Take me out to the ball game........

Last weekend we took the kids to their first Detroit Tiger game. 

Such is the days of "buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks" 

Luckily every Sunday is "Kids Day" and the seventh inning stretch song  last Sunday went more like......."Take me out to the ball game , take me Hockeytown for lunch, let me ride the carousal and Ferris wheel, I don't care if they paint my face, cuz it's root root root for the Tigers.....If they don't win it's okay... because I stuffed my face with some cotton candy and ran the bases......at the ol' ball game!" There wasn't much not to like for these kids and Kids Day also means everything I mentioned was FREE so there wasn't much I didn't like about it either!

It was great to see the "three" kids fired up about going!

Our First Trip to Comerica Park - 2012.

Lunch at Hockeytown.

Our two little tigers at the ol' ball game.

The lady taking the picture sort of forgot to get the giant tiger in the picture.....So this is the Munsons on a paw.

So in between the carousal........

The face painting......

The Ferris Wheel.......

We actually did watch some baseball......The kids were really into the count and the scoreboard and they both actually asked a ton of questions so Chris was in his glory explaining the game.

of course while stuffing our faces with sugar.

Mamma and her cubs.

Afterward we were able to go down on the field so the kids could run the bases (Dad thought this was completely unfair.......he wanted to be out there too!)

There they go.....probably at top speed in order to avoid PAWS.

All in all a fine day in the "D"!

Egg-stra late Easter Pictures.

I have to admit Easter came and went quickly and I am finally getting caught up.......This year we enjoyed another fun Calcatera back yard hunt......

The kids had a blast ......and found the lucky golden eggs (thanks for the hints Gwen)

A lucky $5 was in the golden eggs.

This year a guest added a twist, he brought an Easter Pinata filled with....wait for it...... lottery tickets ummm the Bunny at our house just got knocked down a few notches with his lame jelly beans!

So it took the kids two days to scratch off their winnings....these were just Brooke's.

Ate a 35 pound gummy bear!

It's raining scratch offs......absurd.

We colored eggs.

We headed out to Grandmas......

We mowed on Carrot Cake!

We did some yard work....

And made caves.

Took a walk on the beach....

Soaked in some sun....

And performed cheesy pictures...... they were trying to make a heart with their arms.....

The Moral to this Easter day was the bunny brought so many lottery winnings that my 8 year old had to open a bank account!  She is a saver.....Brady on the other hand......decided what he wanted before I even told him he had any winnings.

un-"fork"-givable.

The prank push and pull with our next door neighbors continues to happen. Luckily enough we were home during spring break and they were not (insert sinister laugh here). I knew it was an opportune time to make something happen, but little did I know I would receive such help (not sure if that is a good thing or bad – I am sure they will all be willing to help retaliate too!) So we tried to come up with something creative and even broke down and Goggled “neighbor pranks” (amazing what you will find on the internet) anyway we finally decided on one that is semi harmless (we have to be careful since our neighbor may be one to not know how to draw a line in the sand) This year was fun just because it was tame enough to involve the kids and boy did they have a BLAST! It was kind of scary as I had Brooke round up some help, she didn’t get her full sentence out and these kids (and adults) were like “Yes we are in!”

So we “forked” them. That’s right I headed to Costco and bought 500 plastic forks that would be placed in their lawn before they came home. I scheduled a full morning to have this happen and we had so many helpers and hands the kids had the forks in the ground in a matter of 15 minutes!

They were not to come home until the next day. But what harm could any weather do to a plastic fork? Well apparently I hadn’t thought it through. Chris came home from his run the next morning and says “guess what you have been sabotaged” I of course thought he was joking until Brooke ran outside and comes running back screaming “MOM THEY ARE ALL GONE” Are you kidding me not one single fork left…..now who got forked? Me.

But I wasn’t going down without a fight, Brooke and I hopped in the car and combed the neighborhood but found nothing. We found out later it was some teenagers thinking it was a good idea and took them for their own prank. So back I went to Costco and purchased 1,000 forks! I was not going to be beat at my own game. So this time we got confirmation on what time they would be arriving home and we put my little sweatshop workers to it a few hours prior to arrival and in the daylight!

