Christmas Surprise!

Woo hoo! Santa brought our family an  incredSaible Christmas gift. We all got Blue Man Group CD's and on the back of each CD was taped a ticket to the Blue Man Group in Chicago ! We were so excited to visit a city we have never been to. We also received a family membership to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago!

So I took a vacation day on Friday and we took Princess Pea out of school. We loaded up the jeep and drove to Aurora, IL. I had no idea we were on a time schedule but apparently Honey's sister Ana along with her husband Thad and their 2 boys, Logan and Charlie were meeting us at the train station to ride into the city! 

We were so excited to see them as it has been over a year. I cant believe how big the boys have gotten!

We rode the train in because it in difficult and expensive to park downtown When we got into the city, it was freezing cold and snowing &, blowing. We had to drag all our luggage about 7 blocks, through snow and slush to the hotel. We all got upstairs & kind of collapsed on the beds to relax! I was proud of the kids! There was barely a squeak of complaint out of either!

Ana and Thad and the boys knocked on the door an hour so later! It war wonderful to see them. We all bundled up and headed out for dinner. Without a car, we walked nearly every where. It is a good thing most were close. We ate at a nice little pizza place a block or 2 away! The pizza was stuffed and delicious! We ended up bringing a lot back to the room! Mmmmm lunch for the week!

Saturday morning we got up and ate breakfast downstairs. The continental breakfast was standard fare, fruit, waffles, toast, cereal, etc. So we ate and then had fun hailing a cab. Princess Pea said that hailing and riding in a taxi were the fulfillment of a lifelong dream! So the eight of us piled in and struck up a conversation with our driver who was from Togo, Africa. He took us to the Museum of Science and Industry

The kids were in awe! They loved it! Even Cookie had a great time. The kids kept pulling each other to exhibits saying "Come here - you gotta see this!" I think the best Christmas present I received this year was seeing the books in their eyes and their interaction.

There were some pretty cool exhibits and so many of them were hands on! They Shot tennis balls across the room using speed & angle. They saw how an avalanche forms and tornadoes too. They made rainbows and Princess learned what is in the inside of her Pointe shoes! And that was just in one room!

They also flew in a flight simulator, played a game with their brainwaves, and watched Trains move through a scale model of Chicago and Seattle and all different types of land between. It was the coolest model railroad I have ever seen.

The other display I adored was the Colleen Moore's Fairy House. Unfortunately it is currently being restored so it wasn't all together when we were there. It was pretty cool that we got to see them working on it and they had all the furnishings in glasses cases for up close viewing! It was my favorite part of the whole Weekend.

We decided everyone needed a rest before the next event, the Blue Man Group Show! So we grabbed another cab and went back to hotel for an hour and rested. I was hoping to get rid of my headache but no such luck.

This time, instead of taking a taxi, we took the red-line subway/elevated train. The kids and I had never been on a subway before and it was quite an experience! Honey, the kids and I had seats in the 3rd row for the show, while Ana and family had seats farther back. The concert/show was so good!I don't think I have see Princess Pea laugh so hard in a longtime. Cookie had already been to the Show when he was in high school and had a hard time not giving away the good stuff.

After the concert it was back to the hotel and off to dinner at the Italian Village! Then back to the hotel, It was snowing and made a beautiful sight with all the lights in the trees.

Sunday my headache went from bad to worse. I could barely Stand to have my glasses on so we decided to take it easy. We packed up and stored our bags downstairs while we went to breakfast at Wildberry Pancakes and Cafe . Breakfast was wonderful, (I highly recommend the Berry Bliss Pancakes!) I just wish I could have enjoyed it without the headache. When we got back to hotel, we headed to Union Station to catch the train home. It was a wonderful trip but I was glad to be headed home. So thankful it was a safe trip.