Field Museum aka The Mummy Museum

My Dad is from Chicago area, and I remember visiting what we called "The Mummy Museum" when I was younger.  It was fascinating, and it sparked a life-long interest in all things mummy.  Audrey and Phoenix caught the mummy bug on their own.  We have read many books on mummies, looked at tons of pictures, and Audrey recently read a chapter book all about mummies.  The kids were so excited when I told them that we were going to go see real mummies.  Phoenix was a little scared at first, but he quickly got over it.  The Field Museum has a fantastic collection!  

The above is a picture of an infant mummy.  Phoenix mentioned several times since how sad it was.  

Another kid mummy...

Michael Jackson...circa 1500 BC

The Field Museum also has a HUGE display of taxidermied animals (also known as stuffed).  It was so cool to see so many different and rare breeds of animals!  

This is a tiny deer-like creature.  There were several different varieties.  Our zoo here used to have a live one, but they got rid of it and I never knew the name of it, Dik-Dik.  

We had a wonderful time at the Field Museum, and the kids are still talking about it!  

Trip to Chicago

A few weeks ago I realized that a trip to Chicago would work out well during Phoenix's track-out (time off during year round school).  I initially planned to drive the kids, but my sweet, wonderful husband insisted that we fly (which spared me two 15 hour drives!).  I am not sure how much longer Leah will be living in Chicago, and my sister Michelle is currently living in a suburb of Chicago, so it seemed like the perfect time to take advantage.  I decided not to tell the kids about the trip...surprises are fun.  That day, I told them that if they cleaned up their room and the basement that we could do something fun in the afternoon.  I had packed their suitcases the night before and put them in the trunk.  We went to Trav's office (which is conveniently located super close to the airport) and he hopped in.  When we started driving into the airport I told the kids that we were going to Chicago.  Their reactions for Disney World were kinda happy....their reactions for Chicago were shrieks and giggles!  It was sad to say bye to Trav, we all would have liked it if he could have come.  He is such a good man!  

It is a really short and easy flight to Chicago...usually less than two hours.  We got off the plane and Leah, Patrick, Michelle, and Kevin met us right outside the gate.  We each brought our own carryon with wheels, we had two boosters, and three backpacks.  I was secretly hoping that the men would volunteer to lighten our load...and they did!  We ate a delicious dinner at Palermos (our family's favorite Chicago pizza place) and had ice cream at Cupids (which is the brother to Dove).  

Leah's apartment is everything you think a city apartment should be: beautifully decorated, excellent view, fantastic location, and modern.  

Phoenix didn't waste any time in setting his planes up.   

View from her apartment...

Another reason that I wanted to visit sooner rather than later is that Leah got a pomskie (Pomeranian and Husky mix) and I wanted to see him when he was still small.  His name is Teddy Bear.  

His relationships with Audrey and Phoenix were different...and each was perfect.  With Audrey he was just content to be held and loved on as long as Audrey would do it.  With Phoenix he loved to play around and rough house.  He is such a sweet dog!

Phoenix Rides His Bike

Phoenix has been dying to ride his bike without training wheels, so on the first warm Sunday of the year, we took him over to a parking lot (the same one that Audrey learned in) and he gave it a go.  I am shocked at how fast both Audrey and Phoenix adapted to no training wheels!  They both spent a lot of time riding their bikes around with them, so that probably helped a lot.  

Phoenix's biggest problem in everything is that he doesn't slow down.  He had a few crashed because he took turns at full speed.  Nothing like a bump on your head to remind you that you need to slow down!  

We also got Phoenix some hockey roller blades recently.  He was giddy with excitement all week (he knew we were going to buy them on a Friday) and he told everyone he saw, "Guess what?  I am getting hockey roller-blades!"  He is very good at roller-skating, and he was ready to get some speed skates.  When we went to our roller rink after he got his blades, he immediately befriended a group of tween boys who were also wearing hockey blades.  At one point I saw them taking a group selfie, with Phoenix in the middle!  It was the cutest thing! I wish I had gotten a picture!  He always makes friends with the "fastest" kids, and he kept up with them!  I will have to get a good video of him soon!   

Soccer Season

Soccer Season and I have a love/hate relationship.  I love it because the kids like it (Phoenix took last season off, but he is back to loving it now), and I hate it because of the time commitment, and being subject to Mother Nature.  Our town fields are at least turf, which greatly reduces the bug issue, but the turf doesn't do much to help the cold temperature.  And last Saturday, on the first game day of the season, it was COLD!  I wanted to cry when I looked at my phone and saw the 21 degrees.  It warmed up (slowly).  I had been freezing at one of Phoenix's practices the week before, so I made myself an "outdoor blanket" with 2 layers of fleece and a nylon layer on the outside.  It was practically a sleeping bag, and was very effective at blocking the wind.  I contemplated making a snuggie in a similar fashion...but then decided against it (for now).  

Phoenix was SO excited to be back on the field playing soccer.  He always tries to be the fastest kid on his team (and he usually is), and he has made several goals in practice.  He was way more distracted on game day, I blame it on the sideline fun.  His teammates that weren't on the field playing were hiding under a blanket...it was COLD!!

Audrey's game was later on in the day (thankfully) and it had warmed up significantly by then.  Audrey has 9 out of 10 girls on her fall team return this spring, and they were so happy to see each other. It was fun to talk with the moms as well.  Audrey has a great team, and between the girls and the coaches, they are the reason that we came back for the spring. 

