Chicago: Museum of Science and Industry

A trip to Chicago wouldn't be complete without a visit to one of their world class museums. Our choice was the awesome and massive Museum of Science and Industry. Part science class, part playground, this place has something for everyone. Together with the De La Cruz family, we spent the afternoon exploring this amazing place.

You got some nerves, kid.

The 'Human Body' area of the museum houses the most visually interesting exhibits in the entire place. Through the use of 'plasticizing', they have been able to display the human body inside and out in many striking ways. Cross sections of human body parts. Entire body systems in tact. Organs. Muscles. Blood vessels. It was all super cool. The big kids were interested, and full of questions. Nadia, on the other hand, couldn't get past the plasticized male genitals. “Yes, Nadia, that's a penis.... Yes, Nadia, it is.... I know, Nadia.... OK.... We get it.... It's a penis.”

Plasticized awesomeness

Dropping Stuff

Another favorite of the group was the chicken hatchery. Here, you can sit and stare at chicken eggs in an incubator for hours as you wait for them to hatch. You 'can' sit for hours, because that's how long it takes for an egg to hatch. It's a slow process. Needless to say, we never saw one hatch. There were eggs that wiggled and moved. Slimy wet chicks that had just hatched. Fluffy cute ones that were about a day old. Good enough.

"I think I want a baby chick, Poppa"

Goodbye Missouri

You could really "milk" the cow!

Jenny and the girls' last week in Missouri was a busy one. First up was a visit to the Discovery Playhouse, in downtown Cape. Walking distance from our apartment, this Children's "Museum" is modeled after the Magic House in St. Louis. The place was cute, and had a surprisingly fair number of things to do. Many of the exhibits were quite similar to their Magic House counterparts, with one big exception. The place was empty. Other than two other toddlers, we had the place to ourselves. I can't even imagine the Magic House that way. No lines. No busloads of children pouring through the door. No other kids messing up the one thing your kid just spent 20 minutes working on. It was nice. Peaceful. Yet fun for them. The girls enjoyed the pretend play the most. The grocery store. The farm. The bank. A fun afternoon of make-believe in a great, little place.

The girls' final day in southeastern Missouri was spent on a field trip to the Lazy-L Safari Park. This walk- through zoo was unlike most typical petting zoos or farms, with everything from Alpacas to Zebras, Emus to Kangaroos, and Camels to Cavies. The girls got an up close view, and often a handful of these and other animals. A great final stop on our tour of southeastern Missouri.

Our time in Missouri was the perfect start for our travels. Cape offered us a good mix of rural life, and small town America. The landscape in southern Missouri is gorgeous at times, and the quaintness of the old river town was both charming and comfortable. Jenny and the girls will travel on, as Clark stays behind to finish his job. Au revoir Cape Girardeau.