Sears (Willis) Tower, Chicago, IL

After leaving the Art Institute the kids and I headed down to the Sears Tower. We had gone to the John Hancock building once before, but that's not the TALLEST building in Chicago. This time they wanted to see the TALLEST building, not only in Chicago, but the entire United States.

I hadn't been to the Sears Tower since I was a teenager, and a few things have changed since then. Namely, it's not even called the Sears Tower anymore, it's the Willis Tower. Which doesn't have the same ring at all, but I suppose it's just a matter of getting used to it. Apparently a London based insurance brokerage firm called Willis Group Holding rented a bunch of space there in 2009 and got the right to rename the building. Someone knows how to strike a bargain at Willis, that's for sure.

It's the Willis Tower now, but when you go into the gift shop all the souvenirs still say Sears Tower, so what's up with that?

We waited and waited and waited on line to buy tickets, then waited longer to watch a short film about the Willis Tower and how it was designed and constructed before heading to the elevators. And waiting. And it wasn't even tourist season. You can buy a Fast Pass Ticket that allows you to skip the movie and go straight to the elevators, but it costs almost twice as much as a regular ticket.

So we got to the observation floor and looked out the floor to ceiling windows and oohed and ahhed at the people like ants and the boats like toys. Snapped lots of photos.

Another feature they've added to the Willis Tower is these little see through boxes stuck to the side of the building. Now I've been to observation deck on the CN Tower in Toronto and stood on the thick fiberglass block there and said "Ooh, I can see through to the ground." This was different.

Let me say that I am sure these things are quite safe. Thousands of people step into them each day, I'm certain they're solid. But they don't look it. They look like a freshman shop class project, a few bits of fiberglass stuck together and thrown onto the outside of the building, with flimsy support.


At first we thought there was a long line to go into them, but then realized that the line wrapping around three sides of the building was actually the line to get onto the "Down" elevators.

So we found a box with just a few people in it and the kids confidently stepped in while I put one foot in and clung to the building's wall while they questioned my valor. You should have seen them scramble out of there, though, when a group of teenagers came in and one young man decided to jump up and down, making the whole thing shake.

So it was a different experience than most observation decks we've been to and we can say we saw the tallest American building and stepped out in the box. Maybe we'll do it again in another 20 years.

"

Art Institute of Chicago

I love art museums, so if we're in a city where there's a good one, the kids and I will usually visit. Most of our activities are geared towards children when we travel, but art museums are one area where Mama takes precedence.

So they grumbled and groaned, but they had no choice. Off to the Art Institute of Chicago we went.


A few weeks before we went I stumbled across a book at our local bookstore called The 68 Rooms, a children's novel about the Thorne Rooms, the rooms of miniatures a the Art Institute. They're like dollhouse rooms, only so much better. They're miniature replicas of rooms representing different time periods, from the middle ages to the 1930's, when they were made. There's tiny violins, tiny original paintings created by reknowned artists like Fernand Leger - just amazing. In the book, two kids shrink down to 5 inches tall and proceed to explore the rooms. I read it aloud to the kids. It's a bit wordy, but they enjoyed it, and by the time we were done they couldn't wait to see the Thorne Rooms for themselves.

They searched out specific rooms that they remembered from the book, marveling at the details, then walked around choosing their favorites.


We left the Thorne Rooms and spent a short time in the kid's section just outside, where they could touch ancient sculptures, make crayon rubbings, create a collage-type piece of art and learn about textures.

Then we headed upstairs for lunch, in the cafe. Yum.
One thing I like to do to keep them more engaged is have them choose one work of art from each room that they would like to take home with them. I got this idea from a forgettable book I read long ago, where the heroine's father would ask them to pick three painting from the entire museum. I think one from each room keeps them more interested, though, and makes them really look at the art to decide which piece they like best.

There was a temporary Matisse exhibit, which was fun. I especially liked where they showed a work he had done early in his career, where he copied a painting by an old master in the traditional style. Years later he found his early effort and redid in the style for which he is famous. Seeing the two side by side was fascinating.

I showed them American Gothic, since there are so many references to this painting in popular culture - right away my son could think of one he'd seen in a cartoon. Then we saw A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, and I showed them how the artist had created it by making dots with the tip of his brush instead of using strokes. We looked at some of Degas' dancers and a few other impressionists, then headed to the gift shop, where they were rewarded for their patience with colorful trinkets. Art museums have the BEST gift shops.

Best Western Terre Haute, IN

The kids and I are in Terre Haute, Indiana, this weekend to see my sister graduate with her master's of education from St. Mary of the Woods College. There's a children's museum here, but I don't think we're going to get a chance to see it.

We're at the Best Western, right on US-41. It's a busy road with lots of restaurants and hotels around - from my window I can see a Drury Inn, Springhill Suites and a Lonestar Steakhouse.

The rooms at the Best Western are quite large, with a fridge, microwave and coffee maker. Free breakfast and free wifi, woohoo - love free stuff. There's an outdoor pool. It's a fine hotel - not fancy, but clean and nice, and the neighborhood seems safe.

Medieval Times, Hoffmann Estates

There was a time when I was a hip young single gal living in Chicago and working out in the 'burbs. Every day I got off highway 90 at the Roselle exit and passed by the Medieval Times castle. But I was much too cool to go to a place like that, so I never went inside.

Chicago is one of our favorite destinations - less than 3 hours from where we live, and yet drastically different from our little beach town. We've seen most of the popular family attractions several times, so this trip I was wracking my brain for something fresh and new. And it came to me - Medieval Times.

I told the kids we'd be having dinner and seeing a show with knights, but I think they were expecting a regular restaurant. As we drove up it was dark already and the place was all lit up. "It's a castle!" They exclaimed, in awe.

We walked in and picked up our tickets - I had purchased them online and gotten a buy one get one free deal, which was nice. After that they gave us our paper crowns - ours were yellow - then we took a picture with the guy playing the king.

We headed into the main room, which was kind of like a sports arena, only with tables in front of the seats. Our servers were called serfs and wenches, and there were no utensils, since they didn't use forks and spoons in Medieval Times. Dinner was soup, which we drank from a bowl with a handle, garlic bread, which was delicious, tasty roast chicken, and an herbed potato. Apple strudel and coffee after.

The show started immediately. The stadium was divided into different sections, each with its own color, and everyone in the section cheered for the knight in matching colors. The knights were all on horseback, which was fun. We rooted for the yellow knight since we were in the yellow section. There was a story line that I didn't quite catch, something about two warring kingdoms finally making peace, but the prince was kidnapped, and the green knight was from the other kingdom and was bad - I wasn't sure if he was a rogue or was acting for the other king, though. The there was a tournament, with all the knights showing off their skills. Then they battled eachother and the green knight was defeated. And the prince was saved somehow too.

For me the highlight was the jousting. I had only ever seen that before in the movie A Knight's Tale with Heath Ledger. They rode towards eachother with these wooden lances and broke them on their opponents' shields. Wood splintering all over. They put nets up between the riders and the audience for this part of the show.

The kids LOVED it, and I had a great time too.