The girls only had two practices before their first game, but you would never know it!  They worked so well together, and picked up right where they left off in the fall.  A lot of the girls had improved!  Audrey almost had a goal, which turned into an assist, and she was so excited!  I am so glad that I saw it!  

So far, both kids are showing a lot of promise for the season. I hope that they can both improve, and it would be awesome if each of them could score a goal during the season.  

More Snow

We have had a mix or rain, snow, sleet, ice, and sunshine these past two weeks.  Here are a few other pictures...

Today it finally snowed enough for the kids to make a full size snowman!  After the initial icing last week, Audrey devoted two days to chipping away at the ice on our deck and organizing the pieces into two piles (one for the crushed pieces, and one for the bigger chunks).  After all of her hard work, on the first warm day, all of the ice melted quickly.  Then a few days later there was enough snow to  make a mini snowman on our deck, and he started to melt.  This snowman has already begun to melt, his name is Olaf.  

The kids have had a lot of fun with no school, Daddy home, and snow...but I think I speak for all of the parents in the area when I say "NO MORE SNOW!" until next year.  

Snow Day

In the last 10 school days, there have been 8 snow days.  Kinda crazy for us southerners.  I really liked living in a place where it snows so infrequently that everything shuts down when it does. The first snow day was perfect.  We slept in, ate a good breakfast, Travis took the kids out to play, and then we had a Star Wars marathon (the original 3).  In the pictures below, you can see that there is hardly any snow, but everything was so icy that the kids were sledding down the hill easily.  You can see the iced over road in the background.  

I have purchased Phoenix a few trendy winter hats, but this red one is his favorite to wear.  I asked him why and he said "Because you made it for me".  

Valentines Day

When we were in California in September, Phoenix confessed that he "fell in love with someone".  We (myself, Leah, Audrey and Phoenix) were in our hotel room after a full day, and Phoenix was sitting on a chair, eating popcorn from Target, and very casually said, "I just fell in love with someone", with a sigh.  I think we (us girls) laughed for about 5 minutes straight.  Poor little bud.  Eventually we got the deets, her name is Calliegh, and she is in his church class and his school class.  And she "wears pretty clothes and has pretty hair".  So Phoenix totally considers her to be his girlfriend.  I asked him if he had any plans for Calleigh for Valentines and he said that he wanted to bring her pink flowers.  He must have talked to her at school, because she informed him that she likes blue flowers better.  So, we tracked down some hydrangeas, and Phoenix picked out "cool clothes".  Audrey really wanted him to wear his suit, with his hair slicked back, but he was very determined to look cool.  When we were in line to buy the flowers Phoenix was holding them and there was a little boy in front of him holding white hydrangeas, and Phoenix said "I am getting these for my girlfriend, are you getting those for your girlfriend?"  The boy either didn't hear Phoenix, or ignored him.  

I didn't want to be an over-invasive Mom, so I didn't bring my camera to film the event (we did snap a few photos on Trav's phone), but I can tell you that Calleigh was so excited when she opened her door  that she started jumping up and down.  Phoenix told her "Happy Valentines Day", they hugged, and that was it.  The next day in church Calleigh's Mom informed me that Calleigh is already planning their wedding.  She was also very impressed that Phoenix knew to get her blue flowers.  

Magic Kingdom

We got to Magic Kingdom right when they opened and bee-lined it to the Snow White coaster (after a few photo-ops).

The new Snow White coaster was a lot of fun.  We had a 45 minute wait, which was the shortest that it was all day.  It was very kid friendly, and there was so much to do in the line that we barely even noticed the wait.  The ride was very fun and enjoyable, it appeals to non-thrill seekers.  It was the perfect way to start the day because the kids had so much fun that they wanted more.  We rode on Thunder Mountain, and both kids were a little scared, but after the ride was over they were glad they rode it.  Splash Mountain has never been open when we have been there, we always go during the winter and it is usually getting maintenance done on it.  This was our lucky day because they had just barely opened it up again.  I thought we were going to have to force our kids to ride it (we are those parents), but Phoenix considered it for a moment and said "I want to go on Splash Mountain, I want to brave like Ace!" (Ace is his best friend and a few months ago I showed Phoenix a picture Ace on Splash Mountain).  We were getting our ponchos on and two men that work at Disney came up and asked if Phoenix and Audrey would like to be Sheriffs for the day.  

They made an oath to serve and protect and then they went for a little march around Frontierland with a whole group of Disney employees singing and chanting.  

Pretty cool!  After that we went on Splash Mountain. Audrey did not want to go on it, but afterwards she was glad that she went (a common theme).  

This was our first time going to Magic Kingdom on a Saturday.  The first half of the day wasn't bad at all.  Then we stopped to eat lunch and when we came out the park was SO crowded.  We were totally caught off guard, because it wasn't packed at all from 8-12.  We still got to ride everything that we cared about, and we rode Thunder Mountain (family favorite) 3 times.  We got to watch the parade, and we saw the fireworks show.  We thought that after the fireworks show the park would clear out like it usually does, and it did slightly lighten up, but hardly at all.  We stayed until park close (midnight), and all of us were so physically exhausted.  We had an awesome time.  Phoenix really made a 180 degree turn, he loved every minute of both days at the parks.  It was a really short and quick trip, but it was perfect.  We already want to go back again.  Travis and I are becoming Disney freaks!