It was my brother Spike's 50th. A big day in any respect but this year has thrown him some pretty big challenges so his wife reached out to see if the family could gather to make it all the more special. But, of course, we could. Our first iteration of the trip had Spike, S, and J coming to us. Doctors put a kibosh on that one. The second try had us coming to their house and spending the weekend. As much as we love Spike, we don't really love our hometown (small town Illinois leaves a lot to the imagination). That is when my other brother had a great idea - let's all meet in a part of Illinois that has a bit more by way of things to do. It would get Spike out of town (which was the original plan) and we would all have a good time in the big city. The third time was definitely the charm. And to make it all the more fun we planned it all as a surprise. Who doesn't love a good surprise?
Thursday after school the girls and I headed off to the Windy City. My brother C's family got in just after we did and Grampa was there waiting to chauffeur us to the hotel. It was late so getting in without Spike knowing we were there was simple as everyone was already asleep. And we followed behind very quickly.
The next morning the family - including Spikes step-kids and grandson were all waiting in the lobby for breakfast. They had all come up together the night before and he thought that this was his surprise. What he didn't expect were the 7 other people who showed up that morning. I think he was a bit suspicious but he was happy to see us all. And it was his actual birthday to boot!
Our hotel was on Drury Lane. And it served muffins.
Anyone else singing yet...
Breakfast eaten we piled into 3 cars (we were 16 after all) and headed off to the Museum of Science and Industry. Where we promptly ran around an acted like little kids - the whole lot of us.
Uncle C and Stinkerbell.
A massive U-505 submarine. The ONLY German sub in the U.S. It was MASSIVE!
Trying out the doors in the sub...
And the beds...
Some fit better than others (granted, he is quite tall)
We got lost in the mirror maze (and then found again)
And checked to see if we were in proportion. (her arms are slightly longer than she is tall. But she was happy to see that she had grown an inch).
We watched as a gyroscope top was built and personalized for us on the factory line. Poor MadHatters didn't pass inspection the first time so she had to start over.
We watched how wind kept balls afloat (and messed up our hair)
And how electricity was attracted to us.
And so much more - we toured a coal mine, we watched a man-made tornado. There were swirling sand dunes and lightning storms and lectures on what makes things bounce. And then the museum closed and we needed to head back to the hotel before rush hour traffic trapped us in the city (we didn't make it). But that's ok, it gave her time to do this...
A fabulous day well spent with family, capped off by a big Italian birthday dinner. I hope Spike enjoyed his birthday celebration as much as we did!
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