My Kind of Town (and Trip)

We're off to the big city of Chicago today (though a little later than planned). Last week, we were country mice; this week, we're more of the town persuasion (click here if you have no idea what I'm talking about).

While Megan has all kinds of plans and places lined up to visit, the impetus for the trip (and the bulk of what will fill my time) is the New Teacher Institute put on by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS). Westminster is picking up the tab for the travel and accomodations, and I'm really looking forward to spending the majority of the week learning as much as I can in preparation for school starting in just over two weeks.

The conference is going to be pretty intense schedule-wise, including two twelve-hour days and a boatload of information on education topics I'm a little fuzzy on because I've never had a formal education class in my life. I'm looking forward to figuring out a lot of important stuff at this conference, and hope it will serve as the beginning of some new momentum leading up to the start of the school year.

Now before you feel sorry for us that I have to "work" while Megan and the girls play, don't. Believe it or not, we actually "vacation" better this way. I don't relax well and can make things miserable for the family when relaxation becomes the one and only goal. However, we've learned over the course of ten years of marriage that if we can piggy-back some fun and games on top of something else I have to do anyway, it's better for everyone. We don't fight it or try to fix it; we just go with it and it works.

So, we're all pretty pumped about the trip. We're taking Amtrak straight into downtown and will be hailing cabs and taking the El to get around. Tonight we're going to see a Cubs game at Wrigley Field with our friends Will and Rose, and our museum and zoo memberships here transfer there, so those are on the agenda as well. The ladies will hit Navy Pier and Millennium Park, and we'll all have fun pretending like we're big city mice, at least for four days.

We're taking the camera, so I'll try to post some shots and the occasional update.

And we're off...