Chicago with Lonya

Lonya and I went to see Grandma and Uncle Jeff in Chicago, while Sue and Sergey held down the home front. Wonderful to see those Midwesterners, as always, and we had the pleasure of Cousin Cassie joining us midway through the trip. Friday night we spent Dozin with the Dinos at the Field Museum of Natural History. Although none of the actual dinosaur skeletons came alive during the night (at least not while we were awake, which was probably till 12:30 a.m.), there was a workshop where we all got to hold an actual tarantula. I must say this friendly looking one was not the one that Cassie and I got to hold, since by the time we got up the courage, this one was getting tired and they brought out a much creepier looking one. Alas, no camera for a picture, though...you'll just have to trust us on this.

It was fun putting down blankets in the ancient Maya and Zapotec exhibit and sleeping with the artifacts. We had a great flashlight tour of the Egyptian mummies with the other attendees and the three of us did our own wonderful flashlight tour of the dinosaur and early mammal exhibits at midnight (and nobody else was there, except in the one dinosaur hall where the premium guests got to sleep). There's nothing quite like rounding a corner and coming suddenly on a Giant Sloth (those things are REALLY BIG) and a couple of mammoths in the dimly lit halls.

We also managed the beach (Lonya several times!), and we found that simply beginning to build a sand castle draws assorted children who want to help. Lonya was totally in his element, directing the various engineering projects. Mom and Jeff are hanging in there in the heat. The trip back was not so great, when a thunderstorm in Chicago made us miss our connections in Salt Lake City. I had to dive immediately into a trial and have only just gotten up for air.