Hellobee

Ever since Snowy was born just over five years ago, my parents have been much more interested in giving us experiences than physical things as gifts. This started out because we were living a as a family of three in a one-bedroom (later two-bedroom) apartment. It has continued because Snowy has so many toys and there is really not much she needs. These gifts have often meant memberships: one year to the zoo, one year to a local science museum, once gift cards towards a family trip we were all going on to Disney World. For this year, my mom got the idea to take us on a train trip.

I drove up to my parents’ house, about two and a half hours from our home, on New Year’s Day. We stayed the night there, and then early the next morning we drove to the train station in Michigan City, Indiana. Snowy had never been on a train trip (unless you count the trains at Cedar Point or Disney World), and the only train trip I had been on before was a field trip in preschool. I hadn’t been to Chicago since I was a kid myself, and all I remember was going to the American Girl store where we didn’t buy anything too expensive, and that we stayed with friends who had rabbits.

When my mom found out how easy and affordable it would be to take the train from Michigan City, Indiana to Chicago, she first did the trip with my dad to see if it would be doable for her disabled daughter and young granddaughter. Having my mom and dad scope out the trip first was very appreciated. Despite the ADA, there are lots of places that are completely inaccessible, and with my mobility and pain issues, that makes going to new places very nerve-wracking to me. I am fortunate that I can still do some walking, but I definitely can’t do full days at places like museums and amusement parks without a wheelchair.

When we got to Chicago, we did a short walk to the Museum of Science and Industry. My mom originally wasn’t sure about it being kid-friendly, but when she scoped it out with my dad she found that there was lots for Snowy to do. She loved pretending to be a pilot in the model airplane, and we spent a lot of time in the children’s area. We ate lunch there as well, and they had a great cafeteria with lots of choices (and for a museum, it was fairly reasonably priced).

We left the museum in the late afternoon and took an Uber to our hotel. We brought along an inflatable booster seat for Snowy which went well. She’s normally in a 5 point at home but can sit up well in a booster for short trips. We stayed at an Embassy Suites downtown, and with the snacks they had there and leftovers from lunch, we didn’t need to stop at dinner. My mom and I enjoyed the free cocktail reception and Snowy really enjoyed the hotel pool.

The second day, we had a fairly leisurely morning. Other than the pool, the biggest benefit of the Embassy Suites was the free cooked to order breakfast. We found a lot to eat, even me, with my dietary struggles. There aren’t too many things I can absolutely never eat, but I need to be careful especially when I’m close to a flare.

We then embarked to the Adler Planetarium on a Lyft. There was a children’s play area we went to first. It was nice and very interactive, but Snowy didn’t seem to like it that much, and she didn’t want to return to it once we finished the planetarium show. They had a preschooler friendly planetarium show featuring Sesame Street characters including a new friend from China teaching about the night sky. Snowy has never really watched Sesame Street, but she really enjoyed the show.

After the Planetarium, we went to the Field Museum. This was what I was most looking forward to taking Snowy to on this trip, since she loves dinosaurs so much. They had just constructed a new home for Sue, the world’s largest and most complete T-Rex skeleton at the time of discovery, and it was so new that my parents weren’t even able to see it when they went less than a month prior.

Before seeing Sue, you walk through the hall of dinosaurs. Snowy really liked it, but by the time we got to Sue she was really overwhelmed from all the looking and waiting: she had her only temper tantrum of the trip, and we had to take her to the side to calm her down. Once she did though, the rest of the day continued to go well.

The Field Museum has an awesome children’s interactive area, and we spent most of the day there. We ended the day walking through the exhibit of many animal specimens, and while my parents were nervous how Snowy would do with the taxidermied animals, she thought they were really cool and seemed to understand that, like dinosaur bones, they used to be alive but weren’t anymore.

The museum closed at 5. We left around 4 and took a short walk to the train station. By 8pm, we were back at my mom’s car, and after a stop at Bob Evan’s, we were back to my parents’ house by 10 (and Snowy slept very well that night!).

It was a whirlwind trip, but all three of us had a lot of fun. Other than Snowy’s breakdown after seeing Sue, she did very well. She slept well, ate well, traveled well, and had a new adventure unlike any she’s ever had before. It was definitely the perfect Christmas present (thanks, mom and dad!). We would definitely recommend it!