Up until this point, our vacation has been very kid-focused. This is much different than our trips to Chicago pre-children, where we slept in late, ate at amazing restaurants, and walked hand-in-hand while we shopped and sipped our cappuccinos. But today? We put our foot down. We both wanted to go back to see the Smart Home, and the kids were just going to have to deal.

Of course, it really didn't take that much convincing. Tom and I took shifts in the museum, and we each got to take a tour. It really was an amazing place, chock full of ideas. Tom came home ready to tear our house apart and then The Voice of Reason (me) stepped in and said that was a terrible idea, both for our financial and mental health. But I can definitely see how we can implement some small changes. There were no photos allowed inside, so I give you one photo of the outside.

Neko has clearly been in need of some one-on-one time, so after Shep and Ellery went down for naps, she and I went on a bike ride. You can just barely see us in that second photo. Tom just happened to be looking out the window and spotted us, and managed to snap a quick photo.

I'd really just intended for us to bike up and down the Lakeshore bike path, but Neko quickly started spotting the beaches, and was soon begging to go. By the time we passed the third beach, I relented, and said she could wade around and just get her feet wet. Needless to say, after 15 minutes she was jumping around the waves in her underwear.

We built a sandcastle, complete with walls and a moat. She lept in and out of the water. She dove and swam and frolicked. I started kicking myself for only taking her to the beach on the very last day, since she clearly loves it so much.

Being at the beach with a five-year-old is a completely different experience than a beach with babies. I actually sat. And relaxed. And played. I wasn't spending my whole time pulling sandy hands out of mouths and eyes and calming the inevitable tears that followed. I was watchful of Neko, but not feeling as though I had to be inches away at all times. It was an excellent peek into our future in beach vacations, and I like what I see.

When the ice cream cart went by for the zillionth time, I agreed it was a good time. I got the coconut bar and she got the SpongeBob bar, infused with so many artificial colors, she was stained from head to toe.

We sat and ate our ice cream and watched the waves. "This is a perfect day," Neko sighed. I couldn't agree more.

I don't want anyone to think this vacation has been a breeze. That's the thing that no one tells you when you become a parent, that even the fun things can be a lot of work. Bad attitudes and temper tantrums pack themselves right into your suitcase next to your underwear, and often multiply in a new environment. Add into that not enough sleep on account of a new environment, and a vacation can turn into an absolute nightmare.

The kids have been pretty good, considering. Neko is a champ at going out and about. She happily walks next to the stroller while Shep and Ellery ride, with hardly a complaint. But gift shops, they are her Achilles heel. I think most of our tantrums have been about the purchase of things, mostly where we say "no" and then she hurls her body to the ground like she's received a life-threatening injury. Shep just gets angry about Mystery Things, like tonight he wanted to say goodnight to the Rote Lights. And, no, he doesn't mean the road lights or the rope lights or anything else that might make even the slightest bit of sense. But we went to the window and waved goodbye to lots of things and hoped we would wave in the general direction of the Rote Lights so we could all just go to bed. Ellery? She just wants to get in the stroller and go somewhere. Now. Now! NOW!

So, you know, they've all got their things going on. And Tom and I are just tired.

Today the kids started waking up at 5:30am. We managed to keep most people in bed for a while, but by 6:30am it was hopeless. We're in an apartment, so we're trying to be extra-quiet in the morning, but our kids don't do quiet well.

We wandered out to find a Starbucks, and then settled in at another park we had found (minus water feature). It was clearly exactly what the kids needed—undirected, unfocused play. We stayed there for nearly two hours, and hour of which Neko and Shep played and pretended with each other without Tom or I interceding.

After playtime, the kids seemed refreshed, so we headed back to the apartment to pick up the bikes and head to the Adler Planetarium. The material was pretty much over the kids' heads, but the ride there and back was fantastic and the food was the best I've ever seen at a museum.

After Shep and Ellery napped, we made a quick dinner at home, and then headed to the local coffee shop for ice cream and a pit stop at the park with the water. This is where I become acutely aware that we live in the country, as I watch my children strip off their clothes and carelessly roll about on the ground as all the other moms and dads stand by their Bugaboos with a slight look of horror.

This has been by far my favorite day so far. We've slowed it down a bit and given ourselves a chance to breathe. I think it even felt like…vacation.

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.

What? You thought just because we're on vacation Neko wouldn't uncover strange and weird bugs? I have no idea what this caterpillar is, but it was all I could do to convince Neko that we could not take it home, as we're already traveling with a chrysalis, awaiting its transformation into a moth.

There is no room in the bug cage, kiddo.