Field trips make for great memories

Field trips. They make up some of my fondest memories of my childhood. Growing up in the south suburbs, there are many wonderful cultural and educational attractions that are visited by school groups each year. One of my favorites was in about second grade when we toured the Jay's Potato Chip factory. I believe we did this trip more than once. I thought it was fascinating and the best part was at the end when they handed out bags of chips and pencils to all the kids.

In fourth grade, we took a trip to Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a memorable one because it was the only field trip that one of my parents ever attended as a chaperone. With a shortage of chaperones, the trip was in jeopardy of being cancelled. Luckily, a couple parents, including my dad, came to the rescue and we were able to go.

In eigthth grade, we spent the day in Chicago on a field trip -- shopping at the Water Tower Place, taking a tour on a Wendella Boat and eating lunch in Chinatown. We traveled in style on a coach bus. There were a couple other stops in between.

For a kid who grew up not far from the city, I didn't spend a whole lot of time there. My older sister worked downtown and in December I would visit her for the weekend and we'd bake a ton of Christmas cookies. On Monday, I'd take the El with her to her job in a downtown high rise and hang out there for the day. I loved spending time in the city.

There were a few times that our family ventured into Chicago for a family field trip. One was when I was around five and we visited the Art Institute. Another was when my dad took my sisters and I to a Cubs game. Another was when we went to the Chicago Historical Museum. I loved history and was amazed at all that I learned about the city. I remember purchasing a book of paper dolls in the gift shop that I played with for years afterwards.

Today I returned to that museum on a field trip with my son who is in third grade. It seemed smaller than I remembered, but just as interesting. I even checked in the gift shop to see that they still sell books of paper dolls.

This trip was much different than my last. This time I was seeing the place through the eyes of an adult. Not a seven year old who was seeing and learning all of the information for the first time. I was chaperoning a group of three boys. They skipped over quite a bit of the material and didn't spend much time reading signs or placards. They did, however, marvel over an exhibit that contained the first portable phone from 1973.

By 10:30 a.m. (their normal snack time) they were all groaning about being hungry. We stopped in the cafe and I bought snacks. Then I went in the gift shop where kids were whipping out way more money that I had and spending it on pop rocks and silly bandz. They were also taking pictures of each other with their iPhones. So, I guess my kids aren't lying when they tell me how deprived they are not to have such devices.

Later in the cafeteria, kids were scarfing down more junk food than I've seen in a long time. I can only hope it was a special treat for field trip day. One kid I saw had a lunchable, two large bags of flaming hot Cheetos, a big bag of cookies, chips, a juice pouch and a 20 ounce Mountain Dew. That's enough sugar, sodium and calories for like what -- a week? Oh, well. That's a topic for another blog.

It was also an entertaining meal as one boy double-dog-dared another to shove 21 flaming hot Cheetos in his mouth. He stopped at 8. His mouth was full and his eyes were watering. Then another kid took on the challenge. I think he cheated a little as I saw him chewing and swallowing a bit, but he managed to get 21 flaming hot Cheetos in his mouth, stuffing them into his cheeks keeping them there long enough to make me cringe. He'd already finished off his beverage and thrown it in the garbage. He played tough guy and said his mouth wasn't burning, but his face was saying otherwise.

On the way home, scattered in seats were kids so excited they couldn't sit still and others who'd had enough and were dozing off. It was another experience filed into their memories and I was glad to go along for the ride.

Moms never get too old to rock

Last week, following a two-day trip to Key Lime Cove and then Six Flags Great America, I had another big day planned. A few weeks ago, I saw that Bon Jovi would be performing at Soldier Field. Since my 16-year-old is a Bon Jovi fan, I offered him tickets as a birthday gift. He was excited and we got a ticket for my sister to go along.

I love that my son loves the music that I grew up on. I know I have Guitar Hero and Rock Band to thank for his fondness of 80's music. If you scanned through his iPod, you'd find that a big portion of the music he has downloaded is from long before he was born. Most of it is from when I was his age. So, in the Bon Jovi concert ticket deal, it was a win-win. I got to spend a memorable evening with my son, rather than buying him a material possession. I also got to see one of my favorite bands from my teenage years. My son would get to enjoy his first concert in a venue that large and would get to see a band he liked as well. I would find out that he was way more familiar with Bon Jovi's music than I was, since he had all of his CDs, including his most recent release, which I hadn't really listened to in its entirety.

It turned out that my sister had a super busy week and when I mentioned the concert to my 17-year-old nephew the week before, he said he liked Bon Jovi, also, and wouldn't have minded going. So, my sister opted for a quiet night and decided to give up the ticket and have us invite my nephew. She dropped him off at my place that afternoon and we headed for Soldier Field. On Facebook, I'd seen many of my childhood friends posting that they had been at the concert the night before or were planning to go to the show that night.

I hoped for my son and nephew's sake, that there'd be more in the crowd than a bunch of 30-something moms screaming over their teenage crush. Seeing that the opening act was Kid Rock, I think he drew a whole different crowd and a younger bunch of fans. I only knew two of Kid Rock's songs when I got there: All Summer Long, which is one of my absolute favorites and Picture, a duet with Sheryl Crow that had been played on the country radio stations and that I really liked, as well. I knew that some of his other recordings were profanity-laced and more on the hard rock/rap side. I was pleasantly surprised by his performance. He sang the favorites I hoped to hear and did a great job on some covers, but even those songs I didn't know, I enjoyed seeing his passionate performance. And then when he started in with jokes about being from Detroit and the hockey rivalry, the crowd went nuts when three members of the Blackhawks brought out the Stanley Cup and Kid Rock raised it up.

Once Bon Jovi came out, I might as well have been a screaming, dancing 15-year-old again. I loved everything about the show and was amazed at how much he put into it, singing non-stop for about three hours. I probably embarrassed my son and nephew a wee bit, but well, that's tough. Why should the teenagers have all the fun?

Visit my new travel page on Examiner.com

Just thought I'd put something on the blog to direct readers to my new page on Examiner.com. I'm now the Chicago Family Staycations Examiner for the site, so I'll be covering attractions for the family in and around Chicago as well as some day trips and weekend getaways. I've been travel writing for 10 years and we've been to so many cool places in the Midwest, I'm happy to be able to share them with more families. Here's my page:
http://www.examiner.com/x-10998-Chicago-Family-Staycations-Examiner