This weekend was Callie's special trip to the aquarium to see the sharks as her chosen reward for filling up her potty chart. We decided to go when we did because once she turns 3, her ticket is $20. At 2, she's free . . . that's a big jump!
Callie thoroughly enjoyed her trip to the aquarium. She ran/walked from exhibit to exhibit looking at the fish and other sea creatures with wonder. She especially enjoyed the Marine Show with the Beluga Whales, sea lion, and dolphins.
We wanted to go to a pizza place that we'd been to one time with our friends that was not too far from the aquarium for lunch. Unfortunately, they had moved (we discovered after we had parked to what we thought would be a close parking garage) and we spent at least 30 minutes walking around downtown Chicago, carrying both the kids because Callie was asleep, and it was a bitterly cold, windy day. We finally did find the place, but the pizza wasn't as good as I remembered, maybe because I was a little jaded about having to walk around so long to find it . . . It also ended up costing us $30 to park because we were gone over 2 hours by the time we found the restaurant and ate our fill. What a rip off!
For dinner, neither Philip or I was very hungry so we thought we'd continue our underwater adventure for Callie by going to the Rainforest Cafe because it has several large saltwater fish exhibits in the dining area. Callie really enjoyed the restaurant the last time we went there when she was 9 months old. This time apparently was not as great of an experience. We were sat right next to one of the smaller saltwater tanks and I thought "Perfect!" But Callie would not turn around. We thought that possibly she needed to use the potty, so Philip took her back to the bathroom. They got back, and she still would not turn around at the table. Her food came and she still wouldn't face forward. With much coaxing, we finally found out she was scared of the large gorilla "statues" that were directly behind our table. So Philip says, "Oh Callie, they're not real. There just statues. They're not going anywhere." Not a minute later we start hearing these primal growls and the "statues" begin to move around, beating their chests and foraging for food. Let's just say, it didn't help our cause. We found a manager and asked to switch tables. So our trip to the Rainforest Cafe, though we had the best of intentions, did not turn out to be as much fun as we had hoped. I spent most of my time holding and comforting Callie. I don't think we're planning on going back there until Callie actually asks to go.
The next day, we were going to take Callie to the Build A Bear workshop and let her make her own bear, but she was not cooperating in the store and lost the privilege . . .
There were probably more disappointments than successes while we were on our trip as most of our things did not go according to plan, but I think it was still a good trip. The best part was that even though we were out and about most of two days, Callie did not have one accident while we were out! So proud of her progress!
Gabriel did well on the trip too. He really liked looking at the fish as well, and cooperated with us very well for the most part. :) He's a precious little boy!
Gabriel has been traditional crawling for a week and a half now and he is into absolutely everything. I was even fortunate enough to actually capture his first little stutter step crawls on video! So cool. He's opening drawers and cupboards, pulling things over, and trying desperately to get to electrical outlets before I catch him. As I type this, he's trying to turn off the computer . . . Yep, he's a case!
My first Scholastic Bowl Match is today, I'm hoping I've adequately trained my team! Saying a little prayer that my kids behave as well. :)
I think that's about all the news that we've had around here lately. Hope everyone is having a very good week. We love and miss all of our family and friends that are far from us.
God bless you and yours as you finish up your week!
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