Staycation Day 3: Chicago

On the train!


Liking the floor on the train!

under the weird ball mirror thingy at Millenium Park

Enjoying the water at Millenium Park

NUMMY!

A hug for Daddy!

Asleep at the Museuem

The hatching chicks

The Train!

On the trolley

More trains!

MOO!

We kept this day a secret. We didn't tell Ky anything. We got up bright and early--5:45 AM so we could make it to the train station in time for our 8:20 AM departure to Chicago. Rob and I had spent a lot of time on the internet planning this day. Having 2 children, you want to make sure that you know what you are doing when you have limited personal resources. We packed a backpack full of baby supplies and our notes and information and brought along the umbrella stroller. We figured Ky would be able to walk most of the time.

We mapquested directions to Harvard IL where we were going to catch the train to Chicago. Weekend round trip is only $5/person, kids travel FREE! SWEET! We were so excited. We followed our Mapquest directions and very quickly became concerned as the rain POURED down on us. I was driving Rob's car and pulled over to let him drive. I just don't feel comfortable driving in that hard of rain. He drove the rest of the way, but we soon found ourselves on roads that weren't labeled and then DIRT roads---yes DIRT roads. Mapquest put us on DIRT roads! Can you believe that?! We were really concerned we were lost. We were also concerned we were going to miss the train. However thing did work out and we were able to get to the train station with 10 minutes to spare--unfortunately there was a long line to buy tickets. By the time we purchased the tickets we had to jump on the train. I was a bit bummed that I didn't get to take Ky's pic in front of the train--or even get a pic of his reaction.

I really think that he didn't think we were on a train. It just didn't seem to sink in. He played with toys and ate a light breakfast. It wasn't until the trip back that it suddenly clicked with him that he was REALLY on a train! He was giddy then and pointing everything out.

Alaina did okay with the train too--though a bit impatient as she wanted to be on the move and couldn't. It turned out this was a bad weekend for us to go to Chicago due to the "Bears Family Day" and Lalapalooza. The train was packed by the time we got there. We get out at the station and Rob spots a map nearby--and heads toward is. Now we know where we are, we just didn't know which way was North/South/East/West. And so the bad start got worse...A lady spied us out and asked us if we needed help--we told her no, we were fine. Then she became insistent. UGH! LEAVE US ALONE LADY!

Rob gave in--he said--we just need to know which way is East/West. Then she gave us some crazy saying (which she screwed up) something like "If the numbers decrease it's east, if the numbers increase it's west". We said "fine, thanks" and tried to go back to the map when she started demanding money from us, since she "helped us out". We told her "no" and then she started spouting something about "rough times" and crap. Well Rob gave in at that point and was going for his wallet--I was looking at her fancy new shoes--and trying to keep the kids together just getting angry. --Okay so Rob gave her $1 and at this point you are thinking--give it up Jess---you gotten taken--get over it--but, you will see later in this blog how this loss of $1 made the end of our trip quite panicky. Not to mention--how rude!

Moving on. So we had some transit passes from the last time we were in Chicago and needed to see how much $$ was on them, not to mention reload for our bus trip to the museum. We were smart though and had figured out where we could get all that done--so we walked that way--towards the Lake front. At this time Ky began to have a melt down. He wanted to push the stroller or something like that. We worked through it though and got to the place we needed--just to be told that they sold the cards, however they could not reload it for us. So off we went to the nearest L station to get it reloaded. UGH! From there we headed to Millenium Park where we built towers out of wood blocks (they were having a kid's day) and then went to the fountain--where Ky enjoyed getting wet. Alaina was not so sure about the splashing water.

We had planned on having brunch at a local place called Bongo's. It is well known for their food--and we knew that there were lines in the morning--however we were not expecting the HOUR wait when we got there at 1:00--they close at 2:00 so we figured we would get there well after the brunch people. At this point we needed to find a new place to eat--but we also needed to find out where to catch our bus. Because of Lalapalooza--many of the streets were closed--including the one we were supposed to catch our bus at. And yes---we looked it up online the night before and saw that some bus routes were changed--however--according to online our was to be the same...Walking to Bongo's we noticed otherwise. Hmmm...See how this day just kept getting worse---don't forget about that $1--I haven't gotten there yet!

So we are walking around looking for something that is not a McD's and we discover PotBelly's--yeah! We sit down to eat--and notice we are sitting next to a crossing guard. We ask her about the bus routes--and she tells us to call 411. So Rob calls 411--and I swear he was on the phone for like 20 minutes...and the bus transit people had no idea what he was talking about and said the bus was running the same route (Even though we saw the street was closed!!! AHHH!!!) So we finish up and just start walking...Eventually we see some paper signs for "temporary" bus stops and happened to find our own! YEAH! Number 10.... So we waited for the 10 to take us to the Museum of Science & Industry.

By now our whole timeline is shot! We arrived at the museum close to 3 and it closes at 5! Ugh--we had planned for more time...oh well...So we get in and I have to nurse Alaina--so now we are losing more time. By the time we got to the "train exhibit" Ky was fast asleep in the stroller!

How on earth did this happen?! We planned this day special for him and he was out. We tried waking him up and he wouldn't budge. So Rob and I walked around for a bit and was FINALLY able to get him to move when we pulled out a cookie we had bought at Potbelly's---What is it with kids and food? From there we were able to enjoy the train exhibit. Ky loved it! All he wanted to do was watch the model trains. It was hard to get him to go to other exhibits. We did get him to go to the Hatchery and the Toy Factory--which really wasn't that great for a kid his age. We wanted to do the coal mine--but the ride was 1 hour wait--and we weren't going to spend half of our time at the museum waiting in line. We will definitely need to get back. So we had to catch our bus at 5:20 or so to get back to the train in time to get home. So we took the bus and for some reason our transfers were incorrect or something-it was all confusing...I have no idea. Anyways--we are at the bus stop waiting for our transfer to get to the train station and we realize we are $1 short (we only had $20s)---Now do you see where we are going with this. So yes--panic...We walk down to the next stop and find a store on the way--of course they refuse to break my $20, so I purchase a stupid pack of gum and we walk out and wait for the bus...and we wait...and we wait and we wait....you guessed it! NO BUS! For some reason the bus never came...umm yeah...I don't know if this also had to do with Lalapalooza or what...So now we are RUNNING to the train station. It was probably 15 blocks or so, but remember we have two little ones...

We are really screwed on time. With our planned bus, we were going to get to the train station early enough to grab sandwiches for dinner to eat on the train...but you guessed it, now we are even worried about making our train in time.

So we run in the train station and see we have 7 minutes until our train leaves. We go to the sandwich store at the train station to discover it is CLOSED! Okay--6:00 on a Saturday--does this make sense? In fact all the stores are closed except this overpriced frozen yogurt place. So we end up buying this way too expensive yogurt creation, but we did get on the train in time. The yogurt just about summed up this trip. Very frustrating! It was a great idea and we had it perfectly planned out, but we just kept running into one dilemma after another...

Train ride back we hungrily chewed on our single pack of gum. Then asked for new directions back to the interstate since we were not going to travel the "Mapquest" way in the dark.

We do plan to do a trip again--however next time we will see what events are taking place in the area before we go.