On Monday, Amy, Owen, Maya, and I boarded the Amtrak train for a day at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. It was an adventure from the get-go. The train ride was probably the highlight of the day as Owen, a huge Thomas fan and lover of all things large and mechanical, always has his ear out for the train whistle and is eager to rush and see one whenever we're close enough to the tracks when it passes our house.We left Normal at 7:30 am and arrived at Chicago's Union Station just before 11. We took a cab to the aquarium, bought our tickets, changed a couple of diapers, and grabbed some lunch, which was another highlight because Owen could see the Navy Pier lighthouse (lighthouses are another fascination) from the window.
Maya, meanwhile, was delighted that her favorite restaurant had followed her to the aquarium.
After lunch, Maya threw up on me. Somehow my outfit remained unscathed (carrying her in a wrap on my chest, the cloth I'd put between her and my shirt ended up catching everything), but by the time I got her change and found Amy and Owen downstairs looking at the penguins and the underwater view of the beluga whales, it was clear nap time had come.
Owen was so tired. We watched a bit of the dolphin show and looked at a few iridescent frogs ...
... but that was pretty much the day. He was absolutely exhausted and within 35 minutes he was laid out on a bench.
So I called Amtrak and rebooked our return train to the 5:15 instead of the 7 pm. We looked at a few more fish and, wouldn't you know it, he perked up a bit more in the gift shop.
We packed ourselves up and took a cab to a Whole Foods near the train station, where we bought some gluten free food for Owen to eat on our trip home, as well as some sushi for Amy and me.
Traveling home, we ran out of diapers for Owen and had Maya in just a sweater and pants, as every onesie we'd packed was toast. But the return trip still provided the day's highlight for me.
Owen, like most kids, is fascinated by cabooses, and as far as he was concerned our position in the final car of the train meant that's where we were. As we approached Normal, the crew member who had been sitting behind us opened the back door of the train to look out. I brought Owen back and asked if we could stand outside with him and look at the tracks receding. It was cool out and windy, but the sight of the view disappearing into the horizon was pretty spectacular.
All in all, it was an uneven but entirely memorable day. Fun to go, but also good to be home ...
