Haley's visit

We had the great pleasure of spending the weekend with my friend Jennifer and her daughter Haley. They came up from SC to visit us. The kids had a terrific time. David loves Haley. He insisted on holding her hand at every opportunity and spent the entire 3 day visit mimicking just about everything she did and said.
They arrived Thursday night. There was a slight drizzle in Chicago, which as all travellers know meant a 2 hour delay flying into O'Hare. David had his heart set on picking up Haley at the airport, so we all piled into the car, David in his pj's. To enhance the look further, he had had his face painted like a cat earlier in the day with Alma. It had smudged and smeared and at the time looked more like he was just really dirty than a cat, but he refused to wash his face at bath time. So Kevin and I took our dirty-faced cat boy to O'Hare to pick up Jennifer and Haley who finally arrived around 9:00.
Friday morning, we gave Haley her choice of museums. She opted for dinosaurs, so we hit the Field Museum. Despite the fact that he had been there several times before, David decided that he was scared of the dinosaurs and threw a huge tantrum before we went in. Once we actually made it to the dinosaurs, he thought they were cool and had a great time racing from one exhibit to the next. After learning about prehistoric life, banging on drums from around the world and pretending to cook fake corn, the kids were ready for Navy Pier where Jennifer and Haley braved the cool wet weather to ride the ferris wheel. After a late afternoon nap, we capped off the day with a trip to Oberweis.
Sharing goldfish at the Field Museum and enjoying stale chocolate covered marshmallows at Navy Pier.

Saturday we went to Shedd Aquarium first thing. Haley enjoyed seeing all the sea creatures, and David spent most of this time either at the play submarine in the new children's area or chanting "Submarine! Submarine now!" We caught the new dolphin show, which was a little more show and a little less dolphin than I had hoped but still fun to see. After a delicious lunch in Greek town and a nap, we went to Brookfield Zoo. Due to the lateness of the hour and the cool weather, there were several animals off exhibit, but this didn't seem to bother David or Haley at all. They spent a lot more time running and playing in the leaves than anything else. After the kids went to bed last night, Jennifer and I went to the 11:00 (that's p.m., people) show at Second City, e.t.c. It was a lot of fun, and, on a related note, I took a 3 hour nap this afternoon.
Haley was brave enough to touch this giant star fish after realizing it wasn't an octopus. David on the sub.

David and Haley at the zoo

Before Jennifer and Haley flew out today, we went downtown and up almost 100 floors to the John Hancock observatory. The adults enjoyed the view while the kids pretended to be window washers and mashed random buttons on various displays. Afterwards we went across the street to the American Girl Doll store where I learned yet another reason boys are easier and less expensive than girls. We ended the visit with a delicious brunch and a traffic jam on the Kennedy that made us late getting them to O'Hare. So to summarize: cold wet weather, flight delays, traffic, amazing museums and delicious food. They got the full Chicago experience.

The kids on top of the Hancock. Proof that Jennifer and I saw each other this weekend.

David and Haley being very silly at brunch. Haley feeding David peanut butter cup cheesecake. She said, "This is REALLY good breakfast."