First Day of Summer Break

It's the first day of summer break, and we really did it up right today!

Our first stop was for our annual "1st day of summer break" doughnuts.  Malcolm had a jelly filled and Dorothy went with Boston Cream.  I really hoped I wouldn't regret my choice to have them eat them in the car, because we had a 2 hour drive in front of us to get to Starved Rock State Park.  Amazingly, no one made a mess (that I know about).  I was boring and had a cider cake doughnut.

It was the kids' first trip to Starved Rock State Park.  Kevin and I stayed at the lodge for our second (I think) anniversary.  Our 19th anniversary is in just four days, and it seemed right to be back.  Unfortunately, Kevin couldn't be with us.  He's been out of town for a little bit, and I felt like the dog was being a bit neglected.  Until he left, I hadn't realized just how often one of us is home.  Poor Rory has had some extra time in his house and was getting a bit stir crazy.  I thought he could use a good day of hiking as much as the rest of us.

At the top of Starved Rock.  I wasn't sure how Rory would do with the stairs, but he was a real trooper.  He was so excited he could barely contain himself.

The kids loved looking through the viewer and checking things out.  I appreciated that it wasn't one that took quarters, so they could keep switching turns for a long time.

After climbing to the top, we then went down into a couple of the canyons.  Rory loved the hiking part, but wasn't so sure when we were trying to get into the base of the canyon.  Malcolm scurried right over the sandstone rocks and disappeared around the corner, out of sight.  Dorothy climbed up, then got stuck.  Meanwhile, I was trying to convince a reluctant Corgi to climb through some running water.  He started in, then though better of it and came back down again.  He did climb up to this little shelf, and seemed pretty pleased with himself.  After a while, everyone did manage do climb up, and get to the base of the canyon.  It was totally worth it.

Sometimes, there isn't much water coming over the canyons, but we were very lucky.  Today, there was lots of water running in all the canyons we made it to.  We have agreed that we want to come back in different seasons to see how different they look.  In the summer, there is no water at all, and in the winter, some of the canyons have ice falls.

Rory was very popular at the park today.  Lots of people stopped and asked to pet him, and a Japanese family took a ton of pictures of him.  A British family stopped to talk to us for a bit, and he made friends with the tiniest beagle puppy I have ever seen.  I definately talked to more people than we would have without a dog.  

Rory had a hard time climbing in and out of the canyon.  As we were waiting for a bottleneck to clear on our way out, and other dog, with much longer legs, came up.  The other dog made it look so easy, and poor Rory looked a bit envious.

Every so often, the kids would feel the need to climb up on something as we walked along.

We got a little turned around, so we hiked longer than planned.  Lunch was a much needed break.  I was happy to find a picnic table near the visitors center (indoor restrooms) and away from the large school groups.

After lunch, we walked around and looked at some of the chainsaw sculptures near the lodge.  We really like the "Fox Ridge" area.

Each kid picked a favorite fox, and wanted me to take "an alone" photo of them.

This is how Malcolm would like to spend his day with a cat.

We started another hike to a different set of canyons, but turned around when I heard thunder.  I had check the weather, and it said 0% chance of rain.  However, we ended up in a picnic shelter waiting out the thunderstorm.  The rain slowed a bit, so we ran back to the car, then I popped into the cafe because they carry the kind of coffee I really like.  The kids had been troopers, so I hot them each a hot chocolate.  Rory was muddy, wet, and tired out.  That was enough treat for him.

We have decided to go back soon to finish our rained out hike.  I wasn't sure how having two kids and a dog by myself would go, but they all did great.

Malcolm is 10!?!

Today, Malcolm turned 10!  I have no idea how that happened, because it seems like he was a preschooler just yesterday.  He's also seeming much more grown up lately, so I guess he must really be 10.

This year, we kept the "party" very simple. We stayed local, walked everywhere, and I had zero planning, decorating, or baking to do.  YES!

 This dog wasn't sure what was going on, but he was certain that he had to be a part of it.  I took this photo while Malcolm was opening gifts, and did not have to move or do anything special to get sure a close-up photo of his face.  I think the dog is in every single picture I took this morning.

 Malcolm had to wait until we were all awake, and I had breakfast in the over before he could open presents.  It's a miracle he didn't explode.  He lined them all up by size, and opened them in descending size order.

His "big gift" (read, only) from us was his own computer and permission to, finally, play Minecraft.  He is beyond excited.

 It's hard to see because of the sun, but he just stared, open mouthed, at the Lego Millennium Falcon that Grandma & Grandpa sent.  He started putting it together, but didn't quite finish it in one day.

 It was hard for Dorothy to watch her brother open gifts, but she did better this year than in previous years.

They actually got along pretty well today.  They even hugged a couple of times, and I heard Dorothy tell Malcolm that she loved him (and he didn't grumble in reply).  I love when they get along.

 To kick of the friend celebration, we met at a local restaurant for a pizza lunch.  The kids put away more pizza than I thought they might, especially considering the amount of popcorn they ate before the pizza arrived.

Up next was the Underground Retrocade, which is all vintage video games.  Malcolm loves this place, but I'm never sure what his friends will think when we invite them.  I shouldn't have worried because they all had a great time trying out lots of different games.  Because it was early afternoon, we had the place nearly to ourselves.

Malcolm and I raced on this game too.  I won the first race, and he came in last.  On the rematch, he just barely beat me.

 I liked that the kids paired up in all sorts of different groupings while playing the games.  Sometimes they played alone, other times in pairs, and once all four of them played together.  It was nice to have so many choices.

Malcolm loves Road Rally, but the other two boys found it a little hard to control.

 Kevin and Dorothy played lots of games together.  Here, they are playing X-Men, and Dorothy really knows what she is doing.  I played with her earlier, and she was telling me what I needed to do.

 He focus wasn't always so great.  They had Star Wars playing on TV screens, and she was trying to watch the movie and play games at the same time.

Possibly not the least appropriate game for kids, but the concept of them pouring and serving beer is funny.  Dorothy really liked Tapper, and was pretty good at it, once we figured it out.  Kevin and I don't remember this particular game from our youth.  It was referenced in the Wreck it Ralph movie and we hadn't realize that it had been an actual game.  It was fun to play it after seeing it in the movie.

 After a fun afternoon playing video games, we walked down to a little frozen custard place and waited for the parents to pick up their kids.  They were a very good group, and hopefully everyone had a good time.

 The birthday boy, on our walk home.

Once we got home, he collapsed on the kitchen floor.  I'd say it was a very good day, turning 10.