The B ig Chicago Bean

Hey, this is Grace.
Today we went to downtown Chicago. We (my brother, sister, mother, and ME) went to the zoo, the big bean, and the Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago was my favorite part, aside from the big bean. They're famous for the Impressionist collections. Monet was one of my favorite artists. He painted the same things at different times. For example, he painted a hay stack in the winter, summer, fall, and sunset. Harald Sohlberg, another of my favorites, created the famous 'Fisherman's Cottage', which is a lovely picture of a cottage in the evening. Now, I saved the best for last. Vincent Van Gogh! This art museum has a wide selection of Vincent Van Gogh paintings. We only had half an hour in the museum, so we had to speed through everything.
I like cows!
~grace

Hi! This is Gloria now.
sssssssssssssssssssssss!!! You just heard the python!!! We went to theLincoln Park Zoo. My mom, brother, sister and me went on a bus. We saw lions, tigers, coyotes, and many other animals. My favorite is the baby monkey. We also saw reptiles and nocturnal animals. My other favorite is the sand cat. I took pictures of the animals with my camera.

Lisa here, to sum up our cold but delightful day in Chicago. Chicago sits right on Lake Michigan, which thawed just two weeks ago and is a roiling, muddy mess right now. We had a couple of bright, beautiful days here, but today was barely above freezing. Undaunted however, we braved the cold to visit the (free!) Lincoln Park Zoo, which turned out to be a really wonderful small zoo. The animal exhibits allowed close observation and perhaps because of the cold, most of the animals were quite active. And perhaps because it's often cold in Chicago, many of the animals were housed in warm buildings, which we lingered in just to stay warm.

We spent longer than we'd anticipated at the zoo, so only had a brief half hour at the incredible Art Institute of Chicago. (We had a free pass from the local library.) When we discovered that they're most famous for their collection of Impressionist art, I got quite excited, since that is my very favorite style. I squealed with joy to see original Monets and Renoirs and Gaughins all hanging side by side on the walls -- room after room of them. I told the docent that we were going to Paris and would see many of the Impressionists there, and she said conspiratorially, "Well, we have more in our collection. The French didn't like the style, so we bought up as much as we could before they realized how great it really is." On the way out, we zipped through the Asian art and learned a bit about Hindu gods and stopped to admire the Mongolian wedding headdresses. (Since Bayra is Mongolian, we've a special interest.)
We then walked through Millennium Park and stopped to investigate the Big Bean, a huge, reflective silver bean in the middle of the park. I have no idea what it's supposed to mean, but it was fun to join the other camera-toting tourists buzzing around the bean, chattering in myriad languages.

It has been great to spend a few days here with Garrett and Bayra, Zach and Nate. Zach and Nate are hilarious fun and we are looking forward to seeing them next in Mongolia. Early tomorrow morning, we fly to Guatemala and will be there a month. We arrive just in time for Semana Santa, a big Easter deal in Antigua.
Hasta luego!