When we were first married, Kalen brought to our relationship a cassette tape of Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony. Until that point, I was not really familiar with the composer or his music, but I quickly became aquainted. We listened to it often over the next years and from the time Taylor was born (or maybe before), he absolutely loved it. Our other children have since been added to the fan group as well. We have been hoping since we moved here that some orchestra somewhere close would chose to play this particular symphony and we check regularly to see if the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra or the Jackson Symphony Orchestra or even the Albion College Orchestra might be playing it. Well, a few months ago Kalen came home with the news that the Chicago Symphony was doing an entire Dvorak festival in June and included in the series of concerts was at last the New World Symphony. When I saw the look of absolute excitement on Kalen's face, I knew we would be going before we even saw what the ticket prices would be. Once we saw the prices, we knew that it would not be an entire family affair (not that we could have brought Kaya or Spencer to such an event anyway), so we bought four tickets for us and the two oldest boys and we convinced Mom and Timothy to come with us to babysit the rest of the bunch. For the last couple of months we have been planning this mini-vacation and at last the date finally arrived. Spencer had some mixed feelings about this place "Ca-chago" and where he would sleep and why he couldn't bring along all of his toys and his bed and our TV, but eventually even he became so excited to go. The other kids had been counting down excitedly for weeks.
We have been to Chicago quite a few times. Actually, I should say we have been through Chicago quite a few times. And to us that's what it has always been: a place to get through, to endure so that we could get to our actual destination. Never had we ever considered pulling off of that awful congested freeway and exploring all that the city had to offer. We checked on-line for a few ideas of things to do and came up with SO many possibilities. We quickly eliminated anything that was going to be too pricey and opted for the "free" attractions. Free is a relative term since we soon learned that in Chicago you can expect to pay anywhere from $15 to $40 for parking. There is no such thing as free parking. In the end, that ended up changing some of our plans too.
Anyway, on to the details: (and pardon the pictures being down one side--the last couple of posts blogger or the computer or some unseen force is preventing my usual straight down the middle photos)
We decided rather last minute that we would drive partway there and stay in a hotel a day before we had originally planned. That way we could finish up the trip early the next day and hit the city before we were too tired of traveling. We used Hotwire to book a place that turned out to be somewhat, sort-of, in an aging 80's sort of way, okay. It was clean, so that was good. And the rooms were big, so that helped. But it did have one very nice thing going for it and that was
the indoor pool. It was well-maintained and the water was a great temperature.
This was Kaya's first experience in a swimming pool and she took to it like a little fish. She was in absolute heaven and probably would have spent hours there without tiring of it.
The pool had a bonus hot tub which we decided to try out after swimming for awhile, but Spencer, whose bathwater has to be lukewarm at best or else he's screaming that I'm boiling him alive, could not adjust to the hot water. He wanted to get in so badly, but just couldn't force even his feet to be in for a couple of seconds. Finally, he decided to come in with me holding him. He was so happy that he was finally "in" the hot tub. Funny kid.
As we were pulling in to the city the next morning, we passed an office building that said "Sears" in big letters at the top of it. I pointed it out and said "Look everyone! It's the Sears Tower." I tried to get a picture of it because I thought it would be so funny to post, but I wasn't fast enough to get it before we had passed it. So instead, here is the real Sears Tower. It is really quite something to see it. We drove past it on one of our downtown excursions and the thing pretty much disappears into the sky when you look at it from the bottom level. It is so massive. One hundred ten stories and one thousand four hundred fifty feet high. Amazing.
After only minor difficulty, we were able to find our first sight-seeing stop: Lincoln Park Zoo. I have to say, for a "free" zoo ($17 parking for each vehicle) and for being downtown in a major city, this place was pretty amazing--tons of animals and very big. And the weather ended up being perfect after an earlier downpour that morning.
They had two lions, a male and a female. This one had been napping but when I pulled out the camera, he must have sensed the photo op because he raised his head and posed just long enough for me to snap a couple of pictures then he zonked out again.
We hadn't been in the zoo ten minutes before Lynnsey and Spencer needed a bathroom, so after finally locating one, we found in the same building this fun climbing structure. It was quite a maze and I think Lynnsey was beginning to get a little worried that she wouldn't find her way out.
The kids had fun cooling off in these fun little spouts that would randomly shoot up a jet of water.
I think the polar bear was probably our favorite exhibit. He was really active jumping in and out of the water. We had a fun time at the underground viewing window watching him swim. He wasn't shy at all and came right up to the glass so we could all get a great view.
This was at one of the indoor exhibits, fish aquariums I believe.
After a fun time at the zoo, we paid our exorbitant parking fees and made our way to our hotel. We opted to stay in Glenview just down the road from the Chicago Temple because it was about three times cheaper than staying right in Chicago. It's less than 30 miles away from downtown Chicago, but it took us well over an hour and half to get there. The traffic is just absolutely horrendous. But the hotel was very nice. What a difference one more star makes! This place also had a pool and we were a bit wary because it was outdoors. But the water temperature was absolutely perfect and we didn't waste any time hitting the water once again.
