Eleanor and Henry ventured out this weekend for their first camping trip. We went to Starved Rock State Park, which is just a couple of hours away. We started with a couple of hours of hiking, exploring the river, the lookouts and a canyon with a waterfall. Then, we headed over to the campsite to get everything set up. As luck would have it, it decided to rain on us while we were in the middle of getting the tent set up, although compared to the forecast of rain all day, we did pretty well. The biggest casualty was the firewood, which got pretty wet and we were never able to get a nice campfire going. We had cheeseburgers and s’mores for dinner, and both kids enjoyed the hammock that we set up behind our tent. After dinner, we got settled into our tent and played some games till dark. Henry and Mom played Life, and Eleanor and Dad played Sleeping Queens. Mom was a trooper, making a run with Henry to the bathroom, and then 5 minutes after they got back, going again with Eleanor. We planned to make pancakes in the morning for breakfast, but the grill was a bit greasy from the burgers the night before, so we packed up and went to a local bakery for pancakes instead. All in all a successful trip!
Also this week, Mom and the kids checked out the new Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier, and did the “Tilt” windows at the top of the Hancock building.
Henry also coined a new phrase for ‘tonight’, when he told Mom, “So the night that goes with this day, I know what I’m going to do”.
