Chip and Kim belong to the YMCA in Plainfield. Inside the YMCA there is a great water park which is the perfect place to have some family fun time. The water and air temperature is warm enough for even me. It has a range of water slides and sprayers along with my favorite — the lazy river.
To be able to go down the large slides all kids had to pass a swimming
test. The swimming test included jumping in at one end and swimming
the whole length of an Olympic size pool. Monti at first did not want
to do the test but she watched Gwendolyn go up and down the water
slides while she just got more and more angry. She finally decided to
go take the test she was so nervous about. She explained to me that
she used all her mad energy to make her strong enough to swim. After
passing the test she told my mom she didn’t care if she drowned she
was going to pass that test.
Lesa would never have a party for young kids without including some
type of craft. Each of the kids beaded a necklace and then they
decorated a jewelry box to take their necklace home in. The boys,
Lucas and Brecken, were especially patient and thoughtful when putting
together their beaded creation.
In Grant Park the City of Chicago was holding an event called Snow
Days. There were about 20 snow artists working on a variety of
intricate sculptures. Unfortunately Chicago had some unseasonably warm
temperatures earlier in the week. All the artists were extremely
behind on their work which needed to be done by noon the following
day. The artists told us they would have to work through the night and
that they hoped for colder temperatures so they could achieve the
amount of detail in their sculpture they needed to win the contest.
Monti and Dahlia traveled a long way to meet their new cousin Willow.
It was worth every penny. Monti kept saying, “She is just so
adorable.” Dahlia was just in love. I asked her what she wanted to do
while Brecken napped and she said , ” I just want to stand here and
watch Willow sleep.”
There are times when I can allow Monti to put together her outfit. I
dressed her for the Coraline premiere but the “green princess’ outfit
she wore for the Father-Daughter Dance was all Monti’s creation. Once
her wig and shimmery fabric remnants came off it looked as if she were
wearing green pajamas. Some father and daughters came in tuxes and
formal dresses. Regardless of what she was wearing she had a great
time dancing the night away.
We made it back from Portland in time to go to the IVE pancake
breakfast Saturday morning. Even Junior supported Monti and Dahlia’s
school by attending the event and eating a couple pancakes.
We love OMSI – Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. It has great
activities for all ages. I was surprised when I realized our previous
favorite area of the museum was filled with babies and toddlers. My
girls looked like giants compared to all the young kids in the
Scientific Playground. It hit me that my little girls have grown up so
we headed to the “big kid” section. We had the best time doing
chemistry experiments, designing flying objects, perfecting sailboat
building and experiencing a simulated earthquake. We had to miss
school to come here but I think we did a pretty good job experiencing
lots of new things that day.
We had the whole pool, hot tub and sauna to ourselves at the Embassy
Suites in Portland. We used all three.
