Field Trips

This may truly be the busiest week we've had.  We had one day where we stayed home and had a normal day but we've been busy otherwise.  I call our running around this week "field trips", even though I don't take that term too seriously.  It's just the point that all kinds of activities can be learning opportunities!

I will now tell in way-too-much detail what our week looked like.  Our first field trip was to the Mall of America.  Maybe not the "ultimate" field trip but a pretty fantastic one.  The kids have been counting down the days and we've all been so excited to have a little get away together.  It was more exciting to do this mid-week instead of the weekend!  On Tuesday, we woke up really early to be on the road at 6am.  By 7:10, we were pulling into a gas station while Lily threw up in the bucket we had packed for her (she is a known puker on car rides) and Hunter was borderline hysterical about his stomach.  The gas station was packed--people going to work, I guess--and we managed to find a spot, get Hunter out just in time for him to lose breakfast on the concrete.  He was very worried this meant we had to turn around. Nope!  He doesn't get car sick as often so I was a little worried it was a stomach bug but it worked out.  The gas station had packets of Dramamine and the package said it was approved for children so we bought that and gave each twin half a pill.  They were totally fine the rest of the trip.  Whew!

We then made our 2nd stop close to the border.  As you can see, it was chilly for shorts but we were all hot by the end of the day so it worked out.  This was the cutest rest stop--shaped like a barn.  

We arrived at the Mall about 45 minutes later than planned but it was fine!  The parking lot was empty so we were so excited.  I was nervous about crowds--just because it's not as fun to corral kids in a crowded place--but it was a great time to be there.  We parked and headed toward our lunch location...Rainforest Cafe.  We ended up being seated in the monkey section--not a good choice.  Nathan was petrified of the sounds and Samuel wasn't too happy about it, either.  Nathan got through most of his lunch before becoming inconsolable about the noise and I took him out at that point.  We shopped and gave change to the alligator while we waited.  Nathan was happy to be free to skip around.  He actually didn't spend a lot of time in the stroller, even if the pictures look like it.  

After lunch, we just took off walking to see what we could see.  I had looked at the map ahead of time and knew we only wanted to be in a couple different areas of the Mall.  Why walk the whole thing if we don't need to??  We saw the Disney store first and it had the prettiest castle inside.  The kids were given spending money and they all wanted to buy something here.  Hunter and Lily picked out a bow and arrow set from the movie 'Brave'.  When I went to pay, the cashier said something about brave and I thought she was saying I was brave because I was buying 2 bows and arrows.  Ha!  I realized what she meant and managed to answer appropriately.  :)  

Next stop was the Lego store.  The kids were impressed with the amazing Lego creations here.  Do you see Nathan peeking in the background of this picture?

The 3 oldest made their own mini figure to take home.  Hunter and Samuel then picked a small set to buy.  The ironic thing is that Hunter got a Harry Potter set and Samuel got a Spongebob set.  Those are 2 shows/movies that we haven't let our kids watch.  Ha!  Oh well, nothing wrong with building the sets, I guess.  :)

The little boys building some Hero Factory guys.

We actually had to go back to the van after this to put packages away.  We decided to head to the aquarium next to take a break from stores.  I bought our tickets online ahead of time because it was way cheaper to do so.  I checked in and they told me that there was a behind-the-scenes tour coming up and no one was signed up.  I could get tickets for half off.  So, even though Brian  and I had just discussed our dislike for guided tours, I said yes.  Ha!  We visited  a couple exhibits while we waited.  

And then waited for our tour guide.  This is the type of face you may now expect from Hunter in the following pictures.  He is apparently in a phase where he makes some different face instead of smiling.  It reminds me of my brother, Steve.  

School work in action:  The kids are inspecting shark eggs.  They learned a lot and got to touch a lot of dead animals (or parts of animals).  They also were shown the different foods they feed the animals there.  Finally, we were taken to the top of the tunnel to see the sharks and turtles and other animals swim in the big pool.  Lily was pretty concerned about the small area of injured animals we visited, as well.  Our tour guide was all right--kind of morbid but informative.  :)

We then toured the rest of the aquarium.  Nathan is getting tired at this point.  :)  The kids most enjoyed petting the starfish and sea urchins.  I also petted them--so fun!

