Quinn's recent birthday felt like that all day. There were both figurative and literal ups and downs, actual dark clouds along with rainbows and tears. It was exhausting, and not a birthday we are likely to forget.
When I asked Quinn a few weeks ago what he'd like to do for his seventh birthday he was ambivalent. Since he could take or leave a friend party, I decided we should just stick with family and do something interesting. I suggested a trip to the Willis Tower (still the Sears Tower in my heart) for a trip to the Sky Deck and to add the two Mold-A-Ramas they offer there to our collection. He loved the idea.
My thought was that if we were going to make the visit to the Willis Tower for Mold-A-Ramas at some point anyway, may as well tie the overpriced experience to an important moment. I figured every time we drive through Chicago in the future we will see that famous skyscraper and remember celebrating Quinn turning seven. What could go wrong?
Well, the weather, of course. We woke up to rain, and wondered if driving all the way to Chicago just to look at the inside of a cloud at 1,353 feet up in the air was worth the trouble. With the Museum of Science and Industry as a backup plan we decided to chance it.
By the time we reached Chicago the clouds had broken up and we decided to the top of the Willis Tower we would go. We parked several blocks away, enjoyed a windy walk downtown, made our way through several lines to buy tickets (Ian was free with his military I.D.!) and wait for an elevator, and then we were on the Sky Deck.
It really is amazing. Pricey enough I doubt we'll do it again, but certainly worth doing once. The views every direction are tremendous, and there are four glass decks that protrude a few feet out from the building so you can look down to the ground underneath you from where you are standing. The kids all felt very brave.
