Bonus!

An unexpected holiday is always extra fun! Last week, Neil had to head to Medline corporate in Chicago for some training. The boys and I tagged along, and we were able to turn it into a midweek getaway. Bonus! We hit up Ikea on Tuesday afternoon, which was (unexpectedly) one of the highlights of the trip for Iain. (And for me too, although that was to be expected!) I have no pictures of that part, but if I did, they'd be of him riding the escalators to his heart's content, running up and down the wide aisles, and generally being overwhelmed by the oversize goodness of Ikea in general. We bought some Christmas gifts, some storage apparatuses and some cheap handy stuff (inevitable at Ikea). Then we got some yummy Indian food for dinner, went back to the hotel, played in the pool and had a good time! Most fun Tuesday evening we've had in a while!

We attempted our first "we're a family of four sleeping in one room" overnight, and it went very smoothly! Neil left early, did his training class, and was back in tine for lunch. We packed up, and headed to Noodles and Company to eat. I'm so thankful that Iain's favorite food is currently pasta! It makes it all that much more "sensible" to find a Noodles whenever we can!

Our plan was to find an apple orchard or pumpkin patch to visit on our way home. We almost reconsidered when we saw the frigid temperatures, cold drizzle, and blustery wind, but decided that since we were there anyway, we might as well give it a shot. After a quick stop at Old Navy for some emergency hats for the boys (call me unprepared, but the day we left was 75 degrees!) we were on our way to All Seasons Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch. We found it online, and thought it looked fun and less commercialized, less crowded, and less over the top than some others in the area. We also figured it would be less busy since it was a weekday. I'm not sure if it's because it was a Wednesday, or more the fact that it was freezing, but I'm telling you! The place was deserted! Even the workers stayed indoors, so that ruled out some things (like the wagon ride) and made others (like the cow-train ride) considerably less fun! But since a nice office worker let me borrow her coat, I wasn't one to complain! And really, we were just there to get a pumpkin, so we figured anything else was a bonus! We had our run of the place...and we really did run!! We saw the animals, rode the pedal cars and the train, did the giant slide and picked out a pumpkin in about fifteen minutes flat.

I think this is where Iain was saying "Mama, I need my mittens!"

And here's where his vastly unprepared mother answered "I don't have any Buddy! I'm sorry!"

Riding the pedal cars...still fun in the cold! We could barely get him off, cold hands and all!!
Face in hole!

Still having fun on the (non-functioning) cow train, despite looking painfully cold!

Checking out the goats, llamas, and sheep!

Giant slide! We were shocked (SHOCKED.) that Iain climbed right up and slid right down with no fuss at all!

"This apple is happy!"

Choosing our own "great pumpkin"!

"Where was Liam this entire time?" you might ask. He was enjoying watching from a distance, as he kept warm in the shelter of the stroller.

He wasn't so sure about his new stroller-mate, but otherwise he had a good time too. He even got to sample an apple cider doughnut in the "Country Kitchen" afterward.

We'd really like to go back to All-Seasons when we have more time. They have a wagon ride out to the orchard, and you can pick apples. You can go to the pumpkin patch and choose a pumpkin and see how they grow. There's often live music, food and drinks (I can vouch for the cider and doughnuts!) and even a corn maze. All the (short-sleeved, warm looking) people in their online photos appear to be having a great time, and the things we did do were a lot of fun! Maybe we'd be better off going earlier in the season, or bundling up more thoroughly! All I know is that after our 15 minutes, we sure were ready to warm up at the GAC chili cook-off that night! I don't think we're ready for winter at all!