Rockford Children's Museum

We have been to the Rockford Children's Museum a couple of times, but never when the the outdoor area was open.  Summers get busy, but we made it a point to go while the weather was nice so the kids could play.  They were busy the entire time we were there and it was hard to get pictures that weren't just a blur.

 They both loved the water area and spent nearly an hour there racing boats and manipulating the water flow.

 The outdoor area is beautiful and right on the river.  Such a nice view while I was watching them.

 They played by themselves for a while, but then worked together to test out some ideas.

 Swings!  They had regular swings, but also had sympathetic swings that I thought were really cool.  The kids were not interested in them though.

 There was an art project to do in the Secret Garden.

 Their wind sails are now decorating their bedrooms.

They were both very eager to dig for dinosaur bones, but there was no shade and the sand was really hot.  They didn't last very long here, so we had a lunch break in the air conditioning to cool off a bit.  They were pretty much done outside and spent the rest of our time inside.

 This is always a favorite.  They push scarves and soft balls in, and they zip through the tubes, then shoot out at different locations.

 Using the pulley to move grain.

 Dorothy was a little baffled that they did not have the cloths to wipe and disinfect the teats like they did at Fair Oaks Farm.

 She was giving eggs to the chickens and telling quite the story along with it.  The two chickens on the left did not get any eggs and "they were very sad."

 Driving the tractor.

 Each kid took a turn in the flight simulator.  I would not recommend ever flying with either of them as a pilot.  She could not keep the aircraft level.

 Malcolm couldn't figure out take offs or landings.  I helped him get it in the air, but he could not land it.

 Dorothy liked the giant light bright more than Malcolm did.

 She was really into the little house area.  I couldn't follow the whole story, but she was very busy caring for the babies, doing laundry, and answering the phone.

 The snaps were tricky.

 They checked out a couple of sculptures on the way out.

Close-up of the silliness.

It is such a great museum.  I just wish we lived closer.

Fourth of July Fun

We spent the evening of July 4th with some friends having a bonfire, cookout, and watching the fireworks from their backyard.  It was a very fun evening and the kids had a blast.

 Watching the fire get started during dinner.  The stumps made perfect tables for them.

 Malcolm helped get the bonfire going.  The two grocery sacks behind him are the kids' stick collection from our yard.  They collect sticks from our yard or when we go for walks, then they don't want to get rid of them.  We managed to convince them that they were needed for the bonfire and they had fun throwing the sticks in.

 It burned hot enough that they wouldn't get too close.

 At dusk, we broke out some glow sticks for the kids. 

 I brought my glow baton, and we had a big "light-saber" battle.

 Our friends live close to the stables where she keeps her horses and she took the kids over before the fireworks started.  This white horse is Sara, and was the only one Malcolm got very close to.  Sara is super soft!

 Dorothy loved all of the horses and had no fear of them at all.

 Our friend only brought Sara out of her stall, but she also knew which horses were the most friendly and let the kids say hi to a couple of others.  She warned us not to get too close to the stallions because they can get nippy.

It was a really beautiful night.  From their yard, we could see several town's firework displays.

First Parade

Dorothy was in her first parade today and did a wonderful job!  I had planned to take the summer off from baton twirling lessons, but she said that she wanted to be in the parade.  I wasn't sure how far she would get, and she was a little (lot) nervous and overwhelmed while we were waiting for things to start, but once it got going she did great keeping up with the big kids.

 They gave me the smallest size shirt they had, but it was a 6-8.  I took it in about two sizes and it is still comically big on her.  I tucked it in to her shorts because it was so long.  If she sticks with it, she will be able to wear this shirt for a long, long time.

 Sitting by the truck, in the shade, waiting for the parade to start.  There were lots of people and lots of activity going on and she was getting a bit overwhelmed by it all.  She kept wanting to hold my hand or be picked up.

 Lined up and ready to start.  Once they got going, she was fine and kept up with the group.

 She was the smallest one by quite a bit.

 Her only complaint was that the routine was going too fast.  She could do it, but about half as fast as it is actually done to the music.  She did a good job going on and catching up with the parts she could do up to speed.

 Wrist twirls are her favorite twirl, but doing wrist twirls, marching, and using her free hand was a bit too much.

 I walked along with the group, and I overheard people constantly pointing her out and saying how cute she was.  My favorite parts were when she would fall behind, then run (with a little skip in step) to catch up.

 She made well over half way through the parade, then the back of her shoe came off, and she complained that her foot hurt.  She got a blister and was done.  I put her up in the bed of the truck to ride to the end of the parade route.

 Her view for the last bit.  Props to her teacher who marched the entire parade backwards.

 She had a great time; honest.

 When we were done, we sat in the shade to wait for Kevin and Malcolm.  I thought it was really cute that several of the big girls came and sat with her.

Afterward, we had lunch and a celebratory ice cream with M&M's.

Even though she didn't get all the way to the end under her own power, I could not be more proud of her.