The kids and I headed downtown last week Tuesday evening for some Tulip Time fun! Trey's teacher, Mrs. Bos, is an alumni dutch dancer and had given us her dancing schedule. What a great excuse to go out and see the tulips. It was a GORGEOUS day -- perfect for hanging out downtown!
Trey and Rowan were so patient with me as I snapped their pics in front of the tulips.
Love these two!!
Up next....elephant ear!! We got one for the kids to share. YUM!
Oh my word. Mrs. Bos was the cutest dutch dancer I think I've ever seen. Trey said that she looked like Mrs. Wishy Washy! I think he was right!!
At the end of the dance, the kids got invited to go out and dance a bit too. Trey was hesitant, but he went and Rowan quickly followed!
Cute photos in front of the tulips, an elephant ear, and some dutch dancing made for a super fun night with my kids! It was just the right amount of Tulip Time this year.
This is the devotion I read in Jesus Calling on Tuesday, May 7th:
"Everything you endure can be put to good use by allowing it to train your trusting Me. This is how you foil the works of evil, growing in grace through the very adversity that was meant to harm you."
"Relax in My sovereignty, remembering that I go before you, as well as with you, into each day. Fear no evil, for I can bring good out of every situation you will ever encounter."
If there were ever a day that this devotional resonated with me, it was Tuesday. It was the very message that I had been hearing in the depths of my soul over the previous few days. God's gentle reminders to me that no matter the brokenness, He can mend it. No matter the darkness, He can bring light. No matter the sadness, He can restore joy.
This is what I hear God reminding me of now. Like He’s speaking it directly into my
heart...I will redeem this.
I didn’t create you to
suffer. My hopes for you didn’t
include pain, sadness, or strife.
I love you and your family more than you could ever know, and I will
redeem this. This pain that you
feel to the bottom of your soul – I will redeem it. I will bring healing and new life from the brokenness. I will never leave you. I won’t let you down. I won’t let you go. I will mourn with you, and through it, I will bring
you to a whole new level of relationship with Me. I will be your place of refuge as you grieve. I will create sacred moments for you and,
just when you think you can’t go on, I will lift you up and help you move
forward. It’s what I do. I bring healing and life to the broken
things of this world. Sloothaak
family, I will redeem this.
I have walked through the last five weeks writing blog post after blog post in my mind, none of them making their way to paper. The stories are numerous, the beautiful moments mixed with the pain are countless. God has been so good to us, even through such a difficult time. But really, now, it's about me listening for God's sweet reminders each day. Allowing Him to speak to my heart, and hearing Him. Believing that what He has for us is bigger than we can imagine. I know it to be true. I KNOW it to be true.
We woke up on Friday for our second day in Chicago! We were all excited to spend another day together in this super fun city!
We enjoyed breakfast at the hotel, then got everything packed up. We were able to leave our luggage at the hotel for the day.
We took the bus to Navy Pier, and got there right when it opened. We spent some time just walking around. The Crystal Garden is such a beautiful space and the kids found a fountain to toss some pennies into.
Make a wish!
Our next stop at Navy Pier was the ferris wheel. Trey was firm about wanting to ride, but said "Sometimes when you try new things, they are scary. But then when you do them, they are fun!". To be honest, we were all a bit nervous (John and I are not big fans of heights), but we braved it and were glad we did. It was fun!
We made a stop at Garrett's Popcorn Shop for a yummy snack before heading back out on the town.
It was COLD and WINDY, but we managed to make the walk over to Michigan Ave to do some shopping. We wanted each of the kids to get something to take home and remember our trip by. The Disney Store was such a fun place to stop. Rowan picked out a set of plastic Disney character figurines. They are perfect for her since she loves little "treasures" like that.
Trey found a fun game at a store called "Marbles: The Brain Store" at the Water Tower Place.
We decided to get some Chicago-style pizza for a late lunch before heading back to the train station, so we stopped at Gino's East. It was DELISH! We were thankful that Rowan had her new toys to keep her busy while we waited for our food.
After lunch, we took a taxi back to our hotel to get our luggage, then made the short walk back to the train station. Our hotel was located just a couple of blocks from Willis Tower. It was neat to be able to see that from our window!
Back on the train and ready for a relaxing ride home.
Rowan played with her Disney toys almost the entire way. SUCH a great purchase!!
Trey and John had fun playing with Trey's new game too.
We got back home just before 9:00 PM. It really was perfect timing. The kids stayed awake the whole train trip, so they were ready to head straight to bed when we got home.
BUT....we were surprised with one last gift in the mailbox for Trey from the Jansens! Such fun timing!
Rowie photo bombed! :)
Reading his special letter...it made mommy cry!
A gift card to Toys R Us was a fun idea for him. He was SUPER excited that he would get to choose his own gift.
He ended up choosing Bop-It (he had wanted that for a while) and two packs of basketball cards on his trip to Toys R Us a few days later.
Thanks so much, Uncle Mark and Auntie Abby! Your gift was the perfect ending to Trey's birthday getaway.
We told Trey while we were on the train that our first stop of the day, after finding and checking in to our hotel, would be Shedd Aquarium. He was SUPER excited and we chatted a bit as we were getting close to Union Station.
We didn't even stop for lunch before heading straight to Shedd's. We were all excited to get there. We took a taxi from the hotel, and thankfully had purchased our tickets ahead of time so we only had to wait in the very short "will call" line instead of the craaazy long other line.
Camera flashes aren't allowed in the aquarium, but I don't know how to turn the flash off on my camera :), so I snuck a few photos against the rules, but didn't get too many inside.
The first stop we made was at the shark exhibit.
Later, we checked out the beluga whales. The kids (Trey especially) LOVED the beluga whales! They were adorable!! We watched them from here for a while, then went downstairs to watch them from under the water. It was so crowded and was hard to get a good picture, but I did my best!
There was an underwater dolphin viewing area too. This is that spot, but no dolphins in my picture. Oops!
As tall as an emperor penguin!
Thursday was such a gorgeous day. We stepped out of the aquarium for a few minutes to get some fresh air and a few photos with the city in the background.
Mom with the birthday boy!
Our last stop at the aquarium was the Caribbean area...Rowan and I loved the sea turtle the most! The kids stayed here for a long time and, at one point, Trey said "Mom, this spot is soooo fun! I could stay here forever!".
After we left the aquarium, we grabbed some lunch right outside and enjoyed a picnic. After our long winter and so much cold weather, the sunshine and warmer temps felt amazing!
We decided to walk back to our hotel to take in the sunshine a bit. It ended up being a longer walk than we expected, but it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I love walking in the city.
Trey did awesome, but it was too long for Rowan. She rode on John's shoulders for a while, but was starting to fall asleep. John and I took turns carrying her the rest of the way back. She slept all the way to the hotel!
Trey spotted this HUGE fountain on our walk. He thought it was awesome!
We hung out at the hotel for a bit before heading out for dinner. It was Trey's choice for his birthday and, despite all of the awesome Chicago restaurants, he chose Subway. He really wanted a sub!
The evening consisted of homework (yes, homework!) at the hotel. I had to get this picture because Trey got an all-time high score on ExtraMath. He had been working so hard to get above 90 and on his birthday he scored a 91!
We spent some time reading his Just Right Library books before watching the college slam dunk competition (Trey's choice) and falling asleep.
I LOVED every minute of spending Trey's birthday with him, and I hope that he has great memories of this day for a long time!
Friday was another busy, fun-filled day. Post to come!
