Chicago 2016

When we take our family trips to Chicago, we try to visit new places that the kids have not yet seen. This time we did to a return trip to the Legoland Discovery Center, but that's only because Max was way to young to remember his first trip.

We were going to go to the top of Willis Tower, but the last time we were there it had a 3 hour wait...and the cost to look at the city was ridiculous...so this time we skipped it too. Instead, we spent a couple hours shopping at IKEA. Good stuff and we have some good ideas for home projects too.

That night we had dinner at the Medieval Times restaurant. It was way more than a restaurant with a big arena in the center and stadium seating with tables all around. Their were knights that represented each color section that people were sitting in. We were in the Blue section, so we had the Blue Knight. The "King" welcomed everyone and their was much sword fighting, jousting...yes, real jousting and real sword fighting...even if it was all staged. Each knight had to compete to "win" their contest. When they served our food, we did not have any utensils. Instead, we had to eat with our hands. It was very fun. The best part was that the Blue Knight won the contest and he came into our section to celebrate. Couldn't have asked for a better visit there.

The next day we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. They have had some major upgrades since Becky and I were last there. Most everything there is interactive, so the boys were playing with everything in sight. We all had lots of fun and maybe learned a few things in the process.

We probably won't be going back to Chicago for any future family trips. Too many other places to explore around us.

Maybe in another year, Sam will be that tall

The Boys in the Master Builder Academy Class

Seated in the Blue section with our crowns

The Blue Knight in the foreground

The King makes a grand entrance

The boys outside Medieval Times

Lego feature at the Museum of Science and Industry

You must relax your mind to move the ball...Max won, just look at that concentration!

Shadow play at the museum

Trip to Milwaukee - 1

Since Sam was able to sell a whole lot of popcorn for Cub Scouts, he was awarded free tickets to a number of sporting events (though we still had to buy 3 tickets for the rest of us). This weekend we went to a Milwaukee Admirals game and ended up with really good seats near the ice. Before heading to the Admirals game, we went to the Milwaukee Public Museum to see the traveling dinosaur exhibit they are currently hosting. We also looked at the rest of the museum after we finished with the dinosaurs.

Basketball

Both Sam and Max played basketball this year. Max's concentrated on skill building and Sam was part of a team of boys from his grade and had a couple coaches and they played games at different school around the area for about 4 months. They also had regular practices every week. For the first year of organized basketball, their team went 20 and 4!

Winter Fun

Timber Ridge Lodge in Lake Geneva

Timber Ridge Lodge - Gift Shop

Sledding in Kohler

Hanging out like snow monkeys

Max - Learning to Snowboard at Sunburst

Learning to ski and snowboard

Cub Scout Winter Camp

Christmas 2015

The boys had a great time visiting with their family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Gifts were exchanged and goodies were eaten in large quantities. Christmas morning was spent building Lego sets. Max received his first big Lego set.