We gave in to the demand for rides at that point and headed to Nickelodeon Universe.  We bought our passes and the kids picked out their 1st ride.  Well, the boys both changed their mind after she scanned the pass so we had to wait for someone to come give us our points back.  That all worked out but as we stood, waiting for Lily to ride, some man walked by and gave "mystery tickets" to Brian.  These had around 90 points on them and  he gave us a few of them.  What a blessing!!!!  So, the kids had fun running around to ride what they could find--and they were the only kids on many of the rides.  Nathan was really getting into it but he was also going on almost zero nap.  So, after we rode the Ghost Blaster ride twice, he protested the end by throwing himself around and screaming.  Ha!  This seemed like a good time for Lily and I to sneak away for girl time.  :)  I told Brian good luck and the girls headed off.  We had supper reservations at American Girl but wanted to shop before that. 

Lily has 1 American Doll and it's the Rebecca doll.  When I asked Lily to bring me Rebecca to pack for the trip, I questioned if that was how she wanted to take Rebecca.  The doll was wearing pajamas and had her hair in a ponytail.  I think the sales lady balked at that.  Ha!  She stumbled over her words but managed to tell Lily that Rebecca looked pretty.  :)  She said we had the store to ourselves so enjoy. I had Lily pose by the Rebecca case:

And we also headed right over to the salon to get Rebecca fixed up.  Lily chose a hair style and the lady (in the picture) asked if she'd like to have Rebecca pampered with a spa treatment (aka cleaning the doll).  Lily, of course, said yes.  We walked around the store while Rebecca got pampered.  We found so many fun things!!  I let Lily get Rebecca a pet (kitten named Praline) and some stick-on earrings, as well as a new Rebecca book.  

Once Rebecca was ready, we headed to supper.  As you can see, an empty restaurant!  Ha!  Isn't it pretty, though?  I love pink.  Lily loved that her doll had a seat, cup, plate and menu (that she got to take home).  It seriously was the fanciest meal I've had.  And Lily and I had a blast!!!  We used the table talkers and talked about dolls and just had a great time.  So stress free and fun that I almost felt guilty when I looked out the window and saw Brian rolling his eyes at me while the boys ran around in circles.  Ha!!!  I waved with my iced tea.  :)  So, yes, something that I would totally do again and Lily wants to know when our next girl time is.  It was good to have some positive time with her!  

Brian said the only thing the boys could agree on for supper was onion rings so they ended up at Arby's.  The boys told me they had onion rings, curly fries, root beer and strawberry shakes.  Ha!!!  We had to find the boys after our supper and they were as far away as they could be so we walked and walked to find them.  We decided to make a quick stop at Sephora but it was a mistake.  The boys were tired of doing nothing and Lily wanted a lip gloss but I couldn't find one under $20.  So, we both picked out a nail polish and hurried back to the rides.  Unfortunately, that only lasted a little bit because Nathan was DONE.  We decided that we didn't have a lot of plans for the next day so we'd just come back.  Walking to the van was pretty long and painful.  The kids were complaining of tired legs/feet and I felt the same way.  Brian had to carry Nathan the whole way so he was feeling equally DONE.  But our hotel was across the street and we got right in to our suite.  This perked everyone back up!  

This room was where the boys slept (including Brian):

And this room was where the girls slept.  The couch folded out to make the most uncomfortable bed ever but the kids enjoyed having boys/girls separate so it was worth it.  :)

We bought microwave popcorn, lemonade for the kids, Coke for the adults and played Uno until Nathan's mood dictated bedtime.  Brian may have been lucky enough to sleep in a nice bed but he had to share with Nathan, who usually sleeps in a crib, so I wouldn't have traded with him.  We all fell asleep by 10 and everyone was up by 7.  

The kids loved the fluffy pillows and felt the need to stack up as many as possible.  :)  I didn't take this picture but I thought it was funny (Hunter used my camera for awhile).

The room seemed to be a big playground, which was a problem at times.  Mainly where Nathan was concerned.  Poor guy.  He isn't all trouble but he is 2.

The next morning, we hit the free breakfast.  Yum!  It was a great buffet and the kids did pretty good with it.  I was bummed there was no chocolate milk because Nathan hadn't had milk at all the day before.  Otherwise, we all enjoyed the fruit, waffles, ham, eggs, yogurt, biscuits and gravy.  

We then checked out and drove around the mall to find IKEA.  We drove back to the mall to park in the most convenient spot to head back to IKEA as soon as we were ready.  Nothing was open in the mall yet so we just enjoyed some picture time.

School work in action: Learning to read a map.

