Staycation

So, COVID has been messing with my travel plans for a long time now. In the summer of 2020, I was planning to go to Hawaii to celebrate my brother's graduation from college out there.. but, COVID put the kibosh on that. So, we all stayed home and celebrated virtually. 

Then, earlier this month, that same brother - who's still living in Hawaii, was getting married! Woo! Another great reason to pop over to Hawaii! So, several folks in the family and I started making plans to go back out to visit for the wedding. However, from August to October, circumstances and conditions and COVID changed in such a way that I opted not to travel... again. Boo! (happily, the wedding happened and Zoom made it possible to celebrate with them virtually.)

Still, I was feeling frustrated 'cuz I was looking forward to a relaxing, fun time somewhere that wasn't home.. twice, and my plans were thwarted.. Twice.

However, after some introspection (and maybe a little pouting), I remembered that I live across the street from a great city. Chicago is full of fun things to do. So, I decided to take myself downtown to have a little R&R, somewhere that wasn't home. Time to make some plans.

Finally, the day of fun arrived and I waved goodbye to the fam and hopped on the train downtown. Things were off to an auspicious start when I came up from the subway and it was p.o.u.r.i.n.g rain... and I'd forgotten to bring my umbrella. So, first order of business - find an umbrella. 

Once that was accomplished, I set off for my first planned, pampering activity: Pedicure time! And this place meant serious business with their pampering! Soaked, scrubbed and trimmed, my feet and calves were covered in moisturizing cream and then double-wrapped and set to soak it all in:

And finished off with this zesty, bright green!

Feeling delightfully softened and smoothed, I headed back out into the rain. There was a little while before I could check into the hotel, so I took my time heading there and wandered and enjoyed the city.

outside art

Finally it was time to get in from the rain and check out my hotel. It was right downtown, so the location was great... but the room was very small.. haha. But the place had lots of character, which I always like.

The view wasn't much to speak of (though, the peeling pant kinda looked like the bat signal)... 

...the place was an excellent place to crash between my wanderings.

The next morning I was very happy that the rain took a break so I could enjoy the architecture boat tour. The weather was perfect and the guide was brilliant. 

Then, in the afternoon, the rain came back.. which was ok, since I was headed to the Art Institute. I love that place! My favorite is to start in the modern wing; it stretches my brain to ponder on the more avant-garde exhibits. 

After that, it's on to the more classic exhibits. 

They also have visiting exhibits.. currently Barbara Kruger has a big installment. There are pieces sprinkled throughout the museum, with a whole bunch concentrated in one of the larger galleries. There's been lots of buzz about her work so I was excited to be able to check it out. 

That day my step count was over 16,000.. I was very happy to get back to the hotel and just chill. The following morning it was time to head home. I enjoyed a quiet, chill morning listening to a podcast before checking out and heading back to the train.

It was a lovely break and I felt really good. Now to convince Hubby to take a his own staycation so he can enjoy a little escape as well!

Dia de los Muertos

One of the exciting things about having a kid old enough for kindergarten is the added element of field trips! Before the school year starts, the local school offers a lottery for the language immersion class and Townshend got in. Woo!

They spend a good amount of their day learning and speaking in Spanish, and they also focus on learning about Hispanic culture. Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on November 1 and 2 and, judging from the stories he's been telling and the worksheets he's been bringing home, that's been the main theme of class for the last week or so. And, then last week they took all the Spanish immersion kids, K-5, on a field trip to visit the National Museum of Mexican Art tucked in a neighborhood of Chicago that's known for it's Mexican-American roots.

With a little brother still at home, it's a bit of a dance for me to get away for a whole day. Knowing that, I'll probably only have one school trip this year, but this field trip looked so fun!! So, I cashed in all my favors and tagged along.

It was a big ol' group of kids but, turns out, there were lots of other parents who felt as I did, so we had a fairly good ratio of adults to kids. Still, it was a little crazy to have all those kids wandering the neighborhood, but we did pretty well!

