on the internal memory. I have had the same pictures on the camera forever because I forget they are there and never download them. I finally got around to it this morning; let me show you what I found.

The picture from the Sears Tower in Chicago that I wasn't able to download before. They almost give you the impression that they really like each other.

Emily and Matthew found a fun place to play during our last move in June.

A picture of Emily when she was in the hospital in 2005; this is an old picture! Emily had a piece of wood buried in her heel that had become horribly infected. She had to have surgery to remove the wood and clean the infection. Four days in the hospital was not fun!

Greencation: Days 4, 5, & 6

Sunday- We slept late in our dark, quiet room and then caught the bus to the Museum of Science & Industry. I was slightly bummed that we didn't get there until 11 but quickly realized that they didn't even open until 11. The place is HUGE and we knew there wasn't any way we could possibly see everything before they closed at 4. The most awesome part of the museum is their new Smart Home; a home that was built with sustainable and energy efficient materials. Guess what?! They used bamboo floors in the Smart Home! We got so many great ideas but unfortunately our home is 14 years old and we won't be making it as environmentally friendly as the Smart Home. J and I did gather many ideas that we would love to incorporate into a future house though.
With so much to see and so little time we grabbed a snack in the food court. If you ever visit the museum, make the food court your definite stop for lunch. They had many different choices including a full taco bar. We were in a hurry for our Smart Home tour so we all split a chicken finger meal and kept on trucking.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped and ate at Chipolte. We said we wouldn't eat somewhere that we could eat at home while on vacation but it was right around the corner and we were all tired.

Monday- The one place Emily wanted to go in Chicago was the American Girl Place. I had waited until the last day to take her because it just worked out best. Imagine my surprise when I got online Monday morning and found out they were CLOSED. They were moving across the street so they shut down the store for 2 days- Monday and Tuesday. It absolutely broke my heart to tell her they were closed. She has listened to two of her friends talk about their breakfast there and the doll salon for weeks now so she was so excited to go.
But, Emily and I were up and out of the room by 9am to try and salvage the shopping day. We took the subway over to the Magnificent Mile and found the Lush store. She had a good time sniffing everything but eventually the bath bombs started fizzing inside her nose. I was able to turn her day around with a bath bomb and a set of pajamas; my daughter knows the good things in life.
The boys took the bus over to the Field Museum and had a good time looking at all the REAL mummies and other interesting artifacts. Emily and I joined up with them around noon and viewed all the creepy mummies as well. The kids really liked Sue, the most complete T-Rex dinosaur ever uncovered.
Mid-afternoon we took the train over to Ed Debevic's (where they are mean to you). We had gotten so many "you must eat at Ed's" comments that we walked in the rain to eat (up hill both ways too). We should have ate there on the weekend because 4pm on a drizzly Monday is not a popular dining time. We were eventually the only ones there and honestly, we should have had Chicago pizza again.

Tuesday- So sad; it was time to check out of our hotel and return to the reality of life. But first we walked to get some breakfast at The Corner Bakery and then walked over to Millennium Park. It is full of cool sculptures and beautiful gardens. The pictures of the kids in the mirror is a giant mirrored sculpture that is supposed to resemble a drop of mercury. Once you know that and look at it, it DOES look like a drop of mercury!
We lost the valet ticket for the car but unfortunately they were able to locate it with our last name and room number; no Lexus for me today.
The hotel we stayed in was The Silversmith. It was lovely and fancy and quiet and all those other things that my house isn't. I hid all the Italian toiletries each day so the housekeeper would leave me more; I now have a few weeks worth of lotion and shampoo! I usually don't let housekeepers in the room while we are gone but I figured if I wanted more good-smelling lotion I would need to compromise on my routine a bit. We were on the same street as an elevated train line so we could hear that but it wasn't that bad and it was very convenient having a stop right outside the hotel door. We were within walking distance to Millennium and Grant Parks, the Sears Tower and shopping on State St. I would definitely stay here again but I would definitely go through hotels.com again as well. We paid approximately $60-$80 less per night by booking through hotels.com.

Greencation: Day 3

Yesterday was a long day, very long. I finally gave up around 8pm and begged to come back to the room. The kids were enjoying the night and weather was beautiful but my head was pounding so hard I felt like I had a percussion show going on in the right hemisphere of my brain.

Since we knew the weather would be warmest on Saturday we opted to do the outdoor activities that day. We got up and walked to Sears Tower. Half way there I realized I had left the memory card for the camera inside the laptop so we had one picture we could take on the internal memory of the camera; we had to make it a good one. I had to take and delete about 4 pictures before I got one with all the 3 kids looking forward. I will have to add that picture once we get home because I don't have the cable with us.

