Our trip to Science and Industry

Can you believe it, we've been here almost two years and the only trip I've had into Chicago is when I took my boards. Today was a nice day so we packed up the kids and took a drive down the Chicago Skyway. I thought Alex would fall asleep in the car - he was yawning and blinking every two seconds. But he saw Chris and I peeking at him and was kept himself awake by drumming his feet on the seat. It wasn't until we were to Gary that he finally dropped off - good call on his part.

The Skyway drops us off right at the museum, and we got a great parking space. The big Harry Potter exhibit was open and we got tickets for later in the afternoon. I hadn't been there in years so we hopped on the elevators and set off to explore.

What a great museum. Our first stop was the Factory Farm - it wasn't called that, it was sponosored by John Deere and it was all about how everything we eat is made from soybeans and corn, isn't that great? I kept my organic locavore self quiet and snapped pictures of Jonathan who was having a terrific time climbing into a combine. Those machines really are impressive. They had a huge TV screen in front of the harvester so it looked as though you were really driving through a field of corn. They also had a whole exhibit on cows, from feed to milk to poop. Alex especially loved pointing out the mounds to me and shouting "That's poopoo!"

We made our way through a few other exhibits and the boys were having a blast. It was crowded but everything was accessible if you waited a moment or two. We found the playroom for younger kids and Alex was in heaven. He found a place where he could pick up plastic balls out of the water and feed them into a pneumatic tube. The tube blasted the balls up through a pipe to the other side of the room, where they dropped in the water and floated back to the starting point. Alex kept those balls in rotation for twenty minutes and would be there still had we not pulled him away.

Jonathan started shouting and running when he saw the giant locomotive. He really was very good for the whole trip and somehow managed to wait his turn to get into the driver's box. Alex refused to step over the threshold - "No, not me!" He had seen the enormous model train layout and couldn't wait to get there. Both boys had a wonderful time running around the model trains - truly the size of a soccer field and meant to represent the journey between Chicago and Seattle. Alex loved the little cars on the streets of Chicago and it was only with difficulty that we dragged him away.

We killed the last few minutes watching baby chicks hatch, and then it was time for Harry Potter. I answered one of the trivia questions right (What is Snape's mother's full name?*) but alas there was no prize. We filed in and Jonathan was immediately taken with the moving portraits. The Gryffindor Fat Lady was trying to break a wine glass by singing high notes - she eventually gives up and smashes the glass against the wall. Jonathan thought this was fascinating and we eventually had to pick him up and carry him away.

I can't wait until they're old enough to read the books. Jonathan is still asking about the ins and outs of Hippogriff handling, since I told him he has make unblinking eye contact and bow, or he'll get bitten. All the way home, we had questions. "What if that eagle-horse called? Is he nice? What if you wink? What if it's nighttime and you have to go to sleep? Does he like hugs? What does he do?" Alex enjoyed the wiggling dragon egg in Hagrid's hut. "Something inside there! There! Go see it!" He was much less fond of the Dark Arts corridor. "No like it! Go back home now. Scares me!" I carried him through it quickly but he refused to shut his eyes - he kept flipping his head from one shoulder to another. I told him he was safe and he said "Oh, oh-tay."

We drove home and beat the dinner rush at Silver Beach Pizza. Alex went straight to bed after that but Jonathan stayed up a little while longer. He wanted to watch Harry Potter but settled for Mario Kart with daddy. I believe we've added some more adventures to our repetoire!

* Eileen Prince, of course.