Summer Adventures Begin

Summer adventures, oh how I have looked forward to you! 

Jackson and I partnered with my parents for some fun activities around the area last week. My husband was out of town for business, we wished he could have joined. 

Day one was raining so we decided to go to the Shedd Aquarium. 

J was so excited to see the big fish, stingrays, and jelly fish. Toward the end of our visit we saw the 15 min 4D Ice Age movie. Prior to going in, J was very interested in the animals in the poster. He thought the squirrel and sloth were "funny guys." The 3D glasses were exciting to wear and Jackson had never been in a movie theater before so it was all new to him. A few minutes into the movie the dinosaurs were introduced. Jackson was no longer happy, not even a little bit. His glasses were no longer on and he was just watching the blurry images on their own. He became increasingly scared at the loud, big toothed in your face tyrannosaurus rex. Then the Dino sneezed and we all got wet...and J lost it. Immensely scared, tears forming he repeated between cries that he wanted to go home. I held him tight and tried to turn him away while talking to him, but each time I did he would try to peek back at the screen. We made it through, although when leaving Jackson was not as excited about the poster any more. We asked him later what he thought of it..."I don't like those guys." (Referring to the dinosaurs)..."I was scared, I was crying."

Traumatized. A few days later though he refers, while in a playful voice and grin, to the cute squirrel and sloth as funny guys again, but doesn't fail to remind you that he was scared and crying at the dinosaurs!

We were able to try roasting marshmallows for s'mores later that evening. Jackson was concerned about the hot fire but quickly discovered he liked the snack!

Our second day brought much nicer weather! 

Throwing a coin and making a wish

We headed to Lake Geneva for the beach and a boat ride!

To say Jackson loved the beach is an understatement! He was so excited for the sand. He crushed every castle we made, except for the Mickey face my dad made, he didn't touch that. He buried a shark toy, threw rocks in the water, and loved to walk into the water with one of us then turn and come back. 

Ready for boat ride

We added some activities to our summer list and then crossed them right off.