#TheKerrieShow Goes to #Chicago Day Two: Adler Planetarium and Public Transportation

Here is my best tip for day two: call your bank before you leave town so they don't think someone stole your credit and debit card and are buying 6 one-week Ventra train and bus passes in Chicago. You're welcome.

Another tip is when it's freezing cold, make sure you take note of your stall number in the parking lot so you don't have to send your son back to get it so you can punch it into the parking meter. Parking at train station = $7 per day. Adler Planetarium today was FREE (get a Kansas City Science City/Union Station Membership, people from KC!). Other costs include a few hats at Walgreen's, lunch at Pot Belly and Dunkin Donuts for the train ride home. Read on.

This was our view out of our hotel room in the morning.

Our own little breakfast nook at the hotel ... free breakfast every day at the Marriott Residence Inn in Rosemont by O'Hare airport and free dinner two nights. Free dessert one night and free coffee 24/7.

So excited to wear my new Old Navy look in Chicago! I call those my hot pants!

Hotel living is the life for us! Minimalism rocks. Holy crap I am looking like a woman in my 40s and I don't really care!

Waiting for the train to Downtown. It took about 45 minutes each day there and 45 back with all the stops.

All aboard! Rush rush rush before the doors close!

That chick with the wolf hat is about to become a train pro!

Train pros. City kids. No problem. No strollers, easy peasy.

Mommy and Callie on the train keeping warm.

Woo hoo! We made it! Now what?

Eva being cheesey.

Sammy being cheesey.

Now we have walked down stairs and through a long tunnel and up some stairs and onto the Red Line train.

We left the train station and I started walking the kids the wrong way (deja vu, like I had a dream about this or something; need to check my journals). We realized it was stinking FREEZING and we went back to Walgreen's for hats. Yes, only Eva and Samuel brought boots but we survived the week.

Here we are in the big city, people.

Forget this. Let's go to PotBelly's for some lunch. Vegetarian-for-Lent Callie was a challenge but we got this covered.

Then we set off on our trek toward Museum Campus and Adler Planetarium, not quite sure how far away it was. What kind of mother traipses her kids all over Chicago like this in the snow?

Come on, Sammy!

I had to stop for pictures because there are SO MANY BUILDINGS. I was here this week THIRTY YEARS AGO exactly with my parents, only we stayed downtown and took a regular-sized cab everywhere.

I am SO EXCITED to get to travel and take my kids with me ... so blessed my husband has the job he has!

Getting there! Soldier Field in the background.

Museum Campus! We have arrived? No, still a long way to walk.

May as well make it fun, right? Barely any snow in KC this year but we have ALL THIS!

Shedd Aquarium. We'll hit that tomorrow.

My kidlets in Chicago. I found a passage from my journal last June 18 where it said how cool it would be to take them to Chicago. I had no idea it would really happen so soon!

A bit chilly

Sitting in the bus stop for a second for respite from the wind coming off Lake Michigan. 

A quick pic of Shedd from the back.

Ground Control to Major Whoever. Adler Planetarium in the space part!

Pose for a pic for Daddy so I can text him!

Callie on the  moon!

Boys on the moon!

Checking out the moon's surface.

These kids are my whole world :-)

LEGO lab ... build something that can travel down a zip line without falling off and without being pushed.

Up for the challenge. I didn't want to stop in here because I wanted to see the rest of the museum but it turned out to be so great for them to just sit and build ... they all did it!

We need this kind of LEGO room in our house!

Crazy cool heading into more space stuff.

Eva really wanted to see the telescopes. I was surprised at how much they geeked out at this place and it was FREE with our reciprocal membership through Union Station/Science City from my grandma for Christmas!

Some sort of geo-thermal camera thing? They put ice on their faces and their faces turned bright pink on the screen. Then the kids wanted to eat the ice and the lady working there was like, "Oh, that's a big deal because it's a choking hazard, you have to ask your mom." Hahahaha! And my question is: won't ice melt in your throat before it kills you?

Camping out probably on the moon or something.

My kids look good manning a rocket ship.

Callie says, "Hey, she stole the hand on the hip from me!"

A book we would like to read.

On the bus since the guy in the LEGO spot told us which bus to catch; I almost hugged him. We can figure out this #$%^ bus system, I just know it. MUCH warmer than walking.

Bus boys.

Waiting for the train with their Dunkin Donuts.

Roosevelt station rocks. People play music at the red line stops ... and it smells like weed.

On the train.

What a beast standing on the train.

Heading down the red line tunnel to get to the blue line to get home. What a flipping process!

All I know is that we survived our first full day in Chicago, Illinois, Windy City, in 20-degree weather with snow. I feel like a total savage. When we got back to the hotel Aron was already out of training and we went to the lobby for our FREE dinner of chicken tortilla soup and chips and salsa.

Click here to see Day One of arriving in Chicago.

Frantically working on Day Three in Chicago, when we went to Shedd Aquarium. I have lots of tips and opinions here.