Chicago in January?

This past month has passed so quickly. I seem to always feel that way when I sit down to do these updates! More fun, learning and exploring to add to our list. The little snowmobile continues to find new uses--now it is to pull skiers around. The boys are having a great time with this one and the biggest problem is that we are having a pretty mild winter and right now there is no snow to play on at Rob and Sheila's. Earlier this month we had plenty and the boys built jumps and spent hours towing each other around. We have also done a lot of on mountain skiing and riding. Colter finishes up Ski PE tomorrow and is making great turns down blues and some black runs. Dylan is improving each day and has added more blue runs to his list, his favorite is still Enchanted Forest. Yesterday he woke up early and explained to Trevor that he needed to "fix" his skis, they weren't going fast enough and he wanted to "catch big air" So they went to the garage and had a ski tuning lesson followed by a morning on the slopes testing their work. Dylan came home and told me all about how fast he went and how high he jumped, he can get both skis off the ground now in the mini terrain park. Super cute to watch, but I'm not sure how calm I will be in 10 years when he is dropping huge cliffs or running through the half pipe and skier cross courses! Last night the boys had a sleep over at Modee and Pappy's house, shot bows and arrows, built biplanes and went sledding. The melt off that we have had has made the sledding very fast and exciting this week. After I picked them up, we all went and played with friends on the mountain. Karl, Rocky,Trevor and Colter all went snowboarding and did 2 runs on lift 11 and 1 run down lift 10- that is a huge day for Colter and Rocky and they both were linking some turns today which is great for their age. I went with Dylan, Josh, and the rest of the Riebels all over the place and we also had a great day racing around.

The boys and I went to visit our friends Kathleen and Everett for a while. They live outside of Chicago, so we got to get a city fix as well. It was a great trip and we have so much fun whenever we are with them. I wish they lived closer, but was grateful for the chance to go to their world and hang out for a while. This cute pic is of Dylan and Everett at the train station on our way downtown. The boys loved the double decker Metra, the taxis and all things public transportation has to offer.

We walked through the city to go ice skating at "the Bean" and my mountain boys couldn't resist throwing slush balls----gross----they didn't understand that city snow was different than mountain snow. Now they do. We all loved the draw bridges over the river and got to see a few of them going up and down.
 I am going to borrow this quote from a friend "What has more stories than a skyscraper? The 6 yr old standing in front of it!"

We went to two great museums, the first was the Children's Museum at the Navy Pier. Wow, we could have spent days there. The boys were interested in every area. Dylan loved dressing up in the fireman suits, playing in the giant fire truck and putting out fires with the laser hoses, the dinosaur area and the pirate ship. Colter loved the giant building area complete with fabric and canvas covering for roofs, doors and walls. It was a great set up with predrilled 2x2's, nuts, bolts and washers in all different sizes. Colter sat there for over an hour and built a house structure that was bigger than he was. He also loved the dinosaur dig site and the giant net climbing tunnels, and the pirate ship and the ..............

Next up was the Science and Industry Museum and again we could have spent days there. There was an entire floor about weather and storms where we learned about magnets, lightning, and wind. Colter was able to ride in a flight simulator and as he stumbled out, a bit green looking, he asked to do it again. There is the largest train track that I have ever seen that had the boys attention for a long time, it was probably over 5000sf. Along side the track they had several real live train cars and old machines. Colter made friends with the guy in charge and learned how all of the trains on the track were operated by computer. He was really hoping there was a large remote control somewhere that he might get to help with for a while.The picture with Colter and Dylan in front of the white wall was a great activity. I wish we had one of these at home. As the boys moved their arms and bodies the different colors would collect around them or in their arms or on their head and then they could push the colors around, all while standing several feet away from the wall. Dylan and Everett did lots of exploring with Kathleen and had lots of fun details to report whenever we ran into them. Everyone slept well that night!
We also did lots of swimming and playing at their local rec centers. We really need one of those around here! It is such a great way to expend energy during the winter, the boys loved it and so did I. And we discovered the joys of suburban life....xbox 360! With the new kinect adventure games we were rafting, doing obstacle courses, popping bubbles, throwing balls and all kinds of fun stuff with our little tv avatars. It was crazy! No remote controls, you do everything with your body and it is a great workout. The boys would run, jump, giggle, duck and keep moving for a long time. I can see why those are so popular, especially if you don't have a ski mountain in your back yard.

And of corse, we have the highlight of the entire week. Thank you Grandma Toni  or "Meemo" as Everett calls her. We went to this larger than life dinner theatre called Medieval Times and the boys are still telling stories with so much excitement in their voices and bodies that you would think we went to a real castle 700 years ago. It is a huge dinner served with no silverware in metal bowls and plates that you try to stuff in your face while watching an incredible horse show and "medieval tournament" complete with jousting, sword fighting, amazing costumes and beautifully talented horses and riders We were cheering for the Red Knight and although he didn't win, he is still the hero around here. Before the show we walked through the Dungeon that included  "The Rack" and other instruments used to torture people back in the day. Somehow I made it home with only wooden swords and shields and not the real metal carved ones that they had all over the place, I have already been informed of a few items to put on next year's birthday and Christmas lists though. The funniest part for me is that now Dylan won't have a sword fight unless there is a cheering section for each person involved. He is very specific about who each group cheers for and who is getting booed. Colter told me today that next time we go that we have to bring rotten fruit to throw at the other knights (not sure where he picked that bit of info up) That was a great night of entertainment that we will be talking about and acting out for the rest of the winter.

Flying and travelling were really easy this time and I love how adventurous and adaptable our boys are. Now we are back to school and our normal routine for a while. We have been reading the Harry Potter books with Colter and he is loving them (so do we). Colter is wearing his glasses more now and has his hair a bit like Harry's. He had me use henna to give him a lightning bolt "scar" on his forehead the other day. Everyone now has a magic wand (chopstick) and robe(sheet), when we are taking a break from sword fighting of course. I am so thankful that I get to be with my boys and that we enjoy playing and having fun togethe as a family. I hope they can remember some of this stuff when they are bigger.