Monday, June 18, 2012

Father's Day Weekend

So to preface this, I switched jobs from my outpatient clinic to the hospital part time.  Therefore, I work almost every Saturday.  I thought since Justin is such a pool/beach-type guy, he and Kayla might like to take swim classes on Saturdays while I am at work.  So this Saturday was their first swim class!

I don't have a picture because obviously it's hard for Justin to take a photo and be in the water with Kayla at the same time.  He said that they had fun, although it seemed like some of the other parents already knew each other and there wasn't really any interaction between kids/families (I was kinda hoping we might meet some friends).  He said Kayla was probably mid age range for the kids that were there, but she was by far the one most in love with the water.  Three or four kids apparently screamed the whole time.  He said she kicked and she drank some water and when he put her on the edge to jump in she kinda ran the other way (probably not out of fear, probably because she thought it was time to go.) :)  He said her lips were turning blue by the end of the 30 minutes and she was shivering so clearly, she was cold, but she just loves the water.  I'll get to go with them one Saturday in July so I'm really looking forward to that.  I'm sad I can't be part of this, but so excited Justin gets to share something with her!

When I got home from work, Kayla was taking her nap so Justin and I were discussing what we wanted to do when she woke up.  I told him for his big birthday present this year, I thought he would really like a grill, but thought he might want it earlier in the summer so we could get some good use out of it this summer.  I had a patient tell me about this place called ABT Electronics, so since we had already looked at Lowe's and he stopped at Home Depot with Kayla, we decided to check this place out.

The place is like heaven for electronically minded adults.  Like, Justin and I could go there to just hang out.  And the people that work there are SO knowledgable, helpful and nice!  Well, we ended up spending a little more on a grill and some supplies for Justin (Father's Day, 30th birthday and maybe part of our anniversary gift), but he really deserves it.  He works so hard without complaining about anything (including my current state of moodiness), and hardly ever gets anything in return.  I know how much he has wanted a grill and I can't wait to use it this weekend! :)

After purchasing his new grill, we found a little family kitchen type place to eat and then got Kayla home (as quickly as possible) to get her to bed.

On Sunday, we woke up and I made pancakes and cheesy eggs for breakfast.  Kayla got up a little earlier than normal and we eventually decided to go to the nearby children's museum I had heard so many good things about.  So we decided to put her down for a longer morning nap so we wouldn't have to worry about getting home in time for an afternoon nap.  It actually worked out quite well!

The Kohl Children's Museum is Glenview is AWESOME!  I think Justin may have liked it as much as Kayla did!

We started in the art area where we made Dada a Father's Day card (and tried to keep her from taking all the crayons out with her.)

Then we headed to the car area.  All the little boys seemed to be in here, but Kayla and I walked through the car wash and she took a little drive (no hands!) :)

Then we headed to the grocery shopping area.  Kayla wasn't too interested in shopping.  She wanted to take the items out of other kids carts, talk on the phone, and play on the cash register (computer) clearly.



 Oh she is also HUGE right now on screwing and unscrewing things, so she was VERY unhappy to learn these milk jugs tops didn't come off.


Then we headed to the Vet area, where an older girl was cleaning and tending to the wounds of the stuffed animals and was trying to teach Kayla about everything.  Kayla is such an observer she just quietly watched this little girl wrap up the dog who had his stomach "torn open."  (To which this girl's mom said, "Well that's violent!") :)

After that we spent some time blowing up balloons with buttons and pumping bars and popping balls into a bucket with buttons.  I'm not sure where we were when I took this but it's cute either way.  Kayla is also very big on "sit" (which sounds more like "dit.")

We headed to the play house where you could paint, which I tried to teach Kayla but she wasn't interested at all.

After that, we thought Kayla might like the music area where there were a bunch of ways to make music.  Kayla liked the drums, the xylophone, and the little steps she could climb to reach all the exhibits.


Then we decided it was probably time to get some lunch at the Cosi inside the museum (which is completely kid friendly with lower tables and a lower bar.)

After lunch we headed inside to the water area (see swim lesson story above to understand how much Kayla likes the water.)  They had little smocks you could put on your kid to keep them more clean in most of the areas, but Kayla loved splashing and I didn't really care if she got a little wet.




Kayla LOVED the balls, but was a little frustrated the current kept pulling them away from her.  So she just ran around trying to collect all the balls and then throwing them.  Which she followed with some (a lot) of splashing.




Unfortunately, she got a lot wet and I was worried she would get cold. So after the water works area, we headed outside to walk around.  This area would be great for kids who like texture and, you know, grass.  But, as we all know, Kayla does NOT like grass.  We checked out the webbed climbing things, the tunnel and the little maze with overgrown grass where I got a couple great pictures of my 2 favorite people.







Series of photos Justin and I couldn't cut down because it is this great series of Kayla trying to avoid the grass touching her as she walked down the walkways:)





We ended in the cityscape area, where Kayla enjoyed the peg board, the magnets, and the floating balls.  Then she found the computer and screamed (the only time in THREE HOURS we were there) when we tried to take her away.  So we thought it was time to go (after a quick stop in the baby nursery area where Kayla took all the diapers (a real cloth brand!) off the babies and tried to take the babies away from all the other little girls).

We may very well be getting a membership to this great kids museum!



Oh, did I mention what an AWESOME man I am married to?  He is the best Dada to our little girl.  I don't know if it was growing up with only a sister or what, but he has always been so great with my girl friends when we were in college, with my mom and my sisters and now with our daughter.  Part of me wants another little girl because I honestly can't imagine anyone as a better dad to daughters.  I love you very much Justin.  I cannot imagine my life without you.

1 comment:

  1. Awesome pictures of Kayla and Justin! We miss you guys!!

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