Plans A, B, and C

We had tickets for a Cubs' game for today (free from Jeanne at Raj's office), but we think they accidentally fell into the recycling pile on trash night last week. Doh!

Plan B
Instead, we visited Samip at his new condo downtown and took him out to breakfast. (We forgot the bottle of wine we were going to give him as a house warming gift. Rats!)

After a tasty breakfast and saying goodbye to Samip, we headed to the Shedd Aquarium to spend the day. Shawn loved seeing the lake and ogling at the skyscrapers. But, when we got to Shedd, there were immense (even that's a ridiculous understatement!)  lines to get in winding around the park in front of the main doors. We hoped the lines were for a special event that we could avoid, but found out it was for general admission and the wait was at LEAST an hour to get in the door. No. Thank you.

Plan C
We walked to the Field Museum, where we were relieved to find a short line (just a few minutes), which was all in the shaded, A/C indoors. Plus, I scored an Illinois teacher discount (using an old id card) for my admission and got a AAA discount for the family! 
Field Museum 3 Shedd 0

We visited:
Underground Adventure- Get a bug’s-eye view of the world when you magically “shrink” to 1/100th of your actual size—smaller than a penny—to explore an immersive environment of worm tunnels and soil chambers. This exhibition reveals soil to be home to an incredible diversity of living things, and shows how not a single plant or animal could survive without it. After regaining your regular size, become a soil scientist to investigate how life above ground connects to life below.

Egypt (I was flooded with memories of yearly field trips with 6th graders from Blackhawk Middle School to specifically see this exhibit during our Ancient Civilizations unit) - The Field Museum is one of the few places in the country where you can explore an ancient Egyptian tomb. The Museum’s three-story recreation of a mastaba features two authentic rooms from the 5,000-year-old tomb of pharoah’s son Unis-Ankh. From hieroglyphs, mummies, and a Book of the Dead, to a marketplace showing artifacts from everyday life, this exhibition demonstrates how the elaborate preparations that ancient Egyptians made for the afterlife give clues to their lives on Earth—and to what ancient Egyptians might have had in common with people today.

Evolving Planet - Evolving Planet takes visitors on an awe-inspiring journey through 4 billion years of life on Earth, from single-celled organisms to towering dinosaurs and our extended human family. Unique fossils, animated videos, hands-on interactive displays, and recreated sea- and landscapes help tell the compelling story of evolution—the single process that connects everything that’s ever lived on Earth.

Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex - The world-famous fossil known as “Sue” is the largest, best-preserved, and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever found. Sue measures 42 feet long from snout to tail and 13 feet tall at the hip. She boasts 58 dagger-like teeth and cuts a fine figure as the Museum’s most popular backdrop for visitor photos. A replica skull crowns the skeleton in Stanley Field Hall, while Sue’s original skull, which weighs 600 pounds, rests within an exhibition on the Museum’s balcony, under a mural depicting this majestic creature in the flesh.

3D dino movie (a bit too realistic for Shawn, so he watched it sans 3D glasses.)

Hall of Jades - Discover the stone that is more than a stone in The Field Museum’s newly renovated Elizabeth Hubert Malott Hall of Jades. This stunning permanent display of more than 450 objects from the Museum’s collection takes you on a walk through China’s history, from prehistoric burials through two thousand years of the world’s most enduring empire.

Grainger Hall of Gems (beautiful, but not as exciting without the Hope Diamond in the collection) - Explore the natural beauty of Earth’s gems and witness their magical transformation from rough specimens, to stunning stones, to spectacular jewelry in The Field Museum’s newly renovated Grainger Hall of Gems. Exquisite rare jewels and gold objects from around the world, as well as never-before-seen creations from top designers, await you in the most comprehensive exhibition of its kind between the east and west coasts.

Creatures of light: Nature's Bioluminescence -  Delve into the mysterious world of bioluminescence and revel in the beauty of this remarkable natural phenomenon in Creatures of Light. Come discover the thousands of living organisms that blink, glow, flash, and flicker—from fireflies and fishes to glowworms and mushrooms—and immerse yourself in their magical world of “living light,” only at The Field Museum.

Shawn fell asleep on the way home, not surprisingly. Raj mustered the strength to go out with some friends in the evening. 

Around 8:30 pm, Shawn woke up complaining that I put his "yellow Twizzler box on the movie creator!!"  Huh???????? Later, he confessed that it MIGHT have been a dream and we giggled about it for a few days afterwards.