Pictures from a busy day

November 02, 2013

Yesterday, not only did we celebrate TM's birthday, we also had a field trip in the morning to the Schaumburg Regional Airport. I set-up the field trip on a whim in the summer and had no idea what to expect... but how often these days does one get to actually tour an airport?

It turns out the reason we could tour it was that the airport is extremely small. The head of operations spent nearly an hour with us telling us about how airplanes, airports, and helicopters work and then we went and stood near the runway and looked at the planes tethered there. I'm pretty sure the mothers found it more interesting than the children. A. decided that taking flying lessons would be cool... and she pointed out that it would cost less than riding lessons. (She didn't really factor in the hour+ commute to get to the airport.)

As the P Family mother and I looked at the little, itty-bitty, teeny-tiny private planes, we realized that they were quite a bit smaller than the vans we drive... we just don't have wings. Here is everyone, well, almost everyone at the end of our tour.

Here is L., who was not feeling particularly cooperative yesterday (and who very nearly ended up spending significant time in the van with me). She didn't want her picture taken and stayed on the airplane seats in the lobby.

After the airport, we needed some lunch. It being well past picnic weather, we decided that since we were so close to IKEA that we should stop and have lunch there. Because everyone travelling with 19 children in tow decides to walk through IKEA with them, right? Once we were inside and started our trek to the cafeteria, we (the mothers) looked at each other and decided that this had to be the loopiest idea we had ever had. I mean, who voluntarily takes 19 children into IKEA? I'm happy to report that we made it in, fed everyone, and made it out without breakage. Whew! We only had one comment at lunch with an older woman asking us if we were some type of school group. When we replied no, we were just three families out and about, she was thrilled and shared how she and her husband used to take their five grandchildren everywhere and how much fun they had. I love positive interactions.

Then it was home to recuperate and get ready for TM's birthday dinner. We had the roasted vegetable soup that he loves and ice cream sundaes for dessert. He had a very specific design for the sundaes... here was his approved final product: