Chicago Days 5 & 6

Day 5: Field Museum

The last day we took on the Field Museum. Once again I forgot to buy tickets before we left, but this time it worked out in our favor. By purchasing an annual family membership we actually saved about $40! We explained to her that we didn’t live anywhere near Chicago and she said it was cheaper than purchasing a daily pass. So we did!

We got to see Sue the dinosaur…

 

Lots of totem poles…

 

and other cool exhibits

 

Kalia was especially fond of this exhibit…don’t ask my why! But she climbed in all by herself & wanted her picture taken. (all about bugs)

 

Outside I got a few more shots of the city…

(her happy face)

 

…Before heading toward Buckingham Fountain.

The plan was for Dan & Amanda to go up in Sears Tower (Emilee didn’t want to and I didn’t want to pay almost $20 for Kalia to go & play at the top…not like she would have cared about the gorgeous views!), but it didn’t quite work out that way. We found a place to park on the street near the fountain. Dan & Amanda were just going to walk to the tower…about a 20 minute walk. Which they did, but when they got there they found out the wait to go in the tower was an hour & a half. It was really, really hot and they felt bad leaving us at the fountain for that long. I assured them we would be fine, but they decided it was getting late & too hot so they came back. I felt horrible because this is the one thing Amanda really wanted to do. I wish they would have done it…we really would have survived!

 

We did get some pics in front of the fountain…

 

And my youngest, running around like it was nice & cool outside

Dinner at Panda Express at the mall so the girls could do some shopping, then back to the hotel to get packed & ready to head out in the morning.

 

Day 6: Chinatown & travel home

Our last stop in the city was Chinatown. I had my heart set on getting some steamed buns & dumplings. It was again so stinking hot that we didn’t feel like eating a big meal so I thought I might check the stores there & find some to bring back home with us. I was able to find some steamed buns in a local bakery but no dumplings   Had I been smarter I’d have ordered some at one of the authentic restaurants and got them to go. But again, we were so hot we weren’t thinking about ordering hot food! It was cool to walk around & check out the locals. The stores smelled just like the ones in China! Emilee could not handle the smell and, after the first store, refused to go in another one.

The trip back home was uneventful. Arrival home was another story.

We unlocked the door & I heard water running & started freaking out! I looked over against the wall & saw water all over the floor and could tell the baseboards & drywall was soaked. I screamed for Dan to turn off the water and we ripped the drywall off to see where the leak was. Unfortunately we had just redone that room…new paint/baseboards/flooring etc…and when Dan put up the baseboards he punctured the water line with one of the nails. Luckily we arrived home when we did, as it must have happened within 30 minutes of our arrival. Thank God we arrived home when we did! We were able to get a plumber out the next day to repair the line…and luckily he didn’t charge us an arm & a leg since it was a holiday!  The floor was fine…no damage to that or the walls. Just the drywall & baseboards need to be replaced. Unfortunately we didn’t have any paint left, so will probably end up repainting the entire back room! But I keep telling myself it could be much, much worse!