Playing Catchup

I never got to post last weekend's activities, and now another weekend has flown by! It was quite a busy week from Sunday to Sunday. Here, look for yourself.

Last weekend we went to West Park, the one with the ducks, only this time all four of us went.

Ryan would spend his life on the swings if we let him.

Bella gets a big push from Daddy.

We post ourselves across the pond from the ducks, bread in hand...

...and they come in droves.

Ryan did a good job picking off small pieces.

Bella's practically swimming in there with them!

Daddy and his two "babies".

Ryan photo-bombing a picture of me and Joshua.

It was sooo windy! I wish I had remembered to bring the kites!

Bella's first field trip to the pumpkin patch. Do you think she's excited?

Off on the hay ride (which is actually straw! Who knew?!?).

Ecstatic!

Trying to lasso a one-eared cow.

One maid a-milking...

Trying to decide on the perfect pumpkin.

 The day after the pumpkin patch began Bella's fall break-a Friday and Monday off. So the kids and I headed to the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago. We spent five hours there, and I think we only missed two or three exhibits!

Bella adjusts the glass panels to create her very own vortex.

You could heat the air inside these balloons and then launch them into the air.

Air pressure and plastic balls-finding just enough pressure to make them "float" without bouncing all over the museum.

Bella and Ryan were pretty hesitant to try this, but once they did, they thought it was really cool.

Bella on the giant hamster wheel.

The kids getting ready to take off in the 747!

Captain Bella and her co-pilot.

Ryan tries on the captain hat for size. This picture reminds me of one I have of my paternal grandfather in his Navy hat.

Ryan in heaven. A whole hall full of life-size and model trains!

This layout is the whole US. There are 30 trains that run on 1,400 feet of track!

This was just like the engine in The Polar Express, so Ryan was having a blast.

Pumpkin Pyrotechnics! The guy doing the science ("Me-dude-sa" with his snake headpiece) used different chemicals to change the color of the fire. Green, in this case.

I can't remember what he blew into the pumpkin (I'm sure Dad is giving the answer as he's reading this), but it shot up pretty high. Bella, who was sitting front and center, got a warm faceful.

Good to know the hatching chicks are still an exhibit at the museum. Warm memories of watching the little guys peck their way to freedom from when I went to the museum on field trips as a kid.

The kids take a turn behind the wheel of a combine. They got in line over and over again for this one.

This was pretty cool: a swarm of butterflies projected on a white screen. If you sat still long enough (which is why Ryan isn't doing this), they landed on your head, or shoulder or hand. Not sure how it worked, but it was pretty cool.

Ryan was fascinated by all the planes he saw overhead, so we took a short ride as close to the airport as we could get, set the kids on the roof of the car, and let them watch a couple of planes zoom over their heads.

Ryan gets his pick of Uncle Jeff's pumpkin crop. This is only half the batch!

Bella's an old pro at it by this point.

 Saturday morning dawned bright and promising, so we got in Uncle Jeff's car (which has Star Wars music, so his popularity level got even more stratospheric) and took a train ride downtown.

The kids at "The Bean". You can actually see Jeff and I in the reflection, drinking our Dunkin' Donuts (please support-Jeff is a stockholder now!).

The pictures always seem better in my head than in reality. I wasn't planning for Bella to be hooking Ryan's mouth like a fish while making a rather creepy face, but this is what I got.

Ryan's fuzzy head ("lollipop on the carpet" as Jeff called it) plastered to the window as he was ON a train watching CARS go by. It doesn't get much better than that!

So this past weekend we enjoyed probably the last warm Screen-Free Sunday for a while. It called for ice cream, which Ryan always eats weird (a bite from the middle of the cone).

Bella would eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact, she frequently asks for it for all three meals!

Ryan works the counter at the park we went to.

There were several hot air balloons out and I can't blame them-look at that beautiful sky!

Bella wore her Halloween dress from Nana.

Had to get a picture of my big girl for 80's day. So cute!

This will be part of her Halloween costume (no hints-don't want to spoil the surprise). It's a hoodie with a fake mohawk on it and she LOVES it!

More to come next week-stay tuned!