Five years of Bliss

Five years ago my husband and I were sealed together in the Boise temple. To commemorate this milestone my Michael arranged a weekend get away for us at Starved Rock State park. We dropped the kids off at a friends house and after getting a little sleep from being on call the night before, we first went out to Olive Garden with the kids. It may not have been as romantic with them there but it was more entertaining! Trev LOVED the bread. Every time a waiter passed by with a basket of bread he'd stand up and shout "bed, bed!" often with a breadstick in each hand and his mouth stuffed full with one as well. After our dinner we dropped the kids off and headed off on our trip. Michael didn't tell me before hand where we were going, it was fun to be surprised. There was a hot tub there for us to soak in- something we both REALLY needed and hiking trails in the surrounding area. We learned that Starved Rock was named for some rumor that the area was once the place a tribe of Native American's hunkered down and starved to death instead of giving into the enemy, another warring tribe. Eek. It was still pretty though.

There were beautiful waterfalls everywhere and the trails could take you over the top or at the bottom of many of them.


We found this hollowed out tree that looked a little dangerous...but still pretty cool.

I didn't realize 'til we were almost done that my flash wasn't on so many of these pictures are blurry. Sorry 'bout that.

One of the many overlooks. It was like a sea of trees. It was also a little chilly for May. Good thing we brought our coats!

Can I tell you how much I love this man? Love him- he's pretty awesome.

Stud.

I just thought this was kinda funny.

It was a wonderful weekend- many thanks so those who made it happen! After such a long and exhausting year Michael and I really needed some time together. General surgery is rough stuff! But thankfully its over and we're on to radiology and I will be seeing a lot more of him. I'm so happy to be married to this guy- married life has been far easier and happier than I ever could have imagined- here's to many more years to come! Love you babe!

Museum of Science and Industry

Chicago has a lot of great museums. Unfortunatly for me they are really expensive great museums. Luckily, each musuem has a free day about once a month. These days are usually jam packed with people, but hey at least I get to go with the kids and have an experience and only have to pay $20 for parking (yes, 20 dollars just to park for a lousy 2-3 hours, this city drives me nuts.)

So I heard that the museum of Science and Industry, nerdy as it sounds, it actually pretty fantastic, so on a free day I packed up the kids and off we went. It was REALLY crowded, but we managed to find enough to entertain us and even got a few pictures in before my camera died. This museum features really anything science-y. They have a weather sections with a huge wind tunnel explaining how tornados are formed, a chick farm explaining genetics, machinery and nature and way more then I can ever remember or tell about. Just know that its pretty dang cool.

The farm sections showed how modern science is helping the farming industry to increase output and be more efficient. Trev liked the plastic cows. Lynetted liked the big tractors.

The transportation was by far the hit of the day. My little girl loves trains (and its really fortunate for her to be in Chicago where you can find trains in abundance and get to sit and watch them at intersections for 15 minutes until they finally pass by). They had a large model train area that both the kids could not get enough of. There were multiple train of different sorts driving through towns, cities, forest, mountains, and more. They were so happy you'd have thought it was Christmas. Way fun.

The best I could get of the two of them in front of a steam engine. Shortly after this Lynette had an accident and we had to go home. I detest potty training- it really is the pits as my good friend Angela once put it "If I knew how hard potty training was I seriously would have reconsidered having children." Amen, sistah, amen. Well, at least until that very abrupt ending we still had a really great time.

Monkeying Around

Overall I have to say the winters in Chicago are overrated. Yes they are cold, yes you get significant amounts of snow, but it's livable. Its not like Minnesota. Or North Dakota. Or Maine. So the great thing about having expections of a terrible, horrible winter with a blizzard everyday can leave you feeling pretty grateful when you end up getting one only every two weeks. That being said, by February I was definitely starting to get cabin fever. This happens to me every year, but having the native Chicagoans warn me spring won't come for another good 3 months didn't help. Neither did the fact that we had a pretty mild January, which brought up my hopes of an early spring only to be slammed with snow in February. So I was going just a little bit crazy. Thank goodness for Monkey Bizness.

Monkey Bizness is this great little indoor play area with inflated bounce castles, little slides, and lost of cushy, comfy mounds to jump on, crawl under, and roll around in. My cousin, Natalie, met up with me there one night and we sat and talked as the kids went at it. It was so great- I wish I'd known about this earlier. Yes, there is an entrance fee, and for those that know me know I hate spending money- but this was well worth it.

Lynette had some serious time on the duck.

I mean really serious time- look at that face- playing takes a lot of concentration with a duck like that.

Nice action shot.

Peek-a-boo

Look at the stains on that shirt. That poor boy! Where is his mother?

Many good times had by all.

Family Fun

February was a rough month for Michael. He worked a lot of long, hard hours and we didn't see him very much. When the stars aligned at the end of the month giving him a day off and the kids free of illness, we took advantage of it and had a fantastic night out. We took the kids bowling and they loved it! Trevor loves balls and even though he couldn't pick up bowling balls, he still like to touch them. Lynette kept trying to give Trev pointers and kept insisting on carrying her ball all by herself. Michael and I are really super awesome bowlers and we had a fierce competition going to which I won one round and he won another. Trev kept trying to chase after the ball and fell a couple times on the slick isle. He entertained a couple other people nearby with his antics. It was great.

Afterwards we headed out for Chinese. MMmmm yum. Trevor enjoyed the eggroll...and would try anything else and Lynette nibbled a bit here and there. Its a good thing we liked it because that "Family meal for 3" fed us for 5 days!!! Yeah, it'll be a while before I want to go out again for chinese. So much fun, though. Times together like this this past year have been few and far between, making each one of them so important. Sure do love our little family.

Trev's turn- everybody chips in to help.

Miss thang.

After Lynette's turn she would turn around and walk away. She just like to push the ball and go- oh and dance. The girl likes to dance.

Gettin' down.

Made me a little nervous watching her carry that thing around.

Perfect form.

And what's a post without a cute picture of Trev doing what he does best- make messes.

Day at the Beach

You can't take a trip to California and not go to the beach, no matter how short your stay. So on the morning of the day we were to leave California we bundled up our kids and set off with Michael's siblings to a nearby beach. It was cold- not what you hope for. But still, its a beach, and even though the kids were wearing their coats, they still enjoyed it.
We drew pictures in the sand, kept and eye out for shells and pretty rocks, and basically just enjoyed the sound and smell of the ocean. We were only out there for about 1 1/2 hours before the cold finally drove us back indoors, but it was nice.

Trev was extra cuddly on our beach excursion. He liked walking around for a little bit and even once I had to chase him away from the waves, but he always came back to mom for extra warmth.
Aunt Tara was Lynette's buddy. They drew pictures in the sand and had a great time. I really wished we'd have brought some pants for Lynette to wear, though.

Michael really enjoyed catching up with his siblings. Its been a while since we really got to spend time with them.

Blowing bubbles in the wind was a highlight.

My CRAZY sisters-in-law Lacy and Tara couldn't leave without taking a plunge. They charged out in the water screaming and splashing and encouraging us to join them. Uh, no thanks.

Michael is such a ladies's man.