After the Sears Tower we walked back to the hotel to retrieve the camera card and sunglasses. I knew a headache was a certainty if we did not get my sunglasses. We jetted off on the subway to find a traditional Chicago pizza place. The kids thought the subway ride was uber cool and groaned when it was time to get off after only 3 stops.

We ate at Giordano's and it seems most other tourists think 2pm would be a great time to eat lunch, just as we did. While waiting, Matthew found the naked lady statue; J and I were placing bets on how quickly he would find the topless statue and it was quicker than both of us had thought. He climbed up and said "MOM, take my picture!" The gentleman next to him thought that was comical. The pizza was very good but so filling and heavy that we just wanted to go to bed afterwards, not walk another 4 hours. We fought this urge heavily but only because three people under 5' tall were ready to ride on the trolley.

We took the trolley out to Navy Pier and enjoyed a boat ride on Lake Michigan and a ride on the huge Ferris wheel. Matthew played comedian again when he jumped up on a wooden box and said "MOM, take my picture while I pretend to be a supermodel" while posing with one hand on his hip and one behind his head and pouty lips. A group of several adults cracked up laughing and we could still hear them laughing after we walked away. I did not get a picture of this; I simply grabbed my son by the waist and carted him off knowing these adults are wondering where my six year old son learned to pose like a supermodel. We'll send him to your party for entertainment, but we charge a steep price.

I had to take a picture of this concession stand, even if the two girls working thought I was a crazy, lunatic tourist. We have donuts (in fact, I had a tasty one for breakfast earlier in the day) and funnel cakes. Now, the one thing those two have in common is being a wad of dough dropped into a 400 degree vat of grease and then usually covered in something even more fat laden such as sugar or "fruit" topping. This concession stand doesn't sugar coat (ha, pun intended) the truth; you will be getting a paper basket full of nothing else but good 'ole Fried Dough. That just cracked me up.

We found a table at the end of the pier and enjoyed the evening for awhile and I got these pictures of my handsome boys and beautiful girl. We were going to try and stay for the fireworks but I couldn't last any later than 8pm.

We've seen more weddings this weekend than I usually see in half a year. We've seen a German wedding complete with fully dressed priests, a Chinese wedding complete with dancing dragons and an extremely wealthy wedding, complete with 49 BMWs, 38 Mercedes, and 52 Lexus'. OK, OK, I'm not sure that is the exact number but only because we hopped on the poor-man's trolley (FREE) and left Navy Pier before the procession ended. This wedding reception included security; complete with the secret service black suits and earpiece communication; it was very entertaining for us to people watch at this particular event.

Greencation: Day 1 & 2

After a day of packing and running around, we loaded up the newly fixed Civic (thanks FedEx for the wreck and the money to fix it) and took off on our "Greencation." We decided to really do our vacation as green as possible we should pile 5 people and luggage for said 5 into the Civic Hybrid and drive to Chicago where we are staying downtown and using only public transit.

So here was the scene prior to leaving Thursday evening. It all fit...barely.

The kids were ready to take off on our vacation even though they were sitting hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder. I was skeptical on how long this enthusiasm would really last. To my surprise we made it the first night (2 hours) with giddiness from all three kids.

Tidbits from the first night:
- We saw a set of fresh burn-out marks on the road and Matthew piped up: "That is a spin-out and I know how you do that. You put one foot on the stop pedal and one foot on the go button at the same time and keep it that way; then it makes a squealing noise and leaves the marks." I then turned my attention to J who gave me a look of "I have no idea how he would know that, I would never take part in that sort of activity." Then Jacob says "Yea, and its really fun too."

- We encountered every animal poo stench there can be while driving for 2 hours in IL. My city-grown children did not appreciate the odors of true nature.

Today we toured Abraham Lincoln's restored home in Springfield, IL before continuing our trek to Chicago. The kids loved the tour and remembered several things about the period from our trip through Callaway Plantation. While the history of President Lincoln and his home are very interesting, the tour of Callaway Plantation was much more informative and educational. I encourage anyone who might be in GA and have an opportunity to tour the plantation to definitely do so.

On the drive in the kids were looking at the skyscrapers and Emily asked if the Sears Tower really scrapes the sky and that is why it is called a skyscraper. Matthew chimed in with "yea, I used to think that is why they called them skyscrapers too, Emmy, but that was when I was a little kid, and then I learned about it." Ouch, that wasn't very nice.

We are in a very nice hotel; I'll write more about it later. Our kids are tripped out by the "FANCY" hotel and all the things that go along with it. They are adjusting to sights and sounds of downtown Chicago. Our hotel sits directly in front of an elevated El track so if you are outside when it passes you can't hear each other talk. Jacob told us later that all the sounds were giving him a headache and he thinks it is just too busy. This might be a long 4 days.