So we are in a bit of a blogging back log, but this is a fun adventure we wanted to post. So I was wondering about plastic. I want to make a psp since my Mom is saying she can't afford to buy me one. Mom said we might not be able to make it, but we could learn about it. Ha! Wrong Mom! You can make it! Check it out!
We got the recipe from the website of the PBS Kid's show, Zoom. This sounds like a cool show. We might have to check it out.
Here's something different and fun. Have you ever been to Chicago's Peggy Norbaert Nature Museum near the Lincoln Park Zoo?
I personally am very interested in plants and I thought that this might be a great day to spend a Saturday afternoon. Mom was only too eager to comply as she is currently studying the ecology of the Chicago area for her studies with the Women's Thealogical Society. The Nature Museum has a beautiful butterfly exhibit. It's the best in the city for sure. In addition to butterflies, you have to look into the bushes for the cute little button quails. They keep the exhibit clean, as they like to eat the dead butterflies.
Even better than the butterflies though was the museum's new interactive materials designed for people of my size. They had this cool computer game that teaches you about different kinds of bugs while you get to catch, spray or squash the bugs! Super cool.
Another fun game was found in the children's play area. You dress up a boy like a beaver...but it was much more fun making him look all crazy so that the beaver would scream in terror! In addition to the bug games were real live bugs! The worst was when you pull this desk drawer and see the HUGE cockroaches inside. LIVE cockroaches. So gross!
The Nature Museum has updated to really give some hands on activities. The water works teach you about water flow through the city while playing with boats. Something mom found interesting was the map of the underground river for the sewer system in Chicago. She had no idea!
This is information Mom collected for her ecology assignment. We try to do our part for the eco-system by reducing our carbon footprint and recycling. It's not just a good idea, it's important!
You see, when she was a little girl, her Dad (who I unfortunately never got to meet) always took her to the Father and Daughter Luncheon with the Kiwanis Club held on the Monday around Valentine's Day. It was so special she kept right on going well until her twenties! That's pretty old.
Well Mom's not a Dad and I'm no girl and she isn't in the Kiwanis Club (though I hear they're a pretty good crew), but we keep up Grampa C's tradition in our own way.
We happened to see a discount coupon in the paper for Medieval Times and we knew right away this was the place for us.
Not everyone dresses up, but we do! Everyone loved our outfits.
The food is really quite tasty! Our server worried me a bit when he asked if I'd like to have "dead bird." "Is it cooked?!" I asked.
Mind you the tickets are a bit expensive, but you get quite a bit of food and you are of course getting sword fighting, lances and live horses for crying out loud! It's awesome! Sometimes we doc a star for major expense, but not this time. This is a Tynan Five Star Rating for sure!
There are some things to keep in mind. There isn't a coat check. Mom was stuck holding out coats, carrying our drinks, her camera and her purse. This was most troubling when I needed her to hold me when meeting the king and again hiding from beautiful girls who were admiring my handsomeness.
Also, the dungeon. Mom was sputtering a bit when it came to describing some of the torture contraptions. Apparently, some were placed in rather private places. Big Eewiiee!! So if you've got little ones who can't read, and you don't want to embarrass yourself reading the descriptions, or if your children are on the sensitive side, you might want to pass on the dungeon.
This place is so much fun we just might make a regular pilgrimage in February.
I can't believe the amount of snow! Check out this cool ice tunnel I made!
Mom was supposed to build an igloo; but when she saw our neighbor Marco digging out the alley, single-handed, Mom had to help. Even Aom came out to lend a hand. What a day!
So Mom played hookie today to spend the day with me. Yippee! We decided to spend this cold winter day inside the Adler Planetarium.
The Adler has a really great children's area. It's big with quite a lot of interactive toys. You can go underground and examine space crystals, collect moon rocks with space vehicles that actually you can ride and drive! build water and air supply piping and explore a two story space station that includes a space walk. I was a little frightened of the space walk because it was so dark, but once you get used to it, it's really one of the best parts of the exhibit. Adler also points out that we already live on a planet in outer space and the children's area also includes an earth backyard that has this cool sand box with this wild space age sand. So much fun!