What I had not anticipated was for them to arrive home while our family was at a friend’s Easter egg hunt. Yup you guessed it – Rob thought Fork this, and all the forks ended up back in my yard upon our arrival back home.

I think I am done Forking. Just like Rodney Dangerfield I get no respect…..don’t they know I ended up cutting their lawn and practically aerating it for the spring? Ungrateful.

The dogs were even up for it....they got some belly scratches for free!
Welcome home!

Hard at work!

Adults too!

City Pass

Part of spring break was a quick getaway to Chicago to enjoy what we could of downtown. Luckily enough we got to experience quite a lot with the "city pass" think of it like a "fast pass" a la Disney.....ie not waiting in any lines ( bypassing the 90 minute wait for the skywalk and the 2+ hour wait to get into the shed!) admission to all the extra shows and exhibits to 6+ museums and attractions, and a chance to force ourselves to go to places we wouldn't normally fork over the $$ to go to just to "check it out".......

Our first stop was the Willis Tower (aka Sears Tower) SkyWalk......Brady thought it didn't look that tall driving into the city but when we stood underneath it thoughts began to change and a small "I don't want to do this" may have squeaked out.....

Then that quickly faded away as he stepped out on the glass ledge like no big whoop and I will say it again, this kid won't swim, ride a bike, or talk with adults but this .......this he will do??

Mom didn't really like the feeling of them being out there alone....its quite a weird sensation.

But truly once you get out there .....you get used to it.....

The views were great as we had a beautiful clear sunny day!

The kids actually went back for seconds.......

Oh and dad too......

After about an hour and a half up on the 103rd floor we were all ready to move onto the next site.

But not before we got suckered into the commemorative photo!
Next stop Museum of Science and Industry....this is one that we could definitely go back to as there was SO much to see and do we didn't get to it all before the kids were dying to get to the hotel and go swimming!

There was plenty to see and do at this place probably not the best place to start at 2pm... you could have definitely used a full day here.

We checked out the submarine.....

Looked in awe at the model trains and model cities....

Experimented with lights and sounds.....

Tested our climbing skills.....

Then finally it was time to check into the hotel and soak our tired feet in the pool/hot tub......

We got to meet up with cousin Coco for the the hotels 2 hours of free drinks and appetizers before heading to Gino's for some pie.....Brady fell asleep before dinner even came, lucky enough he nabbed about 37 maraschino cherries from the buffet table at the reception (think...."mom I am just going to throw this napkin away".......then doing a cherry drive by every time stuffing about 3-4 in his mouth each time) So I didn't feel that bad when he missed dinner. But I did feel bad for one Dad who had to lug him home the whole way.

Brooke and Brady mid cherry and hummus/chips inhaling....

Third stop was the Shed Aquarium...

We got to see the dolphin show.

Check out lots of fish...

experience a 4D movie (think mist in your face when its making a splash, gusts of air when it is windy.....and a nice jolt in the seat back when they landed with a thump....lets just say I didn't have my gimpy neck prepared for that one!)

Took breaks for lunch and snacks.

Experienced the Jellies exhibit.

Watched the Beluga Whales.

Said goodbye to the Shed after 4+ hours of sea life.....

Brady wanted to bike to the Field museum.....its literally the next building in the picture.

As mentioned the Field Museum was next, we figured this would be a quick visit since there are only a few items the kids would be interested in.

Including picking this Gorilla's nose.

And seeing Sue, the T-Rex. She who was named after the explorer that found it not necessarily a girl was pretty impressive.

Last and final Museum stop was the planetarium.......We only had an hour and a half until closing time but still fit in a 3d movie and a lot of running around on a kid space craft ....(which of course they both loved!)

Brady dressed and ready for take off....

Brooke trapped while her brother threw foam rocks at her.....ahhh memories.

So after 48 hours of walking the city non stop our kids finally learned the term "my dogs are barking" and literally "enjoyed" the 3 hour drive home because we were sitting!