Backstage Pass

For those who know us, you already know that we are Barenaked Ladies fans. Joe has been following them (sometimes literally) since college. So, when they came to St. Louis of course we were going to go to the concert. And when we found out that backstage passes were available, of course we were going to get those as well. Turns out only 6 passes were released, and we were lucky enough to get 2 of them!

Here we are with the Barenaked Ladies: Kevin, Ed, Kate, Joe, Tyler, and Jim. We were backstage for about 10 minutes, and Joe was lucky enough to have a long conversation with Jim (the bass player). Definitely a highlight!

Not only did we have backstage passes, but we also had front row seats. We were able to mark two items off of our "bucket list"!

Halloween 2010

Halloween pumpkin carving at our house - the kids are getting to the age of being active participants in the carving. Here they (and Joe!) are hard at work.

Olivia with her "spooky, surprised" pumpkin face.

Grandpa helped Ethan carve his pumpkin - a take on the aliens from Toy Story (all his idea). No one knows why he has the box on his head.

The finished products. Joe's pumpkin is a Star Wars rebel symbol (I think).

Olivia loves the "goose gourd".

Ethan with his alien pumpkin.

The big night is here! I had to be quick to snap this photo - they were both in a big hurry to trick or treat with their friend Kaitlyn. Joe took them door to door while I stayed home to hand out 150 candy bars! That is definitely the most trick or treaters we have ever had!

The candy! Our rule is that they can eat all they want on the first night, then after that we ration the pieces to 4 per day. Even at that rate, we are one week until Thanksgiving and they still have candy!

The Windy City

Over the Halloween weekend, the family ventured up to Chicago. The kids had never been there before, and I honestly could not remember the last time I had been! We stayed at a great hotel off Michigan Ave., visited the Shedd Aquarium, Willis Tower, Field Museum, and Millenium Park. We even made a quick trip to the American Girl store, and walked out with our wallet fairly intact (until we order the Christmas presents for Olivia!).

On our first beautiful morning, we walked a bit along Lake Michigan to the Shedd Aquarium. The kids' favorite building (and mine!) is the "diamond building" in the background. I have always loved that building (and it has nothing to do with "Adventures in Babysitting"!).

Stingrays!

Penguins - my favorite!

The kids playing in the Polar Play Zone.

Next up was the Willis Building. Please realize that every time I say "Willis" I am actually thinking "Sears Tower". I still don't like the name change. The kids were a bit tentative at first, but quickly warmed up to the height and had a great time looking out at the city. The especially liked the 1 minute elevator ride with movie.

We even made it out on the Sky Deck! While the kids ran out onto the deck without a care, I must admit that I was walking as carefully as possible - it was a bit unnerving!

We ate at The Rainforest Cafe - a request of the kids'. Here are the kids with their great-great Uncle Ross and great-great Aunt Valerie. The restaurant was really over the top with effects, and the kids had a great time there - especially when it "rained" on us!

We happened to be at the restaurant within the same week as Ross's birthday. This dessert was really huge - four pieces of brownie/cake, 3 scoops of ice cream, a scoop of whipped cream, and chocolate and caramel sauce on top with a sparkler candle. My favorite part is that the menu stated "enough for two". Between the six of us we couldn't eat it all!

On the second day we checked out the Field Museum. The Ancient Egypt exhibit was my favorite area, although the kids were a bit scared of it and rushed us through it. However, they did stop to pose like a mummy. I must say that they were paying attention to the exhibit, though, as they still talk about it - especially the pots that the organs were placed in!

Olivia and Ethan working to rebuild the pyramids.

The kids really enjoyed the "Underground Adventure" area, where we were "shrunk" to the size of ants and explored the ground under our feet.

Totem pole family.

This was really interesting to see - a skeleton parade for Halloween. We were able to see this parade twice - complete with these dancers and musicians in face paint. The music was perfect and the kids loved their dance moves! This parade snaked along the main hall and could be heard throughout the Museum.

Joe's hometown pride - Benld made it into the Field Museum!

Here we are at Millenium Park and the "bean". This structure is really unique, and the kids had a great time playing around it. Here is a family picture with the original Chicago skyline in the background.

The kids holding up the Bean.

Being in Chicago, we had to get some pizza! We headed to Gino's, and the kids just could not get over the walls! They loved alternating coloring on the wall or their coloring page. When the pizza came they really couldn't believe the sauce on top! Their world was briefly turned upside down in that place!

We ended our trip with a showing of The Lion King musical. It was unbelievable and I would highly recommend it to anyone! The kids have not become obsessed with the opening song from The Lion King, still singing it to this day. And what was the kids' favorite event in Chicago? Riding in taxis! Figures.