Sunday, March 13, 2011

Heading to the airport after a whirlwind trip to the Museum of Science and Industry and watching Tornado Alley at the IMAX theatre. We'll be home soon!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Day 3 Recap







Today was a day full of museums, and thus learning! We started out at the Shedd Aquarium where the students were able to watch the dolphins and whales swim, dress up like penguins, touch the sea stars in the tide pools, explore the Wild Reef exhibit, and see a diver presentation in the Caribbean Reef.

Next we visited the renowned Field Museum of Natural History to visit Sue the T-Rex and several other interesting exhibits showing cultures from all areas of the world.

Our last museum stop was the Adler Planetarium where we watched a show about constellations and how to find them in the sky. We explored the solar system, ancient astronomy tools, and some even completed NASA missions!

We finished off the day at Ed Debevic's with the rudest waiters in America. The students enjoyed giving them a hard time and were definitely put in their places a time or two. After Ed's we had plans to go to the Skydeck of the Willis Tower, but a 2 hour wait convinced us to end the evening with an early return to the hotel for some card games and subdued social time.
The kids had a great time bantering w/ our in-your-face waiters @Ed Debevic's! 2 hour wait to visit the top of Willis Tower so we're headed back to the hotel.
We are finished with museums for the day, and boy are we tired! Time to "Eat at Ed's!"
Aquarium: check, Field Museum: check! Next up the Adler Planetarium

Friday, March 11, 2011

Day 2 Recap








Friday proved to be another full day, as most of the children were convinced it must be Saturday because of all we had seen and done!

We started off the day with "The Untouchables" tour, where two gangster looking tour guides hopped on our buses and took us on a whirlwind tour of the sites of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, John Dillinger's death, and (the former sites of) the speakeasies of the prohibition era.

Next we moved onto the Art Institute, which was a little overwhelming in terms of the sheer number of paintings and artifacts to visit, but we were able to see a lot. Students enjoyed seeing Grant Wood's American Gothic and seeing the largest collection of Monet paintings outside of Paris.

We then spent a relaxing afternoon at Navy Pier were students bought their generous and loving parents great souvenirs (!), watched magic and juggling shows, had caricatures drawn of themselves, and some even took part in riding one of the slowest Ferris wheels I've ever seen!

We ended the evening with a night of food, fun, and fighting at Medieval Times! We feasted without silverware, cheered on the yellow knight, and a few lovely ladies in our group even received flowers after our knight was victorious. Spirits were high, and we had several honored guests...check out the pictures of the 8th grade boys.

And of course, we celebrated Hannah P.'s 13th birthday all day long :). She built her first bear ever at Build-A-Bear!
The lords and ladies have left the castle, and once again good triumphed over evil. Allie and Hannah H. even received flowers from the yellow knight!
An afternoon of entertainment at Navy Pier has concluded, up next- dinner and jousting at Medieval Times!
We just finished up a few hours at the Art Institute- favorites included Anerican Gothic and the Monet collection.
Enjoying the Untouchables tour with "Big Julie" in his gangster get-up.

Day 1 Recap



We had a very full first day in Chicago! After making it through a busy airport in the morning, we landed in Chicago a few minutes early and managed to be ahead of schedule all day. The kids enjoyed a new type of food court experience at Food Life in Water Tower Place, where you have a swipe card that you add amounts to at different stations throughout the food court. As you exit the area, they swipe your card and tell you how much you owe--it was definitely a lesson in credit management for many students--they were able to see how quickly things add up when you're just swiping a card!

From there we continued on to the zoo. Although it was a cold day, we still got to see several exciting animals--monkeys, apes, penguins, tigers, giraffes, a polar bear, and several smaller animals that made students go, "What is that thing?" It warmed up by the end, and as always the students helped stimulate our economy by supporting the gift shop.

We had dinner at Gino's, where the 7th grade boys searched high and low for the best place to write their names on the wall (a tradition at Gino's). The students enjoyed a chance to sit down and feast on pizza, Chicago-style.

We capped off this busy day with a jaw-dropping performance of the Blue Man Group. Although they speak no words throughout the performance, they captivated everyone's attention with their expressive faces, impressive visual displays, and rhythmic percussion. We occupied the first five rows of the theater and as a result we were VERY involved in the performance.

Now onto day 2!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Blue Man Group was absolutely amazing! The whole group was left speechless- definitely the best part of the trip thus far.
We had a great visit to the zoo and got up close and personal with a lot of exotic animals. Now it's time for some authentic Chicago style pizza @ Gino's!
Overheard at the zoo- "What's a primate?" "A big word for monkey!"
We ate lunch at Water Tower Place and saved a little time for shopping! Now to the Lincoln Park Zoo...
Just landed in Chicago, after a stop at Starbucks the kids are awake and ready to hit the town!
We're on our way to Food Lion to pick up the Murfreesboro crew. Thanks Mr. Swafford and Mr. Iorio for driving the buses!