Mount Baldy

It's amazing all that can be learned, loved, seen, touched...experienced - in just two short days. 

As I've said before, I know Makayla and Mason aren't going to remember the things that we do with them now, but it is shaping them into the kids that they are and the people that they will grow to be.  Everything that we teach them, experience with them, and everywhere we go with them is helping them to love life and everything that it has to offer. 

So - our first stop was in Schaumburg, IL:

We ate lunch at one of my favorite restaurants - The Rainforest Cafe!  We've taken Makayla there before, but this was Mason's first trip.  He loved it!!  Although my favorite spot to dine at is under the starry sky with the moon and shooting stars, there's really not a bad place to sit in the rainforest.  We were seated next the gorillas.  The entire time we ate, Mason couldn't keep his eyes off the gorillas.  They were noisy and scary looking.  He was so enthralled!  But because they were noisy and scary looking, Makayla was scared.  She spent most of her time in the rainforest with her hands over her ears.  The gorillas would get really noisy and dance, and as soon as their dance was over, a storm would roll through.  It would rain and there would be loud rumbles of thunder.  Makayla would push her hands tighter over her ears.  Eventually, she loosened up and could enjoy the end of lunch without her ears covered and without worrying about the scary gorillas.

Our second stop was Indiana Dunes National Lakshore:

We spent time at Indiana Dunes National Park playing and swimming on the beach. 

Makayla and Mason absolutely fell in love with the sand and water.  It was so much fun to watch them play, play, play...

We built sand castles, looked for neat rocks, listened to a band of drummers, and spent a lot of our time being enthused by that awesome feeling of your hands, feet, and butt sinking into the sand once a wave comes up on to you and washes back off the shore.

After playing on the beach, we went to Michigan City and ate dinner at Swingbellies.  It was sooo good, I can still taste it!

 We finished up dinner with enough time to head over to Mount Baldy to watch the sunset.  Mount Baldy is one of the Indiana dunes and it stands at approximately 123-126 feet.  It is a hike to get there, but once you're standing on the beach (trying to catch your breath), you see that the hike makes it all worth while.  It is a stunning view!

She's peeing...

My beautiful baby boy watching the sunset...

I'm so lucky that he's mine...

He makes me melt...

Climbing Mount Baldy...

...and rolling all the way down!

...What we came here for.  We came to watch this gorgeous sunset, but made a few more memories while waiting!

Our third and last stop of our road trip, was the Children's Museum of Indianapolis:

There was no better way to end our trip than to spend time learning, playing, and exerting energy!  We spent 3 hours there, going nonstop, and didn't even get to see half of the exhibits. 

We got to learn about dinosaurs - we got to see where they used to live, we got to sit on eggs to warm them up so they could hatch, and we got to dig for fossils.  This is a picture of Makayla digging away.  

 

Besides playing in the land of Dora and Diego, we also got to go to Barbie World.  We could do Barbie's make up and hair, design clothes, or dress up and walk on the runway.  This is a picture of Makayla dancing on the runway. 

We got to ride a beautiful carousel... 

...and play with mirrors.  Mason loved the mirrors! 

We had a wonderful weekend together on our short road trip.  It was a lot of fun and wonderful memories were made.  I look forward to our next road trip!