Joliet, IL

Ryan just spent the last two weeks working 3rd shift (11pm - 7am) in Joliet, IL (about 2 hours north of here, a southwest suburb of Chicago). He was gone 13 days. It was horrible. The worst part was definitely the two bouts of flu-like puking. The first round was Collin and I simultaneously throwing up, where I was changing his sheets and clothes between my own abdominal heaving. The second night was just Collin, but I was still all alone in the sheet and clothes changing. Sigh.

The only redeeming aspect of this nightmare was that Caterpillar insisted he stay the weekend between weeks, and therefore we had a hotel for the weekend. Despite the sleep-schedule problems, Ryan let us come and stay with him.

His hotel was a Marriott Towneplace (which I will try to find where ever we may travel next). It was nicer than our last apartment... It had a full kitchen (dishwasher, stove/oven, fridge, garbage disposal, microwave) and full-size kitchen table. It also had two bedrooms. The boys shared one room, and we got the other to ourselves. They also had a complete continental breakfast, placemats and crayons for coloring, and free pool toys for the kids. They even provided additional float-toys in the pool area. It is definitely the way to travel with a family. Look for one the next time you travel!

We got there about noon on Friday (he'd gotten off at 7am), and I was supposed to just knock loud on his door to wake him. When we pulled in the lot, I was working to get the boys' shoes on, and he came running across the parking lot. He opened Brennan's door to a squeal of delight. Adorable. Ryan said he was so excited to see us that he couldn't sleep and had been watching out his window for us to show up. How cute is that?

Anyway, we swam in the hotel pool and hot tub multiple times, enjoyed their continental breakfast each morning, and of course exercised on their nice treadmill (yes, I'm trying another 5K in May) and elliptical. We also attended the Plainfield Ward at 9am Sunday and were among the very few who remembered to spring forward. Ha ha.

Unfortunately, we had to head home after church so Ryan could take a nap before his shift started again, but it was certainly nice to see our MIA Daddy.

Anyway, the highlight of our trip was Saturday morning when we went to the Dupage Children's Museum in Naperville.

They had the usual water table, art room and different types of magnets and blocks. They also had some fun areas with black lights, wind tunnels, trains, PVC buildings, and giant tinker-toys.

My favorite spot was the water table. Simple fun.

Collin's favorite spot was the workshop. Wonder where we got that from?

He got to make a little car (with Dad's help) to bring home. He's super proud of it.

Brennan loved banging in the music room.

He screamed when I pried the mallets out of his hands so we could get to the "concert."

They were having a special bluegrass concert that morning too. Ryan and Brennan loved it.

Ryan's favorite part was the peace and quiet after we left. Ha ha. He had quite the headache on the drive home. Of course that may have been because he'd only been getting 4 hours of sleep each day for the previous week...

We decided to buy the national children's museum pass for this year, so you'll probably hear about our other museum visits in the coming months. Good times.

Welcome home, Dad! We missed you. Thanks for the little vacation.