Share the Love: Adventures in Chicago and Beyond with the Adler Planetarium

Even though the beautiful and boisterous city of Chicago with all of its amazing culture and sight seeing and family destination is in our suburban backyard, my young family has only ventured there to enjoy pieces of its wonder a few times.

Call me wimpy, but I've let this gem rest just outside of our stomping ground until this summer because I've been sort of intimidated by the thought of taking our two rambunctious and curious boys to Chicago to enjoy some of what the city has to offer by myself.

But when the Adler Planetarium invited us {as in both parents plus the boys!} to come check out the museum and its new Welcome to the Universe Exhibit, I knew I had to man up; I rationalized that two parents with two arms each should easily be able to wrangle and chase two tiny tornadoes throughout the great big city.

And, honestly, what could two little rambunctious and curious boys love more than a day spent exploring the vastness of not just Chicago but also our planet and solar system?

If you answered nothing besides actually riding in a Starship Cruiser with Master Yoda and Luke Skywalker, you're pretty much right on target; we actually had to discuss myriad times before our trip that Darth Vader and Obi One would NOT be at the planetarium, as it was not the home of Star Wars. {Ahem.}

To say that we enjoyed our time spent exploring The Adler and Chicago would be an understatement; though it's been weeks since our trip, my boys are still talking about our Chicago staycation.

Generously, Swissotel Chicago gifted us with a room to call home base during our Adler exploration trip.

G insisted I take a picture of us in the bathroom of our Swissotel room, and he excitedly pointed out that there was a phone next to the toilet in case you need to call for help. 

The boys, 5 and almost 3, were like bees drawn to honey when they walked into the room and saw the large picture window spread out across the wall just beyond our beds. We must have looked out the window for at least 15 minutes exclaiming excitedly as tour boats floated down the Chicago River toward Lake Michigan.

The view from Swissotel Chicago

Of course, that was about the stillest they were during the entire weekend because our staycation was hopping with stops at Lou Malnati's on the Gold Coast for dinner, Millenium Park, the lakeshore via Shoreline Sightseeing water taxi and, of course, the Adler.

We spent the bulk of our time exploring the vastness of the life beyond our planet at the Adler. Upon arriving, we picked two shows to enjoy: 3D Sun and Welcome to the Universe.

Our oldest was mesmerized by the 3D Sun show until it became a little too real, and he needed to exit the show so we could talk about how the sun probably would not shoot fire balls at the Earth. We quickly moved onto exploring some of the large telescopes, the planets, pieces of moon rock and the solar system models before the next show began.

Our Solar System exhibit

When we entered the waiting area for the Welcome to the Universe show, I wasn't sure we'd actually be able to tear our oldest away from the interactive, motion-driven floor-to-ceiling video games on the walls. He quickly discovered that he could make the various spaceship shadows on the walls move by using his body to direct them. At one point, he declared, "Mom! Look! I'm using the Force to move this! ... Where ARE we?!"

May the Force be with you. 

When we finally were able to tear him away from the interactive walls, we found seats inside the Grainger Sky Theater and settled in for the presentation of Welcome to the Universe.

Light saber fighting with Melissa's jedi before Welcome to the Universe began.

The movie screen in the Grainger is spread magnificently across the dome-shaped ceiling, and from our vantage point beneath, it felt as though we were looking up at the actual night sky in Chicago. When the tour of the Chicago night sky morphed into exploration of the other planets and then our solar system, I couldn't get over the depth of the picture on the screen.

And our tour didn't end there; we then went beyond our galaxy and into neighboring ones, traveling past the Andromeda and the Coma Cluster of galaxies. I have never felt so small, so tiny as I did when we were experiencing the universe from our little chairs in our little city of Chicago on our little planet. The vastness of our universe was mind boggling and so incredibly cool.

And the movie was so realistic, I felt like I was really in a spaceship moving through the galaxies.

My youngest, who I expected to be totally distracted throughout the entire presentation, actually sat on my lap the whole time with his eyes glued to the "night sky" and exclaimed "wow!" "beautiful!" "stars!" through the duration of the show.

E and I were absolutely blown away by the beauty, the artistry, the precision and the magnificence of the Welcome to the Universe show. And I'm sure John would have been, too, had he not needed to escort our oldest from the theater after the poor kid said he thought the room was spinning. {See? Really, it's that realistic!}

We ended our tour of the Adler by making our own craters in the Our Solar System exhibit. Because, honestly, could we really end our Chicago staycation without leaving a gaping hole in something? I'm thankful such a mess was neatly contained inside the display box instead of sprawled across a restaurant table or the hotel beds.

Making holes in things we were welcomed to make holes in.

So now that we've successfully spent an overnight in Chicago and we didn't lose either child in any city or space blackholes or make holes in things we weren't welcome to make holes in, I think it's safe to say we'll be back.

And the Adler will certainly be included in our upcoming space and beyond adventures as the boys grow older and taller {they want to do the moon jump} and their interest and curiosity about our planet and space deepens beyond the Starship Cruiser.

