Hubster signed up to present a paper at the AIAA conference in Chicago this month, and he signed us all up to go along. We do this sort of thing on a regular basis. He takes us to some far away place, drops us in a strange city, and runs off to play scientist while I have to figure out what to do with the kids. I was a little intimidated by the thought of hitting Chicago with a 3 year-old and a 6 year-old in tow, but so far this trip we’ve survived. Oh, and thanks to the fact that our hotel charges an arm and a leg for wireless access, I have no idea when these posts will get up. I’m writing this one in Chicago, but will probably not be able to post until I get back to good ol’ Virginnie.
Having said that, here’s a brief run down of day 01 of our trip, with photos.
Made it to the airport barely in time, and found our flight was delayed. Took a puddle jumper to Chicago airport. Lots of turbulence. Joy!
Rode a shuttle van to our hotel, and got a good look at traffic along the way. So damned glad we opted not to get a rental car. We barely survive the trip from the airport to the hotel, and our driver knew how to drive in Chicago.
After unloading our bags, we headed out to the Navy Pier, where there are tons of rides, games, and other attractions to enjoy. We played miniature golf. Well, three of us played mini golf. Pixie was too intent on clubbing the rest of us to death to pay attention to her ball. Not that Princess didn’t try to kill us as well. She doesn’t understand yet that mini golf is a putting game, not a full swing game of golf. Oy!
We also rode the carosel, and Princess and Hubster rode the big swings.
Look for the two-seater swing on the right side, the one with the guy in the big white sneakers. That’s Hubster, with Princess beside him.
We managed to snag a table at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. due to the fact that half their kitchen broke, so they were only serving a limited menu that evening. Half the menu was good enough for us. I was pleasantly surprised to see they served normal sized portions, as opposed to the giganto-sized proportions I’m used to seeing in most restaurants these days. I like being able to eat an entire meal without feeling like I’m going to recreate the final scene from Monty Python’s “The Meaning Of Life.”
After that, we returned to the hotel for the evening and slept hard.
Fabulous quote from day 01 of the trip – “If you hit your sister in the head, the game is over!” (Said to Princess during mini golf.)
Second fabulous quote from day 01 – “Quit horsing around!” (Said to both girls while riding the carousel.)