If you're ever in Chicago (or another big city) with kids for a number of days, I highly recommend the CityPass, which has saved us a bundle of cash. We decided to do it on a whim on our first day at the Field Museum, and it's worked out really well. Okay…enough advertising…
Today we made our way to the Museum of Science and Industry. This has been the first time we've had to drive since our first night. It was actually kind of nice to hop into a slice of home, even if just for a ten minute car ride.
We loved this museum from the start. We got there right when they opened, so we beat the crowd and had our pick of exhibits. We started with the farm exhibit, which featured a huge tractor and a combine. You know, I don't really think of Shep as a vehicle kid, but he could have bounced back and forth between the tractor and the combine all day. They built stairs into the side of each, so he was easily able to hop in and out, and, lordy, did it take some work to pry him out of there.
We went from there to the Omnimax movie about dinosaurs. Will someone in the dinosaur world PLEASE make a dinosaur movie which doesn't spend half the time showing one dinosaur attacking or eating another? I know they weren't the smartest animals, but surely they played a game of tag every now and them?
Ellery didn't make it through the movie, and when we found she and Tom, she was doing her best astronaut impression. A step above your typical state fair cut-out, the kids couldn't stop playing on it.
There was so much more stuff we saw and didn't see. Tom and I were dying to see the Smart Home, but our wiggly children were too wiggly. I may try to sneak back there before we go.
Another highlight, the ToyMaker 3000, where you can create a small toy top, watching the entire automated process happen from beginning to end. We were having so much fun, I didn't snap a single photo, but you can refer to this cheesy YouTube video for reference.
We put the kids to bed on time, but woke Neko and Shep up for the 10:15pm Navy Pier fireworks. They had been jazzed about them for days, so we promised we wouldn't let them miss out. Neko kept falling back asleep, but Shep sat with his chin resting on the back of the couch, wide-eyed. I remember that illicit feeling of being up far past your bedtime and getting to do something that simply takes your breath away.