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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Kohl Children's Museum

Jackson and I visited Kohl's Children's Museum last December with Auntie Cassie and Jonah, and we had such a good time!  We decided Daddy needed to come with us the next time :)  To kick off the second half of our time in Evanston, we headed to the museum, and I don't know who had more fun: Josh or Jackson!  We started out at the Car Care exhibit again, and Jackson had just as good of a time racing cars down the ramps with the other kids.  
Jackson was super pumped about doing his own grocery shopping at Dominick's!  He LOVED everything about this exhibit: the just-right-sized shopping cart, the apron, the check-out, re-shelving the groceries, picking out special food items, and working the conveyor belt!
Perhaps a future after-school job?
Daddy has quite the cart-full!  Good thing there is such an efficient checker :)
Choosing some bakery items
Jackson loved picking out the produce even though he doesn't eat any of the veggies!
Yummy chocolate milk!
Rolling the groceries down the conveyor belt
Leaving Dominick's was tough, but we promised Jackson we could come back once we checked out everything else!  We didn't visit the Hands on House exhibit last time, but we did this time.  We thought it was pretty cool, but it didn't hold Jackson's attention for very long.  There were different cushions available to finish putting siding on a house!
Paint supplies were available so the kids could practice painting the interior of the house.  There were also carpet squares to carpet the floor and some shingles to practice adding to the roof.
I LOVED this moment of toddler teamwork: Jackson watched this little girl and then decided she could use help putting the beanbags on the conveyor belt while she continued to operate the belt.  I watched the little girl to see if she wanted to be playing by herself, but she was totally fine with Jackson helping out.  It was so cute!
Jackson was pretty unsure about Waterworks, but once Josh showed him how the neat activities worked, he was pretty excited!
LOVE this picture!  The water was shooting at chimes and the notes played depending on where the water hit!
Jackson loved watching the balls spin at the top of the tunnel from the water pressure
We also didn't explore Music Makers the last time.  Jackson LOVED trying out all of the different instruments.  I think the drums were a favorite :)
Science and You was the special traveling exhibit while we visited this time.  Most of the concepts were a little old for Jackson, but this one was pretty cool: there were a few different boxes with gloves attached.  The idea was to show how scientists use these special gloves and boxes to conduct experiments with more dangerous chemicals.  There were various containers to rill up with the beads in the boxes.  It was fun experimenting with how much each container could hold!
Jackson got a kick out of Pet Vet!  He chose a doggies to check out in the animal hospital.  One memory he has carried forward is how he checked the doggie out but then there was a girl in the doggie's cage so he had to put the doggie in a different cage!  LOL
Jackson had a great time pretending to make sandwiches at Potbelly!  He got to work the cash register...
...put the sandwiches through the broiler...
...and make sandwiches!  Jackson played with lots of other exhibits, including a second trip to Dominick's and Car Care.  It was so fun watching Jackson explore the museum one year older than last time.  I think he and Daddy really enjoyed this special outing together :) 
After naptime the same day, Mimi took over Jackson duty, and Josh and I headed to Naperville for a double date with the newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Cocallas :)  Kim and I have been friends since my sophomore year of college, and I love getting to spend time with her when we go home.  This time I got to see her TWICE!  YAY!  We were so excited to visit Kim and David's adorable house they are renting!  They cooked us a yummy dinner and then they introduced us to the game Rummikub.  We had such a nice evening relaxing and catching up--can't wait to do it again!

When we came home, however, we checked on Jackson and found him totally sound asleep just like this: with socks on his hands!  I thought there was some funny story about bedtime, but my mom said she put him to bed with his socks on his feet--this means he must have had this idea to put his socks on his hands after she left him!  SO funny!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Wonderland Express 2011

 Visiting the Chicago Botanic Garden while we were in town for the Wonderland Express exhibit was on the top of my list :)  Jackson had such a good time last year, and I knew he'd love it even more this year :)  Mimi took the day off this past Tuesday and we not only got in for free admission since Tuesdays are free, but we also "checked out" a pass from the library that got us free parking!  Score!  We got to the exhibit a bit early, so we enjoyed admiring the gorgeous trees and wreathes that decorated the hall.
 The first room featured a gingerbread house village again (different designer this year), and four theme-decorated Christmas trees.
 I loved this little pretzel-cabin with the trains whooshing by!
 Once we got into the main exhibit, the Obama's Chicago house was the first replica we saw--it looks so homey!
 Da Bears!
 There were seven of these little elves hidden throughout the exhibit--I found them all!  LOL  I was a little too excited about that challenge...
 Jackson checking out the Chicago bungalows
Chicago skyline
Chicago Stadium
One of Jackson's favorite parts were the fake snowfalls that happened periodically!  All of the kids loved trying to catch the snowflakes :)
Past the main showroom, there was one large train set up around suburban Chicago landmarks.
I think Jackson would still be walking around and around and around the table following the train...
Cheese!
My new favorite picture :D
LOVE this picture too :)
Jackson loves spending time with Mimi :)

The Belly Report: The News is Out!

Because everything seems to be happening faster this time around, we have been ready to make our exciting news public for a while now, but we did want to wait until we were into the second trimester.  We are now 13 weeks and SO ready for all of our friends and family to know :D

Nothing huge has changed in how I'm feeling--still pretty darn good!  Sammy now has fingerprints and his/her organs and veins are visible through the very thin skin.  Sammy's head makes up one third of his/her body now!  Sammy is almost three inches long now, about the size of a medium shrimp :)

Flashback: Duh, duh, duh...


Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Marathon in Evanston Begins!

 Jackson LOVES spending time at Mimi and Bampa's house!  There are all sorts of fun things to play with!  This pinwheel has been a favorite of Jackson's, and this is an action shot of him trying to make it spin!
 The Buerstattes' visit to Illinois overlapped with ours for the first week of our time.  We spent lots of time playing with Kaitlyn and Liam (pictures coming soon!)!  We were thrilled that Kim came to visit during her Thanksgiving break from school :)  Jackson gets such a kick out of her and her fun games!
Jackson LOVED Kim's umbrella, and she was nice enough to share as we ran in and out of the rain a few times ;)
Hanging out with Uncle Larry

Looking very serious with Uncle Larry!
Michelle got into town on Friday, and Jackson LOVED playing with Michelle!!!  I personally love the way he says, "Michelle!"  It is just super cute, nothing in particular :)  First order of business was the playground after naptime :)
It was a brief visit since Uncle Larry and Michelle left Sunday morning, but we enjoyed the little bit of time :)

Monday, November 28, 2011

Thanksgiving Day (Mostly) in Pictures

 We kicked the morning off with a visit to the playground.
 It got chilly fast, so we didn't stay long.
 Making pancakes for brunch with Bampa!
 Football with Daddy!
 Working a puzzle with Uncle Larry--clearly a hilarious activity!
 Playing the Curious George match game with Nan.
 Playing cards (or napping) after dinner.
 What an excellent family picture!  This was only take #2!