Rochelle

We went out to Rochelle to watch the trains on Saturday. It is a very popular spot due the heavy traffic caused by the intersection of the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern lines. The town has a dedicated viewing platform to watch the action from a safe distance and a mini (but real) engine that kids can play on. We were there less than an hour and saw three trains. As you can see from the picture it is a bit loud. The town also has a vintage gas station that serves as a visitor center.

Future Commie?

Ben only knows a few words, so few a gecko could count them on one hand. On Saturday morning, he was reading the book of colors. When he got to the red page, he pointed and said "red". Not just once, he said it repeatedly. The Chinese must have been broadcasting some sort of subliminal message during the Olympics.

Blowing Kisses

Ben likes to blow kisses. When we got to school on Monday, a Metra was going by. I told Ben that it was mommy's choo choo and he started blowing kisses to it. On Tuesday morning he was blowing kisses to the train tracks before we even got out of the car. Then, when I picked him up on Thursday, he blew some kisses to a passing freight train.

Lots of Stuff

We usually don't tell Bradley our plans too far in advance, lest it negatively influence his sleeping patterns. As soon as I told him we were going to Poppy's house on Saturday, he started listing off everything we needed to pack. He mentioned a swimming diaper for himself and teethy medicine for Ben and many other things. He even helped pack his bag. Unfortunately, there was one key item we forgot: his swimsuit. You can blame his (overworked/unpaid) assistants for that.

Super Fun Weekend

Bradley went to his firs regular season football game on Saturday. It started with a little tailgating. We got there just in time to see the pre-game concert and the world's largest drum. We also got to see "Pete's Choo Choo", aka the Boilermaker Special. Bradley rang the train bell. We were looking for Pete, but didn't see him before the game. Brad didn't like the game at first. He asked to leave with 11:39 left in the first quarter. It was pretty hot and the PA was very loud. He spent much of the first quarter with his hands over his ears. At the end of the quarter we moved to the other side of the stadium, where there was a little more space and a small breeze. The temperature dropped a little due to the cloud cover. Brad was able to last until after half-time. It was Band Day and he liked watching all the bands. We saw Pete in the endzone and it looks like he got injured while horsing around with an opposing (male) cheerleader. We did a little shopping after we left the game and and got a foam hammer. He wanted to get Ben a small football, but we have enough of those. After taking advantage of the dollar menu at McDonald's, we went to look at the fountain, but it was under construction.

But wait, there's more. On Sunday, we went to the Orchard. Bradley rode on the Moo Choo.

Poo Poo = Choo Choo

Bradley achieved his poop goal on Monday, so we went to the new train restuarant. The Two Toots is right next to the real train tracks. If you pick the right table, you can watch real trains and the model train at the same time. It is actually kind of awesome. The new train restaurant has a more limited menu than the All Aboard Diner, but the food is good. Ben likes the restaurant too. He likes to point at the model train as it goes around. This was Brad's second trip to Two Toots. He had earned a trip at the end of August.

The Graduates

Both Ben and Bradley have moved up a classroom. This is long overdue for Brad, but on-schedule for Ben. Both boys now go back to large motor in the morning.

Where's My T-shirt?

Bradley says "My parents went on vacation and all I got was this lousy moose hat."

Last Hurrah

Summer is all gone already! We had to squeeze as much fun as possible into its last days. Bradley mapped out Sunday early in the day. He said he wanted to pack a lot of stuff and go to a concert. However, his nap was really long and we missed the concert. We went to the Kane County Cougars baseball game instead. Bradley loved it! He watched the groundskeepers get the field ready, saw the players warming up, got a high five from a player, and a stamp on his arm. This was before the game even began. As a snack, Bradley bought a bag of popcorn that was almost bigger than Ben. We only watched a few innings since certain people had to go to bed. Both boys stayed up late. I was hoping that would pay dividends the next day, but no such luck. Brad was up from about 4-5 and finally got out of bed around 5:45.

On Monday, we were able to get an early nap and made it to a 3:00 concert at Cantigny. After the concert was done, we checked out the tanks.

Olympics

Bradley really, really, really, I mean really, liked the Olympics. We would watch it every day. Sometimes we would watch during dinner, but we always watched just before bed. Bradley would have his snack in mommy & daddy's room and watch the competition. His favorite was gymnastics. This is probably because he has been doing Tumblebears all summer. We finally got some pictures. On Saturday, he showed us a running summersault. The first attempt was successful. The second one: not so much.