Chicago Vacation

 We decided to take a family vacation to Chicago to celebrate the kids' birthdays. One of their favorite parts was the hotel swimming pool.

 Our first day there was spent at the Kohl Children's Museum. They had a blast!

 We finished up the day at Rainforest Cafe. The boys loved it there. Clarey wasn't so sure about the moving animals around us.

 The next morning, we got ready to go to the Field Museum. This is why we came to Chicago. To see Sue. Clayton was so excited he could hardly stand it. As he told the maillady, "I've waited like 6 years to see Sue!"

 We got there a bit early, so we played outside with the life-size brachiosaurus skeleton.

 Once inside, they made a bee-line for Sue. Clayton was really interested in looking at all of her bones.

 We spent a good part of our day in the Children's Play Lab. Going on a day this was open was definitely worth it. It was quiet, there were very few people and the kids got to touch, play and explore. Levi especially loved the North American animal exhibit in the play lab. He loved dressing up as a coyote and then popping his head out when he heard the coyote howl.

 This is Sue's real skull. (It's too heavy to have on the skeleton downstairs.) What's really great about it not being attached is that we can actually get close to it. The kids were able to inspect those teeth up close.

 The next day we went to the Shedd Aquarium. While it was fun to see the variety of marine life, I was more than a bit disappointed. It was overflowing with kids' camps and school groups who had too little supervision. It was quite loud, quite crowded and difficult to enjoy. There were a few exhibits the kids really liked, especially the shark tank.

 We left the city for Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I almost nixed this part of our trip, but am so glad we went. Barely an hour from Chicago, this lakeshore is a gem. The kids had so much fun playing in the waves and the water and sliding down the dunes. We could have spent more time here.

 Clarey wasn't so sure about the waves. While the water temperature was pretty good, she didn't like the fact that the water could catch her.

It was a great trip. After nearly a week in hotels we were all ready to come home to separate bedrooms with our own beds. The kids have asked to go back to many of the places we went. Hopefully one day we can.

Happy 4th of July!

We had a really low key 4th of July celebration this year. We went to a pool party and bar-b-que across the street and then did just a few fireworks with the kids. With everything being so dry, we didn't want to set off any real ones. The kids were content with sparklers and the boys loved pulling the strings of the pop kind. I don't really know what those are called...Clarey just thought it was fun to take everything out of the box. We had a perfectly nice summer day.

Baby Addie Visits

 As a very special birthday treat, Emily and Andy stopped by with their new little angel, Adelaide.
The kids were all excited to meet her. As you can see, Clayton isn't any better at holding a baby now than he was two years ago. (Click here to see Clayton lovingly holding his new sister.)

 If I were Addie, I'd be afraid, too! All these small children! All this movement! You're letting them HOLD me?!

Levi was really gentle and calm while he held her.

I didn't get a picture of Clarey holding her. Clarey was totally in love with Adelaide. She held her the longest and would just look at her. Later that evening, after they had been long gone, Clarey asked for Baby Addie to come home. She told me that Baby Addie was hers. Every doll is now Baby Addie and any baby item we see or have is for Baby Addie. We're going to have to go and see Baby Addie soon!

These Speak for Themselves

More Creature Captures

Levi loves, loves, loves to find and catch any type of small creature he can get his hands on. In fact, if he grows up to be anything other than a conservationist, biologist, zoologist or wildlife photographer I will be completely astounded. I wish I had started a tally at the beginning of the summer of all the animals this child has caught.

One morning the kids were playing very contentedly outside while I cleaned up breakfast and did a few chores. I looked out our back window to see Levi crouching down with something in his hands. I knew I didn't really want to know what he'd caught, but at the same time, I needed to know what it was.

Upon further inspection, I see Levi holding a tiny mouse by it's tail. The poor little critter is wiggling every body part possible trying to gain freedom. Clarey's got a magnifying glass so she can have a better look... (This is a stark contrast to the pedicure and tea party Clarey from the week before.)

Finally that little field mouse got loose and made a beeline for our house. I told Levi it was not allowed near our house and to make sure it ended up in the woods. First, though, Levi made several observations, such as 'mice use their front feet like hands to grab onto things,' that we had to record in his journal.

The next day, we all went out to check the mail. And while I'm helping Clarey, who didn't want to wear shoes, open the mailbox and hold all the letters, Levi starts shouting, "Mom! Help! A lizard! Help me catch this lizard!" I start looking all around and I just don't see a lizard anywhere. I tried looking where Levi was looking and I just didn't see anything. Since I wasn't much help Levi said, "Tiger! Help!" Tiger is our cat.

Then Levi crouched down, waited a second or two and snap! He grabbed a teeny tiny lizard in his hands. It wasn't longer than 3 inches, tail and all. I had in my hands, with Clarey and the mail, a big bowl so we could all go pick the garden. (Imagine me catching a lizard - even if I could have seen it.) Levi deposited the very tiny lizard in the bowl and at that very second crouched down again. Before I knew it, he had caught a second one, the very same size. 

He immediately identified them as baby prairie lizards and we put them in bug keepers. Levi gathered some grass so they would have cover and then caught two grasshoppers for them to eat. I don't know why he added the dinosaur...

 After getting over the fact that he caught two within a minute of each other, we started to discuss why two were there. Levi decided there must have been a nest close by so we went back to look. We never did find a nest. I don't really know what a lizard nest looks like, to tell you the truth.

Just this past weekend, Levi comes running inside saying he spied a lizard and needed help catching it. It truly was a group effort. This lizard was fast. We got it put in a bug keeper and Levi took it to the garage. Cyle and I (mainly Cyle, though) had been working on a project outside. Once I had finished my bit, I walked back to the garage and found those two lying on the garage floor observing their critters. I don't know what Clarey was observing, it may have been empty...

Levi has caught at least 6 prairie lizards this summer. This one was no less fascinating than the first. He told me it was an adult because of it's size and that for a prairie lizard it was really fat. He said it must have just eaten a really big and juicy grasshopper. As he was lying there, he said, "Look at those claws, Mom. They are really good for digging. Prairie lizards must be good burrowers." After a pause, he added, "I really love catching lizards!"

Yes, if he grows up and enters a field unrelated to creatures, I'll be very surprised.