We found out that Transformers 3 is in town shooting, and this past weekend, they were in my backyard! We were up and out at 7am hanging around the park across the street waiting for helicopters and parachuters. Apparently, alien robots are coming to a theater near you, but they start out life as (crazy) big guys in black jumping from helicopters in very narrow spaces among the downtown high rises. We saw the five jump and steer through the neighbor buildings and land in our park. They then dragged their chutes to the fenced playground and re folded them in the middle of the swings. Pretty cool...though making movies seems to involve alot of sitting and waiting and then some fast action.....the guys in black will be digitally erased and replaced with the bad robots. I'll have to bone up on this Transformer stuff....

After the parachuting, we headed to the Loop where LaSalle and several cross streets were completely closed. Large concrete debris, burned out cars, smoldering piles covered LaSalle. But, they're all made of foam! Well, the cars are real...some with and some without engines....We saw them shoot an explosion from a block away (that was as close as we could get, and believe me, I tried). They shouted "Fire in the hole!", and we covered our ears. Big, loud bangs, small fireworks, two flipped cars and a VERY low flying helicopter (probably 2 - 3 stories above ground) filming it all....we clapped and cheered, and I made a mental note to see Transformer 1...or whatever the first one is called.

On our way back, we cut through Millenium Park where the Chinese American Museum was hosting the family activities in the Target Family Tent. Sarah completed a dragon craft, and had her name written in Chinese calligraphy.

Is this a GREAT city, or what!!!!