Chicago Road Trip Part One

Packed up and ready to go

Turner Falls Park, Oklahoma

Swimming in the waterfall

Deric and I took turns swimming out to the waterfall with Nolan.



Cool cave

Breakfast at Ollie's Train Station Restaurant



Park Break

 

We made it to Joani and Bob's house in Winnetka, IL.

Nolan and Ari-Best buds

We were excited to see the whole family!!

Cort loved seeing everyone and their dogs!

Last week we packed up the boys and started our drive to Chicago. Our first stop was Turner Falls Park in Oklahoma. This was a blast and got the boys good and tired. Next, we headed to a hotel in Oklahoma. The following day stopped at  a cool train station restaurant, next made our way to Springfield, Missouri for lunch, next a park break and finally to Rick and Pascale's house in St. Louis. I don't have any pictures of our visit with Rick and Pascale! That is really disappointing, but we had a great time. Rick and Pascale treated our boys like princes and they enjoyed gifts, exploring a "real" basement and ice cream! The following morning we made our way to Joani and Bob's. The whole family came out for the occasion and we were so happy to have a "Costa Rica Reunion". Joani and Bob made a delicious dinner and the kids enjoyed playing in their huge back yard. Next, we had to say goodbye once again and we made our way to Mimi's house(my mom) in Naperville. 

Pedernales State Park

Pedernales Park is about an hour from our house. We packed up the boys this weekend and spent the day there. It was so much fun. I don't have pictures of us swimming but we all swam in the river. Nolan had his puddle jumper and loved it. There were other families and kids there as well. Cort loved it too and was irritated to find that I wouldn't just let him go off and swim and walk on the slippery rocks by himself! After swimming, we drove over to the falls which were pretty dry. We had to hike a bit to get to them which was very hot! All in all, this was a great day and we know trips like these will only get better as the boys get older.

The shallow part of the river

Further down it got deeper and kids were playing with their tubes and floaties.

I don't have pictures of it since my hands were full, but there was a spot where kids were jumping off the rocks into the water.  So much fun!

Finally made it to the falls, but now we have lots of stairs to go down.

Exploring and wishing we could cool off.  Flash flood warnings and a $500 fine kept us from swimming near the falls.

Nolan is such an adventurer!

Very pretty and not at all what I expected.

Climbing on the hot rocks to get a better view.  Nolan was a trooper and Cort really loved his carrier.

Exploring

Lately, the boys and I have been "hiking" or going exploring.  Nolan loves this and has such a great time.  Cort is actually pretty good and gets really excited when he sees moving water.  We don't last too long, probably only about an hour of walking around.  Both the heat and Cort's age make these trips short and sweet, but we are having a lot of fun discovering new places.  I know as Cort gets older these trips will get longer and longer and eventually turn into camping trips.  I have never been big on camping or hiking, but having two boys is changing that!