So we went to Chicago and almost everyone got grounded on the trip.
The level of rudeness was amazing. Kids running around like they've never had ANY home training.
Kids whining and complaining about EVERY little thing.
It was so bad that my usually calm, collected sister lost it and gave everyone a stern talking to.
The trip itself took 5.5 hours longer than it should have. Due to a Series of Unfortunate Events.
Everything was good until my sister had the misfortune of leaving her cellphone at a rest stop. She was able to track it down, but we had to turn the bus around and go back for it. That really wasn't soooo bad.
Then the bus blew a fan belt on the highway, somewhere near Holy-Cow-Where-The-Heck-Are-We, Indiana. The driver tried to fix it...but couldn't so we limped to the next exit which was 3 miles away.
After at least an hour or so of mechanics trying to fix it and waiting for a part, we were rescued by a mechanic who not only came with the right part, he also brought a bus....just in case.
So we were off again. I think we were somewhere in Illinois when we hit a five-mile long traffic jam.
We made it our hotel about 7:30pm. Tired. Exhausted....and the hotel misplaced our reservations. Lovely.
By about 8pm everything was straightened out and we were in our rooms. (which were beautiful)
We misplaced the boys for about 35-40 minutes. (They ended up in a room in another tower) By the time we found them and got out of the hotel, the fireworks were in the middle of the finale.
***Day 2***
Started out with a very nice buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Then we were off on our grand Chicago adventure. The weather was gloomy, and we all KNEW it was going to rain. (or judging by our luck, Chicago would have it's first hurricane) We visited the Hancock Observatory, took the Gray Line Double Decker bus tour. It started to sprinkle on the bus tour, but we stuck in there and rode to the Taste of Chicago. The big food festival. It was crowded. I hate crowds. We sampled a few things. The kids tasted Gelato, which was heavenly.
We hopped back on the Gray Line, by then it was raining and we were laughing like maniacs as the rain was pelting us in the faces on top of the double decker bus. We rode over to the Field Museum. (not crowded) We took in a few exhibits and ate lunch.
We fought for hailed a taxi and headed back to the hotel.
It was there that 3 of my children decided to act like they needed an Exorcist.
Luckily it was time for the bus to come so we could head back home.
It was a short trip, but it was the most exhausting trip I've ever taken with my kids. They just do not do well in larger groups. Too many distractions.
