Newsies on Tour

If there’s one thing we Taylor women like, it’s musicals. And we don’t mind traveling to other cities to see the ones we really want to see. With one last opportunity to see Newsies before the tour closes, we decided to make a trip to the Windy City for a show. Bright and Early Saturday morning, we piled in to our rented wheels and headed north by northwest, arriving in time for the girls to catch the commuter train into the city and enjoy one last trip through Newsies.

We’re now making plans to catch Hamilton when it starts in Chicago. In the meantime,

Dreams come true. Yeah they do. In Santa Fe.
Where does it say you gotta live and die here?
Where does it say a guy can’t catch a break?
Why should you only take what you’re given?
Why should you spend your whole life living trapped where there ain’t no future…

I ain’t getting any younger.
And I wanna start brand new.
I need space. And fresh air.
Let ’em laugh in my face. I don’t care.
Save my place. I’ll be there.

(reprinted from Metrolyrics.com)

Oh Gee, Oh Giordanos!

If there’s one thing we Taylor parents like, it’s Giordano’s pizza. And when we’re in the Chicagoland area, we make sure to pick up a pizza, or two, or sometimes three. There just isn’t anything comparable in Cincinnati, although I did hear that supposedly Giordano’s intends to open a couple of shops here in the next year or so. We shall see.

The Adler Planetarium

If there’s one thing we Taylors like, it’s SPACE. Somehow, even though Greg and I went to college in the Chicago area, and lived there for some time after we graduated, we never made it to the Adler Planetarium. Guess we were too busy going to Giordano’s!

This weekend, we had the time and the space (ha) to visit. And what a wonderful place it is!

The displays were accessible to Kepler. I don’t mean accessible in the “handicapped accessible” sense, but in the sense that there were buttons, and switches, and lights, and displays, and costumes that he could use and enjoy!

The Planetarium does a tremendous job of showing the scale of space. Took me awhile, but I figured out that giant yellow ball in the center of the first floor was the . . . sun. Lake Michigan laps up against the sidewalk which surrounds the Planetarium, so we circled the whole building before getting around to going inside.

Here the kids were playing around in the astronomy school exhibit. Signs informed us that  only young men were admitted to the schools. We’ve come a long way baby and I’m glad my daughters have the opportunities they have now.

Our First College Visit!

If there’s one things we Taylors like, it’s a liberal arts education. While we were in town, we took the opportunity to visit Loyola University. Are we Catholic? No. Are we Jesuits? Well, no. But that’s ok. We like Lake Michigan and Loyola is right on the lake! The prospective student liked what she saw. Now, where is that scholarship book I checked out of the library . . .

We also visited the University of Chicago, Greg’s old stomping grounds from graduate school. What a beautiful place. The whole area just reeked of intellectuals and education!

Not Quite the Whole Family

If there’s one thing we Taylors like, it’s family. It’s been awhile since we have been able to be together as an entire family, since Jude is in California, and we missed both boys greatly, but we loved having at least 5 of us together for a weekend.

And School is Just around the Corner!