Maxwelton Journal: July 2015

Our sweet Alice has been full of smiles in her (almost) four months with us so far. She has a smile pretty much time you make eye contact with her or talk to her. She even smiles when she is crying. It is pretty amazing and I finally captured it today! She has been rolling all over the place and wanted to get some action shots of her rolling. She wasn't really in the mood apparently and instead just cried. Well... actually she Cryled. A new word I made up just for her.

Cryle
To cry while not being able to stop smiling. Cryled. Cryling.

We started out happy then when I put her on her back she immediately rolled onto her tummy and was full of tears. She did not want to be a part of my rolling over photos!

These were taken as she was screaming. But she can't help but smile even as she is crying. She is cryling.

After last summer's Florida two part trip we planned another two part trip this year! It is nice to have another trip to look forward to while on vacation! You only have to pack once and just cram all sorts of fun into one week! Two years in a row we have done it over my birthday and father's day. What better to celebrate those to things than with a family vacation!

Our first stop was Kalahari in the Wisconsin Dells. It was awesome! It definitely lives up to the name of "Disney of the midwest." We had three days of wall to wall fun. Go Karts, mini-golf, arcade games, rope course, ferris wheel, Wisconsin Duck tour in addition to TONS of water slides. The boys were on the go constantly and had such a blast. The best part was Aunt Carol and her friend Tom joined us for this part of our trip so the boys got to drag her around. She is definitely more fun than us since just being "mom" and "dad" make us not as much fun automatically.

Dave did the large ropes course and it was very high! The worst part is there was no chicken escape route, if you wanted to be done you needed to turn around and go back over all the part you just finished. As you continued you kept getting higher and higher. I unfortunately, or luckily, depending on how you look at things didn't get to participate since I was with Alice. ;)

Jaxson also was a brave little guy and gave the first two sections of the BIG ropes course a try. He turned around and joined Asher on the fun, but closer to the ground, ropes course while Dave finished the big one. He also gave the rock climbing wall a try and some serious water slides that I was surprised he would do. Asher on the other hand is a DAREDEVIL! He would have done it all if he had just been 2 inches taller. He will be our adrenaline junkie for sure. :)

The Wisconsin Duck tour was much different than I expected! It was fun and our driver was really hilarious!

This was the big water slide Jaxson worked his courage up to and finally just hours before we had to leave decided to go for it! He was nervous but off he went and LOVED it!

Then came Chicago. We didn't exactly plan right and came into town during busier traffic than we expected. Bummer. Then we got to the hotel and our room was about 1/3 of the size it showed online when we booked. Double bummer. And to top it off it was my birthday. Biggest bummer of all. But as birthday luck would have it, or more appropriately Barry luck, we got upgraded to their nicest, two room suite, for no extra charge. Just for asking nicely! It was so awesome and we are lucky it worked this way because I am not sure any of us would have gotten any sleep in the first room. Our stroller wouldn't even fit in the door. I expected a small hotel room being it was Chicago AND an older hotel, but this room brought my idea of a small hotel room to whole new level.

Day one we went to the Shedd Aquarium! The boys loved watching the sharks in particular and the big beluga whales were a hit. The stingray touch was also a hit with, you guessed it, Asher who isn't afraid of anything apparently.

This was Jaxson's favorite fish and asked that I get a photo of it for him.

Next up we just toured and went to see the big Bean. On the way we saw Dylans Candy Shop and couldn't resist. The boys were in candy heaven. In order for them to have some candy they needed to eat a warhead for my entertainment. It was cheap fun and they both were able to pass the warhead challenge and only slightly awful facial expressions during.

Navy Pier the next day and the boys probably had the most fun this day at the Children's Museum. That place is amazing! It would be awesome for us to get one someday!! The Ferriswheel was a must of course. Dave babywearing for awhile might have made it my favorite day too. :)

A couple hours in to babywearing and he is already telling me how his back hurts. Tell me about it!!!

A real workshop, with real kids, real tools, and really nervous dads....

Dave was so excited to take the boys to their first Cubs game! He spent weeks (could have been months, who knows) finding the perfect tickets and the perfect price. He definitely succeeded! It was such a perfect night and the sky was beyond beautiful that night too!

Asher... what is that your drinking and WHY is your hand so large?!

Tiny Dip-n-Dots cups make perfect toppers for babies apparently!

More photos from my camera! I am the worst photo taker on vacationer ever. I find myself coming home with less photos of an entire week long vacation than I do one family photo session. I guess I just am spending more time enjoying my time with them than behind the camera. And our trips always involve water or walking, both that I don't want to bring my camera to!