White Castle, Putt-Putt and PIZZA!!

Wednesday afternoon found us hunting high and low for pants for the boys!! Chicago got a bit of a cold front, and it was chilly!! We finally found some (pajama pants!!) and off we went. Our first stop was White Castle...oh yes, sliders!! The boys loved it, and even to this day are talking about "Oh, those sliders just hit me again!" Too funny! After that, we were off to play mini golf. Such fun. Ethan got the first hole in one...he was so proud!! Josh got one too, and Micah made on on the very last hole. CLayton ended up being the winner so it was good all around! :D We wrapped up golf and headed to a famous Chicago pizza place called Giordanos. Big fat huge pizza! Yummy!! Great way to end a fantastic day!

Field Museum, Planetarium, and Aquarium!

So, our second full day in Chicago, we went to the Field Museum (history). It was pretty darn cool. Lots of neat stuffed animals to look at, ancient and current. The boys like the big giraffes. We got to meet Sue the Dinosaur...that was pretty darn awesome! A big ol T-Rex! My favorite was the exhibit about the Ancient Egyptians. We also got to do an exhibit that "shrunk" us to 1/2 an inch tall! "Through the Eyes of a Bug"...so neat. YOu got to see the underground world from a bugs perspective. We also did a new pirate exhibit, but it wasnt as cool as advertised...it was all reading, and the little boys had no patience for that! If we'd have had the time, JOsh, Ethan and I would have enjoyed it.
After that one, we went on down to the Adler Planetarium. The exhibits were alright, but the coolest part was the shows we got to see! They did one of the night sky in CHicago, and what we would be able to see that night! So neat!!! After that one, we saw a show called cosmic collisions, which was interesing and made for great conversations with the kiddos! Finally, we headed to the Shedd Aquarium for a quick tour. It was pretty dark in there, and of course, the animals were behind glass, so not many pics from there. But we got to see beluga whales, dolphins and penguins! So neat. Oh, and sharks too. About at the end, Clayton realized that he'd lost his wallet, so Josh called the aquarium and they had it!! So he ran the 1/2 mile or so back to get it and then back up to meet us! Clay was very grateful. It even had the rest of his money in it! A great day over all!!!

Chicago Day #2!! Museum of Science and Industry

Whew!! Sunday, we went to church with Jason and Betsy, had some awesome lunch, and then we headed to Rockford to meet up with some Newtons!! The boys had a blast with Uncle Tom and Josh, along with Alyssa flying kites! Aunt Jeanne made us an amazing dinner that we got to eat out on the deck...the weather was so great!
Monday, we headed to Chicago for our first full day downtown. After a bit of a late start, and a few hiccups with the train/bus schedules, we finally made it to the Museum of Science and Industry! Such a cool place! We scoped out all the galleries, and then the boys all headed into the Harry Potter exhibit. No pictures allowed...darn it! They thought it was pretty cool...lots of artifacts from the movies. After they were done with that, we explored a bit more getting to see inside a full size plane, and touring the submarine U-505! That was a cool ship! Lots of neat stuff to see in that exhibit...the boys couldnt get over how big it was! Josh got to go on a tour inside that was pretty awesome, but again, no pictures! We finished up with the space exhibit where the boys got to land a simulated space shuttle. It was pretty darn cool!
We ended the day with a trip to the FOX studios to see my friend Carina who recently got a job up here! She was able to turn on the camera and lights so the boys could sit in the reporters chair and see waht it was like to be on TV! They thought that was so awesome. We finally headed back to the train station...carrying Micah for part of the way, that poor dude was TIRED! They all were! A good nights sleep was had by all. :D

Chicago Day #1! LegoLand!

Our first full day in Chicago was great!! We headed to LEGOLAND which was fantastic. The boys LOVED seeing all the cool things that were made out of legos. They had a full "jungle" of animals created from them...then some other cool statues. We got to tour a "factory" to see how Legos were made, and then, a huge play room where they could build with legos as long as their hearts desired! They had a car building station and you could design and build your own car, then race it. ALL the boys loved this part! Dad and Uncle J had a blast helping the kiddos. After we finished there, we topped off the day with a lovely trip to Oberweis for some ICE CREAM!!! A very successful start to our vacation! :D

Great Wolf Lodge

Last weekend we got to go to Kansas City to Great Wolf Lodge with our dear friends the Barths! They have 2 kiddos our kids' ages, so they had a ball together! And the adults got to have fun together! :D Josh and Aaron would get on a raft and stick a kid in front and the would FLY!!! We got to play for 2 days! The kiddos were exhausted by the time we left, but we still had to drag em outta there!

A Little Catch Up!

Oh boy, its been awhile!! So here is a little catch up of everything we have been up to the last month or so! Of course, Mothers Day. :D And then, Falon graduated!! So very cool... we were all so proud of her. It was the middle of May, so we thought it would be warm, but the day before a storm came though along with a cold front. It was FREEZING and windy! But we made it through and had a ball celebrating. And following that was the boys' last day of school. Next year Ethan moves on to middle school, Clay will be in 2nd grade, and Micah will go to full day kindergarten. Whoa....And finally, Ethan turned 12! Holy cow!! :D We are in full pre teen mode. Here comes the rollercoaster!

Easter!

We headed to KS for the Easter holiday! We got to see lots of family, Benjamin and his wife Bird (aka Falon) and their son Aiden came down to Haven for an Easter Egg Hunt Saturday morning. Lots of fun! We got to chat with them awhile, and then Aunt Shelly, Bonnie, Gram, Harold, Chrystal, and Vinny came over for dinner! Of course, we saw Grammy and Papa. The boys had a ball! They were so stoked to go. We dyed eggs Saturday afternoon, and it became a game to see who could make the ugliest egg. And, Clayton made a tye dye egg to match his t shirt! We had lots of fun and ate wonderful food. A fantastic holiday!

