Cantigny Park

After a failed attempt at one last great summer adventure, (we told the boys we were taking them to Great America, but it’s already closed for the summer during weekdays) we were stuck.

We had exhausted all the new and exciting places to visit over the summer! Six Flag Great America was our last trick.

Adam suggested we drive the long hour out to Wheaton and see Cantigny Park.

Adam told me it was formally a private estate, now turned into a park with a bunch of war tanks on display. Which creeped me out. Probably because I just watched the movie Foxcatcher.

But in fact Robert McCormick designated this space, formally McCormick’s farm, as a public space for education and recreation. McCormick was a bonafide military man. He helped capture Cantigny, France in World War One and later named his estate after it. John du Pont, of Foxcatcher Farm, was a wealthy eccentric with erratic and violent tendencies.

Also, even though Adam and I have the utmost respect for the people who serve our country, we hope our kids don’t idolize them so much that they dream of having such dangerous vocations.

Still after all that I couldn’t help think, “Well, climbing on a bunch of old tanks does sounds like a really cool thing to do.”

Must be all the testosterone I’ve been sniffing lately.

So we went.

And it was cool.

The kids were running around like crazy, climbing, shouting and screaming about each tank.

There were lots of educational opportunities as well.

Adam spoke to Jack about the perils of war.

We studied the tanks, noticing their different colors. The last tank pictures was used in dessert storm, hence the sandy color. Camouflaging your tank is different for different war zones.

In addition to the tanks, there were gardens to roam through.