This past Saturday Brett and I and the kids decided to go on an adventure. We loaded everyone up and headed to the train station. Or where daddy works. Since Jacob thinks Daddy's job is on the train. ( Coolest job ever, according to Jacob). We thought we were taking the 1:55 train but it turned out there was only a 2:55 train so we decided to explore the cute town Hinsdale since we had time to kill. They had a whole village set up with free activities for the kids.
This was a house for children to drop their letter in the mail for Santa!
Another little house had Santa in a chair waiting for children to come. There was no wait and the kids were excited to say Hello! They also got a mini candy cane. SCORE!
A really pretty fountain was decorated right in the middle of the village. I felt like we were in one of those small towns you see in movies. I loved it!
Daddy with his super cute crazy kiddos! I love this picture of Brett because it's what he loves. Being with his family!
Next we went to a big white tent that inside was heated and we were able to decorate Gingerbread people. They had candy eyes and sprinkles for everyone. The kids loved it and we loved that it was free!
The last thing we did was take a sleigh ride pulled by horses. Genna in the front asked a million questions to the driver. Luckily he was very nice and answered them all. He told her to come back next Saturday because they will be there again. Once again FREE!!! Woo hoo. My kind of fun time! Giselle is holding her gingerbread cookie..she never did take a bite.
We finally got on the train and it was SUPER packed. The train of course was delayed just our luck. It was delayed because of heavy passenger loading. BUMMER!! So no pictures on the train going down...toooo crowded.
This is the BIG tree in the middle of the German Christmas Market!
We had a lot of fun looking at all the booths and trying many new and different things. Chocolate covered grapes. Caramel pecans. Potato pancakes and Bratwurst. We also got a German fire house village and a Polish Christmas tree ornament.
The market was jam packed with people. We had Giselle in the stroller the whole time and ended up putting Jacob in the stroller too. As you can see he didn't enjoy the stroller. He was crying to get out the WHOLE time and did escape a few times. Brett and I would have loved to stay longer and look at more stuff but it was just too hard with Jacob and Giselle. We decided to head back to the train. We were trying to catch the 5:42 train and we only had a few minutes. I of course was wearing slip on shoes and couldn't run. I decided to take them off and just run in socks. We got to the train station at 5:44...we just missed the train. SOOO bummed. We finally made the 6:40 train and was able to get on pretty early so we could all sit together this time.
On the train we enjoyed some Hot Chocolate that I had made at home before leaving...still hott too! We also brought a bunch of cookies. I wanted to sign Jacob up for a polar express but they were all booked. Many people laughed at me when I called to see if any spots were open. They said they fill up in August. I told them we didn't move here until October. They said, sorry. Call early next year. THANKS! So we did our own polar express. Just as much fun and a whole lot cheaper. Going to Chicago was really neat. We are so lucky to be able to just hop a train and go. Kids are free too...BONUS!!! I want to go to the zoo next because they have a light show there. Maybe this Saturday..we'll see!!!
Granpa, Uncle Les, and Grandma helping the troops make home made pizzas.
Jacob and Audrey were in the zone! Pizza zone!
Logan and his daddy ( Uncle Les). is that a smile Les?
Jillian and Wesley..both 6 yrs. old both super cute!
Jolie, Bradyn and Logan putting some finishing touches on their own personal pizza!
Enjoying their gourmet creations!
A big perk of living in Chicago is being only 4 hours from my family in Michigan. The kids and I packed up the van and took off. It was so easy of a drive. No stops and only 2 movies to get to Grandma's house..how great is that. With 11 grand kids under the age of 11 means you have to be pretty creative. My mom thought the kids would like to make their own pizzas one night. She divided dough up and floured the table. The kids LOVED it. A lot of pounding on the table and for once we didn't mind. The kids used pizza sauce, cheese and then some had pepperoni, some pineapple, some ham some all. They each got their own mini can of soda..or POP as the Michiganders say! It was so fun and they loved eating their creations!
