Friday, July 4, 2014

museum of science and industry

we started our 4th
by visiting the museum of science and industry

it's been a long time since we've taken the boys there
and they are at a great age for it!

my favorite area of the museum was the chemistry
and weather section

there were a lot of hands on experiments



they got to go in a wind tunnel showing the force of hurricane winds


create 'bucket lists'


and explore different aspects of the human body



one area that was really interesting
was the area that shows the details that a baby has
at different stages during pregnancy


it is amazing to see how real they look
and how many distinct features they have
even when they are SO very tiny!

we explored the full size plane


the cable cars

 

and the fabulous model train set up they have




the boys LOVED the U-505 submarine exhibit 


unfortunately there were no tours available to go inside of the sub
while we were there
but the boys wanted to watch the movies
and learn about it
and found it very interesting



ALMOST as interesting
as how hard it is to get set up to milk a cow


i don't foresee any of them getting asked to be a milker pit crew member anytime soon

Thursday, July 3, 2014

derby

for our first night in chicago
we decided to try a new place
just down the street
from stacey's brothers ...



it was fabulous!
we loved our meals
and i wish that it was in minnesota instead of chicago

the hit of the meal
was when the burger that drew had ordered came out


they weren't lying when they named it the big onion burger

thankfully stacey planned to help him
AND
i'm never one to pass up an onion ring 


mmmm....


cousin fun times 2

our next stop was chicago

we had a few days there to play
and we started off
with some cousin play time at the park



i'm pretty sure they had lots of fun
hanging around with us





Wednesday, July 2, 2014

a cheesy tour

our next stop was to visit stacey's mom
and spend a little time exploring with her

one of the highlights for me was the continental breakfast
with the make your own waffle bar


but it was quickly replaced with the cheese factory tour



i may have grown up in wisconsin
but i can honestly say i don't think i've ever been to a cheese factory
or been on a tour

it was very interesting

we watched as they separated the curds and the whey




saw them remove the formed cheese


and prepare it for the brine


where 'the magic happens'
before being placed in a cooler


we learned a lot of interesting facts


38,000 pounds of cheese A DAY
just at this factory!

that's crazy!

we ended our tour with some soda that is made at a brewery in town


and of course ...
some cheese curds




road trip stop 1

because of july 4th
we have a break in baseball
we decided to take a mini road trip
to go visit everyone

our first stop was in wausau
where the boys got in some cousin time
and i grabbed a few quick snuggles too ;)




Tuesday, July 1, 2014

summer nights

i love nights when we have no games
and
nothing on the schedule

when dinner gets pushed off until 8
because the boys are busy doing this ...