Friday adventure

Today we boarded the train and headed into Chicago for a little fun. No real plans, just a loose idea of a few things that might be fun. Anna and Abe were very eager to ride the train. They LOVE the train. I could tell them we were headed to a mud pit and they'd be excited if it involved taking a train. Ok, that's a bad example. Who wouldn't be excited about a mud pit?

The morning started on a high note. When we raced into the parking garage near our train station, we had to grab one of the last remaining spots up on the roof. As we climbed higher and higher in the garage and the kids saw that we were back in the open air, they freaked out with excitement. Abe told me this was his "dream come true."

That kid.

So we grabbed some seats on the train and were off! Finding four seats together around rush hour was pretty nice and, thankfully, kind people were seated around us who didn't seem to mind that Abe narrated the entire trip. Every tree, every building, every thing is noticed and commented upon by Abe... that kid.

After a walk to Mike's office, we put out a breakfast spread purchased at the local organic raw place in the bottom of his building. GOTCHA. No, seriously, it was Starbucks. I can't pass up their butter croissants. The kids love sitting at his little table and staring out at the lake. And Abe can't keep his hands off these little WWII miniatures Mike has displayed in his office. 

Not a bad view from his window.

As luck would have it, Kate was in town to take her kids on a water taxi ride. I decided to meet up with them. However, I am directionally challenged and after waaay too much walking we eventually just gave up trying to figure out where they were and headed to another water taxi service. The kids were just as happy and I was glad to sit down.

The ride was fun. Nothing major, just peaceful boat-ness and the sun on our face. We lucked out with weather today. There were random rain showers off and on, but we managed to miss all the bad weather.

Once we got to Michigan Ave, we headed on yet another long walk to Mike's office for lunch. The kids were troopers. They'd done a lot of walking at that point. We were getting hot, too. So we stopped for a few minutes and split a Jamba Juice and chilled out. By the time we were finished, Mike was ready for lunch and we went to a fun sandwich place near his office.

This is where adult trips and family trips differ. I had visions of pushing through the afternoon and maybe even trying to squeeze in the Art Institute. After all, we'd made the trip all the way down there. But sometimes... sometimes you gotta know when to fold them. Mike only had a couple more work items to take care of and was considering knocking off early. Rather than create another "event" and risk spoiling all the good moods, I just took the kids back to his office. His lobby is set up like a living room (but a super nice one from Room and Board) complete with a big TV. The place was pretty empty so the kids kicked off their shoes, plopped down on the couch and watched some Wild Kratts. Then we all packed up and headed home together.

Not a bad day. Not a bad day at all...