Halloween!

Well, these boys were too cute to spook! Nathan's Mario costume came with a mustache although it was HUGE! He still was adorable without it. The boys quickly got into their costumes after school so that we could visit our neighbors and then head off to Emily and Tom's house to celebrate with McKinley. She was the sweetest ladybug who loved holding the candy in her bucket. She also loved watching my "Mario Brothers". Everyone had such a fun Halloween.

The mustache tickled!

The Rouse Hula Girls! Getting all to look at the camera...impossible.

McKinley is always so captivated by these boys!

Preparing for Halloween

Of course, Thomas wanted Ken to carve a Mario "Luigi" pumpkin for Halloween. We found an example online which really help out! This was the first time that Thomas wanted to touch the seeds inside. I think that it turned out great. They both had fun doing this project together!

My Super Mario Brothers

This year the boys decided to be "Super Mario Brothers". Thomas has become rather obsessed with the games and taught Nathan how to talk like Mario. We went to have their picture taken since this may be the last year that Thomas wants to "dress up" with Nathan. I think they make the cutest Super Mario Brothers.

Another Rite of Passage

Tonight Thomas asked Ken to take the training wheels off his bike. I don't think Ken even had to hang on to the back of the seat to help balance him. He was OFF!!! Boy, he got on the bike and rode it like a pro! He even got the hang to turning and steering. It's going to be hard to keep up with him now! Yay to Thomas!

Trip Over Already?! (Day Four)

Boy, this trip went by so fast! We stayed so busy that it was hard to believe it was tome to head back to the airport and to Orlando. Sunday morning Elizabeth got us some donuts and we headed to Bloomington.

One last look at Fall on the way to the airport.

We had another smooth plane ride. Thomas fell asleep about thirty minutes before landing and slept until it was time to get off. We were glad he felt comfortable enough to rest his eyes and body.

We had such a great time! I am so thankful my mom was able to go!  I am so proud of Thomas for being such a good traveler. He kept up with our quick pace and had little complaints. We were excited to get home to see Ken and Nathan. Thomas was excited to show Nathan one of his souveniors. Snakes!

Chicago! Day Three

I think this was possibly the longest day ever!!! (But in a good way.)
We had to wake up at 4:45am to be at the Amtrack Train Station by 5:30am to catch our 6:10am train. Thankfully it's within minutes of Elizabeth's house. Turns out that the train was delayed! It didn't arrive until 7:30am. We were all so excited about riding the train. We sat in the upper portion of the lounge car. We sat at tables and got ready for our ride. Soon after we departed the conductor came around to punch our ticket. Thomas was excited to meet him! He punched Thomas' ticket to look like a smiley face. (Thomas thought it was just like The Polar Express!) Along the ride we had many frequent stops. Sometimes we had to let other passengers off. Sometimes we had to let other passenger and freight cars pass and sometimes we had to switch tracks. It took a lot longer to get there with all the stops along the way. Finally, we arived at Union Station!

Train station in Champiagn,IL.

All aboard!

Windmills along the way.

Pulling into Union Station...all the other tracks!

Union Staion platform...nothing like Harry Potter!

 We had to hail a cab to get to The Field Musesm. Oh, what an experience that was! I think our eyes were closed the whole time. Thomas did great and thought we were in a race.

It didn't take long and we were finally there! What a beautiful building! We were in awe of its size. In fact, after spending four hours there, we didn't get to see every exhibit! We LOVED the dinosaur exhibit. We also loved the whale exhibit. We weren't allowed to take pictures in that one. They had skeletons of whales. One even had the baleen in their mouth! It was amazing! There was also a Chocolate exhibit (yum), a bird exhibit, a wildreness animal exhibit and an exhibit that made you feel like you shrunk and were underground. We didn't get to the African or Egyptian exhibit. While in the museum we could see out the windows and check out Lake Michigan! It was so blue! Going to the museum was one of our "favorites" of the whole trip!

Sue!

"But Mom, it's only $975!"

Lake Michigan

After the museum we got into another cab and went to Millennium Park. We saw the outdoor concert area and the "bean". It was so cool!

Our reflection in the Bean.

We then went to get our first ever slice of Chicago Pizza. It was very good and Thomas enjoyed it. We didn't get to any other sights in Chicago. I guess we'll just have to go again some day.

We took another cab after dinner back to Union Station to catch our 8pm train back to Champaign. We were also the first ones on so we got to pick where we wanted to sit. We sat at the front of one of the cars. Although, we didn't realize how much wiggling the car in front of us was going to be moving when the door between the two cars were open. Thomas slept the whole train ride back. Looking at the night time city light was very pretty but when we got to all those corn fields, it was a very dark ride! We give Chicago two thumbs up! It was such a big, exciting place to visit!