Wendy had a bad headache starting on Sunday evening, and it was still really bad on Monday morning. Drayton had planned to work that day, but since Wendy wasn't feeling well he spent the day with our seven kids and myself instead. We left around 9:00 am and our first stop was the Lincoln Park Zoo. The petting farm animals part of the zoo wasn't open because it's still the off-season. The zoo doesn't charge any admission. I think some of the highlights were the polar bear, tiger, and some of the primates. We ate a lunch Drayton had packed at the zoo. Unfortunately Nadia wasn't feeling well the entire day. We saw two giraffes; they are one of my favorite animals. Next we walked to the Nature Museum. We all got in free because of memberships we have elsewhere. At least some of the kids participated in two programs - one about salamanders and another involved the releasing of butterflies in their butterfly haven. Our last stop was the Chicago History Museum. Drayton had found a free parking spot when we arrived in the morning, but after driving around quite a bit and not finding anything, I opted to use a paid parking lot. If we hadn't gotten the parking ticket validated at the history museum it would have cost me $32, but since we got it validated I only paid $9. It was worth a brief stop. Drayton's family could get in free because of a membership they have elsewhere, but it turns out because we showed up about 20 minutes before the museum closed that we all got in for free. We only explored a very small portion of the museum.
Drayton ordered a deep dish pizza from Giordano's on our way home. I do love Chicago deep dish pizza and try to have it once every time I come out here. It was delicious! While we were eating dinner Wendy called from the doctor's office to ask Drayton to take her to the ER. The doctor thought she needed a CT scan and lumbar puncture to make sure a strep A skin infection she had been diagnosed with last week on her ear hadn't turned into meningitis. Thankfully she got good results from those tests, but she was told she had to stay in the hospital for 48 hours to receive antibiotics by IV for the infection that wasn't responding to oral antibiotics. I put the seven kids to bed last night after we watched the movie "Ella Enchanted" while Drayton was at the ER with Wendy and her friend, Michele. Drayton took his kids to the hospital to visit her this morning, and then we plan to go to the Museum of Science and Industry this afternoon. We picked yesterday for our zoo outing because the weather was very warm. We brought umbrellas as there was a forecast of rain, but thankfully it rained only a small part of the time we were at the zoo. It didn't bother us if it rained while we were inside the two museums.
So all in all we are having a very nice time here in Chicago. The kids love spending time with their cousins. Four of us were playing a game of Apples to Apples this morning before Drayton took them to the hospital to see Wendy. I have played Barbies with Grace on a few occasions. Ian has been playing with Legos (no shock there!). They also enjoy playing outside together. Wendy had a gig on Sunday morning, and then she was under the weather since early Sunday evening and will be in the hospital until we leave so that is one disappointment that I won't get much time with my sister. We all hope she's feeling better as soon as possible! Knowing that Oliver can finally handle a four hour drive means maybe we won't wait 15 years before we drive out here again. Our longest drive without a lengthy break will be on Thursday as it takes a little less than 6 hours without stops to get from Wendy's house to our cousin Sam's house (plus we will lose an hour as we change time zones).
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