I was making a day of it and was hoping Samantha would have enough energy to last. As a family, we dropped Meredith off at daycare and then Samantha and I dropped Michelle off at work. From there it was smooth sailing to the museum and we were second in line waiting for the place to open.
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Oh, did I forget to mention that Disney archives are one of the special exhibits going on at the museum. Yeah, we had to do that.
Once we got there, we bought tickets and chose three "extra" events to do. We chose a submarine tour, the coal mine tour and the Disney archives. Once you choose, they give you suggested times for each event.
The museum was not crowded the entire day but getting the in the morning when it opened help a lot. We went straight for the Science storm room. It was loud in there which Samantha did not like but they have a 20 foot tornado and a huge simulated avalanche in there. We also played around with some fiber optic tricks, some magnets and some prisms that played with colors. We then headed over to the coal mine. Samantha was a little scared going down the elevator but once we down there, she was asking questions and enjoying the tour.
After the coal mine, we were by the lunch area. We decided to get an early lunch and then head over to the farm area. Samantha liked riding the giant and I mean a giant tractor. Also downstairs, there is an "idea factory" that is good for kids 0 to 6 or 7. There is water play, pulleys and cranks, microscopes. We spent a good 45 min in there just exploring. After tha,t we made out way to the submarine but on the way there were two rooms Samantha really liked. There was a circus room which had some silly mirrors and an "I spy" room where there were different glass windows to look into rooms and find different things. "I spy" is a game we play a lot at home.
(Editor's note: We took an actual camera with us that Samantha used for most of the pics. I will send a link to those pics after I link them to shutterfly.)
When I was younger, the submarine was outside. Now, they built a building around it. haha. Before we went in, they warned us not to drop anything small because we might lose it forever. This had Samantha worried. She held on to that camera for dear life. I am not built for a German submarine from the 1940s. Let's just leave it at that. It was ok to me and very cool to think it is an actual captured sub for the war. Samantha did love taking pictures of it from the outside.
After that, we headed up to the third floor. We did not spend too much time up there. We walked around the "you" area and I was hoping to do something in the educational labs with her but had no idea times of things. She was also getting tired.
We checked out the storm center area from the third floor. They set off a lighting bolt while we were there that was about 15 feet long. That was pretty cool. I liked it at least. Haha.
We went back down to the second floor and regrouped at an ice cream shop. I got a root beer float and she got a sundae. Jackpot! Sugar her up! We then went over by the Disney archives but before going in, we checked out the huge model train area. Samantha enjoyed checking out the city and I showed her wells street where we drove in the morning and dropped of Michelle.
I was nervous about the Disney archives. Samantha wanted to do some art. I was not sure how that was going to happen at the museum and these archives are cool for me but for a 5 year old, I was skeptical. Well, Disney nailed it...as usual. There were a lot of cool old items like the original sleeping beauty book, original Cinderella book and also there were places do you could watch old cartoons. There was a lego based model of Cinderella's castle that you see at Magic Kingdom. Samantha also liked seeing the Mary Poppins bag and clothes from the movie.
However we turned a corner and saw a guy teaching people how to draw Disney characters. They were finishing up Minnie and I was worried we just missed it. However he said that another class was starting in 3 minutes. So Samantha and I sat down and grabbed a clipboard, paper and pencil.
I am not an artist. I do not consider myself to have the artist's touch but am willing to learn and help Samantha. The teacher basically said if you can draw a circle and a line, you will do great. He equated drawing to architecture and building a picture from the ground up. There was two big screens that showed his paper as we went along. We started with Donald Duck and I was worried. Donald is tough! He went a little fast for Samantha but she did a good job keeping up and I kept reiterating steps to her. Ten minutes later, yes, TEN, here were the results.
I was blown away by both pictures. I couldn't believe how well we both did. We enjoyed it so much that we stayed for another one. The second one we did was Mickey and here are those.
Samantha took them to school the following week to show her class. After that, we headed out but not before stopping at the gift shop (Dad is a sucker if you haven't figured this out yet). She wanted to get something for both her and Meredith.
We left shortly after 3 pm, 6 hours at the museum. We stopped at Michelle's office, picked her up and were home a little after 4 to show Michelle all that we did.
I was with one child, my own and by the time I got home I was EXHAUSTED. I have a new appreciation for teachers that take kids on field trips. I know how Samantha reacts, handles situations. To do something like that with a group of kids sounds exhausting.
Anyway, it was a great day, great time and something I will remember forever (mainly because I am framing my Donald Duck and hanging it above my bed!).
Day 4 was a success and Day 5 -8 would be spent in Cinci visiting the Neyers. My staycation in Chicago was coming to an end but my week was far from over!
