Busy, busy busy....

What a difference a week makes! Last week at this time, I was housebound with two sick kids, unable to even leave the house, and on the verge of being sick myself. Today we were home for a total of two hours -- while the kids napped. Let me just tell you how WONDERFUL it is to be able to do fun stuff again!!

This morning when we woke up, it was super cloudy and just starting to rain. After a quick peek at the weather report, it was obvious that Matt would not be spending the morning working on the patio as planned, and decided to join Michelle, Ben, Tessa and the kids and I at the Science Center. Since we typically go to the SCI only during the week, it was the first time Matt had been there in months!! The kids LOVED having their daddy with us!

A quick public service announcement -- any mother (or mother-to-be) of a little boy must know how to build tons of random stuff out of Lego's. This would include, but not be limited to, buildings, airplanes, space rockets, & cars and trucks of every type and kind. No one told me this, and oh, I wish they had!! With Katherine, learning how to build stuff with Lego's was not in the job description of a mommy. With Caleb (and every other little boy I know) -- it's an absolute necessity. Failing is not an option. With that being said.....

The highlight of any trip to the Science Center for Caleb is the Lego car racetrack. They have this Lego station where you can build a car, and then race it on the timed track next to it. Oh, how he loves to stand on the little stool and watch his car go down the slope. He could stand there for hours, and hours and hours! LOL! In the past, I've made some real winners of cars, let me assure you! To call them a jalopy, would be kind.... But, as long as Caleb has some Lego's piled up on wheels, he's happy!

Well today Matt decides that he's going to build his son this *amazing* car. It actually looks like a race car, and all the other little boys sooooo wanted to get their hands on this thing! It was a real engineering marvel! And fast???? Yea, it won every race!

As irony would have it, guess what car Caleb raced with????? MINE!! It wasn't pretty, but he loved it, and if ANYONE dared to touch it, he FREAKED!! Poor Tessa.... She tried to pick it up at the bottom of the track, and Caleb started yelling, "NNNNNOOOOO". He loved the car I made (AAWWWW), and Katherine got to be the envy of all the other kids and used the car Matt made for her!! She didn't lose a race!

We left the Science Center around 2, and then drove home and put the kids down for their naps. As soon as they woke up, we went out to the Iowa State Fair with Rick and Danyel and their kids. Typically I HATE the fair, but bringing kids puts a whole new perspective on things. They LOVED it, and their energy is contagious.

As soon as we got there, we headed straight for the farm equipment and let the kids try out all of the different tractors and digger type things they could sit on. Caleb was in HEAVEN! He was pulling levers and pushing buttons like a wild man and didn't stop smiling the entire time. And yes, I didn't bring the camera! Next year! (Can you believe just said that???)

Totally random -- They had prices on all the tractors and guess how much they cost.... $250,000!! And that doesn't even include the attachment things on the back! I about died!! I would have guessed somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000. How insane is that????

Another highlight was the animal education building. It was super cool!! They had several pens of week old baby pigs that you could get up close to and pet. Both kids stuck their little hands right in the pen! They also had baby chicks - probably 100 or so of them. I held one while the kids petted it, and holy cow.... it was such a huge hit! Caleb stuck is little finger ever so gently on the chick's head and then quickly pulled back and roared with laughter. It was GREAT!!

Tomorrow morning we're heading back to Ashby Park with Danyel and the kids. It closes next week, so we want to take advantage of it while we can. I can't believe fall is almost here! Oh, if only summer could last forever!