The joy of watching (and eating!) fishies!

You'll have to forgive me for the sheer number of photos in this post ... 17 I think ... but we had SO much fun today! We woke up this morning and on impulse, decided to drive to Chicago for the day. We were 10 minutes late catching the 9:20 train in Michigan City, so we ended up just driving the 90 minutes and beating the darn train anyway. (the boys were disappointed, but we promised them a train ride next time).
We got into Chicago at about 11 a.m. (noon, our time) and promptly hit a hot dog stand outside the Field Museum for some genuine, Chicago-style hot dogs (mustard, onions, dill pickle, relish, celery salt and tomato .. no peppers on mine!) This was a first for me and it was soooo good. Rhy was in ecstasies over the 35 tiny wrens that decided to stalk us while we ate, nabbing every little crumb that dropped.
Next, it was on to Shedd Aquarium, another first for me. It was overpriced, but very, very fun! The kids got to see every kind of sea creature imaginable. The boys LOVED the sharks (of course) and the one-ton Beluga whale. The dolphins were also a hit, as were the sea turtles and the jellies. Rhy loves fish, so she was in heaven.
Finally, we ended the day by hitting a sushi restaurant. (This might seem a little macabre considering where we spent our afternoon ... I believe I told Nate that I felt a little guilty and said something to the effect of "It's like visiting the zoo and then going off to eat a Lion burger!!)
But anyway, this was another first for me. I have been desperate to try GOOD sushi for some time, and I was not disappointed!
After visiting the lobby of the Hilton, whose employees helpfully supplied us with a restaurant map broken down into location and prices of the various menus (how very handy!) we made our way to Tamarind, a great Asian cafe. We ordered two huge plates of sushi and sashimi (raw fish). And it was SOOOOOOO good!!! I loved it! Then it was home again -- back to our snug little house, just in time for bed! What a delightful day!
Now for the onlslaught of photos .... prepare yourselves ... you're about to see Asher dressed up as a bird ... no kidding ...


The boys stand in line at the hot dog stand outside the Field Museum ... another place I want to hit sometime. (They have a pirate thing going on there right now, so you can imagine our distress at having to choose between Shedd's and pirates. Asher adores pirates...)


Here we are with our Chicago-style hotdogs! Okay, the kids just had ketchup and mustard, but MINE was a true Chicago-style! Nate even got the peppers!


Check out the line we waited in to get inside. Ack. But we enjoyed the view while we waited.


This was the view. Gorgeous, yes? I love Chicago. It's one of the few cities I could actually picture myself living in.


A blurry shark. No flash photography was allowed.


A seahorse. So cute! I want one.


I didn't take this photo, because it was so dark it was impossible to get good pics with my little camera. But this is the Beluga whale we saw at Shedd's (the baby too). (I borrowed it from online somewhere ... but it's the exact same whale!) Cute, huh?


Rhylah is entranced with the fish.


All three kids crammed through the crowds to mash their faces against the glass. Too fun!


Rhy had fun in a hands-on exhibit which allowed kids to touch barnacles and shells, etc.


Another priceless moment ... in one exhibit, the kiddos could dress in penguin suits and play in a penguin habitat! Isn't Ash CUTE!!!?? (This is the photo I'm donating to his senior yearbook...)


Rhy wore a suit for all of 30 seconds. It really freaked her out. Understandable.


Asher does the responsible male penguin thing, and looks after his egg. Hee hee!!


Still in character, Ash does a belly slide down the penguin launch.


Here I am eating my first, really GOOD sushi! I used the chopsticks on everything but the potstickers!


Gabe also enjoyed his Pad Thai, and even tried to use his chopsticks ... he was not very successful, but at least he made an effort!