Sweet friendship, sunny days, stepping back to the 1890's, and a few other random things

I've got a ton of pictures so that must mean it's time for a post...

After several weeks without any snow, I figured we were ready to move into spring. But oh how wrong I was. Everyone keeps warning me that it can keep on snowing here, even into May! So when the snow started to fall at the end of February, I wasn't terribly surprised, and for a minute I even joined in the kids excitement at the beauty of it. But then reality hit as I realized that a snow storm might affect air travel and we were eagerly awaiting the arrival of an out of town special guest that night. As it turns out her flight was cancelled and we weren't even sure if she would make it at all. So we prayed and prayed and begged the Lord to get her a flight out the next day...

And we were so excited when Heather finally arrived! About 24 hours later than planned, but she made it and we were thrilled! We spent a lot of time with Heather while we lived in California so she is like a part of our family. The kids think of her as their big sister! Then to make it even better, she came bearing gifts! The kids were beyond excited!

She also came with lots of cards from Micah's old Sunday School class! I think that was the highlight for Micah. As soon as he saw those cards he forgot there was a gift to open and read all of the cards first. It was so sweet to read the notes that his friends wrote to him.

He did finally get to the present though and was super excited about a Lego Finn McMissle!

And Ashlyn was very excited about her new Cinderella doll!

The next day we took Heather downtown to see the sights of Chicago. We had been planning to go up in the Willis Tower (formerly called the Sears Tower), but with a 1 1/2 - 2 hour wait, we decided to move on to something else instead. So after driving around a bit we ended up at Millennium Park and went ice skating. It was cold out, but the sun was shining so that made for a good skating day.

After skating we walked up to the big "jelly bean" and got a few pictures in front of this Chicago icon.

So thankful for my sweet friendship with Heather!

 We took advantage of having another adult with us and got a few pictures of just the two of us.

The whole "family"

 Micah loves to lay down right next to the jelly bean to show his mirror image laying right next to him.

 And of course Ashlyn wanted to copy her big brother!

 
 Having fun with pictures in the mirror

 We also took Heather for some authentic Chicago style pizza at Giordano's. An excellent way to finish up a day in Chicago!

 Back at home, Ashlyn loved getting some special time alone with her "big sister"!

And for one last "taste" of Chicago, we stopped at Portillo's for chocolate cake shakes on the way to the airport.

As this was our first time, we got a shake for everyone. Next time we'll remember that one large shake is enough for the whole family to share!

We were so blessed have Heather here for the weekend! We only wish it could have been longer. It was a sad ride home from the airport after we dropped her off, especially for Ashlyn who was quite teary eyed the whole way home. Thanks for coming to see us Heather! We love you and miss you!

So what else have we been doing beside hanging out with Heather? Well, Ashlyn was long overdue for a haircut... and she was excited to go to a new kids salon that we found.

The kids were thrilled to get invited to a birthday party at The Party Palace - kind of a Chuck E. Cheese on steroids. They had fun jumping in bounce houses, riding rides, and playing games.

Micah loved riding the bull. He did a great job on it and was able to stay on for almost 20 seconds!

Ashlyn decided she liked mini golf much better when she just pushed it through the obstacle with her hand. She spent about 10 minutes doing this over and over again at the same obstacle.

Ashlyn's favorite ride was the helicopter. She rode it over and over and over!

Micah loved the video games, of course

Ashlyn and the birthday girl ~ look like they could be sisters. Their hair styles are so similar several people kept confusing Ashlyn for the birthday girl.

That was a busy day ~ after the party we went home for a nap, then we were off again. The Biblical Soul Care team got together for a potluck dinner and the kids had a ball playing with more new friends!

Ashlyn was so excited to find a friend who loves dress up and dolls as much as she does

More video games ~ this time on the Wii

Last weekend we found a 1890's living history farm demonstrating how to make maple syrup. It was sunny, but cool. So we bundled up and had a great time learning about syrup, and a little of what life was like in the 1890's.

Here Micah got to practice drilling into the tree to make a hole for the sap to pour out of. While this tree was dead and didn't have any sap in it, there were quite a few trees on the property that were draining sap.

Practicing plowing the field

Once the sap is drained from the tree, they boil off all the water to get the syrup.

Checking out the livestock. Micah kept saying, "I wish I was a farmer's kid." So I told him maybe he should be a farmer and then his kids will be farmer's kids. He thought that was a pretty great idea! But he was clear that he wants his farm to be like an 1890's farm. Not sure he realizes that all the advances in the technology of farming are a good thing.

The farm had 20 lambs that were born within the last month. This was Ashlyn's favorite part of the farm. I think she would have stayed there all day if I had let her. She loved those lambs!

We were able to take a guided tour of an 1890's house. I'm so thankful that today's kitchen is so much easier to use than it was back then! After the tour, the kids were excited to stock up the wood pile in the kitchen to help keep the stove fire burning.

In addition to wood, they also used dried out corn cobs for kindling.

Our last stop before heading out was the chicken coop, which Ashlyn also loved. As we've been studying American history, it was great to see what life was like 125 years ago. And it really helped me appreciate all the convenience we have today. It was hard work living in the 1890's!

 

In our study of American history this year we've been going through all the states in order of when they became a state. And last week we came to Illinois! And in honor of our new state, we got a cracker jack snack! Did you know that this treat was first made for the Chicago World's Fair in 1893?

 
This last week we have also been VERY excited for some warmer weather and beautiful sunshine! We've made it into the 50's and next week the forecast says we might hit the high 60's. We're loving spending some time outside!

And for our final picture in this post, here's the kids with one of our pastors from church. We had him over for dinner last week and the kids LOVED him! When Micah found out he was coming over, he ran to get his cowboy gear on (He recently moved up here from Texas) to give him a big Texas welcome. Micah was excited to see his Texas license plate on his truck, and eager to hear all about Texas from him. And he was so gracious to love on our kids while he was here. It is such a blessing to have others love on them when we are so far away from our own family. We can't wait to meet his wife as soon as she arrives in Chicago!