The trip was also motivated by the fact that we have Science City passes (thanks to Great Aunt Shira and Great Uncle Kirk) which get us into lots of science centers across the country for free. I checked into the science centers in Illinois and found that there were quite a few in the Chicago area that accept our Science City passes, including The Field Museum and Adler Planitarium! So, between the great condo deal and all of our activities being free, this was a pretty cheap weekend of fun!
We headed out of town right after we picked the boys up from school on Friday afternoon. We planned a stop in Normal, Illinois to eat some dinner and let the boys stretch their legs. Why did we pick Normal? There is a free science center there, of course! We ate our packed dinner of PB&J (it was a Friday during lent after all) before letting the boys explore.
The boys started by exploring in the farming section of the museum.
This was probably their favorite part of the agriculture section. Each little ball represented grain. There were tubes that would distribute the balls to the cows at the farm or the grain silos for export, or for processing. They loved putting the balls in the tubes and chasing them to the destination.
Next we headed to the music and art section of the museum.
Here are a few movies of Garytt dancing.
Garytt and Justin went to explore the medical area while Westyn and I went to explore the grocery store.
Pretty soon Garytt joined Westyn in the bakery.
Then they found the water table.
They were able to do a few more fun things before the museum closed and we had to get back on the road.
I have to say the Children's Discovery Museum in Normal, IL was a great place to stop. And as far as children's museums go, this was definitely one of the better ones. The boys weren't exactly ready to go but the museum was closing, so off we went.
We arrived at the condo fairly late for them. But the boys were eager to check out our digs for the weekend.
Bedroom 1:
Living Area: (Kitchen area not in the pictures)
Bedroom 2:
Ok, so this condo was setup a little differently than any other condo we have been to. In case you didn't notice, bedroom #1 had a full kitchen in it. Then there was also a full kitchen in the living area. So this place sets up their condo so they can be sold as a two bedroom if rented together or as a one bedroom and a studio if separated. This posed several concerns for us. The better bedroom was actually bedroom #2, which Justin and I would have liked to use since it had the bigger bathroom attached and wasn't as cluttered. However, bedroom #1 had way too many concerns: access to a full kitchen and an exterior door. So, obviously, Justin and I stayed in the more hazardous room. The other issue was that the door between bedroom #1 and the living area had dead bolts on either side since they can be rented separately. I had this horrible fear that the boys would somehow manage to shut that door and lock us on the other side and then not be able to open it back up. But, I apparently travel with Aggie duct tape for just such an occasion!
After solving that little problem, we settled in for the night.
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