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November 26, 2008
Vacation, all I ever wanted
We invaded the big city this week for our big family vacation! Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran gave us the run of their place while they were off honeymooning. We had big dreams of hanging out in old haunts, dining with old friends, soaking in new sights...it didn't exactly work out that way. Audrey kept us from sleeping, Jill got sick, and I had to spend some time in the office. But we did manage to have some fun.
The reason we chose Chicago for our vacation spot, aside from the donated accomodations, is a simple one: we've been wanting to take Audrey to a number of museums, but between her nap schedule and her willingness (or lack thereof) to get ready in the morning, we haven't been able to make it work, save for a trip to the Shedd some time ago. First up was the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier.
The girls picked me up from work Monday morning. We had driven in the night before, but due to a late departure, decided we would simply order a pizza and go to bed early to be ready for a fun-filled day. Unfortunately, Audrey refused to sleep in her Pack-N-Play and the only way we could get her to lay down was by sharing our bed. That wouldn't have been too bad had she gone right to sleep, but for some reason the guy in the condo upstairs decided to do some home improvements at around 10pm, just as the girl was starting to drift off. After enduring the sounds of much hammering and drilling, Jill marched up the stairs at midnight and gave him a good talking to. Eventually we got some rest, but it really wasn't much.
Back to Navy Pier. As I was pulling Audrey from her car seat I immediately noticed something damp; the girl had soaked her diaper all the way through to her jeans. We should have turned right around, but having lost most of the morning to my meeting we decided to press ahead. Fast forward a few minutes to me drying her pants via the hand dryer in the mens room and finally emerging triumphant, only to hear the front snap of her jeans fall to the floor before I even reached the stroller. Again, we probably should have cut our losses but trudged on. Amazingly her pants held for most of our stay with a number of adjustments here and there, but by the end Audrey thought she was hilarious by pulling them down to her ankles and trying to run away from us.
Despite all my grumbling, let it be said that Audrey really did have a good time at the museum. The photos don't lie. She especially enjoyed throwing on a raincoat and getting her hands on the fun features of the Waterways room, like building a network of pipes to carry water. She even brought it up out of the blue today, I always love when she gives us a peek into what's going through her mind. The wings she's wearing are one of many props for a snowman in the winter room, we just had to let her try them on.
The remainder of the day saw our sleepy family try to catch up on rest and little else. The worst part was now Jill was starting to feel ill and we were all feeling grouchy. At least the upstairs home improvements were kept to a minimum.
The next day saw us in better moods, so we started out early and went out to breakfast at the Bongo Room downtown. Jill and I had lived near the one in Wicker Park years ago, but had never been because the line for brunch was always crazy. Since we were so close to the Roosevelt stop, we hopped onto the Orange line and took an El trip around the loop. Audrey got the whole CTA experience, complete with a folks standing in/blocking the doorway and a brief unscheduled stop for equipment failure (plus you gotta love that no one bothered to offer up a seat for my quite visibly pregnant wife...ah, just like old times)
We hit the Field Museum this time and I'm happy to say the girl stayed dry for this one. We asked her what she wanted to do at the museum and each time she answered "see animals," so we hit the Nature Walk after checking out Sue. Audrey liked seeing all the birds, but I think she liked pressing buttons to hear their calls even more. The wild cats made a big impression; she reassured us several times that they "can't get out," which left us trying to explain to her why she wouldn't have to worry about too much about that.
We walked through a few more exhibits and capped off the trip with a lengthy stay in the Family Playlab. Some of the activities were definitely designed with older children in mind, but Audrey had a great time nonetheless. Playing with the baby dinosaurs was fun as was collecting corn from the fields. The music room in particular was a big hit: it may not be completely evident in this shot, but she played that taiko drum like a pro!
We had discussed staying overnight again and hitting another museum in the morning, but Jill was beginning to feel miserable and I can't say I complained too much when she suggested we head back home after rush hour. Jill and Audrey settled in together for an afternoon nap, but the girl refused to fall asleep and I could tell Jill was reaching her breaking point so Audrey and I took to the streets and wandered the neighborhood, eventually nerding it up at Monster Island Toys. At one point while we were walking hand-in-hand down those mean streets of Chicago, she looked up at me and flashed the sweetest smile a guy could ever hope to see; I can't begin to describe what that did for my flagging spirits.
Even though it was a bit of a disaster, we were sad to see our family vacation come to an end. Having packed all our things, it was time for good-bye kisses; believe me, Bella, Audrey misses you!
Posted by Thrillmer! at November 26, 2008 10:20 PM