Chicago!

I wanted the boys to sit on the state they were
born in... but Finn and Colton refused and then
Grayson jumped to Iowa. :) (from CO)

Finn, Grayson, Cullen, Colton and Sonya
Getting ready to walk around the Museum of
Science and Industry in Chicago.

Finn being mechanical.

My boys had fun with this little experiment.

Tractors?!?! Awesome!!!

Huge tires on this tractor!

Finn in the drivers seat on the combine.

Finn's favorite of the museum.
(there is the large tv screen in front of the combine)

Cullen and Grayson holding hands. :)

The incubator to the left held a few dozen eggs, where
you can watch the baby chicks hatch out of the egg.
Here Finn and Grayson are watching the older chicks run around.

This combine exhibit was REALLY cool! In front of this
real, full-sized combine is a large screen playing real footage of a combine
cutting down a corn field. Finn has been pretty interested in combines
lately, so this was a great experience for him!

I thought this was appropriate for our little red head.
Or "Pirate Red-Beard" as Sean has nicknamed him. :)
(Cullen is "Sir Talks A Lot")

Sean (and Matt) were out of town for business, so Sonya and I made arrangements to get together while the guys were away. I drove the boys to Chicago Saturday morning. We went straight to the Museum of Science and Industry. We spent a lot of time there and had lunch there. It is a HUGE, hands-on museum, we didn't even make a dent in seeing 1/4 of what it has to offer. All the boys were good and had a great time exploring!

We went back to Sonya's house afterwards to let the boys rest (and Colton nap). After some downtime and naps, we took the subway to Millenium Park to ice skate. Finn LOVED the subway (he sees it on Curious George), but Cullen didn't like the smells. :) Ice skating was interesting, to say the least. I'm not too good, and not good enough to help my two never-ice-skated-before boys. But we all survived and I'm happy to say we all enjoyed it!

We then walked to a quaint diner for dinner. At dinner someone told Finn he had beautiful hair and he said "I have red hair like my grandma." I was blown away! I had never heard himsaying anything like that before and he now officially knows he has red hair. (He used to tell you it was brown.) After dinner we walked back to Sonya's house. All four boys were exhausted (it was about 10 our time) and ready to go straight to bed. All four boys slept in the same room and we only had to warn them a few times to quit talking and sleep. Sonya and I (at last!) had great girl-time and stayed up late drinking wine and catching up.

We drove back home to South Bend this afternoon. We had a great time with our friends and are can't wait for next visit!