Movies on the Mag Mile

Yesterday, I did something I almost never do: I took the kids downtown. My mother and sister were in town, so we all piled into the Great White Moose (a/k/a our minivan) and trekked down to the Magnificent Mile to pick up sheet music for my sister, and catch a movie at the Loews on Michigan Avenue.

My general reluctance to go downtown on a regular basis has less to do with the amenities offered by the area and more to do with my aversion to paying through the nose to park. Yesterday's trip ran me $21 for 3 hours in a garage. But oh well. It's not every day that my mom and sister are in town.

The Boy and The Girl had a fabulous time going to the movies. We parked in a garage on Wabash and Chicago, then walked up to McDonald's to have a quick lunch before the movie. (Mom and Sis went to Jimmy John's.) The Boy ate all of his cheeseburger. The Girl, I am sorry to say, ate only her fries and then demanded the Happy Meal toy. After lunch, we hauled butt to the theatre. The Girl was both tired and very interested in what was going on around her, so she walked quite slowly, dragging her hand against the sides of every building we passed. I ended up carrying her and The Baby for much of the walk to the theatre; my wrist was about to fall off from half-dragging her behind me.

We saw Shrek the Third at the Loews at 600 N. Michigan Avenue. Save one couple, we were the only patrons in the theatre. They had risers for the kids to place on the seats, and The Boy happily sat on one between Grandma T. and his aunt. The Girl snuggled on Grandma T.'s lap during the movie, which ran about 90 minutes and was the perfect length for small children. The Baby nursed and fell asleep during the film, so he did not disturb the other two adults in the theatre.

After the movies, we all headed back to the car. I drove my sister down to 400 South Michigan Avenue to get her sheet music. On the way, both The Boy and The Girl fell asleep in the car, so after my sister got her music, my mother took the sleeping kids back home in the car, and my sister, The Baby and I walked over to H&M on State Street. My sister tried on a ton of clothing that looked good on her. I tried on about five things that looked hideous (H&M is not designed for the newly post-partum body) and nursed The Baby. We hopped on the L to return home. Although the cars were madly crowded, at least two people offered me their seat, so I did not have to stand in a crowded L car with a baby strapped to my chest for the 40-minute ride home.