Legoland Discovery Center

We had a stellar weekend!

Friday night – we had a low-key night in, eating pizza and watching Angels in the Outfield.  Miles LOVES sports movies from the 90’s. Thanks, Netflix! We may have to buy it.  SpaceJam, Rookie of the Year, Mighty Ducks 1, and the Sandlot have been watched way too many times for my liking.

Saturday – the big basketball day (details here). We also met up with newest Chicago Klinge’s, Aunt Laura and Uncle Caleb, for a nice dinner and NFL playoff games. Unfortunately, the Bears were not playing, so we actually spent lots of time playing UNO, Guess Who, and Tic Tac Toe instead.

Sunday – Miles took his Kindergarten exam right away in the morning.  He took the classical and gifted exams. We’ll know how he did sometime in March, I think.  Afterwards, we went to church, ate lunch at home, and then drove out to Schaumberg for a fun day at Legoland Chicago! We had been wanting to check it out for quite some time when Nate was offered a few free tickets at work.  How could we pass it up?!?

We were greeted with open arms….

The Lego model of some of Chicago’s greatest buildings was really cool!  The lights even cycled to give you views during the day and at night!

Who wouldn’t want to pose by these characters?!

We went on a brief factory tour that explained how legos are made. Miles was fascinated!

We saw a couple 15 minute 4D movies too.  When the lego man’s fire hose appeared to spray us, we were actually lightly sprayed with water!!  When the helicopter flew over our head, the breeze in the room messed up my hair.  It was a wild experience.  Nate and I giggled as Miles kept grabbing the air, trying to touch the animations popping off the screen.

Next, we stopped at the stations used to build your own race car. Surprisingly, we spent a lot of time here. We couldn’t find wheels in any of the buckets, but the boys still had fun.  A couple cars were built and then launched down the ramps, just to crumble when they hit the net. As we were leaving the area, we noticed that there were plenty of wheels for purchase.  Parent fail!

We made time to test out both rides.

The first one was a car on a rail that carried us through a course to shoot targets and bad guys with laser guns. I had the most points – woo hoo! They took our picture, but I’m too cheap to buy it. Excuse the watermark. Ha!

The second ride went in way too many circles. I just watched, but Nate said that it was actually pretty fun! The seats when around like a carousel, but the faster you peddled, the higher you flew.

 

We were only there for 3 hours, but I was exhausted!  You knew they’d strategically force you to exit through the gift shop, right?  An yes, Miles melted his dad’s heart enough to take home a souvenir. It’s a 195 piece kit featuring a speed boat, IronMan and some ‘bad guys’. He’s been working hard to put it together all by himself. He’s getting so good at following the directions.

On the way out, I had to stop by my favorite Lego creation – AL!

We had a blast from start to finish! What a weekend!

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Posted in: Chicago,Kelly,Miles,Nathan

Parents can be Athletic too...

Putting together a couple of blogs for our family goings-on, I realized that the blog has become very Miles-centric.  I love that little man - don't get me wrong!  But why not step out a little to let you know that Nate and I do have active lives that do not involve 4-6 year old athletics! This is a blog about the family, is it not?!

To begin, Nate is studying and taking exams, like-a-boss!
He's been combing through binders of material to review the facts and formulas needed to pass the 7 exams that make up the Architectural Registration Exam for licensure. So far, so good!

Nate's softball league with his co-workers starts up again on June 7th.  He'll play every Thursday, assuming he's not injured or backed-up with a tight deadline at work.  Again, it's an architectural league this year. Local firms put together teams and they play each other for bragging rights.  If there's one thing that I've learned about architects in my long-time relationship with Nate - it's that they prefer to mingle with their own kind! (see bullet point #13 pasted below from "Dating an Architect" by Bob Borson)

• Be prepared for all your new friends to be other architects. Architects lose the ability to speak like regular people because in college, “archispeak” is drilled into their heads like waterboarding. Listen to an architect talk for an evening and I can guarantee that you will hear at least one of the following words:  ”juxtaposition” “axis mundi” “clarity” “truncated” “uniformity” and “composition”.

Can I also add "phenomenological" and "methodologies" ??

Nate's also planning to run a race this summer (Thurs., May 23)! Again, his office a put together a group of active bodies to run in the J.P.Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge! It's a 3.5 mile race.  Miles and I are super excited to cheer him on, even though Nate HATES running!!

I've also signed up for a few races.
Coming up on Saturday, May 25, I'll be running the Soldier Field 10-miler!  I've done it once before, but this  year is super exciting!  It's the 10th anniversary of the race and the shirts are FINALLY ChiBear's colors!

