Second half

The second half of our trip to the Midwest was spent at Dave's Grandma Swan's house in southern Illinois. This was only the second time Caleb has had the opportunity to see his great grandma and he was very excited to be there!


One of the most common bonding opportunities they had while we visited was reading books together. Caleb brought at few of his favorites from home, but Grandma McKinstry loaned us a few as well which helped entertain our busy boy.

Another interesting source of entertainment was Grandma Swan's wind chime. He repeatedly prompted us to lift him up or stretched up on his tiptoes trying to make music.

While we were unaware at the time, Caleb had an ear infection during the trip. We were tipped off that this might be the case because he was VERY loud most of the time we were visiting Grandma Swan. The last time he was this noisy for an extended period of time was during our trip to visit Dave's parents at Christmas, which was also the only other time he's had an ear infection. He wasn't always upset; a lot of the loudness was squeals of excitement, but he was quite vocal the entire visit. We decided that for the sake of Grandma Swan's ears and our sanity, we'd better get this kid outside a little despite the 90 degree temperatures. One morning we decided to beat the heat by taking a trip to a local playground.

The toys were fun and all but the bobcat moving things
around the park was pretty amazing to Caleb.

Another day, we took a walk to a cemetery near Grandma Swan's because it had a lot of large trees to shade us. While it might not seem the ideal place to visit, it allowed Caleb play outside some and he found ways to entertain himself with lots of sticks we found along the way.

Later that day, Uncle Phil and Aunt Lotella (Grandma Swan's sister) dropped by and took us out for some ice cream at the local Dairy Queen.


It was bittersweet heading home, knowing that it will be a while before we can visit again. But, we're so thankful the three of us had time to spend with Grandma Swan this summer.

The Magic House

If you are ever in the St. Louis area with your kids, I HIGHLY recommend The Magic House. This is probably my favorite attraction in the area and Caleb thought it was pretty great too! At first Dave and I debated if this attraction would be age appropriate, especially since it cost $8.75 for anyone ages one and up. We thought maybe a trip to the petting zoo would be better, but after such a ridiculously steamy day at the zoo yesterday we opted for an indoor activity and we're glad we did. (Plus, we found a free coupon for Caleb, making the adventure much easier on our budget.)

They have a toddler section we thought would be nice for Caleb even if the other parts of the museum might be a bit too advanced for him. However, we found that he could enjoy a ton of the attractions, like this alphabet wall. The knobs were just his height and under each door he found an item that started with that letter.

One of the first areas we explored was the Alice's Wonderland traveling exhibit. From musical mushrooms, caterpillars, and plants to shrinking rooms to rabbit holes, Caleb tried to play with it all.

Next, we tried out the Bubble Organ and the Hands-On Hallway.

Then, we came to Children's Village. There were all kinds of scenes setup: a house, an automotive shop, a river and a pond, an ice cream truck, a market, an electric company, a bank, a treehouse, a library, a doctor's office, and a restaurant. This would have been like a dream come true to me as a kid. Even at 27 years old, I wanted to go in every room and check out all the special features.

Do we have a mechanic on our hands?

Mommy and Caleb caught a fish!

"Would you like me to make you a snack, Grandpa?"

Aunt Brenda, we got these ice cream truck pics just for you!

Caleb's favorite place seemed to be the market. He could fill

up his basket with tons of stuff and empty it again. This is the

way he often plays at home, emptying my laundry baskets, cabinets,

or drawers. Today no one stopped the fun. :)

Ironically, he loaded the basket with his two favorite items:

bread and milk. This kid knows what he likes.

"Da, we may need a few canned items too."

So many buttons to push in the Electric Company and so little time!

Playing with circuits already? Does this kid have future

engineer written all over him? Only time will tell.

Caleb went to the bank to take out a loan and learned about interest.

Dr. Caleb reporting for duty! He looks pretty serious with that

lab coat and clipboard.

"Da, why can't I eat the pizza? I'll share."

There was an area for children 1-6 years old and another section just for babies that we ventured into a bit as well. They weren't quite as interesting but Caleb found a few things he really enjoyed, including sand tables, working light switches at his height (one of his favorite past times lately at home), a hall of mirrors, and a water table.

At this point Caleb and all of the grown-ups were tuckered out. There were so many other exhibits like the oval office, a construction zone, a mystery section, a bubble room, a Louis and Clark adventure, a train section, an outdoor play garden, a giant beanstalk to climb, a giant calculator, a Poet Tree, an art center, and so much more that we didn't get to explore. I pleaded with Dave to take us back for just a couple more hours tomorrow morning to try some more but he put his foot down. We'll just have something to look forward to on our next trip to St. Louis!