Happy 30th Birthday Joshua!!!!

Last Thursday Josh turned the BIG 3-0!!! :D He had been in Cincinatti all week, and got to travel home on his birthday. Thankfully, his plane was on time! The boys wanted to color pictures for him and put them on the door, then hide when he pulled up to surprise him. It was pretty darn cute! :D Saturday we made a Daddy fun day. He got to go play paintball with one of our friends from church...and he had a blast! He had a huge welt on his head, and several elsewhere, but he loved it. He got done just in time for Claytons soccer game, and then that night we went out for dinner with a bunch of our friends. So much fun! Happy Birthday Josh! We love you!

Snow!!!

Last weekend we had a surprise snow storm! It rained for nearly 2 days then all of a sudden turned to snow. The boys were THRILLED!!! Clay thought they'd be out of school...but the snow quickly melted. They were just glad to have been able to build a snowman! The first of the season. Micah thought it was funny Monday morning when all that was left of him was "his butt"! :D The day after the snow fell, the boys were out in the front yard in sweatshirts trying to get all the snow in the yard onto the snowman so he'd last longer! Great fun.

Spring Break

Last week the boys were on spring break. We had a ball!! I was super busy with extra clsses, but we made the best of it and tried to have a new adventure every day. Monday we went to see a movie and then to the park with some friends, (it was beautiful here all week!), Tuesday we went to Bounce U (indoor inflatables), Wednesday was hiking Turkey Mountain (well, as big a mountain as you can have in OK!) and then ice cream, Thursday was recovery with a movie day at home and Friday was a bike ride and more playing at the park. I think the boys' favorite day was hiking...we climbed all over, and they managed to scare me to death on that rock ledge...I'm talkin serious pain in my chest and belly! They thought it was hysterical that I was so freaked out! :D They caught frogs and played in the mud...we finished up at another park, and another pond where Clay fell in!! Surprise, surprise!! Hope you all had a great week too!

Vacation with the Davis'

This last weekend we had the awesome opportunity to go on vacation with my sister and her husband to celebrate their one year anniversary! Amazing how time flies! We all headed to Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. Betsy found a cute cabin right on the water, and it came with a paddleboat, rowboat and hot tub! Such fun! We all turned up Friday night and checked out the cabin, then headed to a local Mexican place for some grub! Right off we were having an amazing time! Saturday morning brought an early paddleboat ride for Joshua and I, then some breakfast and finally, hitting the outlet mall! I was a proud big sister as I escorted Betsy to the Coach store to pick out her very own bag!! It was so fun!! We spent some time shopping then headed back to the cabin for some dinner and hot tubbin! Sunday was more fantastic time with the Davis'. It was their anniversary!!! We ate some breakfast then headed into town for another aquick stab at the shops, the into downtown for some fun! We went into one of those studios to get our "old time photo" done. I've always wanted to do it, so has B, but the boys were none to thrilled....until they saw how we'd be dressed!! :D It was a ton of fun! Then we headed to play some 10 cent skee ball (of which I am the champ!! 330 high score!) and then off to dinner. We went to an amazing restuarant right on the lake with amazing views and even better food! After that we raced home to sit on the dock and watch the sunset. It was fantastic! As you can tell, we had an amazing weekend. It was so good to spend some time with my dear sister and her wonderful husband. Fantastic food, amazing talks, and just quality time that I think all of us needed! This is hopefully going to be an annual trip! Love you Davis'!!!

The Circus!

We got to go to the circus!! I LOVE the circus and hope that my boys do too! This is the first opportunity that we've had to take Micah, and he loved it! He wasnt so sure about that weird clown though... :D. I found myself constantly saying "Now, understand you cannot do that at home." "No, you may not use the swingset as a trapeze!" Too funny!! Cant you just see those kiddos trying that stuff??? Their favorite thing was the "Ball of Death", a big metal ball that 3 dirt bikes got in and rode around. Pretty cool!
Just one extra note...when we arrived, we had to wait out in the cold for about 20 minutes to get tickets. I had had the boys get their coats, but was so rushed as we left that I forgot mine! Those 2 little dudes rubbed my back and blocked me from the wind! They were so sweet trying to keep me warm...several people in line even commented about what sweet boys I had. They are so special! Just wanted to share!

Valentines Day

Valentines weekend Joshuas parents, sister and her boyfriend came down to help celebrate Clays birthday, and we got to go to dinner! Chrystal, Vinny, Josh and I all went out for a lovely dinner, just adults! So much fun. Nice to have adult conversation without little ones running underfoot! :D

Clays Birthday!

A few weeks ago we celebrated Claytons 7th birthday!! Can you believe he's that old? He wanted to have some of his friends spend the night, so we had a sleepover. How goofy am I that I agreed to it, on the day they all had thier Valentines parties! They were hyped up! But it was a ball. Later that week, he lost his first top tooth, and get this! He thought the Tooth Fairy was gonna give him $20 b/c it was his birthday!!! Too funny! ;D

A few more basketball pics....

Hunting!

A few weeks ago, Ethan got to go with Joshua to Haven for his very first hunting trip! He hasnt had hunters safety yet, so on the actual hunt, he only got to observe, but that afternoon, Papa and Daddy took him out to the field and let him shoot targets. They had a ball! It was so fun to hear him talk about it....and hear the little boys countdown the years until they can go!