Again, Kaya had a ball. This time she really got into standing on the side and jumping into our arms. She's just so cute. I hesitated to let her go swimming this time because I could tell she was getting a cold, but in the end I just couldn't resist. She just loved it so much.
Friday morning we awoke to torrential rains and a thunderstorm. But we were determined to continue with our plans. We had a fabulous continental breakfast at the hotel; seriously one of the best selections of free breakfast ever. Then we loaded up to head back into the city. Our plan was to visit Shedd Aquarium because they were running a special promotion that week where general admission was "free". Normally it cost somewhere around $25 or so a person, so we definitely wanted to go while we could. However, that was the idea of a few thousand or so other aquarium visitors. Once we made it within the vicinity of the aquarium, we found out the there was over a two hour wait just to get in. Since we had the symphony that evening and knew that we would have to allow plenty of time with freeway traffic, we realized that we just didn't have two hours or enough umbrellas to stand outside in the rain. Instead we opted for a slightly lesser "aquarium" experience and went to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch. We ended up spending a long time exploring the gift shop and looking at the giant fish tanks and other fun jungle themed decor before eating lunch.
Spencer really liked this waterfall with the giant alligator who would periodically snap his jaws open and shut.
And here are a couple of cuties in front of one the the tanks with really cool fish.
The actual dining experience was a little frustrating. For one, it was so loud with all the waterfalls and animal sounds and mostly all the other people who were crammed into the dining room. And also, by then the kids were a little overtired and grumpy so they were fighting and whining through the meal. Kaya's cold was in full swing and so she was just miserable and not wanting to eat. Plus, the running water seemed to have a major affect on Lynnsey's bladder. We ended up making four trips to the restroom (which required a hike downstairs every time) during lunch.
By the time we finished eating the rain had stopped and we were able to make it back to the parking garage without getting drenched as we had on our way into the restaurant. We made it to our cars and then disaster struck. First we realized that the $10 parking sign we had seen at the entrance had fine print which was actually an early bird rate, like before 7 a.m., so we ended up paying over $30 for our couple of hours of fun. Then, when we began to exit the garage, we realized that we were coming out onto a different street than we entered on and while trying to orient ourselves a big SUV pulled up behind us and began honking at us to pull out. So we were forced to go but quickly realized that Mom and Timothy who had been following us, were nowhere in sight. I reached for Mom's cellphone which we had been borrowing to communicate with each other should something like this happen, only to realize that I hadn't gotten it back from her! We finally figured out where we were and drove back around the block to see if we could find Timothy's car. Nothing. That needle in a haystack reference was entirely appropritate in this case. We didn't know what to do or where to look. We couldn't see a payphone anywhere and traffic was flowing all around us so we couldn't stop or anything. Finally we just decided we'd better get back on the freeway and head in the direction of the hotel and hope that they could find their way. The whole way back we kept looking at every red car that we passed just hoping that it was them. It never was. We also knew that with the symphony that evening we were short on time so we worried that after all this, they wouldn't make it back and we'd end up not being able to go after all. As soon as we got back to the hotel, one of the desk clerks loaned us her cell phone and I frantically dialed the number just as the door opened and in walked Mom and Timothy. I don't know if I've ever been so relieved. Luckily, they had spotted a mailman on the sidewalk shortly after they realized that we had gotten separated and that they had two phones in their car and he was able to give them directions to get back on the freeway. Once there, Mom was able to call the hotel and get directions from them. What a nightmare!
After we had all calmed down a bit, it was time to get ready for the big night. We left a few minutes late and Kalen worried that we wouldn't make it in time, but thankfully traffic cooperated a little bit and we were able to find our way in enough time. It was a good thing too because our van, which had been having trouble the whole trip with the engine getting overheated (apparently the repair we had done before we left actually made the problem worse than before), got so hot that it started beeping an emergency warning at us just as we pulled into the parking lot.
We ended up having to sit there for awhile with the heat on in the car to try to cool down the engine enough that we could leave it.
Finally, we were able to make our way into the beautiful old concert hall. Our seats were on the second row and ended up being wonderful. We actually couldn't see the brass and the woodwinds very well, but we had an amazing view of the strings and the conductor. We were so close that we could see the sweat flicking off of his hand when he waved his arm. We were also close enough that we could see a little drama during the first piece with a little fly who was pestering one of the cellists and the conductor. It was really funny. And the music. Oh my goodness. I cannot even begin to describe how amazing that experience was. Magnificent. For the second piece they had a guest cellist who sat right directly in front of us and was so enjoyable to watch. She was very dramatic and really got into the music. It was fascinating to watch her fingers flashing over the strings and then to suddenly realize that she didn't have any music in front of her. I just can't imagine having talent like that.