But, hey, this was a great start.

Full disclosure: My family was invited by The Adler Planetarium to be members for a day so we could share our experiences at the Adler with our friends here. Generously, the Swissotel Chicago gifted us with a room for the night while Lou Malnati's Gold Coast fed us dinner on the house. Shoreline Sightseeing provided our family with transportation via water taxis, too. As always, all opinions are expressed are genuinely my own. 

Share the Love: Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum

Michigan, to me, is like a treasure chest filled with hidden jewels.

We typically spend a few weekends at John's grandparents’ cottage in southwest Michigan each summer along with an entire week when we can swing it.

Each time we venture into this beautiful state, we always find new places to explore during days of rain.

And it seems like each year we find a place to which we just cannot wait to pay another visit. This time, we found several, as there were a number of rainy days that were better spent exploring than looking longingly at the beach from the windows of the tiny cabin.

We decided to venture into Ann Arbor to visit friends with whom we don’t often get to spend time, and while we were there we paid a visit to a wonderful kid-centric destination.

The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, though, is not a typical indoor children’s mecca of fun that leaves parents harrowed and chasing after myriad children who just cannot find anything age appropriate to sink their hands into and wrap their minds around within the same space.

This museum lives up to its name; it is the epitome of hands on – and not just for one age group. The activities located on the main floor appeal to myriad age ranges and offer different levels of engagement for toddlers all the way to older children. I appreciated that my almost three year old could play happily in the same room with the same activities that my five year old enjoyed; even Alita’s seven year old engaged in the same activities albeit in a different way.

Picture by Alita of Alita Jewel's Treasures.

While my toddler enjoyed doing things like flushing the model toilet, the older children liked figuring out how all the pipes were attached; I could almost see little engineers in the making, though, they were definitely in different seasons of exploration

We spent about an hour on the main floor exploring the building blocks rooms, the water table and an indoor activity house, but we spent more of our time in the amazing preschooler room, as three of our four littles ones fell most comfortably into that category.

While they explored gravity and mass and the like by engaging in hands-on play with an elaborate ball and tunnel/forced system, the adults actually had a chance to {gasp!} sit down and share in adult conversation.

This wasn't made possibly simply because of the awesome activities in the room, but also because most every crevice of the room is easily visible from the center. And it's in a bright and airy but enclosed space on its own floor of the museum, so there was no need to contemplate little escape artists making a break for it.


One feature I especially appreciated at the museum was break room where families can go and eat food they've brought from home instead of being bound to purchasing from an on-site cafe.

The only down part of the day was leaving, as all of the boys really wanted to stay and continue playing. Even after an entire afternoon spent exploring, more activities still lured them in. We could have closed the place down had we not had dinner plans.

All pictures by the fabulously talented Alita of Alita Jewel's Treasures

I have to be honest; we have some really fabulous museums close to our house in Chicago, so we're a bit spoiled, but my children so very much enjoyed the AAHOM that we would return despite it being two hours away from our cabin --

especially if we were privileged enough to have the same fabulous company we had this time around; it's truly a wonderful destination for imaginative play and discovery and perfect for meeting up with friends!

Disclosure: One of my favorite parts of blogging happens when I'm able to share life in a meaningful way -- and that includes divulging about places we've visited and thoroughly enjoyed. Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum welcomed both mine and Alita's families for an afternoon of fun in exchange for us sharing our experiences at the museum. 

Connect with Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum on Facebook, if you're planning a trip. 

Everyday Life: No Strippers Please

In my very humble opinion, there are only a few things left to be done at a bachlorette party a week before your baby sister gets married {and it has nothing to do with the, erm, shaking that normally accompanies beefy male strippers. *Shudder*. Ahem.}

1. Kidnap her for a girls' weekend at Timber Ridge Lodge in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and crown her with a plastic bedazzled tiara

1.5 feed her bonbons to soften the blow of the tiara


2. Wine and dine her ...


2.5 so that when you pull out a mustache on a stick, she protests little before giggling and posing solo

2.75 and alongside her fabulous entourage

3. Explain the placement of the crystal body art she was gifted for her, hmm, creative endeavors during the honeymoon

4. Bring her blood pressure back down by treating her to an afternoon of spa pleasures

5. Remind her that even though her heart now belongs to the man of her dreams, she'll always have a space in yours and in all the people's hearts who have loved her so much along the way.

Happy wedding, baby sister. I hope the weekend before you exchanged your vows will live in your mind always as memory of a time and space you felt totally enveloped in love.

{AND -- Why, YES, I DID craft all of those photo booth props! And I'm sharing an easy-peasy photo-booth prop tutorial tomorrow. Trust me -- you want these at your next party or girls' weekend.}

In the interest of full disclosure, Timber Ridge Lodge gifted us with the media rate for our one-night stay in a full suite during my sister's bachlorette party. We had a fabulous time in Lake Geneva and at the Lodge, and I was not compensated to say that. As always, all mentions and opinions are garnered from any outstanding experiences I've encountered. To read more about my pledge while working with companies and brands, take a peek.