Morton Arboretum

After visiting the Children's Museum, we headed back to cousin Bonnie's house, grabbed a snack and headed to the Morton Arboretum. We didn't get to do a whole lot there because we arrived in the midst of a downpour. I was hoping to show David the Children's Garden and go on the guided tour, but we were about the only ones in the park! We did drive around to see the grounds, and after the rain let up, we got out and toured some of the animal habitats they had on display. Each year the Arboretum does a different "special attraction". When we were there last year, there were a bunch of different insects and animals sculpted from tree branches - at least that's what I think it was, all I know is that they were very large and looked as if they were made from that sort of material. Anyway, this year they had 11 animal habitats scattered in different areas of the park, all related to what animals live in those areas.

In the Prairie they had a coyote den, an ant colony, and a spider web

In the Wetlands they had a Great Blue Heron Rookery, a beaver lodge, a pollywog pond, and a skunk denAnd in the Woodlands they had a squirrel drey, a raccoon den, and a fallen log (unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of these because it was still pretty wet when we got out to see them).

We also saw a beautiful bird feeding in the wetlands area and many beautiful flowers and trees. For those of us that live in the desert, we find anything that isn't brown to be quite breathtaking...

Chicago Children's Museum

A view of the Chicago skyline from the Eisenhower Expressway (I think)

After dropping Mom off at the airport on Saturday, we went down to Navy Pier and took the kids to the Chicago Children's Museum. We didn't brave the train that day... It cost us $24 to park, but were very pleasantly surprised when we got to the museum and found out that admission for active duty military and their families was free! So I decided I couldn't complain about spending the $24 for parking - it turned out to be a really fun (and cheap) day down at Navy Pier.

The kids had a great time. They played in water, bowled, did crafts, climbed, fished, were paleontologists, and so much more! I so wish we lived closer to a place that had all of these things! Here's a few pictures:

The kid's "stairs"

The water works area - I'm so glad there were raincoats!
Checkers with Daddy
Bowling She's proving to be quite the climber
Riding down the river
Fishing
Our future paleontologists

They had this really cool area of shadow play. One part had rocks falling on you, and the other screen had butterflies. I have no idea how it works, but it was really neat. There were rocks falling straight down on the screen, then when you stood in front of the screen and created a shadow, the rocks would divert their course according to your shadow's positioning.

The butterflies would fly around you, and would land on you occasionally.

We're trying to raise our kids to be self sufficient...

Pumping gas

Changing tires

A view of the Chicago skyline from Navy Pier

It really is a neat city, with lots of stuff to do - and I'm sure we'll discover even more as the kids get older. I think this is the first trip that we've not gone to the zoo - there was just too much else going on...

First Train Ride

While in Chicago, we met the Keyser's downtown at the Museum of Science and Industry. I had the brilliant idea of taking the train downtown because I thought it would be better than fighting traffic and paying out the nose for parking. My cousin Bonnie thought it would be a great idea too and told us just what we needed to do when the train got to the end of the line - unfortunately, both of us were wrong... It turned out to be quite a challenge to get to the museum, but we managed, and the kids didn't seem to mind - after all, what could be much more fun than riding a train and a bus to get to where you're going?

This was Tristan's first train ride, and the first that Grace will remember.


We all enjoyed the museum - they had something for everyone!

The kids had a great time in the hands-on section,












they enjoyed climbing the walls (and mom didn't even yell!),
David and Tristan thoroughly enjoyed the gigantic train diorama,

and the kids enjoyed visiting with their Grandma on the trolly.


The next day we spent some additional time with my Grandma, and we visited with my Aunt Mary (believe it or not, she's 95). She has a big yard, so the kids had a ball just running free.

Then it was back to Bonnie's for some rest. Tristan decided he needed to rest so badly that he was going to knock himself out...

I don't know what it is with this boy and head injuries! But it was too cute not to post.

Happy 100th Birthday Grandma!

Okay, I'm 2.5 weeks late on posting this, but I've had a lot going on... Blogging has gotten lost in the shuffle between school/work, soccer and t-ball practices, church activities, housework, and feeding the family. So, I'm going to attempt to catch up while I have a moment to just sit.

We went to Chicago the 13th-17th of August to celebrate my Grandma's 100th birthday. We had a great time together celebrating this huge milestone. We had family from Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Texas, and of course, Arizona. We had a little party at Grandma's new home in a little covered picnic area they have. It was great to see everyone again - I think it's been 5 years since we've all been together.

Grandma seemed to enjoy herself - and took a taste of the cake before it was even cut! But why not - she is 100, and I think she can do whatever she darn well pleases...

The last year has been hard on her, but she continues to do fairly well. As long as she has her oxygen on she remains sharp. She remembered David, and couldn't believe how much the kids had grown since her last birthday.

It was a special time for me, because it gave me a chance to visit with her and tell her good bye and how much I love her before she goes to her everlasting home. She did say she didn't think she'd have another birthday, but one never knows what the Lord has planned...

Growing up...way too fast

Well, it's official - we have a pre-schooler and a school aged child in our house.

Next thing you know I'll have two high school graduates!

Grace had her first day of Kindergarten last Thursday. David was able to go in late to work, so he took the kids to school for their first day. I was so glad he was able to do that because he has missed so many firsts with the kids - he's either been at work and unable to get away, or deployed...

Next to her cubby

With her teacher, Mrs. Ellis

Sitting at her desk

I made it through the day without crying - I really was surprised I didn't cry, because the day before when we were up at the school, Grace's teacher took her to see her room and showed her her cubby with all her school supplies in it, and I started to tear up then. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that Tristan is in the room right next to my office, and Grace is just down the hall.

Neither of the kids had any trouble adjusting... Tristan's preschool classroom is the same room as his Sunday School class, and Grace had gone to preschool there the last few months of last year, so she knows her way around. In fact, Grace asked me "Mommy, why are you taking so many pictures?" As David said, it's no big deal to them since they're used to being here... So much for making a big deal over the first day of school...

What can I say? He's right next door, I had to peek!

Grace even had her first homework assignment Thursday night!

Not only did they start school on Thursday, but they started their sports that day too. Thursday was Grace's first soccer practice - she is now on a team for kids under 6. She enjoyed the mini-sports soccer so much that she decided she wanted to play on a team when the season started. So, she'll be playing soccer from now until sometime in November.

Tristan said that he wanted to play t-ball, so we signed him up for mini-sports since he's too young to play on any teams (mini-sports is a 6 session introduction to different sports, geared to 3-5 year olds). David took him to that and said that he really enjoyed it - until he got bored... I guess the coach wants to teach them to throw the ball a certain way, and Tristan already has a rocket for an arm, so he got pretty bored with having to do it the "right way". Hopefully I'll be able to convince David to take the camera to one of the practices so we can get some pictures of our little guy doing his thing.

Needless to say, we are incredibly busy! We have school daily from 8:30-3, and then have activities every evening except for Fridays (we start ballet/tap and gymnastics tomorrow), so if anyone has any good crock-pot or quick fix dinners, I could sure use them! Thankfully, I only have to be in 2 places at once for 6 weeks (we're praying that David gets off of work at a decent hour on Tuesdays so he can take one of the kids to their practice) and things will calm down in November once soccer season is over. So I hope you'll understand if these blogs become a little sparse...