DuPage Children's Musuem

Tuesday was cold (for June) and dreary and rainy, so I took Gavin to DuPage Children's Museum. We had a voucher for one free admission, which he earned in Kindergarten, and I figured it was a good day to use it.  ( https://dupagechildrens.org/)

We haven't gone there often, because it's full of germs and when I took the kids there at age three they got sick afterward. Then I took Gavin several months later and he got sick again, so I vowed never to go back until he was in grade school. But he loves it there, and all the activity stations are fun and educational. He tried everything out.

This is his favorite place - he calls it the "control panel" I guess because it looks like the cockpit of a jet or something. It's in the Wind and Electricity section.

Colored lights under a blacklight:

The Waterways area is always fun!

Next it was time to make giant bubbles. Gavin started very slowly and carefully....

...lifting it higher and higher...

And finally pulling it over his head. Yes, why not? What else is a 6 year old boy going to do with a giant bubble? :)

And of course it popped...

We also checked out the music room....

We were there all afternoon, and only left when they closed. It was a super fun day!

Cantigny Park

Yesterday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to Cantigny Park. Gavin loves to climb on the tanks, and the weather wasn't too hot (so the tanks themselves weren't too hot)!

Gavin has been watching some DVDs about General Patton, so he was very curious about each tank. Cantigny is a memorial park and museum to the 1st Infantry Division ("The Big Red One") and General Patton requested the 1st specifically for his march through Sicily.

Enjoy the pictures - I think Gavin climbed on every single one!

Birthday Party

This weekend, Gavin was invited to a birthday party for three siblings! Their birthdays are all within 6 weeks, so they got to have one big party. Check out the group of 33 kids, below:

It was held at Pump It Up in Lisle. There were two bouncy rooms and a room for eating cake and snacks.

There were several staffers with our group at all times, keeping things organized.

Gavin wasn't sure about the rock climbing wall at first, but then gave it a try:

This rainbow layer cake was a big hit! This cake was for Claire, below: 

Sitting in the birthday throne with Tristan:

Gavin with Claire and her brother Ethan (also his birthday):

Gavin and Claire. All the kids seemed to have a great time, except Claire and Ethan's little brother Adam, who was a bit under the weather.

Evie's Garden

On Friday we went to Evie and Gavin's old preschool to plant flowers in her memorial garden. It's right outside the Bluebird Room, which was her classroom.  There are some beautiful perennials, but we added a bunch of wave petunias to fill it in.

All of the kids' therapists came to help, along with their teachers, the principal, and several other staff members who loved the kids. We had fun and it was great to see everyone again!

Gavin diligently watered every flower:

Mrs. Seppa let Gavin release the Cat room's ladybugs into the garden: