Pictures from Chicago

This little town was the last leg of our wandering journey---CHICAGO!

We walked past these sculptures each day. Noah thought it would be cool to try to climb up and get his head to the top of one of the bodies, but couldn't.
Below is the view from inside the Shedd Aquarium at the dolphin show.

The show is impressive, but aI think sitting and looking out at Lake Michigan and all the boats is beautiful, too. (I know the inside is dark, but I want you to look outside.)

It was fun to watch feeding time.I thought this pic turned out cool.

Proof that you don't have to spend a lot of money to entertain boys!

This kinda reminded me of Jeff without his coffee in the morning ;)

I don't know who this guy was, but I couldn't resist the picture (the boys couldn't believe I took it). The caption came to my mind...

"And a good time was had by all."

We INDULGED, not once, but 2 nights in a row at this place!

It was so good the first night, we all agreed we had to go back and try more flavors of cheesecake. Obviously I was waiting until after vacation to join Weight Watchers!

This is at the Underground Adventure in the Field Museum. We were "shrunk" down to see what life is like underneath our soil.

Elizabeth did not like this exhibit due to her recent formation of a very girly "Bug Phobia". I had to keep reminding the boys not to use the b-u-g word.

Noah started a new collection of pennies on this trip--we have at least one from every museum, and the sand dunes, and Amish Acres.

I don't think he wants to trade his bed for the Egyptian style!
Before and after shots of Sue's facelift.
The actual skull of the T-Rex weighs around 600 lb. and was not used in the exhibit, but is in a case in the balcony above.

Outside the Adler Planetarium--our recommendation is if you make the Chicago museum tour, skip this one.
We only rode the trolley once--our legs were tired!

I'm not sure what this statue is--Noah's trying to figure it out!
The Buckingham Fountain. I really wanted to see it after dark, because it also has a light and sound show, but the troops were just too tired and hungry to wait...Cheesecake Factory in the suburb where we were staying was calling our names!
This nice gentleman was feeding the seagulls and was willing to share with Noah. These pictures don't really do justice to what transpired, but Noah enjoyed feeding the birds until they kept closing in on him. He then dropped all the food and took off running. The gentleman and I were cracking up--I guess he got more entertainment by sharing the food with Noah to give to the birds than he would have if he fed them himself!

Elizabetyh wanted in on the act, too. Unfortunately she lost control running so fast and fell and skinned both knees.:(

I played around with different settings on the SLR camera. I wish Traci would have been there and we could have taken hundreds of pictures---I'm slowly learning.
Below is a picture of The Museum of Science and Industry. It was regrettably our last stop on Friday. We wish we would have went here on Thursday and spent the whole day. We had to cut it short because our hotel that night was 200 miles south in Effingham, IL.

Here is a shot of Elizabeth doing just one of the hands-on things.

I remember my parent taking me to this museum as a kid. There were so many more things to do there that we didn't have time for.

We had actually begun our Friday touring with a visit to the top of the Sears Tower (or at least to the viewing deck). Below are a few of the picures we took. It was a hazy day, so not the most clear pictures, but it was impressive to realize how big Chicago is. They said on a clear day you can see 500 miles away!!!
This is the "Museum Campus" where we spent most of our time.

The Adler Planetarium
The Shedd Aquarium
You can see the Buckingham Fountain just to the right of the tall reddish building (I needed to open a window of the observation deck and lean out to get a better shot and they wouldn't let me!)

The Field Museum ( home of Sue the T-Rex)
More pictures from inside the Museum of Science and Industry
That's all folks!

(We have Traci to thank for that wink...She made a big deal when Lizzie did it in a picture at her house and now she does it more than 50% of the time we get the camera out.)