First, we visited a Mexican bakery to pick out a sweet treat:

Wandered the neighborhood a little bit to check out the murals. There were some really amazing ones; despite it being a snowy, windy day, I wished we could have had more time to wander a little bit more:

We ate lunch at one of the many neighborhood Mexican restaurants. It was so yummy! It made me a little nostalgic for my time living in Logan Square in the Hispanic district.. Yummmmm:

Our final stop was at the museum to see their Dia de los Muertos exhibit. We had an awesome tour guide who walked us through and told us about all the displays. It was fascinating. First, she talked about the history and origins  of  Dia de los Muertos influenced by the Mayan and Aztec traditions:

The next room focused on how the traditions changed with the arrival of the Spanish in South America. The culture shifted their focus slightly with the introduction of Catholicism, but they retained many elements of the original traditions:

There were other, more modern interpretations of old traditions and culture. As I've come to learn more about this tradition, I've really come to love its celebration of life and family connection even beyond death. Some of the imagery may seem a little morbid at first glance, but it's actually a reverence and appreciation for death as just a next step; that is a cool way to look at it:

I had a great day.. Townshend, however, seemed less impressed.

the face of a kid excited and enthusiastic about new foods and experiences

Overall, the kids did great, still, by the end, we were all ready to head home:

It was a cool trip! I'm excited to know that, as they do this every year, I'll likely have a chance to go again.

We Found Dinosaurs!

One of the things I love about Chicago is its rich selection of museums. A while back, Townshend suddenly pivoted from his love of all things with wheels to developing a great fascination for dinosaurs. Not to say that he has stopped loving wheeled things, but dinosaurs seem to have taken a prominent position.

love this building!!

So, for Christmas we got him some books about dinosaurs and he's loved them to pieces (almost literally). And in all this dino-excitement, the Field Museum has come up from time to time. Then, I heard that February was a free month at the Field and so we decided to play hooky and seize the day!

Historically, there's been a huge t-rex, Sue, in this grand hall. However, currently they are making some changes - Sue has been moved and is undergoing some cleaning:

we got to see them vacuuming Sue's lower jaw

After Sue's all cleaned up, she'll be moving to a new exhibit on the upper level with the other dinosaurs. And then this summer they're installing a cast of a the biggest dinosaur ever discovered (Titanosaur) into Sue's old spot.

Moon found the buttons (right at his level) but poor Townshend kept trying to tap the pictures on the screen

It's exciting to be in a new season of life where I can take both boys somewhere and not feel like I have to rush back for naps. Believe me, this is big time stuff over here! We went in early and, thanks to an insider tip from a friend, even found close street parking (on a meter, sure, but still way better than in the lot). We stayed through lunch and a even couple hours beyond. 

by getting there so early, we had no trouble with crowds.. some exhibits, it was (almost) just us

which leg bone is bigger??

In all that time, we managed to see a good deal! Not everything of course, and the dinosaurs were the clear winner, but it was a really lovely day. 

Family History Weekend

These days, Hubby's family has all moved out to the west coast. That leaves us as the closest branch of the family to the burial place of his grandparents. For a couple years we've been meaning to get ourselves over there and pay our respects, and the other weekend we finally made good on our intentions.

Turns out, the city where Hubby's grandparents rest is quite close to the Indiana/Illinois border, so we were able to make a weekend trip of it. He got off work a little early on Friday and we drove over to our hotel by dinner time. Saturday, we explored the town where Hubby's mom grew up and on Sunday we visited the graves. 

In our exploring, we found a children's museum where boys had great fun!

water room

building room

Moon was enthralled by the model train they had that was driving around a loop near the ceiling

ball pit

Moana is a favorite movie at our house, so this little boat was a big hit!

camping, tent, fireplace fun

digging for dinosaurs

taking a break to color

driving around the track

And a weekend with small kids wouldn't be complete without a trip to a park:

Our visit to the cemetery wasn't as smooth as we might have liked... Their website is less than up-to-date (last updated in 2008) so we couldn't see beforehand where the grave would be. We figured that once we got there, there'd be a map or something to check out. When we arrived, there was an office, however, it was not open on Sunday morning and there was nothing publicly available to search. Happily, Hubby had been there twice before (years and years ago) so we drove around on a whiff of a memory and a prayer, and we found it! Hooray for answered prayers.

I didn't take many pictures here, but we did leave some flowers and a kindness rock, along with our warm thoughts.

Getting a little more in touch with Hubby's Greek roots

It was a fun weekend hanging out with our little family, remembering people who've come before us and talking about memories. We're hoping to go again in a couple years.