Car Show

Last Friday night we went to the Classic Car show in Downers Grove. The night's theme was Emergency Vehicles. Gavin got to sit in a police car and a police motorcycle.

There were tractors there as well...

Grandpa Cermak, Clare, Fran, and Maverick met us at the train station.

The police SUV:

A VIPER!!!! Gavin was SO excited!

And a cool motorcycle.

Gavin and I spent a day last week trying to fit in a bunch of activities before he goes back to school on 8/24.

We started out at Cosley Zoo in the morning:

This Norwegian Fjord Horse is always hanging out by the fence, waiting for kids to pet him:

Later we went to Morton Arboretum. Gavin climbed on everything and waded in the tadpoles pond and the secret stream that's farther back in the Adventure Woods. 

Dinos and Dragons at the Zoo

This summer, Brookfield Zoo has an exhibit called Dinos and Dragons. Gavin and I went there today and it was very cool! (And he wasn't scared like he was in 2009 when they had a dinosaur exhibit. Can't blame him - those figures are very realistic!)

This knight was all Legos:

So was this dragon:

He felt like posing and "thinking" by the T-Rex:

STEM Night

Gavin's school had its annual STEM night last night, and it was lots of fun! STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math, and the gym was full of different activities and stations for the kids to explore:


We were both fascinated with the mirage table. Look at each container. It look like there is an object on each  - but there's really nothing on top of them. It's all  a trick with mirrors!

There really is no frog on this bowl. Honest. Crazy, right?!

Stacking magnets:

A cube puzzle:

Pendulums

With his pals Ava and Claire:

Extracting DNA from a strawberry:

Sending straw "rockets" up to the ceiling with a bicycle pump:

 This was one of Gavin's favorites of the night. He connected wires to a battery and light bulb to make the bulb turn on. 

Thanks to the volunteers who helped make this night so much fun!!

Fun With Our Cousins

Every winter, around the Christmas and New Year break, we try to get together with our Wisconsin extended family. Sometimes we are sick, sometimes some cousins are out of town, but as many as possible meet up at a restaurant in Kenosha, which is a good halfway point for all of us.

The restaurant has one of those "claw" machines - Gavin and Erin tried to get toys but were not successful. (I think those things work about 1% of the time.)

Next, Uncle Kevin discussed the technical layout of the sandbox Sean is going to build for his Eagle Scout project. Gavin and Jack looked on:

Gavin hadn't seen technical drawings like this before (I don't think!) and was fascinated.

Next, playing Hangman with Erin:

And then the silliness started. Gavin, Erin, and Erin's dad Dennis got their hair as static-y as possible:

 It was a fun afternoon!

New Year's Eve

Yes, I am WAY behind. I warned you that I was! Better late than never...

This New Year's Eve, I took Gavin to the Bubble Bash at DuPage Children's Museum. We've never attended this event before because it costs twice as much as regular admission. BUT we haven't gone in 12 months, since they had a frozen pipe and resulting flood that kept them closed for the majority of 2015. We wanted to see the new renovations and see which of our favorite things were still there.

Bubbles!

The big duck spilling tank is gone, and now there are several smaller water stations. Gavin and 4 other boys made sure the ducks fell down repeatedly:

This thing below was like a Nerf dart, that would get set up and then a kid would jump on a pedal to make it fly.

Trying to jump hard enough to make a ball fly up:

 

This, below, is part of the electricity center. Gavin calls it "The Control Panel" and it is his favorite thing in the entire museum. He will spend 30 minutes up there, working all the levers and controls and pretending he is piloting a spaceship on an intergalactic mission (or something). We were delighted that it survived the flood!

More fun with bubbles:

Former Mayor Pradel and current Mayor Chirico were there. Mayor Pradel did the countdown to noon, then bubbles and inflatable balls were dropped. It was crowded but a lot of fun!