Chicago day 1

The boys and I spent two days with Cheryl in Chicago.  We went by train and the boys were excited, especially Joshua.

We went to the Museum of Science and Industry first.  I said we were going to see Robots, and so Joshua was all about that.  It was a timed entry though, so we "had" to do some other things first.  Isaac loves mazes, so we went to the mirror maze first.

We did the robots after that.  Joshua said it was his favorite part.

There were a lot of intense stares while watching robots do cool things.

Isaac really wanted to do the magnet cubes, so we headed over there.  (It was nice to have two adults.)  Each cube preforms a different function: battery, wheels, sensor, spinner, etc.  After a bit of work he finally got one that moved and spiun at the same time.

We then had a long period of time where I don't have any pictures.  I really thought I had taken some, but maybe I was just too caught up in what we were doing.  The main things that we did were looking at trains, the coal mine (which Isaac said was his favorite), and the IDEAS exhibit.  The IDEAS was just for younger kids and they loved the place.  There were balls and water.  Joshua made a big robot/path from the heavy foam building blocks that you see in museums and probably spent about 30 minutes on it.

Near the end Isaac and I took a quick look at the circus portion and I loved the falling light dots.

We also took a quick stop at the farm while trying to figure out where to go next.  It closed at 4pm.  (The hours of everything perplexed me.  Everything opens at 10am, which seems rather late.  Kids are up early!)  Joshua got up on the tractor, but was too tired to get on the cow.  Who can blame him?  We were up early and had had a full day.

We ended up going to the Cheesecake Factory (yum) and then back to the hotel.  We took a short swim in the pool and then went to bed.  Joshua didn't fall asleep right away (probably because of the nap in the taxi).  Isaac just curled up in the bottom corner of the bed with the sheets over him and fell asleep.  Joshua was determined to sleep where I was and so I ended up switching sides of the bed a few times...moving him didn't work for more than five minutes.

Monday: home again home again

Last week we did a lot of traveling...I expect to blog about about it shortly.  Today was the recovery day; laundry, unpacking, and wondering why the house is such a mess.

Saturday

It was a laid back kind of day.

Friday: goofballs

All three of them...

(It rained all day so they didn't go play outside. That was sad, but the all day rain was wonderful!  I have missed the clouds these last few weeks.)

Isaac: 65, 66, and 67 months

Haha...I'm ok at taking the monthly pictures, but haven't been so good about posting them.  Here they are, in a picture overload again.

65 months:

Silliness: The silliness has ramped up in the last month or so.  It's getting a bit obnoxious, actually.  When I ask a question and get "baulk" (the thing the chicken says) as an answer it just isn't fun any more.  He also does this to other people, and that doesn't work for me either.  Being that silly with close family is (almost) fine; being that silly with others is weird.

Playing: he still loves to play and plays with Joshua easily.  Sometimes it seems like Isaac gets to make up the activity and Joshua just follows, but it works for the two of them right now so I won't interfere.  There's been a lot of running around lately, but he's still playing with marbles and Legos a lot.  Anything that involves putting things together is usually a hit.  He likes mazes.

Dislikes: Isaac has been more vocal about things he doesn't like.  This includes coloring, singing, and assorted outside activities (walks, biking at times)

66 months:

Screen time: Isaac makes sure he gets his allowed screen time every day.  He has expanded to the computer some days, and sometimes wants to watch Ben or me play a video game.

Surprises: Isaac loves surprises.  So much so that if I accidentally tell him what a surprise his there is a high chance that he'll start crying.

Eating: Isaac is a good eater.  He often eats everything on his plate, although I think the incentive of a treat afterwards has worked well for him.  He especially likes lemon things right now.

Crying: I've seen Isaac cry a bit more than normal lately.  Today it was that he'd 'never get to see Ceiling Spider again' after it came into the sink and so I washed it down.  It's usually over little things, and he knows that thinking about something funny helps him calm down.

Puppy Dog: Being a puppy dog isn't happening quite as much lately.  I still get woofs a few times a day, but it isn't all the time.  And I can call him Isaac at home without being reprimanded. :)

67 months:

Routine: Isaac is very good with the routine we have, but also does well if we change the routine and explain it to him.  He usually wakes up around 7am and gets dressed.  I'm often woken up by Joshua around the same time and then we'll have breakfast.  We tend to do our outings in the morning, come home, have lunch, quiet time/screen time, and then putz around until Ben gets home.  His green alarm clock has been wonderful; he is good about not going too long with the screen time.

