I've always wanted to go to the Field Museum - it's world famous! And since we have that science museum pass that gets us in for free, and our kids are getting old enough to behave in places like a museum, I figured Spring Break was a great time to go.
Unfortunately, Lance couldn't join us. Hey, someone has to work and bring in the monies so we can afford this lavish lifestyle to which I have become accustomed. (Hah! Actually, Lance might be traveling for Aimpad soon, so taking off random days here and there is probably not the best idea.) I didn't give the enterprise of driving to and from Chicago and going to a museum with the kids and no other adult a second thought - is that weird? I've talked to several people, and most were impressed. Why? I'm an adult. My kids are all out of diapers and naps. Museums are very public and safe places. Well, whatever. I felt kind of adventurous on this trip, but only because I always feel that way when I finally get to visit somewhere I've wanted to go. Not because I'm a girl with kids. Does that make sense?
The drive up was uneventful, and we got to the museum shortly after it opened. Which was perfect, because no lines! (There were LOTS of lines when we left that afternoon.) I wanted to take a picture of the kiddos in front of the museum entrance, but they were too anxious to get inside. Which is too bad, because it was raining when we left. Dang.
Our first stop was, of course, to visit Sue the T-Rex. She's easily the most famous exhibit in the museum - the biggest and most complete T-Rex skeleton in the world. Doesn't it look like Sue is smiling in this picture? Isn't that just an iconic shot, with the beautiful architecture and the dinosaur and the cute kiddos?
The fighting African elephants were pretty cool, too. But only Cole cared about them. This became a theme throughout the trip...
They had a really cool exhibit all about Africa, but I was the only one really interested in it. (I like the social science stuff.)
We of course had to visit the Hall of Gems. It was very impressive. Tess liked all the jewelry, and it was fun to see all the different colors and sizes. The big gem in the picture is almost 6,000 carats!
Then we looked at the meteorites and minerals. No surprise here - Cole is a huge fan of the natural sciences. He wanted to look at each and every thing and read each sign. I kinda wish I could have taken only Cole to the museum - what an awesome Mommy/Son date that would have been! I would have been happy to take as long as he wanted at each thing. But I didn't, and his siblings were not quite as patient as I would have been.
I have a good friend at church named Beryle - this giant Beryl mineral reminded me of her! (Tess was more impressed than the picture lets on.)
There was a really great exhibit about the Pacific islands. Here's Cole and Spencer about to get destroyed by lava.
They had this whole fake Pacific Atoll island you could walk around and learn about, and then areas to look like you were in Tahiti and such. It was so neat! The kids were not as impressed, but I was. There was also a real Maori Meeting House, which is a pretty important building in the Maori culture. It had been built in the 1800s and bought and brought to Chicago around 1905 for the World's Exhibition. (A few years too late, but still.) The carving and the weaving were amazing, but even more amazing was the museum docent, this little old lady who had studied the Maori people for years and told me all about their culture and customs. I could have chatted with her all day, but the kids had other ideas. Like lunch.
So generally I just bring lunch or snacks on trips like this. And I had brought snacks, but I temporarily lost my mind and decided to just buy my kids lunch in the museum cafe. Bad idea. $60 later and we had museum-quality food (not that bad, but not worth the price). And we had Josh like this:
Yep, this is a pretty good representation of Josh off and on throughout the day. He'd pout over something for a while, then seem to get over it, then get off on some minor thing, get offended, and pout some more. This pout was brought on because he didn't realize the meal he ordered didn't come with a soda. THE HUMANITY. I'm getting pretty dang good at balancing between ignoring the behavior, giving a little sympathy when truly needed, and using my best "don't mess with me" mom voice when he crosses a line. This phase... it's like he refuses to ever be satisfied or happy with anything, no matter what. And I'm beginning to think it's not a phase. Which makes me... tired.
So at most of these big museums there's lots of permanent exhibits and then several special exhibits that you have to pay extra for. I told the kids we could choose ONE extra exhibit (hard choice!) and they chose the underground adventure. You "shrink" and then get to explore underground and see what's going on in dirt.
See how small we were? ("In Soil We Trust". Hah!)
There were all sorts of big animatronic bugs, and it really did look like were were underground. It was very well done. I wanted to read more of the signs, but the kids just wanted to run around and look at everything.
Lots of photo ops underground.
The boys especially liked the giant crawfish, since they had caught crawfish with Grandpa ElRay a couple of summers ago.
At the end there were all these quotes on a wall about soil, and a big digital kaleidoscope that the kids were mesmerized by.
Then we visited the Ancient Egypt exhibit, which was really cool. Turns out that Tess thought mummies were real, and by real I mean Hollywood monsters that would chase us around and try to get us. Was she relieved when she learned they were "just dead".
Cole's not pictured on this spiral staircase because he came behind me. Which was a good thing because the child showed no common sense and I literally caught him tumbling down, and then had to strictly watch and correct him the rest of the way down because he apparently has no self preservation. (He couldn't understand why I forced him to hold the handrail. Holding the middle was good enough, even though he kept falling because of that, right?)
I didn't get any pictures of the mummies, but I got a picture of these kids sleeping ancient Egyptian style. (This was when Josh behaved the best...)
I think Spencer got how cool the mummies and artifacts were, but the other kids are just a bit too young to be impressed by 4,000 year old things. Like, who cares? (I care. I thought it was cool. But I'm an old mom, what do I know?)
Hangin' out with the cat goddess statue.
After about 5 hours at the museum the kids were beat. I could have gone for at least another 4, but I know my kids and their limits. Before leaving I had Spencer take at least one picture of me. I just love that building!
It pretty much poured rain all day, and it didn't let up at all as we left. It was pretty much a torrential downpour. Even in our coats and hoods we were pretty well soaked after the 100 yard dash from the museum to the parking garage. My pants and shoes were all wet, which made for a long drive home. Actually, all the rain and the very badly maintained Chicago freeways made for an even longer drive home. But whatever, we survived.
It was a great day! I really liked the museum, but we all agreed that we liked the Museum of Science and Industry even better. I feel so blessed to be so close to such an amazing city with such great museums! (And even more blessed that, even with some occasional pouting and fights, I have such great kids to adventure with!)
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