Sears Tower Part Three: Heading Home!

Getting home was rather unadventurous. Thank goodness. The only weird part about it was going really slow for a bit due to the storm and restricted speeds on the track.

No big deal.

What amused me was when we bought our tickets, there was one window open.

But the line looked like this: 

Go figure. ;)

Cool clock at the station:

Ipod: Check
Tween Magazine: Check
Snack and drink: Check
Ignore your mother for the entire time you are on the train: Check

Sears Tower Part Two: What a View!

Wow.

Truly amazing looking out at gorgeous Chicago on a sunny day from 103 stories up in the sky.

Looking South:

Adler Planetarium:

The Field Museum:

Soldier Field (behind those buildings there):

Looking East:

A little North East:

North:

The kids looking down and eastward:

Out on the Sky Deck. There are three. We went into all of them. Evan only crawled in the first one, then he felt confident and safe and was cool with the next two. He is *so* brave! There were grown people who wouldn't step out on them, and one man and one woman (in different groups) who actually crawled out themselves, sat in a sort of squat for a photo and then crawled out. It is really terrifying for a lot of people.

Kira was hugging Evan after he stood up so he felt safe.

Can you see the sky boxes? Pretty high up there:

Here, let me zoom in a bit:

See that sky? Within an hour of us leaving a crazy storm blew in. It blew out windows in the tower!

Storm blows out windows at 110-story Chicago tower

(AP) – 3 hours ago

CHICAGO — A swift-moving storm carrying high winds and pelting rain knocked out windows at Chicago's 110-story Willis Tower.

Police on Friday roped off areas around the imposing black building long known as the Sears Tower. Chicago Battalion Chief Michael Gubricky says windows were blown out in a 29th-floor air conditioning mechanical room and a 25th-floor unoccupied office.

Glass was on the sidewalk, but no injuries were immediately reported near the tower. Authorities say a woman did receive minor injuries from flying glass at the downtown Daley Center blocks away.

Chicago fire officials say another person was seriously injured by a falling tree on the city's west side.

The National Weather Service says winds in excess of 70 mph were recorded as the storm whipped into Chicago.

How crazy is that!? So glad we missed all the excitement. We missed some at home too, when a tree fell on our car! Check back for pics of that fun stuff tomorrow. Crazy day!

Sears Tower Part One: Getting to the top.

Today I braved the train and downtown alone with two kids.

I was feeling pretty confident in my ability to:
A. Take a train by myself and get back on the correct train at the end of the day.
B. Not lose a child in the process.
C. Find my way to the Sears Tower, that is now called the Willis Tower and I don't care. Because I think Willis is a jerk. What Choo talkin' 'bout?
D. I'm a little sad that Gary Coleman died. Talk about  a train wreck though.
E. I wasn't afraid of a train wreck, though maybe I should have been had I known what the weather was going to do shortly after we boarded the train to go home.

So. With that said, we drove to our train about 15 min. later than I wanted to head out because my keys were missing. Turns out that wasn't actually my fault this time. Shawn used them last! Whew! Never the less, we hit the crossing for the train...on the wrong side as our train pulled into the station. So for an hour we drove around and hit a couple of yard sales to kill time.

Waiting for the train:

Once we managed to catch our train, things went pretty smoothly. We had lunch at Union Station, because "It's too hoooooot! Pleeeeease, mom, don't make us walk around to find a place to eat!".

Then we headed over to the tower.

Checking out the Chicago River right outside Union Station.

Skydeck prices for today:

Mug shots. Seriously, they were acting as though they were being arrested. And Kira has a dirty face.

Good times. Black mail pictures are always extra nice to have on hand for those teen years. ;)


Once they cram you into the elevator like sardines, they give you a ride to the top with a show. Your ears pop. It's a short ride for how many floors you are traveling. 103. In case you are wondering.

Almost there!