April actually started out a little bit sticky at our place. April Fools Day has been a holiday of tricks and tears some years. The friendly googly eyes taped to food in the fridge gets a quick smile, the expressions of horror when someone sees a 'spider in my hair,' etc. However, there was a year in times past when Grant put some Karo pancake syrup (not to be confused with the regular corn syrup!) on the bathroom potty and Brenna was traumatized as she was the victim of the prank. Well, this year, she thought she would return the favor and she honey-ed the entire bathroom-toilet seat, faucet, light switch etc... It was quite the endeavor to clean up.
Good thing she is the best cleaner in the house,I put her right to work. April is so busy for her-not just her scrubbing duties,but dance competitions seem to take over the weekends.
This is her jazz outfit after a comp in Saratoga Springs. She also preformed her Hip Hop
and contemporary routines. She is such a fun dancer to watch, we were super proud of our little lady!
Harrison has been obsessed with football since the fall. So, we signed him up for Flag Football with some preschool friends. They are the Ravens. He is slightly frightening on the field.
He attacks like a mad man. He has scored some touchdowns,but the most hilarious parts are when he is called off the sidelines and he runs screaming on to the field, pumping up the crowd and his teammates with his arms. He yells, "Wahoo, Lets Go!" or when shouting at the other team, "I'm gonna get your flag!" So far, he has not been punched or beat up, we are going to keep our fingers crossed for the rest of the season!
We were so happy to get a week long break, so we decided to head to Chicago and Nauvoo!
We started off in Nauvoo
Grant, Katelee and I went inside the temple and did baptisms for the dead. It was a cool experience-one of the members of the temple presidency had a little devotional with us and talked to us about the miracle of the Restoration, how special that temple is etc. Meanwhile, Dave, Brenna and Harrison played at the visitor center.
We got out of the temple and toured Historic Nauvoo. The kids' favorite part was when we went on a carriage ride and the wagon scraped up against a pole. The screeching sound spooked the horses so badly, those hoofed creatures took off on a sprint and we were eating their dust...literally. It was so funny and we were all laughing, but the missionary/horse master was not as amused!
We went to the blacksmith shop, Lucy Mack's Home, the brickyard, the printers shop
and because we are in the pioneer spirit this year with Grant getting ready for Trek, I have signed us up to work/volunteer at This is the Place park. Grant and Katelee will both be apprentices there. Grant will be doing the Tinsmith apprentice, so we thought we should give him a preview when we were in Nauvoo. The sisters gave him a little lesson...I think he will be a master Tinsmith for sure!
We saw Joseph Smith's grave, along with Hyrum and Emma's. I think it is a cool place, but maybe I had my expectations too high because the kids did not rate it as highly as I would have liked! The next day we were at Carthage Jail, where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed. The spirit there was pretty incredible. We wrapped up the church history sites and headed to the big Chicago Metropolis!
The skydeck on the Willis Tower is pretty fun! Harrison, was not so sure of its safety, however.
While the other kids were taking as many crazy photos as possible, (they only give you a few minutes for your turn)
Harrison was huddled in the corner, much like this face Katelee is faking...
Katelee coaxed him out (by bribery that she later did not fulfill, which maybe caused a bit of a melt down) But, we did get a family photo, so it was worth it.
We walked over to Giardino's for some authentic deep dish pizza that was amazing. Brenna was less than impressed and asked the waiter if they just had "normal" pizza.
They did have regular crust and gf, so everyone was sufficiently fed!
It is so hard to cram everything into a few days, but we knew we wanted to do at lease one museum-we settled on The Museum of Science and Industry and boy was it awesome!!
Plenty to keep little kids busy..
and teenagers busy...
Ha! Really, the entire museum had something for everyone-weather, transportation, carnival, farm, chemistry, hours and hours of fun. I have always wanted to do a mirror maze and this was was trippy and everything I ever dreamed of! We loved it.
Dave hits a museum limit and Grant is currently experience typical teenage moods (I will limit it at that, but it needs to be documented for his posterity!). So, we didn't stay quite as long as I could have, but bellies were aching and we needed sustenance. Dinner and the hotel were next on the list. Portillo's is probably a one time deal for us, but we did it and Harrison had a melt down under the table, so we prefer to keep the PTSD to a minimum and steer clear if we are ever back!
Chicago is a really clean and neat city. The parks are so fun! It was pretty cold, but we could have spent hours walking on the riverwalk and exploring the parks along the water. We had to see the Bean, of course, aka Cloud Gate. It is a hip and unique structure and we really enjoyed it! The fountains nearby were not on, but we loved the displays that flashed on the screens.
The kids had some swimming time at the hotel, but decided it wasn't enough. So, the next morning when I asked them who wanted to go to the Art Institute of Chicago and Dave proposed whoever wanted to stay and go swimming, I was left on my own to explore the Art.
Best hours of the trip!! haha! Really, the Art Institute has some incredible pieces and I could enjoy them on my own while the other people swam. I walked back to the hotel and we took an Uber to the Cubs game. We'd all been looking forward to Wrigley Stadium.
But it was SO COLD.
We just tried to prevent hypothermia and keep moving. That humid, freezing wind almost did us in! I feel bad we only made it through the 4th inning (or 4th ending as Harrison refers to it), but it's all we could do!
Harrison was in sport fan heaven...looks like we have an MLB obsession coming on.
Because we left early, we thought it would be a good time to get together with our friends the Thompsons who live in Wisconsin, just an hour or two out of Chicago. So glad we did! We had such a fun dinner catching up with Clark, Tori, Ezra and Finley. We went back to their house after touring the cheese aisle of their grocery store...wow, Wisconsin cheese is no joke. I mean, I'd heard about it, but it has to be experienced!!
They were so nice to meet us at the Aquarium the next day. It was pretty busy, but such a fun location right on the lake.
And unfortunately, we had to leave without seeing quite everything. We had a plane to catch. Chicago-you definitely lived up to everything we had heard! Maybe we will be back, without tantrums and teens! haha!
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