You know how much I like a public art project, so when we stumbled across the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum’s “Flight of Butterflies” exhibition on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, I was really excited. My children were, I think, a little afraid that I was going to try to find all of the butterflies, but I was satisfied to see eight (and photograph seven) of the sculptures as we walked down the Magnificent Mile. I think that’s pretty good for an art exhibit I didn’t even know about until we arrived!
Combo Breaker might have been over on the last day of our trip, but we still had a lot of things planned, starting with our first-ever trip to the Chicago History Museum (even I had never been there!). The short film was really good (it made me cry a little when the things I remembered from my childhood were mentioned), and there was one exhibit in particular that I really enjoyed.
After that, we went to Rainbow Cone. I broke with tradition, and tried one of their new sliced creations (the first addition of those since they opened in 1926!), the “Cosmic Birthday” which included Superman ice cream just like I remember from my childhood. Between all of us, we also had a traditional Rainbow Cone, and two of the other three new additions, “Minty City” and “Chocolate Obsession.”
Then we went to the Pullman National Historic Park, a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. We had a nice walk around…it’s a really cool place to get a glimpse of history!
The trip home always involves a stop at Wally’s:
And as usual, we went to Portillo’s for dinner, but this time we stopped at a different location, in Springfield, IL. I love how no two of their restaurants look the same!
After that, it was only about 90 minutes to home…we arrived later than we usually do when returning from Chicago, but we had a full, fun day along the way!
After we got the coffee started on Sunday morning (I seriously think we made between 400 and 500 cups a day!), and put out another two cases of water, we went to church at the congregation of my childhood. It was Trinity Sunday, but I was very relieved that we didn’t say the Athanasian Creed, because my feet hurt!
On the way back to Combo Breaker, we stopped by the Umbrella Sky Project in Elmhurst. I’ve wanted to see a display like this for a long time, but it was a bit too literal, as it was pouring rain while we were there! It was still really cool, though!
We made it back to the staff lounge in time to help with lunch (and make more coffee!).
We were done in the staff lounge in time to see the end of the Tekken Top Eight, and after that, we all stuck around for the staff raffle, which was quite entertaining.
We hadn’t all been in the same place at the event until that point, so we finally got our annual family photo…next year, I’m hoping we all get flannels, because I think that would make the picture even more amazing!
It was a great weekend!
Up next…the trip home, with many stops along the way!
Day five of our trip was another busy one, and another one with an early start, as Chickadee and I are were back in the staff lounge helping out (with the rest of the family scattered across the event doing their own jobs again). We didn’t have much time for actually seeing the event, but we did check in at the venue.
And we took a walk through Artist Alley, where I found a cute Yoshi bracelet to add to my stack:
Dinner was a Chicago speciality…mostaccioli!
Late in the day, we finally stepped outside for some fresh air, which was very welcome after a long day in an very enclosed space!
And before bed, we checked in on the venue one last time:
Up next…the last day of the event already?!?
On the fourth day of our trip, the real excitement began, because that was the first day of Combo Breaker!
Chickadee and I spent most of the day in the staff lounge, helping set out food and water and make coffee…lots and lots of coffee. I started the first pots at about 6:15 a.m., and we kept making it all day long!
One of the advantages of being up early to make coffee…we got to take a look at the venue before everything got started:
I continue to be impressed with how well the event treats the volunteers…in addition to three meals a day and plenty of water, there were also lots of snacks to keep everyone going.
We did step away very briefly so Chickadee could take a look at the arcade room, where she tried her hand at Ms. Pac-Man…she’s certainly better at it than I am!
Up next…the second day of the event!
Chickadee had a great time at Combo Breaker!
We had a fun time checking out the Umbrella Sky Project in Elmhurst…in the rain. Let me tell you, the umbrellas in the project definitely did not keep us dry!
On Monday, we visited the Chicago History Museum for the first time…Chickadee really liked how interactive it was!
Before we got to work at Combo Breaker on the third day of our trip, Bunny and I went to Westfield Old Orchard shopping center in Skokie to see the Downton Abbey Exhibition, where we got to see props, full sets, and costumes. It was absolutely amazing…details to follow!
When we were done, we stopped to pick up boba before heading back to the hotel.
And then we got to work. Bunny helped Ladybug, Turkey, and Moose with registration, and Chickadee and I helped with the food in the staff lounge.
The two of us did have time for a walk around the hotel and a visit to the hotel lounge we had access to for the first few days of our trip before bedtime.
Up next…the start of Combo Breaker 2024!
The second day of our trip north was one I look forward to all year long, because it’s the day we visited downtown Chicago. This year, for the first time in a long time, all five children were able to go with me, which made it even more fun.
It was not an adventure without challenges, though, because the train line we usually take was shut down due to mechanical difficulties. We were able to make it to another Metra station on a different line in time to arrive downtown more or less when we wanted, so it all worked out in the end.
Taking a different train line meant arriving at Chicago’s Union Station instead of the familiar Ogilvie Transportation Center. I am not kidding when I say the two stations are across the street from each other, so it shouldn’t have been a big deal, but somehow that minor difference was slightly disorienting, as everything looked just a bit off from the other side of the street!
We walked almost 10 miles, seeing everything and nothing in particular, which sounds like a contradiction, but is how we usually do things:
Of course we stopped to feed the pigeons…we stumbled across quite a flock!
It is always a thrill for me to see the lakefront:
While walking the Magnificent Mile, we stumbled across “Flight of Butterflies,” an art exhibition presented by the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Most were outside, but we found one inside Water Tower Place:
This was the first time Turkey got to see the Water Tower itself!
We stopped at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery, where I was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the place, so we left without ordering anything…it was a cool place to see, though!
To make up for our hasty retreat, we stopped at the Ghirardelli store and shared some of their chocolate creations:
I walked down to the Vietman War Memorial:
And then we went to Marshall Field’s…I mean Macy’s.
We tried the new summer varieties at Starbucks while we were there…they were very refreshing!
We were able to leave from our regular train station, which was nice, because we know exactly how to find where we’re going there!
As is tradition, we road on the upper floor on the way home:
It’s always hard to say goodbye to the city!
And we returned to the station we had intended to leave from in the first place!
We ordered pizza from a local place, Moretti’s, that we had never tried before…It was amazing! I especially loved the use of asiago cheese in the stuffed crust!
Up next…a little more fun, and then the beginning of our work!
Yesterday we got home from our annual trip north for Combo Breaker…I can’t believe it went by so quickly!
We left a week ago, eager to arrive at our destination…but first we had to travel through a dust storm. I’ve never seen anything like it. Visibility was worse than any other weather event I’ve driven through, and you could hear the dust hitting the car…it sounded like ice!
We stopped at Wally’s on the other side of the storm…less dust, but still tons of wind!
We finally made it to the hotel, where we had a lovely suite:
And we even had time for a swim before bed!
Up next…a day in downtown Chicago!
Yesterday, we hopped on the Metra in Schaumburg (which is a whole story in itself) to go on an adventure:
In my favorite city in the world.
We also visited the flagship American Girl store, which is one of Chickadee’s favorite places!