Since my mom and I started this blog to help other moms and kids, we feel it's important to call my toenails to your attention. Yep, they are painted and yep, they are red, burgundy to be precise (it's my mom's favorite color). Should you be tempted to frown upon my choice of accessory merely based on my gender, I would like to point out that in primitive cultures, body modification is very common. We see the males of the indigenous people of the rain forest, Africa and deep Australia (to name a few) sporting tattoos, body paint and often they will even alter the shape of their teeth. Young children are like their own primitive culture. Why do you think we love temporary tattoos? It's body modification! And it's awesome! As is painting one's fingers and toes. I love my mother and she loves the color burgundy.
I have to say, I find it strange that some people find it unacceptable that I like to paint my nails. I've heard people whisper "she's [I assume that they mean my mother] going to make him [I assume they mean me] gay!"
I may be five but I do know that that by "gay" these people do not mean "happy" they mean that I will want to marry a man. I plan to marry my mom actually, with my kindergarten girlfriend Melia as my runner up; but I'm a little confused as to why marrying a man seems to be such a bad thing. Many of the most influential men in my life happen to be married to, or want to be married to, men.
My mom read about this little boy this year at Halloween and we've decided they are our heroes. Everyone should feel free to be who they are.
And it seems to me that there are plenty of grown men in not so primitive cultures who don't call themselves gay who are sporting body modification. If you don't like my nails, keep it to yourself. My mom doesn't care if I'm gay or if I'm not and neither do I. I'm too busy living it up at the Planetarium!
Did you know that the Atwood Sphere was made in 1913? It's an extra $3.00 dollars to look inside but it's pretty cool and the fact that it's so old just makes it that much more so!
And while your down on the lower level with the sphere, look around for the display on Black holes. You turn this crack that releases "matter" into the black hole to visually represent what it might be like. Very cool, we were playing with this thing for nearly a half hour!
It was a great adventure! And to think I wanted to stay home watching cartoons. Thank goodness for mothers. Alder gets a Four Star rating to be sure!
My Mom and her brothers really like Thanksgiving and so we all got together at Aunt Maddy's House in Arizona for the holiday. Aunt Maddy is 92 years old incidentally...can you imagine? That's like almost a whole century more than me!
Anyway, Arizona is so different from Illinois. The plant life is so amazing I undertook a scientific exploration of the local flora and fauna, and what better place to start than the Tucson Botanical Gardens?
No trip to Arizona is complete without a trip to the Arizona Desert Museum. We went there early in the morning and stayed there until they kicked us out at closing! This place rocks! Absolutely worth a Tynan Five Star Rating!
Arizona is a great place to visit. I was busy capturing it all on film and with paper and crayons...Crayola's Twistable Crayons are the bomb by the way. I highly recommend them.
This is a family friendly blog that reviews children's plays, gives opinions on family attractions and events all from the perspective of the pint size.
The Nature Museum has a beautiful butterfly exhibit. It's the best in the city for sure. In addition to butterflies, you have to look into the bushes for the cute little button quails. They keep the exhibit clean, as they like to eat the dead butterflies.
In addition to the bug games were real live bugs! The worst was when you pull this desk drawer and see the HUGE cockroaches inside. LIVE cockroaches. So gross!
The Nature Museum has updated to really give some hands on activities. The water works teach you about water flow through the city while playing with boats. Something mom found interesting was the map of the underground river for the sewer system in Chicago. She had no idea!
Not everyone dresses up, but we do! Everyone loved our outfits.
The food is really quite tasty! Our server worried me a bit when he asked if I'd like to have "dead bird." "Is it cooked?!" I asked.
There are some things to keep in mind. There isn't a coat check. Mom was stuck holding out coats, carrying our drinks, her camera and her purse. This was most troubling when I needed her to hold me when meeting the king and again hiding from beautiful girls who were admiring my handsomeness.
Did you know that the Atwood Sphere was made in 1913? It's an extra $3.00 dollars to look inside but it's pretty cool and the fact that it's so old just makes it that much more so!
No trip to Arizona is complete without a trip to the Arizona Desert Museum. We went there early in the morning and stayed there until they kicked us out at closing! This place rocks! Absolutely worth a Tynan Five Star Rating!
Arizona is a great place to visit. I was busy capturing it all on film and with paper and crayons...Crayola's Twistable Crayons are the bomb by the way. I highly recommend them.
