I love coming to Chi-town! The people are just so awesome. It has always felt very "homey" to me and yet it's a metropolitan city. Full of wonderful stores, culture, and the food is out of this world. The flight is only 4 hours long so not too bad when it comes to travelling with children.
Our day started yesterday from the Oakland airport. It's always pretty stressful for me when travelling with children. Even after doing it for so many years (my oldest started at 17 mos. and he's now 8y.o.; youngest started travelling @ 6 mos.), it's just filled with anxiety for me. I have to keep the kids occupied while waiting, slip on shoes ONLY due to security, backpacks filled with snacks (they are allergic to nuts).
We flew Southwest because it was direct to Midway. If I can, I avoid O'Hare airport at all costs. It is such a nightmare airport....busy, delays, FAR from Chicago, terminals are miles apart, etc. Southwest was great in that they allowed us to preboard due to my kids. As you know, they do not have reserved seats and my concern was being split up in a very full flight. Kudos to Southwest for that, but I was disappointed with the guys loading the plane. He kept saying, "preboarding for families with children under 4". Well, my youngest is 5 and very tall. Thought about just sneaking on, but the guilt ran over me and I tried to follow the rules. So, we sat there waiting for our "group" to be called. When they preboarded us, I heard the guy say, "she was just sitting there..." I wanted to turn around, but thought, nope....get our seats first and then complain later. I know where my priorities are when it comes to flying.
Southwest is truly a no thrills airline. I packed the DVD player and DVD's for the kids to watch (this is a staple, even if they have screens on the back of each seat (sometimes they don't work)). Their backpacks had lunch and their snacks and DS games. Due to security, I am forced to buy drinks at the airport at $4 for a bottle of water. I hate that, but what do I do. Go with the flow here.
We arrive and I had already had car service arranged since it wasn't any less or more than a taxi ride. With 2 children, 3 huge pcs. of luggage, and carry-ons.....no way was I going to wait in a taxi line. NO WAY! Chicago Limo Service was great and they got us to our corporate apt in good time. Very nice driver, but then again, I have always had nice encounters with Chicagoans. Great suggestions for food from him.
The boys were so excited to see Greg. It was all fun and I wanted to keep them awake since I try to keep them on pacific standard time. We go back and they go straight back to school the next day so it's easier to stay with our time.
We awoke to a lovely day a few blocks off Michigan Ave. We take a nice stroll to the Navy Pier because our boys absolutely love the Chicago Children's Museum
We always get our membership there because our boys go there more than three times a week to play with all of their fun exhibits. With the membership, we get free or 50% discount off all other museums in the U.S. Definitely worth it for us since we travel a lot when Greg is on the road.
There are so many things for the boys there. Because Geoffrey attends a Science Magnet, he gets his academic fill here at the museum. This year, Geoffrey really wanted to play Chess with Greg on their room size, floor board, chess room. The pieces are about as tall as Sebastian. Unfortunately, they replaced the large chess floor board with an ice-skating rink and a lot of snow play. It was fine because Geoffrey enjoyed what was there.We'll be here for another 12 days or so. Many more museums and people to see.
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