Spyro

Little is as exciting to a bunch of first and third graders as
 a bearded dragon and a fresh batch of crickets.

Chicago visit

 Over Martin Luther King weekend I took the kids to Shoemaker‘s house to celebrate a late Christmas. We had planned to go earlier, but Zach got sick and we didn’t want to spread germs with Asher.

The drive to Chicago is rather boring, but there is the largest truck stop in the world on the way. I may have hyped up the coolness of it a little too much because the kids were underwhelmed. We did get a little dinner, and had a lot of fun being silly and taking a break from driving.

We got in a little late so we did play for a while and then went to bed the first night. The next day we headed to the science Museum, and boy is it amazing! We could easily spend multiple weekends there and never get through everything. 

The hardest part for me was trying to keep track of three kids as there is so much to see and do. They have a full-size train on display in the lobby where you buy your tickets. There are four floors with lots of rotating exhibits. The highlight for Zach would have to be in the weather area where he got to see a tornado simulator and I believe he would still be playing with the different weather exhibits if I hadnt have dragged him away.

The highlight for me was touring it full-sized real submarine that was inside the museum. It was a German sub captured during World War II. All the writing was in German and we learned all about life on the subermine. It was around 90° inside at all times with only 60 gallons of drinkable water available every day for the nearly 60 sokdiers. That meant zero showers and only one bathroom to use for the whole crew. The wool blankets would get so sweaty and Lice infested that it had to be just miserable. As one shift would get out of the beds that must’ve been sweaty, second shift crew would climb into the sweaty beds and go to sleep. I don’t know how I would’ve survived! The tour guide went on to explain that the sub was used to destroy cargo ships carrying supplies. At times they would have to remain completely silent for days so as not to be detected by the boats.

We had a good time visiting with Chelsey and Spencer and playing with Lily Asher. I took some family photos of them and then we had to take our car out of the snow in an attempt to drive home on Monday. Hoping for lots of trips to Chicago in the future to explore more fun things.

Daddy’s Office

A few weeks ago we ended up visiting Josh at his new office. He’s been working a lot of long hours lately with a lot of tight deadlines. We played some games, and I brought some dinner - it maybe nerd central but it’s quite fun!

Fun Weekend

I tried to have a fun Presidents’ Day weekend planned for the kids. It was kind of cold outside, so we ended up having to go to couple indoor places to take full advantage of the time we had. Kenna brought a friend, and we ended up going to park in Des Moines that we love with lots of climbing obstacles, and then to pump it up to get our bounces out. I would say it was very successful!

Chessmaster

Zach has been going to a chess club after school on Mondays. He did a similar club on Saturdays last year, but this year they offered it at his school right after school. I can’t believe that he can already kick my butt at eight years old. He has some really good strategies, and I really have to focus in order to beat him. It’s fun seeing how his mind works!

Karate Kid

Grayson recently started karate. He was so excited to do what his big sister did and get his black belt. I never knew he was going to get it his fourth week in karate! 

He has been doing so well that he consistently gets recognized in every class for going above and beyond. This kid is so coordinated and athletically gifted, he’s so lucky! A couple days ago the instructor took off his black belt and put it on Grayson and had him lead the class. I think it made his whole month! I just love watching him each week he is so focused, dedicated, and really just good at karate!

Valentine’s Day

This year we kept Valentine’s Day simple. I gave the kids a box of candy and a hand written valentine and made them fun valentine lunch. Kenna wanted to make a cherry pie and made elaborate presentation to surprise daddy. Very fun! 

Loved our fall photos this year!!!