On Sunday, June 23, I will be running in the Chicago Women's Half Marathon. Also, on Saturday, July 27th, I will be running in the BTN BIG10K. Fun, fun!  There are so many other fun races yearning for my attention, but I really need to settle down.

Other than that, our summer will involve weekends to the beaches along Lake Michigan, camping getaways, family time, and far-away family time!  Happy start to your summer!

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Posted in: Baseball,Chicago,Kelly,Nathan,running

Good-bye Cabin Fever. Hello Spring Training.

I don't know about you, but we are so sick of winter.  We are not fans of being stuck indoors, especially not since we moved further downtown.  Don't get me wrong, we love our new place, but it feels substantially smaller than our loft.

We need to get out and move a little more. We are getting hopeful and starting to emerge from hibernation.
I've already signed up for a race this spring and have been carefully trying to pick out a couple more for the summer. I'm excited to start logging miles again.  My anxious heart needs it!

Nate is trying to map out camping trips and shop for new cleats before the start of his softball season. Sadly, he won't get to leave "the cabin" much until after his Structures Exam mid-March.

Miles is already moving! He just couldn't wait!
Miles is taking part in an indoor session of Lil Slugger's Baseball. His first session was last weekend. He had quite an audience as Grandma K, Grandpa K, and Josh were all in town for a visit.

We arrived early so that he could study the kids, coaches, and different stations before throwing him in.

They practiced hitting, throwing, running and several of the other basics!  Miles was disappointed that he had to hit off the tee.  He thinks he's too good for it. We assured him that even the pro's practice on tee's once in a while... back me up on that! All was redeemed when he hit a couple coach pitched balls later on.


Fast and focused... I'm so proud!  He takes it very seriously :)

This past weekend (week 2), Miles got his shirt!  The shirts were RED!  Miles LOVES red!  Saturday was a very good day! And after an hour of fielding grounders, hitting, and sliding into bases, Miles made it clear that he couldn't wait for next weekend.

Sometimes I worry that we push sports on Miles a little too much.  His enthusiasm each week calms my heart.  At this point, baseball is still something that he wants to do. Luckily, he's really good at it too! The 3 of us had a heart-to-heart about the potential for more summer athletic involvement. Miles dominated the conversation. Needless to say........
As of this morning, he's been signed up for a Chicago Parks District soccer league for 3-5 year olds (the same as last year). Tomorrow, registration opens up for a summer Chicago Parks District (outdoor) t-ball league for 4-7 year olds!
Yes.. our summer will be outdoorsy and busy! Just the way we like it!

- Posted from my iPhone

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Posted in: Chicago,Kelly,Miles,Nathan

So, Here’s what you missed (part 3)

We celebrated my birthday on September 30th.  I’m still not really happy about it.  I’m not a fan of odd numbers, so 31 just isn’t sitting right. I spent my whole life looking forward to 30, so 31 is rather depressing. If only I could skip to 32 and hang out there for a couple years instead……

The boys made the birthday a lot of fun. I  love feeling like a princess!

We got up early, opened a few presents

Nate took Miles shopping… All on his own, he picked out candy corn pumpkins, orange fingernail polish, glitter fingernail  polish, a red pillar candle and some white dish cloths. What a thoughtful little guy!!  Really knows how to melt my heart :)

Nate went above and beyond to get me a travel, heat-resistant wrap for my hair straighter, as well as my very first garmin! It’s the forerunner 10 and I LOVE IT!

After church,  they made me a fancy breakfast with pancakes, bacon, OJ, and flowers.  Nate and Miles have mastered pancakes and orange juice! Luckily, Titus was visiting!  He’s a bacon guru!! Thanks guys! Can you believe that the flowers still look great 2 weeks later! Here they are:

Afterwards, we practiced 2 wheel biking!

He’s soooo close!

Our evening ended properly!

Thanks, boys!  You’ve succeeded again! I love you all so much, even when you point that camera at me when I’m not looking.

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Posted in: Bikes,birthday,Kelly,Miles,Nathan,Video

So, here’s what you missed (part 1)

So… On September 4, Nate and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary.  How you ask?

Well, by attending a wedding, of course!

Nate and I flew, childless, to Buffalo, NY for the extra, extra wedding of one Mr. and Mrs. Baer.  After spending more waking hours with his architecture buddies than his own wife for the first 3 years of our marriage, it was a no brainer that we’d attend. In fact, Nate was one of two best men!

The groom and Mr. Klinge

On the Eastern coast of Lake Eerie, it really was a beautiful place to get married! 

