A summer Saturday in Chicago

A few snapshots from our Saturday out in Chicago. First stop, The Bean! Somehow, we'd never been there before. Now, we have.

Pirate Kel underneath The Bean.

View looking up from inside. Much cooler in person, but you get the idea.

And another Chicago first for us -- The Crown Fountain.

Next up, the Field Museum. And nope, we'd never been here either! We were kind of stuck in a Museum of Science and Industry rut for a few years there. Here is Kel with the world famous Sue.

The Blackhawks were in their final games of the hockey playoffs, so there were various silly added decorations around the museum.Notice the statue wearing the Hawks jersey.

In the evening, we went to Navy Pier and took a crazy fun speedboat ride on the lake. It was fast, furious, and we got soaked! These snaps are from before the ride. There was no holding on to cameras (or anything else!) once we got going.

And after the ride. Soaked right through, wild hair, and big smiles.

This is the speedboat that we were on. Off for its next run.

The last four are snaps from my phone.

Dyspraxia Illinois at Lincoln Park Zoo

On our recent trip to Chicago, we were blessed to spend a day at Lincoln Park Zoo with the Dyspraxia Illinois crowd. The first few shots are our attempt to get a decent shot of the whole group. Try, try again!

Kel with his good buddies, Lauren and Emma, enjoying snow cones on a hot summer day in Chicago.

Sitting for a break with his good buddy, mentor, and superhero, Warren Fried, founder of Dyspraxia USA.

Lauren and Emma having a little tug-of-war over the Kel.

The kids checking out the map and planning our route through the zoo.

Kel and Aiden, trying to find the polar bears on Aiden's map.

Everybody riding the zoo train.

Finding a shady spot to enjoy some animal viewing.

Meramec Caverns and Six Flags mini-break

To celebrate the end of the school year (and the fact that we had to kill a couple of days before summer camp started), I took the boys down to Meramec Caverns and Six Flags St. Louis. Not including the severe weather and super scary storms, we had a fun and fabulous couple of days out.

The boys entertaining themselves in a funhouse mirror.

After lunch and a boat ride (which I somehow did not photograph?!), we stopped for ice creams. It was absolutely exquisite. And messy!

The highlight of the caverns day was, without a doubt, their "mining" experience. They got to sift through bags of dirt to find beautiful gems which they were able to keep and bring home. They must have spent 45 minutes here, carefully sifting each bit of soil. Now if only I could recreate this at home somehow. Think of the free time!

It was a scorching hot afternoon, so after our cave trek, lunch, a boat trip down the river, ice cream cones, and the mining experience, the boys went for a little wade in the Meramec.

Because it isn't possible to bring a camera into Six Flags (they don't let you carry anything onto the rides), these are just a few phone shots that I took that day. We had a blast.