Harrison learns to ride a two wheel bike!!!

A very proud moment for me! My 4 year old set his mind that he was going to ride his bike without training wheels.  We had gone out on a bike ride as a family on Sunday night.  When we got home I asked Harrison if he wanted to try without his training wheels and he said yes.  We tried, but it was late and I tried to keep him on the sidewalk, which was difficult. The next morning we had to take Daddy to the airport as soon as we got home from dropping Daddy off, Harrison was ready to learn how to ride his bike.  I was thinking this was something we might be close to learning by the end of the week to show Dad when he got home, but Harrison was determined and within an hour he had it down.  He could ride his bike without me helping him!!!  Now it was a bad time for the cars and trash cans on the street, but Harrison didn't care he kept going.  The most surprising thing, he didn't want to tell his Dad he wanted to keep it a secret all week.  And he did!  He made sure that we did not tell him.  He called a lot of people to tell them he could ride his bike, but he wanted to surprise his Dad when he got home. A very proud mom I am!!

A week in Chicago

We spent a week in Chicago, followed by a week in Ohio visiting with our family during the last part of March. Our week in Chicago consisted of the kids and I, along with my parents and my sister. We kept extremely busy while we were there, visiting several museums, zoo's, the Willis tower and best of all visiting with all our family. We had such a great time, Harrison constantly remarks on how our family will miss us and we were sad to leave. He is so smart for a little 4 year old.

We went the the Museum of Science and Industry, cleary Aunt Sandy's and Uncle Ralph's favorite, they were all about the hands on and "helping the kids out"  Madeline learned how to milk a cow and then raced Uncle Ralph to see who was faster.  I'm not sure who won. I tried to get all three of my kids to take a picture together, while looking at the camera, I have since determined this is completely impossible.


 

I love the Brookfield Zoo, they have such a selection of animals it is always fun to go when we are in the area.  We were lucky enough to get free passes with the help of Grandma Sally and Sheri.  The kids had a blast hanging out with their cousin Grace.

  Harrison loved to read the maps at all the places we went, making sure we did not miss anything.  I wanted to go to the Willis Tower and step out on the glass bottom, it was different, Madeline walked right out, Harrison took a second look before he walked slowly out.  We went to the Lincoln Park zoo in downtown Chicago, I was surprised it was completely free all the time and a pretty nice zoo.

 We also went to the Aquarium and Field Museum where we got to see the dinosaurs and Harrison and Madeline enjoyed exploring what life is like to live underground like bugs.  We spent another day at a Childrens Museum with our cousins making bubbles and playing together.  Each evening was capped with a family gathering with way great food and dessert.  The kids really enjoyed seeing everything, but most of all they truly enjoyed the time they got to spend with our family.  All the kids got spoiled by our family, Benjamin loved being cuddled and spending time his Great Grandma.  Madeline had special morning runs to the store for Corn Pops by her Uncle Ralph, and Harrison loved having his Aunt, Uncle and cousin watch movies with him each night