Originally posted on http://digitaldiatribes.wordpress.com on February 26, 2007.
As you have probably figured out by now, I don’t exactly dwell in the big city. We live in the country outside a relatively small community. It’s the kind of place where you question what the heck is happening if there are more than 4 vehicles at a traffic light. I greatly enjoy the stress-free lifestyle of the smaller community. It fits me perfectly (i.e. I can sleep late and then scramble to take a shower and brush my teeth and almost make it to work on time without worrying about traffic delays).
But every now and then, our adventurous spirit overtakes us, and we are inclined to visit one or both of my sisters living in the Chicago area. And so we did this last weekend. Our primary purpose was to visit the Shedd Aquarium. We had gone there last March, and it was only a few dollars more expensive to buy a full membership for the family as it was to pay admission for the day. We thought, “heck, we’ll get back here again no problem.” Of course, that didn’t happen, so in order to get our money’s worth on our membership, we decided to pay too much money for gasoline and head on down!
Friday afternoon was a half day on my part, in order to get going right away. A mere two hours later, we were on the road. “Getting going right away” means something different than it used to with six kids in tow. And we didn’t even eat lunch. But in the spirit of the event, I had a surprise waiting for them. In heart-healthy fashion, I handed out Pringles. They love me.
After a quick detour to finally pay off my truck’s engine fiasco and our new oak table that seats 400 people (thanks to my tax return), we were on our way. Our trip started with a Rosary for a number of intentions, including safe travel. It’s about a 3 and a half to 4 hour trip to my sister’s, depending on traffic and weather. But never underestimate the most dangerous delayer of time – the potty break. Two such breaks were required on the way down. It drives me insane, because I let it. I end up saying stupid things like “You’re never drinking anything again!”
After needing to sell my winter coat in order to pay for tolls, we made it to my sister’s home (an BIL’s). Cheese Pizza awaited, and life was good. When we awoke on Saturday morning, we ate a quick breakfast and went to the Shedd. The first thing that must be done is to suck on a tank of oxygen while I get acclimated to driving in a big city. Oh, I have done it before, and I lived in Milwaukee for a summer. I know that you get used to it and all that, but when you only head down once or twice a year, it’s a whole new world of driving fun. I always wonder if anyone actually knows who’s honking at whom. But we made it safely and parked under the parking structure where the hated Bears play their football games.
The goal of my children differed throughout the day. Thumbsucker, of course, had no clue what was going on, but did really well. The two year-old was fascinated by all sorts of things that you would expect little boys to be fascinated with. The goal of the three-year-old was either to lag 15 yards behind at all times, or run in front of the stroller and get rammed in the back. And one would think that a sand shark swimming directly in front of you would be much more attention-grabbing than a red button on a box. Not to the three-year-old, though. I’m not sure he actually looked at an animal the entire time. But he loved every button on every display. The older kids had more of an appreciation for the creatures we were seeing.
It never ceases to amaze me how short the attention span of a kid can be. We were at the Beluga Whales exhibit. “Can we see the Penguins?” So we go the the Penguins. “I wanna see the dolphins!” So we go to the dolphins. “Where are the Sea Otters?” At this point, I forced them to stand there and watch the dolphins.
Since we got in free, we decided to go eat lunch at the restaurant and spend twice as much as we should have. The upside is that it was more relaxing than the cafeteria. Then, because we didn’t pay to get in, we bought stuff in the gift shop. And there’s a lesson here… If you want to save money, pay admission. Sheesh.
Back to sis’s, we enjoyed some interesting conversation. For example, the sis tried selling me on the merits of undergoing colonic hydrotherapy. According to her, John Wayne had 44 pounds of, well, crap in his intestine when he died that accumulated over the years. This may seem like an unusual topic of conversation, but it’s really the norm for my family. I’ll spare you the details on how this hydrotherapy is performed. But then I learned that soaking nuts and seeds in water, and then sprouting them, and then eating the sprouted seeds and nuts are good for me because of some magentic life-force that is emitted. I asked why it matters that the food I eat is giving off a life-force, to which I was told that I shouldn’t want to eat something that’s dead. I asked her if I should eat my beef while it’s still alive. Then, my Brother-in-Law talked about the impending ice age while we watched hockey.
There’s nothing quite like good conversation with family.
Traveling back on Sunday was a treat. We returned to the second largest storm of the winter – the largest occurred the weekend we traveled before Christmas, which is another story. Another Rosary was said on the drive home.
All in all, a nice weekend with the family. And if you’re ever in the Chicago area, I highly recommend the Shedd Aquarium.