Also, phys. ed. in the form of chase.

Posing with the Turtles.  This ride was closed for maintenance.

Brian posing by the big Peeps sign. He enjoys that candy for some reason.

I made Brian pose by the Hot Tamales sign because I thought it was funny.  :)  Hunter doesn't care for the candy so he's showing that.  The main point is that Brian is a Hot Tamale.  

I loved the Blue's Skidoo ride--so cute!

The Jimmy Neutron ride was a blast, apparently.  The scariest ride ever but they did it twice.  They being the twins because Samuel was too short and they wouldn't let him ride, even with a parent.  He was broken hearted but found a little dollar ride he could do in the meantime.

The Fly Boat was a hit.

Samuel did bumper cars without anyone else in the family--kind of a big deal, I thought.

I think everyone got to do the rides enough times.  They would have done more but we were out of points and it was time to move on.  The rough part were the rides that not all 4 kids could ride but overall, they all did great.  Brian and I rode a handful of things but I didn't ride anything scary. Brian was forced to ride one that he hated but it made Samuel happy.  :)  We then headed to Johnny Rocket's for lunch and spent our life's fortune on burgers.  Seriously.  I wouldn't eat there again just because of the cost!  But the kids all got a  kids' shake with their meal and were happy with that.

Next stop, IKEA!  I was pumped!!!  The kids actually really enjoyed it here.  Weird, huh?  They loved how it was set up like houses.

Hunter said, "I have work to do!" and sat right down.

I totally wanted to buy this chair--how cute!

We did the top floor and then stopped for a drink break.  I let the 3 biggest have Dr. Pepper so it was such a treat!!  Brian and I shared Mt. Dew and felt a ton better.  Nathan finally got his chocolate milk and he was really happy!  This is the kids' area in the cafeteria.  I seriously love this store!

We finished up and I gave up on trying to fit any shelving into our packed van.  I did get some toy storage things but I still could use some more shelves for the homeschool area!  We left IKEA about 3:30pm and headed out of town.  Or at least we attempted to.  Our GPS got us lost.  It said we were on the interstate but we clearly weren't. We had to turn around and when we did, we saw Sonic!  I miss Sonic!!  It happened to be Happy Hour so we ran right over there and got 6 cherry limeades.  Brian said it was the best purchase of the day.  Ha!  Our GPS figured out where we were and got us back on track.  It was the beginning of rush hour, apparently, because the traffic was horrific.  I had to close my eyes and talk myself out of anxiety.  I hate traffic!  We finally made it out of town and drove until we reached Cabela's.  Brian's favorite stop!

So, I'm not a big fan of killing animals like this but this was a neat display.  The kids were able to get a good look at elephants, rhinos, lions, zebras and many other animals throughout the store.  Lily did say that IKEA was way better and I had to agree.  But, Brian enjoyed it!  

It was supper time after that so we decided just to hit Subway since it was at the same exit.  It ended up being the longest wait of our lives.  Our kids were getting looks so Brian took them out to the sidewalk to wait.  We ended up eating picnic-style.  

The twins were given their half-pill of Dramamine and on we went.  We got gas and I let the kids get chips before we headed out.  We then had one more stop on the way home and I let the kids get a candy.  They then wanted another stop but I was pretty sure it was because of the food so we said no and still made it home just fine.  :)  We were home at 10pm and shuffled the kids to their own beds and I didn't wait too long myself to collapse.  :)

The next day, the kids were anxious to play with all the goodies they had bought.  See Hunter's face?  That's because he hit something with his arrow--can't remember what.

Poor Nathan.  He really isn't a grumpy kid but lack of sleep is killer for a 2 year old.  He wasn't in the mood for pictures.

We got right back to regular school.  Here the kids are separating insects and spiders for science.

We then took our butterflies outside to release them.  We left for MN with 2 butterflies and there were 4 before we let them go. This one sat on the sidewalk for awhile before flying away so we got a good look!

One butterfly never emerged so we inspected that.  It was clearly a butterfly but must have died for some reason.

We then made a bar graph to look at the population explosion in California during the gold rush.

We also ate watermelon, our fruit for the week.  The trait was patience, which was really appropriate for our trip.  We talked about it a lot.  We finished our read aloud and our science book.  We had a "field trip" to the community theater to see Uncle Steve in Alice in Wonderland.  We have another "field trip" tonight to see their cousins in School House Rocks!  Just a full week but it was a lot of fun!