Life with a Pickle

Ceci and Mommy went for a Pinkalicious trip to Chicago.  We made a weekend out of it and visited some of the big attractions.  First stop, Pinkalicious. Pinkalicious, for those of you without girls under the age of seven, is a series of books about a girl who loves pink more than anything in the world. In the musical Pinkalicious can't stop eating pink cupcakes despite warnings from her parents. She ends up in the doctor's office with Pinkititis. She turned completely pink!  Great production ejoyed by both Ceci and mommy.

Next stop, Shedd Aquarium. We saw the entire aquarium Ceci style....  we stopped long enough at each exhibit to check it out then just as quickly we were on to the next.  I'm sure we waiting longer in line to get in than we spent time inside the aquarium ;-)  The Shedd is an amazing aquarium. Mommy's highlight was the beluga whales.  They were beautiful creatures.  I had no idea such a massive animal existed in captivity.  Ceci's favorite thing was the souvenir shop.  She amassed a small family of stuffed animals with each stop in Chicago.

Next we made our way back to our hostel and hung out for the night.  Note the entourage on the bed that we have to travel with.  Forget dolls, all this girl wants to play with are her stuffed animals.  She does imaginary play with them and puts them to bed in their crib at night.   

The next morning we took our time and had a long breakfast and headed our to Navy Pier to the Children's museum.  This is the most amazing childrens museum we've been to.  There were so many rooms, each with it's own specialty.  Below you can see Ceci in the WaterWays exhibit.  There was a "river" with toy boats which you could control the flow with pulleys, wheels, and pipes. Kids can navigate their boat through the locks and dams of the river. 

The Dinosaur Expedition, below, was a re-creation of the real Saharan expedition where Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno discovered a new type of dinosaur.  Ceci put on her gloves, found a brush and started looking for dinosaur bones.  The "dirt" was recycled tires chopped up and the bones were layed out and secured to the floor to replicate the dig. Another big hit for Ceci.



We took a break in the baby and toddler room spending some quiet time playing dress up and dancing to music.  Here, Ceci attempted to hoola hoop.

Saturday was our final day in Chicago.  We got an early start and went to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  This is one of the few free city zoos in the country.  What struck me about this zoo was it's cleanliness and long meandering paths through the zoo.  It sometimes felt more like a park than a zoo which made for a relaxing morning. They had an awesome farm animal section complete with barns and a tractor.  The tractor was Ceci's favorite.

As we were walking up to primate house, Ceci spotted the statues below and proceeded to play and talk to the for a good fifteen minutes. Real animals hold her attention for 30 seconds, but ones she can climb on I have to drag her away screaming and kicking. lol

The entire weekend was stupendous, which is Ceci's favorite word lately, and we can't wait to go back.  We have another trip planned to see Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus at the end of April.  I love being this close to Chicago.  What a great city!