Curtis Orchard: Then and Now

We went back to Curtis Orchard recently. We thought it would be cool to post some "then and now" pictures.


Then in the tunnel:


Now in the tunnel:






Then eating a donut:



Now eating a donut (the donuts here are pretty good, by the way):


Then on the slide:


Now on the slide:






Then in the big chair:





Now in the big chair:





Then getting measured:



Now getting measured (she's grown at least 6 inches):




Then being an animal:


Now (she refused to be an animal, but when we got home we looked at the 'then' pictures and found it hilarious. So maybe next time when we go back she will want to be an animal):




Then driving the tractor (with Alyosha):


Now driving the tractor (solo):


This trip, we burned a bunch of time in the mini golf area.







We'll probably head back at some point, to pick some fresh apples of the tree, get a pumpkin for Halloween, and because there just isn't that much to do here.

Grumpy Monkey

Maggie is wearing one her new outfits for school. She's a little grumpy in the mornings.

soccer and tennis training

Playing Hookie in Bloomington

The second week of Maggie's summer vacation, we didn't have a baby sitter, so Gabby and I had to take turns entertaining Maggie (who is quickly becoming pretty high maintenance). One day, we took a little road trip to Bloomington (about 45 miles away) to check out their children's museum and zoo.

Here is a big floor piano that Maggie played with for about 15 minutes.




Maggie also liked this pizza delivery truck that had a lot of buttons that you could push to make different sounds (engine starting, dog barking, radio music, etc.). She played with this one for about 30 min, until some boy showed up and took the wheel.





There was also a full sized kitchen equipped with all the ingredients to make pizza.



After constructing her culinary masterpiece (orange slice pizza), Maggie found her mittens and put the pizza into the over. It tasted delicious (she forced me to eat it).




She also enjoyed the hexagonal mirror tunnel.






After all this fun, she still had enough patience to concentrate.


After spending a few hours in the museum, we needed to recharge with some chocolate ice cream before heading off to phase two of our trip (the zoo).



The zoo was small, but well stocked. We tried to watch the seal show, but the seal kept making loud sounds that Maggie didn't like. Instead, we found the tiger, who was Maggie's favorite animal there.





All in all, it was a fun trip. Here is one last picture showing Maggie's avant garde style (she like to pick her own clothes out). She spiced this outfit up by converting a purple head band into a chic belt. I think it brings the look together, don't you?

Honey's Visit

During Maggie's two week summer break from school, Honey came to visit for a week. For most of the week, Maggie hung all over Honey like a little monkey.





In addition to Honey's company, Maggie also enjoyed the 3 dolls, 2 teas sets, custom made teddy bear, books, and fall wardrobe that Honey bought for her while she was here.

We also spent two days in Chicago. Unfortunately, the battery on our good camera was dead and the battery on small camera died while we were there, so we didn't get many pictures. We went to the zoo on the first day. The highlights were the carousel and the garden:







On Sunday, we took the L from our hotel to downtown Chicago.



We had planned on walking around downtown, but we got stuck in a rainstorm as soon as we got there. So instead, we took a cab to Navy Pier, which juts out onto Lake Michigan and gives really scenic views of the Chicago skyline. On the pier, they have a nice children's museum that is free for kids on Sundays. We were able to take a few pictures before the camera died.