The Balance Bike

We'll see how it turns out.........

Pictures by Hannah and Vivian

The day as they saw it:

Reunited

It took a little while, about half a day, but after nap time on Monday, the girls were the best of friends.  They danced around the living room, chatted, made cake, chatted some more, played princess, took pictures of each other, and chatted some more.  It was a lot of fun watching and listening to them.  As for Dustin and Michelle, it was like we had just hung out with them last week, not over a year and a half ago.  Here's some pictures from their time together.  

The Museum of Science and Industry

This is my favorite museum in Chicago.  Of course, I haven't been to all of them, but out of all the sites I've been to in Chicago, this is my favorite.  Especially the You! Experience, formally known as Body Slices.  This is the second time I've been and anyone who has seen my scrapbook has seen the photo's of the body slices exhibit I saw the first time around.  While we were in Chicago it just happened to be a free month at the museum.  So Lori, Harrison, David, Hannah, and I all went to the museum.  This kids had a blast.  We walked a step behind them, and just followed them around, letting them lead the way, with the exception of the things we all wanted to see.  Lori wanted to see the baby chicks hatching, and David wanted to go to the kid's only section.  I wanted to see the body slices again.  It would take so much to cover everything in the museum, I don't think I've seen it all.  Some the things they have are a coal mine, a farming section, a technology section, trains and airplanes, and so much more.  If you find yourself in Chicago, you should definitely check it out.  

Harrison and Hannah

The Farming Section

The Kid's Only Section

David has been waiting years to go here!

Poor Harrison was shirtless for half the visit due to some 

over zealous water play.

Tornado

Body Slices

The foot

A very obese thigh section

A very young fetus, less than 2 months I think

A Last Minute Trip to Chicago

Last week, David and I made a last minute trip up to Chicago.  His grandma, on his mom's side, went in to the hospital on life support with a 7 day directive.  This meant that she would only stay on life support for 7 days.  We found out Tuesday afternoon, we left first thing Wednesday morning.  David had an appointment at the VA clinic in WInston-Salem that day, that we could not change, so we drove there first and spent about 5 hours there.  At 330, we began our 12+ hours drive to Chicago.  It was such a long day.  We pulled into is grandma's house at 4 am NC time.  We've made a joint decision to not drive through the night anymore, it's just too hard.  I mean we get there at 3 am, Chicago time and Hannah's up 3 hours later.  The drive itself was uneventful, with only a little bit of snow.  The visit was nice, considering the circumstances.  His grandma did pass, very early Friday morning.  His other grandma turned 88 while we were there, so we were able to join in the birthday celebration.  We went Lucky's Sandwich Shop, the Science and Industry Museum, Half Priced Books, and Trader Joe's (I'll blog about that in another post).  Hannah loved the baby (Sir William) and she loved helping out with him.  

Putting make up on Carolyn

Great Grandma Cernock needed some make up too

David instructing Harrison and Hannah and the GI Joe figures

Hannah helping feed Sir William (Baby Will)

Happy 88th Grandma Cernock

Guesstures

Lori and Harrison 

Our Bedtime Battle

is not the norm.  Hannah goes to bed like a champ, promptly at 730, on most nights.  She doesn't put up a big fight.  We have a nice routine, she brushes her teeth, then we change her and then David and I read 1 to 2 stories before tucking her in.  Recently, a small battle over bedtime has begun.  And it is over how many books Hannah may take to bed with her.  If Hannah had it her way, she take so many books into bed that there wouldn't be any room left for her.  This is so that Hannah may read them after we leave the room, which she does.  Sometimes David and I hear her reading to herself an hour after we've tucked her in!  So we've limited her to three, which she sometimes doesn't want to do.  And that, is our bedtime battle.