The wedding party was huge…. and the rehearsal setting was perfect! Congrats again to the Baer’s.

We did take a little time to be romantic-ish…  we took a few hours before the wedding ceremony to drive up to Niagra Falls!

 

Seriously – So much more beautiful than my camera captured! (The Falls are gorgeous too!)

You know being away from Miles made us me miss him a ton! My parents kept sending up photo updates of his adventures. I texted them back a picture and a big “miss you!!”

Miles’ response was, “Grandma, how did you get my mom and dad in your phone?”

Ah….all vacations come to an end.  We had a great time, but Nate still went above and beyond to show me just how special I am to him.

First, a lunch date at the super fancy Signature room (the 95th floor of the Hancock tower!!) Here’s the cloudy view…. can you find the ferris wheel on Navy Pier?

He also brought home flowers…. but not just any flowers!  The flowers from the bouquet’s at our wedding.  He really is a lot more romantic than hopeless.  Don’t let his rough facade fool you!

   Love you, Sweet Baby!

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Posted in: Kelly,Nathan

Super parents

Have I ever mentioned how much I ADORE being a parent?!

Well, let me take a minute to tell you my thoughts right now.
I happen to think that my son is amazing. He's a brilliant little sponge, absorbing every bit of information that flows his direction. Whether the topic is reading, writing, manners, science, athletics, geography, pop culture... he loves it and can't get enough of it.

Yes, the routine of life with a hunky husband and a perfect child can get a little mundane... but I like this couples outlook on life.  Just be the best at it.. and be proud of it!  Then share your wisdom with the world. You're kids will love you for it...



Parents rap about maintaining their household by videosonlytube

So... this video, along with a couple other favorites (Click here #1 and Click here #2) got me thinking!
Nate and I could totally do this!!  Nate's rhymes are smooth and my dancing is kickin'! Miles could totally rock a harmony too.

I'm sure this will take A LOT of convincing. Wish me luck.

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Posted in: Kelly,random

First Camping trip for 2012

This weekend, we packed up and left the city for a relaxing long weekend away.  Because we waited until the last minute to reserve a spot,  we ended up staying at a “resort” type campground instead of the usual state park.  To be honest, after experiencing both, we still prefer the state park.  We were actually fairly annoyed by all of the resort style bells and whistles.
We built lots of fires and ate most of our meals from a roasting stick.  The same  was true for any dessert we devoured.  Rather than repeating myself over and over to give you a play by play of the weekend, I’ll just touch on a few highlights that defined our weekend.

We endured CRAZY storms one night which led us to venture into the small town in order to find a local greasy spoon for breakfast. The storms pushing into the morning wouldn’t let us get a fire started.  Small town people are awesome.  Kind of reminds me of our Story City days…
The boys did A LOT of fishing in the catch and release pond too!
 

We did a little swimming in the lake/pond too…. The temperatures were 95-100*F all weekend long. The water kept all of us nice and cool…. even Cooper!
Other than that…  We played SPORTS all weekend long! A little Soccer, Basketball, Frisbee… but mostly Baseball! We were better than satellite TV for most of our neighbors. Many of them even took the time to tell us so.  None of them could believe that a 3 yr old had that much know-how for the game.  One couple even asked if his father played professionally – at least the minors?  Ha! If only I was quicker on my feet- I wouldn’t have been so quick to reject the compliment.
Miles pitched with a full wind-up, rounded and stole bases, and cheered himself on.  He hit pitches from Nate and I, but also took a step back to practice hitting from a tee (since t-ball starts in 3 weeks).
Check this out below: I messed with the camera a little and took this motion capture! Nate has really enjoyed analyzing each photo to gauge each aspect of Miles’ form.

picasion.com
I’m sure this is only the beginning.
These next few photos are probably my favorite from the weekend…

After these candid shots, Miles wanted his turn capturing his favorite moments:
He adores his daddy!

He likes his mom too.

Ooh! Fires are pretty cool! The fishing pond isn’t so bad either.

Cooper is his “best dog.”

The neighbors and their flag – Happy Memorial day!

His bed and the playground.
 
Then the camera turned!  Miles wanted to take a picture of himself.
Shot #1: Oops.  just blurry chin.
 
Shot #2: getting closer.

Shot #3: Yeah… full face, just not so pretty.

Shot #4: Yeah!  Perfect!  Thanks for the photo bomb, Dad!

So… that was our weekend. Thanks for tagging along!
It was a much needed escape! Hope that you enjoyed your long weekend as well :)

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Posted in: Baseball,Kelly,Miles,Nathan