Chicago, Summer 2019

Just a quickie, this one.

We already have a Chicago weekend booked over Labor Day weekend, as a formal farewell to summer, but over the 4th of July weekend it was just hot and humid and gross and the Mosquito Meter (yes, in Wisconsin we have such things as Mosquito Meters covered on the news) was at the EXTREME level which is, yep you guessed it: the highest you can get. So we decided that less-mosquito-y Chicago sounded rather nice for a day trip, thank you very much.

(Also I finally got a photo of the Hormel plant in Beloit, I always mean to take a photo and am never quite ready with the camera when we zoom by. But: this time, I was ready, you guys.)

Coming in there was some major fog downtown, the skyline is pretty much missing from that photo.

Spoiler: it burned off pretty quickly and was nonexistent within an hour, I’m glad I got a photo before that happened.

First we stopped for some brunch in Wicker Park. And we scored some primo parking.

Pete got out of the car and was all THAT SPA IS FORTY-FIVE DOLLARS OMG THAT IS SO EXPENSIVE and for a second my brain short-circuited that he noticed it and anyway I am so relieved that he never asked for an explanation for what that treatment actually entails.

Anyway. Moose, model extraordinaire, asked me to take a picture in front of “this accident”. Pete jumped in too because: why not.

We stopped for lunch in Wicker Park, the land of strict Permit-only street parking. Hence the parking in front of a vaginal steamer business. Had to walk through a bit of neighborhood to find the restaurants, but that’s A-OK when you have two squirrelly boys that were stuck in a car for two hours.

Moosey.

We hit up Ina Mae’s for brunch, a nice NOLA-esque spot. They had a Blues band playing up there in the loft area, and their bathrooms are wallpapered (literally) in old Conoco and Gulf Oil maps.

There was also an old-fashioned towel rack for drying your hands and I had to show the sweet young lady in the bathroom at the same time as me how to use it, because she was all “DO I RIP THIS OFF OR WHAT IS GOING ON HERE”. #Iamofficiallyanoldperson

At least I am still young enough to appreciate a good Bloody Mary.

Also we ordered BEIGNETS and they were 100% on the level of NOLA beignets.

My food (BBQ shrimp and grits) arrived first and don’t think for a second that I didn’t tuck in at least for a bite or two while everyone else was still waiting for their orders of pancakes, French Toast, and oysters…

The preschooler is obsessed with tic-tac-toe at the moment.

After that meal we were all STUFFED and ready to hit the road…

Except: FANNY STOLE OUR HEARTS.

The two completely different ways my children posed for those photos really speaks to their personalities.

So yeah! Back through the innards of Wicker Park, back to the car…

…JC Rivera/Bear Champ sighting…

And anytime is a good time for a dance off.

After dinner we headed to the Field.

Oh, Field. We missed ya.

After we got through Admissions the boys bee-lined upstairs, right on up to Moose’s favorite: the lava exhibit.

Is my focus off? Oh, yes: it is completely off. But Moose immediately wanted a photo and here you go. Relish in the beauty of the lava exhibit.

One more for good measure.

I can tell you that right after taking this picture, Moose dropped his hat in this exact place and I noticed much (…much) later that his hat was missing, but you know what? I ran back and re-traced our steps and there it was, in the exact spot where I saw it last. Weird stuff. At least we got it back.

Made our way to the dinosaurs.

And en route, to Sue. “Aging”? Rude… DO YOU NOT KNOW SUE.

She is a Queen of infinite beauty and grace and sass so please respect, y’all.

(I like the picture below because it looks like she’s biting some random dude’s head off.)

After our Sue adventures, we checked out her REAL bones and got some real stories.

And we saw the Giant Sloth.

And saw some jewel action…

(Obligatory Moose Photo, as usual.)

I showed the kids the phonebooth style education centers, and then they absolutely had to take the time to listen to every single one and it took us a good amount of time to get out of this museum, THANKS A LOT PHONE THINGIES.

Thanks a lot, bat poop.

On to the primate area…

And the birds. These fancy birds!

And then it was 10 minutes to closing and Moose had a meltdown and we had to carry him out because he refused to comply instead he just wanted to run back to his beloved lava.

Until next time, Field.

By then it was creepin’ on evening time. I wanted to maybe hit up the Lake before we left but we spent longer at the museum than anticipated, so we decided to just hit the road instead. I have zero regrets on staying late at the museum and also Pete got me this sweet penny-holder bracelet (he has one too, in camo).

We stopped at the yoosh for some dinner on the way out, then back to Madison we went.

And that’s all she wrote. More adventures to come, friends. I hope your summer thus far has been less wet/humid/mosquito-filled.