Jelly Belly's and Fishing Flops

Barry couldn't pass up a fishing trip. He went Friday night with some guys from church to Lake Michigan to fish for salmon. He came home late empty handed...so of course he needed to go back the next day. We loaded the car up and because the Jelly Belly factory was close to the fishing spot we headed there for a tour first. We rode a train around their warehouse and watched some movies about how Jelly Belly came to be and how they made jelly beans. The best part was definitely the end when they gave us our own bag of jelly beans. They also had a sampling counter where you could sample any flavor or kind of candy they made. Tanner wanted to try one of the Harry Potter Jelly Belly flavors....lets just say that the canned dog food flavor was not top on his list of favorites. Tanner was a lot of help caring the fishing net full of goods.Here is Kara hanging on the rail of the observation deck on Lake Michigan. Tanner was nervous being up there, so nervous that he climbed up saw the view and decided he was safer on the ground. He warned Kara to be careful and to stay away from the edge. I also warned her to be safe. I turned to take Kendra's picture....Kendra started pointing and freaking out about what Kara was doing. I turned back to where Kara was and she was half way on the other side of the rail just hanging there. She had a good talking to about good choices and how living on the edge is not the smartest place to be. I hope this is not reoccurring theme to her life. She makes me a little nervous. Here is Kendra before she started freaking out. I loved being on the lake. It gives you the feel of being at the ocean, without the salty air. Here is Barry fishing in the harbour. He got skunked again, but is still determined to catch the big one.

First Day at a New School

Kara started Kindergarten. She was really excited for school to start and loved going to art class on her first day. Tanner switched schools with our move. He just started second grade and is trying to adjust to how this school runs and where everything is. One of the best parts of being at a new school is that Tanner's best friend Josh and Kara's best friend Lily are moving to the neighborhood and are both in the same classes as Tanner and Kara. This has made the transition a little less stressful for all of them. Kendra thought it was her first day of school and was disappointed that Tanner and Kara went into the school without her.

Day Three Of Chicago

Day 3 was still rainy and cloudy. We headed to the temple first thing and then Barry drove us downtown, which wasn't nearly as bad as driving in New York City. We went to Shedd Aquarium. We saw a dolphin and Beluga whale show. Then we saw a quick Sponge Bob in 4D movie. We saw sharks and lots of fish and got to touch star fish. After the aquarium we walked at least two miles to eat at Bubba Gumps on Navy Pier. My mom and Barry ordered shrimp and fish, I opted for a burger. We were all pleased with our meals. We then went to where the carnival rides are and Barry bought us tickets to ride the Ferris Wheel. My mom and I were discussing how we really didn't like Ferris wheels when Barry said he didn't love to ride them either. We got on the ride with Kara in between my mom and I and Kendra in between Tanner and Barry. Tanner was looking nervous and we could hardly keep Kara still. We had to remind her multiple times that she had to sit down on the ride. She kept reminding us how high up we were. It was a great view of the Chicago skyline. We were all relieved when we started coming down and we were able to get off.

We played half a round of mini golf before it started raining. We ran in the rain to catch a taxi back to where we parked by the aquarium.

Brookestone Bandit

We spent most of the afternoon after Lego Land shopping. We went to Ikea and then headed to the mall. Kendra found a "best friend" to sit by. Our last stop at the mall was Brookstone. We spent a least an hour there testing the massage chairs, and such. We left, drove back to the hotel, and I opened my purse to find the hotel key and I found some goods from Brookstone stashed in my purse. I saw the color and knew instantly that Kendra was the culprit, but she was sleeping at the time so the questioning came later. We dropped Grandma, Tanner and Kara off at the hotel so they could start swimming and we went back to Brookstone to return the pink items.

When Kendra finished her nap we questioned her. I have no idea what she is saying at the beginning, but I love her expressions.

Lego Land Discovery Center

The weather was a little wet so we stayed our first day in Schaumburg, IL, which is where we our hotel was. Lego Land was five minutes away so we headed there. We found some coupons to get the kids in free which was the only way it was worth making the visit to Lego Land. Kendra loved all the little lego people just her size. She said they were her best friends. There were a couple of rides that looked more exciting in the brochure than they actually were.

The kids liked them, and I guess that's all the really matters.

Tanner standing with Harry Potter. He has just finished the second Harry Potter book and was happy to see this lego statue.

Barry with Batman.

The kids had a lot of fun, but I wouldn't make the trip just for Lego Land Discovery Center.

Chicago Style

My mom came for a visit last week. We decided that because Chicago is only a couple of hours away from us that we should spend some time there. We picked up my mom from the airport and took the train downtown to go eat some Chicago deep dish pizza. Pizzeria Uno is where Chicago style deep dish began. We all enjoyed our pizza and had lots of leftovers. On our way back to the car we caught the wrong train, so we had to get off the train and get back on and ride all the way back to where we started from so we could catch the right one. It ended up being a late (but memorable) night by the time we got back to the hotel.