Our Kind of Town!

Chicago is...our kind of town....

Okay, enough with the corny lyrics but really and truly we love the big city in our backyard! Several times a year we try to get the girls into the city to experience culture and cultures not to be had in suburbia. This trip to celebrate the end of another school year was long planned and the day dawned warm and sunny...unfortunately my Menier's symptoms decided to appear as well! Big thanks to Auntie Peggy who decided she was up to chaperoning 5 girls by herself!!!!!

The adorable group shots say Auntie Peggy all over them!! BTW, we still call that the Sears Tower!!!!

This water wall is just outside of Soldiers Field where the best parking is to be had when taking in any of the lakefront museums.

Heading into the Field Museum of Natural History!

'Traditional' picture taken in the Underground Experience cicada shells.

They love the Egypt exhibit as it's so 'hands on'. Pretty soon they won't fit on this Egyptian bed!!!

The dinosaur exhibit is also a big hit! Alyssa comparing her foot to the footprint of a dinosaur.

All of Julia fit in the foot print!

A sentimental picture for sure! This Maori lodge from New Zealand is the very spot where 10 years ago Mari was sworn in as an American citizen!!! She was in the last group of international adoptees who did NOT get automatic citizenship upon completion of the adoption process in their birth country.

Did I mention that the Blackhawks are in the Stanley Cup finals?

Yes, every where in the city you'll find fans of the Blackhawks!

How can you not be in awe of getting to sit out on the portico of a massive historical landmark in your own hometown?!?!?

With such a skyline as your backdrop?!?!?

It is at this point that I would like to point out that Practically Perfect Peggy does not only take drop dead gorgeous pictures of the kids.....out of focus and dimly lit happens to her too!

Mari took this one! Hope that I may one day have someone with camera Karma in the house???

I'm so grateful that Auntie Peggy was able to save the trip because these are the memories I want them to have in their old age....BFF/Cousins sharing the beauty of a great city.

A magnificent city actually! Look at the benefits of a century old decision to keep the lake front green!!!

Picture perfect! A place where all of it's citizens can come and enjoy nature, sports, and culture without the ugly impact of commerce.

Well, someday they'll 'get' the majesty of their city....in the meantime childhood beckons.

I'll second the opinion that Mari should be in front of the camera more often!!!! Auntie Peggy caught one of the few genuine Mari smiles in this shot...mostly we get a 'fake' posed grin when the camera appears. Who wouldn't smile with joy when this is the location your life gets lived in????