(More than) Fourinarow.net

I’d have to say that our trip into the city today was a success… for the most part.

We caught the train on time and the kids enjoyed the train ride (as usual). I think, though, they were more excited about going than actually going. Know what I mean? When I told Sam we were taking the train, he bounced around the house as if on a pogo stick yelling, “Metra! Metra!”

Anyhow, once we arrived, I asked Dan what the plan was. His response? “I didn’t plan that far ahead.”

So, we’re standing outside Oglive Transportation Center in the middle of Chicago with four small children and no plan. “Where do you want to go for lunch?” Dan asked me. “Chili’s,” I responded, desperate for a destination. (I know… why the hell would anyone go into the city and then choose a chain at which to eat?!?”)

We headed off, but Dan didn’t exude the confidence I like with regards to where we needed to be. I Googled the restaurant on my (kick-ass) iPhone and then mapped it. We were off…

My (kick-ass) iPhone told me that we only had to walk 1.4 miles to reach our destination. We found ourselves off course at one point, but for the most part we did okay. According to the kids, however, you’d have though we were asking them to walk all the way to Egypt. For kids that are normally bouncing off the walls and running laps around the house, suddenly they were too tired to walk. Their feet hurt. They were hot. (Hey – we’re having a heatwave here. It was 50 degrees today!) They were hungry. Thirsty. Wanted to BE THERE already.  Dan and I took it all in stride and simply herded the children along, occassionally carrying one or the other.

Finally. FINALLY we reached our destination. Before walking in, though, I gave a little speech to the kids. “If you behave,” I told them, “we’ll take a taxi back to the train station. If you don’t, we’re WALKING.”

They were perfect angels.

After lunch we grabbed a cab for a 3 minute ride to the station, caught our train and headed home. Sam crashed on the 5 minute car ride back to the house, so I put him into bed for a late nap. The other three crashed – each in their own way – sometime during the first 30 minutes at home.

No doubt it was the long, long walk that did them in.

On The Train

At Lunch

The Cab Ride