Last stop on our trip, Oak Forest, Illinois. Again we tried to squueeze in a ton of things in just a few days. There were so many pictures I had to break it into 2 slide shows.
The first few pics here are actually from the first day of our trip when we stopped over for the night on our way to Wisconsin. That night we managed to squeeze in an Oberweiss Dairy trip for milkshakes and a birthday cake for Nick even after 12 hours of driving. I think there was more cake worn than eaten.
Rob flew back home from Des Moines. This made it possible for Kelsey to make a ton of balloon animals without worrying about Rob's latex allergy. She made balloon creations for everyone. No trip would be complete without a visit to Brookfield Zoo. This year there is a special life size dinosaur exhibit. Nick loved it! Riley and Amy joined us for the day. The kids made the usual wax animals and got to see all of their favorite animals up close. After we finished at the zoo we took a side trip to see Bika and Smoke & Mason. Wednesday, Nana & Papa T took us out for lunch at our favorite Culver's restauraunt and Kelsey redeemed her prize tokens for a soccer ball. The great Grandparents got a little rowdy putting it on their heads! The next day we went to the Museum of Science & Industry with a quick stop-over across the street to see Lake Michigan. The kids would have loved to play in the sand all day but there was just enough time for a quick toe dipping in the lake. Kelsey & Nick were able to see an IMAX movie, visit their favorite U-505 Submarine, play with LEGO's at a new exhibit, watch the huge pinball machine, spend time watching the massive model train exhibit, and watch a big machine assemble toys just to name a few. Afterwards, Papa Bruce took us on a driving tour to see some of the big buildings downtown. He even detoured into Lincoln Park to drive us past Victory Gardens Theater (formerly The Biograph Theater) to see the location where John Dillinger was shot. When we were in Wisconsin we went to Little Bohemia restauraunt where there had been a big Dillinger shoot out. The kids got to see the preserved windows with bullet holes and some things he left behind there. Nick, Kelsey & Grammy spent time cooking in the kitchen making blueberry muffins from scratch and then delivered them to Nana & Papa T. Friday, Aunt Sharon & Uncle Gary invited us up for a swim in their pool. Sharon had a cake for the kids and the only time we saw the kids out of the pool was for lunch and cake. Uncle Mike stopped by for a visit too. Nick couldn't resist eyeing up his Harley so we had to get pics of the kids on it. Saturday Grammy made our family favorite beef stew & dumplings and the kids were going to have a sleep over with Riley but at the last minute she decided to go home. On Sunday Caryn, Joey, Mamerta & Alexander stopped by for a visit and that afternoon we had the whole Trauscht family over for dinner. It was a ton of fun to see all of our kids having such a great day. The kids enjoyed the slip & slide and water balloons and playing with Adrianne's dog Kinnick. Thanks Uncle Larry & Theresa for putting together the slip & Slide and the water balloons. The following day we got up early and hit the road for the drive back to New Jersey.
We had an awesome time and are glad we got to see so many people and do so many things. Thank you to everyone for sharing their time with us and for putting up with our crazy visits. It was definitely a full trip. Now we can relax & enjoy a few weeks before we go back to school. We don't start until September 8th! Hope you enjoy all these pics!
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