We Take Ourselves With Us

On our last day, we slept in a bit, knowing we were off to The Little Goat Diner for lunch.  While our schedule never allowed us to get into Chitown's must-eat The Girl and the Goat, we got in at the better place anyway (says Ned).  Well, we did score a prime booth at the open window in Stephanie's cooler than cool and crazy delicious diner.  We ate fried pickles and pickled onion rings, tomato & apple soup, Kalbi ribs, pulled pork, and wing style burgers.  So good! From there, we set off for a short trip to the Field Museum, taking in an exhibit on the Cave Paintings of Lascaux, a trip through an ancient Memphis marketplace, an encounter with mandating lions, a room full of priceless gems, the iconic Sue the T-Rex, and a great exhibit on Bioluminescence that Ned and the kids caught last summer at AMNH while I was in meetings (told you we love museums!).  Of course, there wasn't enough time to do it all, but we didn't do too bad :) And, we had time for more ...

Sunday was our water day.  We met up with Meredith and her mom to kidnap the birthday girl for a splashily fun outing at the Millennium Park fountains and Bean, and the Shedd Aquarium . Every city should have gigantic video installations that spit water on you, but as far as we can tell, Chicago stands alone.  The kids loved these when they were toddlers and love them even more now. And, who doesn't want a sculpture that serves as a the world's cutest mirror?  Hello, Bean! After getting soaked, the kids dried off in the lakefront breeze as we hiked the mile or so to the Shedd.  The Shedd is full of plain fish, exotic fish, freaky fish, jelly fish, red fish and blue fish.  Plus, a bunch of Beluga whales, a few dolphins, some sharks, a lot of rays, some turtles, sea horses, penguins and a bunch of starfish and urchins you can touch.  Meredith--aka, Harper's Shadow--had a blast.  As did Harper, who rarely finds someone who sees her as an authori...