We took a photo break at intermission. They wouldn't allow us to take pictures in the concert hall, so this was the best we could get. Taylor and I don't look all that thrilled for some reason, but there was no place I would rather have been right then. After the intermission, we returned for the New World Symphony. It was absolutely phenomenally breathtaking. Really, it was the experience of a lifetime. When it was over, the conductor exited but soon returned to bow again with to the audience's standing ovation and when he was coming back onstage, he caught sight of Kendall standing there and gave him a huge smile. It totally made Kendall's day! (And maybe the conductor's too when he saw someone so young enjoying classical music). They performed another piece as an encore that was really fun to watch and all too soon the performance was over. But to make the night even better, traffic on the freeway was moving right along and we made it back to our hotel in only 26 minutes!
The next morning we were up before the sun to do a session at the temple. Timothy had agreed to stay with the kids so that Mom could join Kalen and I. It was so wonderful to be back again. It has been way too long and already I am longing to go back again.
When we arrived back at the hotel, we found Taylor in the breakfast room with all the kids and no Timothy. Apparently, he was dead to the world in spite of the kids trying to wake him up. So Taylor took charge and got all the kids seated at a table and got breakfast for all of them. A lady at another table said she had been watching him and just wanted us to know what a responsible and amazing young man we had. He really did handle that beautifully. That could have been a complete disaster, but ended up working out so well.
We had decided the night before to change our plans. We had originally planned to visit Navy Pier which had a huge kids museum among other things like concerts at various music pavilions and amusement park rides and so on. But the ghastly parking prices had seriously cut into our budget, plus the thought of enduring the downtown traffic again was a bit overwhelming. But it turns out that there is another children's museum right in Glenview called the Kohl's Children's Museum of Greater Chicago. I called them to see if they would take our ACM Reciprocal museum card and they assured me that they did and that since it was before July 5th when apparently the program is changing so that only 4 people can get in free, that we could get 4 adults and all the children in the household in for free. That was perfect. But when we arrived the women at the desk told me that the program had already changed and that we could only get four people in total and the rest we would have to pay for. I insisted that the girl I talked to told me differently and finally she rather rudely let us all in "just this once". A guy behind her incredulously said "and they have 4 kids?" And she said in a nasty tone "five" to which the guy shook his head sadly as he walked away no doubt wondering what this horrible world has come to that someone could purposely have such an enormous family. Ugh! I hate when people act that way! But once we had endured the front desk, we ended up having a fantastic time exploring the place. It was absolutely huge and had so much to do!
Here is Kendall checking out some cool tunes in the amazing music room.
They had a really neat water room with all sorts of contraptions to experiment with.
One thing that I really loved about the place was that attached to or right next to each exhibit, they had a baby area. So if you had older children, you could still keep an eye on them while your little one explores an area just for her. Kaya had so much fun in this one and even stacked these blocks all by herself! I had no idea she even knew how to do that, but she did it as if she had always known how.
They had a really cool outdoor area to explore. I really liked the sensory garden and the kaleidoscope flower pots. The kids had fun on the play structures. Timothy got a little sick on this spinning thing.
Cute little Kaya on the turtle statue.
We ended up spending quite a long time in the museum before finally decided that it was time to head back home. It was so strange to think we had only been gone for three days. We had crammed so much into that time that it seemed like a week or more. The trip back was long but uneventful and we arrived to find everything as we had left it. Including our messy house that I hadn't had time to clean before we left. It was such a fun trip. We're so glad that we went. But if you asked us if we would do it again? Well, maybe in a few years. We'll need to set up a savings account to pay for parking.
Taylor is a great kid. I know I've said before, but he seriously has one of the most brilliant minds of anyone I know. The kid can retain information like nothing I've ever seen. One of his quirks is that once he starts telling you about something, he cannot stop until he's finished. So sometimes we get quite an earful! He loves to read and watch any kind of scientific documentary out there. He is also hooked on the sci fi show Dr. Who along with Kalen and Kendall. Taylor is artistic and can sketch the most amazingly detailed scenes. One of my favorites is a poster size sketch he did of a tropical rainforest depicting all sorts of wildlife and plants. He has been coming a long way this past year with some of his sensory struggles including learning to swim. He has been going to work at it with Kalen and some of the other boy scouts about once a week in order to be ready for scout camp next week, and he has been doing really well and found that he actually is enjoying himself. Taylor challenges us in so many ways that we had never anticipated before we had kids but he is such a joy to have in our family and teaches us so much.
I know it's not saying all that much because I'm not exactly even average height, but still it's a strange thing to be talking to him and actually have to look up a tiny bit! 
Amazing isn't it? We had a nice little birthday celebration for her with just our family and Mom and Timothy over for presents and cupcakes. Kaya was sick with a cold so that was really not great, but even when she's sick, she's still one of the most easy-going kids around.
The other day I stopped at my Mom's to pick up her mail and check on the cat (while she's away in Utah) and I decided I had to get a picture of her rhododendron shrub (tree? It's big whatever you want to call it). These pictures are ridiculous. They do not even begin to show how amazing it is. It's the kind of thing that makes you slow down if you're driving past just so you can enjoy the view. Seriously beautiful! Spencer wasn't too thrilled at being a model but I wanted to get them on the bench that Jonathan put in on his last trip. These shrubs were actually intertwined with some other kind of shrub and it was pretty overgrown, so Jonathan cleared it all out and then added the bench in the empty spot that remained. 