Chores: Isaac currently cleans his room once a week, puts away the silverware, feeds Flurry, and puts away his laundry.  He doesn't love it (especially hanging up his shirts), but it does it without complaining...usually.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten starts in a month, and although we've talked about it I'm not sure he really understands what it entails yet.  (That's ok.  Neither do I.)

He is a fun and easy-going kid to be with.

Tuesday: blueberries and party

This morning we picked blueberries.  Isaac wasn't very excited at first, but had fun with it.  The playground was a hit afterwards.

We had Joshua's party in the evening.  He found the party hats and kept one on for the rest of the night.

Joshua choose waffles for dinner and I added eggs, sausage, strawberries, and peppers.

This is a classic Joshua face.  I'm not really sure what it means most of the time.

He was excited about his presents.

Monday: my problem

I'm in the midst of an interesting audio book and an excellent visual book.  So I'm staying up quilting later than normal and then staying up too late reading.

Vacation Day 8: packing up and leaving

While people were packing up the kids went wild.  It was really rather normal for the trip.

Ben played a zapping game with one of the girls; she loved it.

There were a few naps.

Isaac got a present of Outfoxed, the game he had played so much during the week.

We did some rocket balloons.  Basically, you blow up a balloon with a pump and then let it go.  It zooms all over and the kids chase it.  Wonderful and easy entertainment, although the balloons did like to pop on the grass.

We took a quick stop at a playgroup before the last family left to get some energy out and have a quiet house.

We had dinner and then said good bye to the last family.  It was a wonderful vacation, and I was rather sad about going back to our normal routine.

Sunday: VBS Sunday

Today was VBS Sunday, the conclusion of the week.  We found out the Myrna, the puppet that always gets into grand predicaments, was able to blow up Asteroid Myrna in time, thereby saving the whole Earth from destruction.  Phew.

They also invited the kids to go on stage for the songs.  To my surprise, Isaac went.  (Although he asked if he could go up the ramp...maybe he had odd ulterior motives.)  Anyway, he did the motions reasonably well and sang the choruses.  He didn't always look all that happy to be up there, but it was crowded.  (He's in the front middle of the picture below in a bright green shirt.)

Afterwards he said he doesn't like singing.  He also doesn't like coloring.  This might make church services hard in the future, as he is moving up in classrooms soon and there will be more times for him to come sit in Big Church.  However, once he had a pen and some blank paper he was content to draw.  Stickers helped too.

I always have conflicting emotions around VBS.  As most of you know, hanging out with kids isn't my favorite thing to do.  At the same time, I believe it is super important to do.  I do it although I often feel awkward, as starting conversations is sometimes hard for me.  As the week progresses though, it always gets easier.  I asked one student about if her "star disease" is all gone.  (She put star stickers all over her face, and then the stickers spread to her arms and legs.)  We can laugh about not sharing candy - it turns out that candy can be a great teaching tool. :)  We can cheer together as we say the Bible memory verse faster than previous times.  I got a note from one student saying I was the best VBS teacher that she's had, but ...I'm not really sure I believe it.  Maybe it's just that I was the most recent and not too bad.  Hopefully they all felt loved and special and will remember that God loves them too.

Also, here's hoping to an easier memory verse next year.  Last year's was difficult, but we got it.  This year's had a ton of prepositions and lists.  We got it in 47 seconds, but there were still several helps as we went around the table.  (Oh, each person says one word and we go in a circle.  I often time it to see how fast we can get it.) "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all Creation.  For by him all things were created: in heaven and on Earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or rulers or dominions or authorities - all things have been created through Him and for Him."  Colossians 1:15-16

Vacation Day 7: back to the beach

One family left early in the morning and the rest of us went back to the beach after a lazy morning.

The boys made a multi-stage rocket in the morning.

At the beach we ran down the dune.  The sand was a bit too hot for Isaac, but he did it anyway.

Ben buried Isaac in the sand.

After this Isaac and I swam out to the swimming area markers.  I was quite proud of him; it was rather wavy and took us a while.  We got back and he asked, "will I get money?" I was surprised at first, but then realized he had overhead Ben saying he'd give $5 as the prize to have two guys race to the marker and back.  They didn't do it, so I think Isaac thought the money was still up for grabs.

We got a spot closer to the water, so that it wasn't such a trek.

Joshua was Ben's buddy again.

We stopped to Captain Sundae's again on the way home.

The kids tried out the drums.

And I got a picture of Isaac in his closet.  He liked to close the doors so it was completely dark.  He also asked to sleep in the closet again, so it must have been a fun experience.