Windy City Adventures

I've had the camera all week to help me finish my research in Philadelphia, so you're stuck with one of my photo essays for Chicago. It was a fantastic trip, by all accounts. It was our first trip there since Brian and Shayna got married, so we got to see their apartment and have fun with them in addition to our professional duties downtown.

On Thursday night, though, all three of us ventured into Chicago for dinner with Uncle Matt, who was also in town for the conference, and went to a Cajun restaurant. The food was delicious, and in addition to crayons they give the kids beads (no quid pro quo necessary). Since no one was sitting near us when we sat down, we let Nicholas roam a bit and play:

From 2012 January

Friday was Sarah's day at the conference, so Nicholas, Uncle Brian, Aunt Shayna, and I headed to the local children's museum, where Nicholas had a blast. The first place we saw was the under-construction house, and Nicholas immediately took up the job:

From 2012 January

He even knew, despite the fact that we kept him out of the apartment this summer when we painted, to dip the brush in the bucket:

From 2012 January

He's fascinated right now with music and/or making noise, so he spent a great deal of time in that room. Especially fun was the snare drum with glittery confetti inside. Pretty noisy, but he's been learning about tempo from his TV show, so he could follow instructions like "play slowly" and "play fast:"

From 2012 January

In the transportation room (oh yes, there was a whole transportation/city life room), there was a train simulator. Well, sort of. There was a spot set up like a locomotive with a video screen that "simulated" driving the train. Nicholas desperately wanted to play at this spot, which I know because he went over to it repeatedly hoping that no one would be there. It took like four tries to get success, but he was really happy that he got to do it.

From 2012 January

On our way out (we almost made it!) we noticed a car room, and Nicholas spent a good ten minutes just running the cars down this hilly course.

From 2012 January

The gang took things a little easier on Saturday while I was in Chicago, I'm told, but Sarah can update you on that if any stories need telling. In the meantime there are one or two more photos up in the January 2012 gallery.

Postscript

The one sad note from our trip came on the ride back to Midway Airport. As we got to the rental car return, Nicholas said from the back seat, "We're going to fly away from Daddy. That's sad." Sarah (who by then was already teary) looked back and noticed that even he was crying. But I reassured him that I'd be home in a week, and that then I would stay for good and not leave.

He remembered that. Last night (i.e., Thursday) we talked on the phone and I mentioned that I was flying home soon (as in tomorrow, Saturday) and he said, "And then you won't leave again!" Nope, not leaving again.