Boreal Witch

Is it time to go back to school yet?

This week has been exhausting.

Robinson took the entire week off. We planned to take the boys to Chicago and check out a few other museums in the area. There's a nice natural history museum and children's museum in Rockford.

Our boys haven't ever really shown any interest in dinosaurs, but after reading about the Berenstain Bears' visit to their natural history museum, the boys wanted to see dinosaurs. (The Berenstain Bears are quite beloved at our house. The boys are known to read these books repeatedly.) They saw Homer (a triceratops) and Jane (a T-rex). They saw a two-minute movie about Jane (which Balin would not stop talking about). They saw snakes, fish, and lots and lots of shark teeth.

Then there was our trip to Chicago.

We went to the Lego Discovery Center (which the boys loved, loved, loved!). They got to play on this huge indoor playground, learn how Legos were made, see the Chicago skyline in Lego form, pretend they were destroying a Lego Death Star, and blast spiders and targets. After we got settled at our hotel, we went to the Melting Pot for dinner (the boys love fondue, so we thought it appropriate) and went to the Lego store.

The Lego Store was probably the most disappointing part of the trip. Six years ago, when Robinson and I visited, the Lego Store was amazing. It was huge. It had Lego statues of Darth Vader and R2-D2. It had Lego dioramas everywhere. They sold t-shirts, keychains, and every Lego kit imaginable.

The Chicago Lego Store of today was exactly like the Milwaukee Lego Store. Which is too bad because we had talked it up to Josh.

Of course, the boys didn't know the difference. They got to build a few mini-figures and they were completely happy.

Robinson and Balin got sick. Balin's off running around, but Robinson's treating it like the plague. Not that I blame him. Much. After all, getting sick is no fun...but I'll admit, there's a grain of truth to the whole "men act like babies when they get sick" stereotype.

And now, it's Sunday, the last day of Spring Break. I'm looking forward to a nice, quiet Monday at home with Balin. Reading the Berenstain bears, of course!

Blessed be.