Braving Chestnut Mountain’s Alpine Slide was a favorite part of my childhood, so we were delighted to get the Micronaxx in on the action during our trip. They enjoyed the action (and playful smack-talk between me & Margot!) so much that they begged to go back the next day. That time—unlike what you see in the vids below—I was smart enough to put my cameras away and focus on smoking the competition—finally redeeming myself in the eyes of our sons. 🙂
Month: August 2014
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Fun with the Funicular
The lads got a kick out of riding Dubuque’s famous Fourth Street Elevator (a funicular). Here’s our quick little journey:
During our Galena trip my mom had the great idea of taking the lads to E.B. Lyons interpretive center in Dubuque’s Mines of Spain wilderness area. They enjoyed checking out all manner of critters, both living (snapping turtles, snakes) and stuffed (badgers, owls, flying squirrels, and more). Here’s our little gallery.
The boys have always been fascinated by anything related to Uncle Ted & his big vehicles. He’s given them some great tours, from checking out his ambulance one year to riding in his 18-wheeler the next. This time around we paid a visit to the Tri-State Tours “bus barn” as the dudes call it. By the end Henry was literally jumping for joy, as you’ll see. Check out the gallery!
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Farm Boys
The boys & I had a ball (and about a million kernels of corn) visiting our friend Tom Moser’s farm outside Galena. We were joined by Alicia, Alejandro, and Elena, plus Uncle Ted & Jenna. Stay tuned for a gallery & more videos soon. Meanwhile, enjoy Finn the Corn Angel!
G-Man: Down on the farm, up on a tractor, on top of the world.
Who’s got two thumbs, one spoon, and loves eating honey directly from the farm? This guuuuy. 🙂
Whenever we visit John’s family in Illinois, we fly to Chicago, then drive to Galena. We’ve now made it a tradition to spend a day in the city before heading out on the 3-hour drive west, so that we can soak up some urban sights and adventures with the boys. This time, we led our own Nack Family Blitzkrieg on Chicago. We kicked off our day on the 103rd-floor SkyDeck of the Willis (Sears) Tower before heading over to the amazing Museum of Science and Industry.
While Henry was fascinated looking through the floor of the observation pod in the tower, Finn was somewhat…um…less enthused. He was, however, really excited to see and learn about the captured WWII German U-Boat, the U-505, at the MSI. We also visited their coal mine experience, and spent some quality time touring the famous Burlington Pioneer Zephyr train, which set a diesel train speed record in 1934 traveling between Denver and Chicago.
Loath to go back to our suburban hotel, we rounded out the day by heading back uptown for a water taxi ride to Michigan Avenue, and then a “cheezborger” at the famous Billy Goat Tavern, a local Chicago landmark. Here’s a little gallery of the day’s events.
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Leaping Gizzards
Hen launches 25 feet into the air in Tahoe!