Thoughts for Thursday

Here's what's up around our house...

Last Saturday Frank did his first 5k of the year, the Miller Park Zoo Stampede.  Here he is coming around the 1k turn.

It was pretty chilly, but the boys and I went to watch him.  Jacob has decided he wants to run in races, but only the kind where you get a number to pin on your shirt (in other words, kids races aren't going to cut it.)

We've had a few nice days recently, and we've loved the outside time.  I happened to have my camera with me as the boys were playing in the field, and I'm glad I did.  A few of these shots crack me up!

We also had an MYOP (Make Your Own Pizza) Night recently using the personal-size Boboli crusts. Jacob wants everything on his pizza. Carter only wants sauce.  (Someday, that kid will be a good eater, but until then....)

Kitty Girl went for a spin around the neighborhood,

And someone learned how to drive the Lightening McQueen car!  (He's pretty proud of himself, if you can't tell by the picture.)

We had a pretty cool pre-Easter Easter egg hunt at Grandma Anna and Grandpa Gary's.  Since it was muddy outside we hid the eggs inside this year.  One perk to the indoor hunt-- I think we found them all!

(Why do my kids need to hold their toys in front of their faces?)

I was super-excited for the time change this past weekend.  I'm ready for warmer days, spring flowers, and oh yeah, pretty sunsets!

Key Lime Cove 2016

A few weekends ago, we went to Key Lime Cove in Gurnee, IL, for our annual mid-winter getaway.  This is the fourth time we've been to Key Lime Cove, and although there are other hotel/indoor waterparks in the area, we love the tropical vibe of this place.  It's just what you need in the middle  of a cold, grey winter!

We hit the waterpark as soon as we arrived.  It should be noted that we arrived around 1, as we typically have every year, but our room wasn't ready.  Apparently, "actual" check-in time isn't until 4. They invited us to change in the locker room and hit the waterpark, however.  While Frank and the boys jumped into their swimsuits, I debated what to do.  I'm not a change-in-the-locker-room kind of person.  I typically have a last-minute date with a razor and some self-tanner.  (keeping it real, here)

In the end, I ended up changing in the locker room, and although it wasn't ideal, it worked out okay. We spent the next four or so hours at the waterpark.

In the past, we stayed on the property to eat at their sit-down restaurant, but we had eaten a big lunch, so we decided just to pick up a few slices of pizza from their pizza parlor for dinner.

After pizza came-- ice cream!

Just outside the ice cream parlor is an arcade with tons of games.  Gone are the days when they were content "playing" a game (ie: without any tokens).  They are all about winning the games, earning tickets, and exchanging them for as much cheap, plastic junk as possible.  (I blame Carter's birthday party last year at Chuck E Cheese for this new found love of gaming!:) )

We walked around the hotel for a while

before finally calling it quits around 9.

The next morning, we ate a quick breakfast and geared up for one last swim prior to checkout.

The really exciting thing about this trip is that Carter enjoyed the waterpark!  Just less than a year ago, hated waterparks, so I am hopeful that he's turned a corner and will be easier to take to the pools and splash parks this year.

He loved this waterslide in particular!

Jacob loved everything.

Jacob always loves everything when he's on vacation.

He has Frank's sense of adventure, and it's one of his best qualities.

We played at the waterpark for about an hour and a half before zipping back up to the room to change and pack up.

As always, the time went too quickly, but we are already looking forward to Key Lime Cove 2017!