Our 1st Ever Metra Train Ride Takes Us To Highland Park

My girls and I have never ridden the Metra train ever.  Until today.

 

I don't know why it has taken us this long, but we have finally tried it.  Yay for 1sts!


Today was one of those spontaneous days.  We didn't have anything planned and we wanted to explore.


So explore we did - me, my three daughters, and my middle daughter's friend Josie.


We decided to ride the Metra train to wherever.  We randomly picked a city (Highland Park) from the list of stops on the train station's wall and then off we went. 

No expectations, no plans. 


My daughters didn't even want me to ask Siri about places nearby or look things up on my iPhone.  They wanted to just see what was around and discover things ourselves.


We lucked out.  The train station was right next to downtown Highland Park so we didn't have to walk too far. 


One of our first discoveries was a toy store.  How about that?!

It was a fun place called Beanstalk with beautiful dollhouses and playhouses and trains and all sorts of cool stuff.  My youngest daughter enjoyed the boathouse/ball pit and the different toys.  My middle daughter and her friend were immediately drawn to the giant stuffed animals.  And the oldest was content with lounging in a comfy bean bag while the other girls played. 

I, too, was content with lounging - especially since I needed to sit near an outlet and charge my phone!  But then I got called over for a tea party, so I had to abandon my nice cushy spot!


After we wore out our welcome at the toy store, we decided to explore some more.  We soon found ourselves in front of a shop called Highland Pop.  It's a popcorn shop with a slew of different flavored popcorn.  But what actually got our attention was the sign for Italian ice.  Today was a pretty hot and humid day; the perfect day for Italian ice!  Although, my two younger ones opted for frozen bananas instead.

 
After we finished our tasty treats, we kept on walking.  We passed by a gelato shop which my girls wanted to go into, but since we had already feasted on Italian ice and frozen bananas, we regretfully had to forego the gelato.  Maybe next time.

The girls' disappointment didn't last long though, because a shop had caught their eye and piqued their interest.  It was a store called Paper Source and this turned out to be my girls' favorite place for the day.

 
My girls are artists, so this was right up their alley.  I think we ended up staying in this store for a couple of hours.  The staff there was very accommodating and friendly.  A sweet lady named Kim taught them how to use an embossing heat tool and made sure they had enough materials to work with.  Later, another lady named Donna also helped the girls.


My youngest daughter told me that this was her favorite of all the places we visited in Highland Park.  Yes, she enjoyed this place even more than the toy store!


My middle daughter now wants to have part of her birthday celebration here.  And that's not even until spring!


Well, I'm just glad that our 1st Metra Train adventure turned out well.  Despite our lack of plans or even knowledge of our destination. 


Today's adventure reminds me of Life.  Sometimes we don't have a clue where we're heading, but we just have to enjoy the ride and when we get to our destination we just have to explore and try to find the things that give us joy.


Life is short; enjoy it!