Fieldtrip to Chicago!

Last week-end, the graduate student organization in my department organized a trip to Chicago. It sounded like fun and the itinerary for a bunch of nerdy science grad students was identical to that we would have selected for a toddler and preschooler (interesting). The organizers were gracious enough to let the whole family come along, so it was a roadtrip to Chicago! We had a great time, first visiting the Shedd Aquarium on Saturday and then the Field Museum on Sunday. The kids loved being in the big city, seeing the skyscrapers, busy streets, and all the other excitement that they don't see much in our small town. James said the highlight was seeing the T-rex bones at the Field Museum, the biggest complete fossil in the world. While the museums were fantastic, the highlight for Becky and I was probably going out to an Ethiopian restaurant on Sunday night. It's our absolute favorite and, to the best of our knowledge, there is not a single such eatery in the state of Iowa. We ate enough to last us at least six months until the next road trip. I've uploaded some of the better photos here, but be sure to check out Anna's blog for some great photos from our visit with Becky's cousin.

Chicago!

The Biggest Shark

I don't remember how we got on the topic, but the other night at dinner James wanted us to name all the fish. Becky and I came up with quite an impressive list, I must say. We then started discussing what are fish (sharks) and what are not fish (dolphins). At a certain point, I asked James if he knew that the biggest fish was the whale shark. He disagreed, insisting that the largest fish was the great white shark. We asked him how he knew this, to which he replied that his friend Theo had told him. We said that maybe we could look it up on the computer together or look in his shark book, suggestions that only frustrated James. He was absolutely insistent. In an attempt to end the argument, he simply declared, "I just know more than you guys."

If he thinks that now, what will he think when he's 17!?

Kevin

James has been very interested in the Titanic lately. It started with a YouTube video and then expanded to a book (which we once read three times in one day). While in New Jersey visiting family for Christmas we discovered their science museum had a Titanic exhibit. Eric and James went to see it and had a great time. Later that night I was talking with James. Here's how it went...

Me:      What did you think of the exhibit?
James:  It was amazing and sad.
Me:       It was amazing because it was so big. Why was it sad?
James:  Because a lot of people died.
Me:      They did and that is really sad?
James:  Did they all go to Kevin?
Me:      What do you mean?
James:  When they died did they all go to Kevin? (meaning heaven)
Me:      Yes they did. (smiling)

Snow and icefishing!

Believe it or not, it has been nearly two years since I've had a chance to play in the show! We had one morning last winter when me and my buddy Freddy went sledding, but that melted by afternoon. I've been real excited to get out there, but we left town right as the blizzard hit last month! Fortunately, it's stayed cold enough that all the snow is still here, so I got to play in it yesterday with my daddy. It was fun, but it was too cold even to make a snowman or snowballs!

And I got to do something really cool...go icefishing! My buddy Freddy and his daddy took me and my dad out to a spot here in town. It was real fun to be out on the frozen lake, especially when the dads pulled us around on a sled. I was curious about how ice fishing worked and pretty disappointed that we didn't catch anything. I guess we'll have to go again!

Snow and icefishing!