"Right Here"

I really need to get back into blogging in real-time. I'm starting to find the new rhythm of working with some still pretty new-to-me devices, but I'm getting there. Thankfully, there are some snazzy new things making it easy.  Vine is fun. I used it a bunch when it first came out, but shelved it when I realized how hard it was to embed onto the blog. But, that's fixed now, so brace yourselves for the flood of viney-video action.  This first one is little Bea who has a hilarious little accent cropping up from somewhere.  I love how she says "Right here." Enjoy!

T

Spring Break Part 4: MSI

It's grainy, but we're all four in it. That counts right?

Even though we were looking forward to some "slow time" back home to end Spring Break, we were just having too much fun on the road to head straight home from Madison on Thursday morning. Add to that the fact that Miss Josie has been begging to go to a science museum and the stars aligned for a day-trip to the Museum of Science & Industry (MSI) in Chicago on the way back home. (So I guess our 3-part spring break turned into a 4-parter.)

We've been to Field and Shedd, and while they're both great for their own reasons, I think MSI is going to become a regular event whenever we are in or around Chicago.  (Especially with free admission thanks to reciprocity with our Cincinnati Museum Center passes. Holla.)

MSI is super interactive and GIGANTIC! We worked with one of the employees to map out all of the "must-sees" for our four hours there, and I bet we still didn't even cover half of it.  Here are the pics from what will undoubtedly be the first of many MSI visits.

Real-life eye spying:

"Floating" in the space shuttle exhibit:

Feeling spooked in the giant sub exhibit (super cool, but WAY eerie):

 Touring a train:

Touching a real "tornado":

Blowing little minds with Foucault's pendulum:

Watching new life unfold before us:

Splashing around:

Testing our strength:

Pondering science:

Shutting down:

Getting a second wind:

Practicing patience & skill:

Doing something crazy (yes, all 4 of us piled into a flight simulator):

Daydreaming about her Grandpa flying across the globe in United plane just like this one:

Mega-plowing (truth told, we weren't huge fans of the "big-agro-biz" farming section):

If you live anywhere near Chicago or you're simply passing through - get your buns to MSI.  For reals. We'll definitely be back.

Spring Break Part 3: Madison

Madison was actually the nucleus of our Spring Break plan. Everything else radiated out from that, starting with "let's go to Madison!" as the impetus for the whole road trip. (Thanks to a "hey, you know you could come to Madison" from that lovely gal holding that other lovely gal up in the photo above.)  If you know the history of the eldest two of the Four Schneiders well, then you know we love us a road trip.  And we would never miss an opportunity to visit Molly. Madison, Wisc here we come!

After the morning at the Water Park, we hit the road with the Lake at our backs and headed in to Madison. The last time we were there was for the wedding of our dear, dear friend Molly to sweet, sweet Dave long before perfect, perfect Jane showed up on the scene.  (Coincidentally, if anyone wants to do the math, 40 weeks before Miss Beatrice made her arrival comes darn close to that last trip to Madison...if anyone wants to do the math.)

We were all really excited to meet Jane! And, you know what else, I was really excited to see Molly with Jane.  It is really fun to see a friend transition into motherhood and Miss Molly Moore, you are a natural!  Our family had a great time hanging around a house so obviously filled with love. It was truly a thing of beauty and a special trip we can't wait to repeat!

Even though the playtime at "Jane's house" got the blue ribbon from our girls as the best part of Madison (and Molly's "homegrown Wisconsin strawberries"), we did venture out.  I love visiting a city with local guides. We had the BEST meals, hit the BEST parks and had the BEST time.

Here's the proof.

Insanely good garlic bread, ice cold beer and all things Italian here:

Scenes from a morning at the zoo:

Ice-cream at the Chocolate Shoppe then lattes on State Street (before dinner - hey, it's vacation):

Delicious dinner at The Weary Traveler - where the girls shared a rootbeer (vacation - remember?), and we ate our weight in Acorn Squash with goat cheese and avocado and enjoyed our first Lake Louie beer.

Like I said, the adventures were great, but my favorite part of the trip was definitely watching our three girls play together. We are worlds away from 1995 in Reid Hall at Miami U, or our visit to Molly in England when Lou & I were barely dating.  Life is beautiful. Truly.

Before leaving Madison and heading back South to Cincy, we did one last tour of the Capitol. What a trip it was!

But, we weren't heading home just yet....

