Rockford trip photos from Suzia

Okay - I beat her to it! Mama was probably pretty exhausted tonight, by the time she dropped us (the Koivuns) off at our home, drove to her house, unloaded the van, and got ready for bed. My guess is that she'll maybe be up early in the morning and do some blogging... that is, if she's up early enough to get on the computer before she goes to watch the Maca kids tomorrow!

So, since Mama posted earlier that she plans on posting pictures on Friday - I'm going to post them on Thursday!

There were nine of us playing together on Wednesday in Rockford - Daniella, Karen and the Maca kids, and me (Suzia) and the Koivun kids. We went to the Discovery Center in Rockford (a children's museum), stopped in for literally five minutes at the Burpee Museum of Natural History - just to see Jane, the T-Rex there. Then we went to Coco Key Resort, which is an indoor waterpark attached to the Clock Tower Resort & Hotel. Tons of fun for the kids - everyone had something to do. After a FULL day of playing and splashing, Karen and the kids showered and drove back home, since Karen had to work on Thursday :>(

On Thursday, Daniella and the Koivuns spent another five hours in the waterpark. Then we went out for ice cream at Culvers, and then we went to Belvediere, where we found a corn maze. We spent an hour following a map and to over fifteen signposts hidden in the maze. Lots of fun, and we're glad we didn't go in the heat of the day. A short hour+ drive later, we were home. Okay, at least the Koivuns were home. Daniella had another 20+ minute drive before she was actually home.

Here are some pictures from our trip - there are just two from Mama's camera here. The others are from my camera, and one special one from Julia's camera too. Karen - how about posting some pictures from your camera?

We had lots of fun. If you've got some free time, Rockford is far enough for it to feel like a trip for the kids, yet close enough to drive there and back in one day if you need to. The Discovery Center is less hectic than the DuPage Children's Museum, and less money all around compared to the Children's Museum at Navy Pier. Fun stuff to do, and a fun hotel to stay at overnight. Once the kids are older and they're all riding on the big water slides, you can take them to Magic Waters for the day - just five minutes from the hotel we stayed at. For the admission price there, it wasn't worth it for us with four or five kids under the height requirements for the big slides at Magic Waters. But maybe in a few more years...!

Enjoy the pictures!
Pan Maca loved the 'pin cushion' that you can press various body parts in to leave an impression. Here, Babcia gives him a lift.

The circle in the middle of this table spun and you could put various objects on it. Most were flung off to the side, until you put the cue ball on there - it stayed on the spinning circle and rolled around. Science made fun!

Maddie told Babcia she had to climb down and "see this" - so Babcia made her way down the spider's web in the outdoor fun park.

Here's a picture from the wrong side of the wall in the 'distorted room' - where things are purposely set askew to fool your sense of perception. (When viewed thru the slot in the wall, Stevie would look 2ft tall, while Karen looked to be over 8ft.)

Julia's shirt changes color when exposed to sunlight, so she's showing it off here. It rained all the time we were in Rockford on Wednesday, except for the lucky 40 minutes we were in the park!

Karen and Lily have fun splashing in the 'big bathtub' as Stevie and Maddie called the hot tub.

Maddie cuddles up under her towel after splashing around.

Babcia and Stevie smile for the camera before getting all wet!

Julia must have been a fish in a former life - she loves the water!

Ela and Stevie are ready to splash around!

We had to sleep two to a bed. This is how Julia "shared" her bed! Babcia said, "We have to go stretch our legs..." Guess Julia took her literally!!!

Julia documents what we had for breakfast...

And this is how tall the corn was in the corn maze in Belvediere. Lots of fun, but muddy!

Okay - those are the pictures I'm posting tonight. Check back later to see what Mama posts!

Thanks for looking!
-Suzia