Chicago Trip

It had been a year and a half since the kids paid Lindsay & Keith a visit in Chicago, so they were due for a Chicago vacation. This time, however, Dad was able to join in on the fun.

First stop, a return trip to 

The Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier

But first we had to get there. It was a Thursday so our hosts were working. We received directions on where to pick up our bus......just didn't manage to get on it going in the right direction. We probably should have been tipped off right away by the shady passengers on the bus when we boarded....let's just say we had the lightest skin, nicest smell, and were the only ones without a flask. It took about 10 minutes to get into an area where you don't even want to cross the street to catch a bus going to the other direction. So we decided stay put and ride it out..............1 hour and 45 minutes later we arrived at our destination.

Here we are at the beginning of our bus ride....kids were so excited to ride public transportation. Needless to say, it only took one ride for them to get their fill.

Max's favorite part of the museum, the nets. Kendall did this last time when she was 3, but I guess it proved to be too scary for an almost 5 year old.

fire station room

making dog tags for all of the puppies they know

a little heavy-duty construction

not-so-heavy-duty construction

the water room

the joke room

(hey, mom and dad have to have a little fun too)

(if you don't get it, say it out loud :)

dino dig

and finally....these cool interactive screens

we love this place.

After the museum, we had to check out Navy Pier.

Dad and Max were dying to ride the ferris wheel and Kendall and Mom were content with the merry-go-round.

That night we had some Chicago-style deep dish with Linds & Keith. Keith decided to change it up and order the sausage crust....heart attack anyone?

Day 2, we hit up the Shedd Aquarium (no issues getting there, btw)

Cool place! We saw dolphins, penguins, turtles, touched sting rays and starfish, and saw a 4D movie.

That night was K-State's season opener. We hit a K-State establishment in Wrigleyville. Lots of purple people.

Last day.....

American Girl and Lego Store

then lunch where the kids got to make their own pizza and sundae.

Thanks for having us Lindsay & Keith! Always a great time!

Happy 6-0 Nana!

Ah Cousins...

Owen's New Swing

.......makes him happy :)

Blake's Baptism

Dance Is Back

someone couldn't be more happy about it

First Day of 1st Grade

1st Grade

Finally! The first full day of school with lunch and all has arrived! This guy was SO ready for it. He loved every second. He said "it's just like summer camp." I think this is going to be a fun year.

Meet the Teacher

We flew in from Florida that day and headed to Stanley to meet Mrs. Horner and find out who Max would be sharing a first grade classroom with this year. School supplies were unpacked and this guy is ready to go!

Florida Vacation

We sent the summer out in style....this was a serious beach vacation. We left home at 4:30am and flew to Ft. Myers on the 6th. We drove through the Everglades and headed down the keys to Key Largo. After a night and morning there we headed north to South Beach in Miami. We spent an afternoon and morning on the beach. We hopped in the car again and headed further north to Cocoa Beach then to Orlando to Jean's house. Max got a boogie board and couldn't get enough, so Kevin and I drove him to Daytona Beach the next day while Kendall had a fun day with Grandma Jean. Next, we took a day off from the ocean and hit Legoland. That night we stayed at John and Beth's house. The next day was a pirate cruise in Clearwater and some more beach time. On our last day we took a day sail in the gulf on a catamaran from Fort Myers Beach. After the sail, we drove to the far end of Sanibel Island, had dinner, and found some really cool shells. Headed home early on the 13th so we could get Max to Meet the Teacher at 4 p.m.

1 state, 2 boat rides, 3 hotel rooms, 4 Clark's, 5 days of family visits, 7 beaches, 8 days

off the plane and anxious to get our feet in the sand

first things first, that 4 a.m. wake-up call was no joke

Key Largo

we enjoyed a nice dinner on the water, then got the kids down early 

after that, we enjoyed an ice cold corona on the screened patio overlooking the canal while listening to the band playing in the bar 20 yards across the water

South Beach, Miami

we hit the beach for a couple hours then had a nice dinner on the Ocean Dr sidewalk

after dinner we bought a boogie board for the beach the next day then grabbed a root beer float for dessert

breakfast at a sidewalk cafe the next day

kids were big fans of the fresh-squeezed apple juice

beach time!

max: the boogie boarding machine

on the road again....next stop

Cocoa Beach

it was late in the day, so we had dinner on the beach and hit up the GINORMOUS ron jon surf shop

Next stop, Jean's house in Clermont. We had planned on having a relaxing lazy day but Max wanted to go back to the beach. So the next day, we made the 90 minute drive to Daytona while Kendall spent the day hanging with Grandma Jean.

Daytona Beach

Next morning we were off to Legoland. Max was dying to ride some roller coasters...good news was that he was tall enough for all four of them. He had to rough his hair up and stretch a little for the last one, but he made it on...barely. Kendall wasn't thrilled about the rides at first but warmed up to some easier ones. She did enjoy the face painting (the one we paid $13 for and watched it get washed away by the water ride we took immediately following the face painting. Luckily, a nice girl kindly gave us a redo before we left the park) The first ride Kendall was brave enough to go on had a 20 minute wait in line. When we finally reached the front and the attendant was just about to let us on the ride, Kendall managed to get her knee stuck in the gate. It wasn't just a little wedged, it was stuck. The attendant insisted on calling First Aid. Since she was stuck in the gate to get on the ride, thus making it impossible to open the gate, they had to announce that the ride would be temporarily delayed. After about 5-10 of the most embarrassing minutes of our lives along with hysterical screaming from Kendall and annoyed strangers trying to pry her leg out, Kev managed to free her. Guess who didn't want to ride the stupid Lego horse anymore....yep. We managed to make our way back at the end of the day so she could get on the horse. Of course, at that point, there were exactly zero people in line.

LEGOLAND

fun dinner with a balloon lady

After Legoland we drove to John and Beth's house. Next day, we hit Clearwater Beach for a highly anticipated pirate cruise. 

Clearwater Beach

We had an unexpected surprise on the pirate cruise....Kevin was randomly chosen from all of the adult passengers to play the part of Peg Leg Pete. The kids were instructed to not let him get near the treasure.

After a fun stay with John and Beth, we woke up bright and early and made the 2 hour drive down to Fort Myers Beach for a day sail in the gulf. The owners, Captain Bud and Mindy, captain in training, Chris, and puppy Mia accompanied us for the day. Max did some tubing, both kids drove the boat, and we made a little stop for a swim.

Fort Myers Beach

after some sailing, we took a drive to the far end of Sanibel Island for dinner, swimming, and some sea shell hunting

and this sunset was the perfect way to end an awesome vacation

Sanibel Beach

here it is 

our tour de florida route

believe it or not, we weren't ready to leave