Spring Break Part 2: Water Park

Josie *really* wanted to go to the beach for Spring Break. For lots of reasons, that just wasn't practical.  After our dear friends invited us to Madison, Wisconsin for a visit, it didn't take long for us to find a compromise. We had heard about the Wisconsin Dells - mecca of indoor waterparks - but took our friends' advice and headed instead to the beautiful Blue Harbor Resort on Lake Michigan in Sheboygan. Adding the scenic views of the lake to the luxury of an indoor watermark made for the perfect balance. Add in an aquarium-themed suite, and well, suffice it to say the kids weren't wishing for the beach anymore.    

So, after Easter in Chicago, we hit the road and climbed north for what was 2 days and 1 night of more fun than I could possibly capture in words, so I'll go with pictures.

Josie is really excited about maps and geography right now, so it kind of blew her mind to see our journey on the map:

Bea got just enough of a nap in:

Josie found lots of creative ways to entertain herself (and us):

 We arrived, and we were all very impressed with the accommodations and the view!!

The waterpark kinda blew all of our minds!

1000 gallons of water dropped from this ship every five minutes...

That's too much water," thinks Josie.  She's right, but Lou ends up being daring enough to stand under it twice before we left.  (Gotta love Louie!)

Who doesn't love a Lazy River?

By the end of the first day, Josie had summoned up the courage to tackle even the twistiest and turniest and tubiest of slides.  We were SO proud of her, but not at all surprised, because she's a total thrill-seeker! These are the ones we took turns racing her on - Josie on blue, one of us on green. 

After hours of sliding, splashing and soaking - we headed back to the room and ordered pizza then hung out for awhile and relaxed before hitting the arcade.


Ever since her last haircut, Bea's obsessed with blowdrying her hair.

I love these pure "sister" moments in the top bunk.

Trying to get a family photo ended up being a funny little game during the week, this one is in the reflection of the elevator.

 Glitter tattoo time!

The arcade was SO fun. We finally gave in and told Josie that arcades do in fact exist outside of Wisconsin water parks.  I think I see another arcade trip in our near future. Josie and Bea both got in on the ticket-seeking action!

We capped off the night with an Icee round in the beautiful lobby!

Such a gorgeous resort!

 The girls fell asleep watching a DVD on the little TV in their special bunk bed room (which they thought was the coolest thing ever). Actually, this was officially Bea's first time sleeping in a "big girl bed."

We woke up to the most beautiful sunrise over the lake. There is just something really peaceful about waking up next to the water.

Then, back to the waterpark!!!

These giant tube slides were so fun, but we couldn't believe they weren't too much for Josie. And poor Bea was so sad she had to wait at the bottom. Lou & I took turns with Josie sailing down these in giant tubes. The crazy thing (besides how fast it whipped us around) was the fact that they went outside then through the dark after drenching you with water.  Surprisingly, Josie came out smiling with an enthusiastic "again." I'm pretty sure I silently mouthed a four letter word to Lou as we shot out the tunnel!

This is the tube from the slides above. Josie rode in the front each time, and Lou & I took turns in the back.

Here's where it shot you out after going through the tunnels that came in from outside.

The girls took turns going down these slides about a million times.  (And ha, Lou & I took a few trips down them too before they started blowing the whistle at us to let us know they were for kids only!)  The whole iphone + water everywhere combination didn't lend itself to very many action shots, but you'll have to trust me. You've never seen a happier 2 year old in your life than Bea shooting down these slides and into our loving arms (even if other parents looked at us like we were nuts every time, not knowing she'd already done it a dozen times).  Being parents is really fun. Being these girls' parents is the most unbelievable blessing on the planet.  They are such happy, joy-filled, spirited children!

For a sense of scale, she the little gal standing at the top of the blue one. 

In fact, I think Bea actually grew up a ton this week. "Baby Bea" is fading fast, my friends. And it is this realization that, waterpark or no, spending as much time as possible with these girls, just soaking them up, is the most important thing we can do...

...Because for every "help me" these days, there are countless "I can do it by myselfs."

After one last time through each part of the waterpark, we bundled up for a very important walk on the beach of the lake.  It was chilly, but the girls were so thrilled with the prospect of even dipping a pinky finger into the "lotion" (that's lake + ocean if you're wondering) and definitely wanted to collect some "treasures."

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the gentle waves were lapping, and we were blissing out on quality family time!

We collected treasures, made plans to return, then packed the car for set course for Madison.  What a spring break road trip this was turning out to be!