A Visit, Part II: Enter Mom

My mom arrived four days after my brother, after showing her documentary in Illinois.

If you have a jealous streak in you, I advise you to stop reading now as those unpleasant feelings will surly be mustered up after hearing what we got to do. . .

Ever heard of Chuck E. Cheeses?

After discovering that my younger siblings all got money for good grades while I got the line, "In our family, good grades are just expected," my mom made up for it by taking us all to Chuck E. Cheeses. We're even now.

Then on Wednesday, we headed off to the children's museum of Indianapolis--have I mentioned it's the biggest one in the nation? Well it is. We discovered the marine area where my kids got to play in a submarine and swim with fish on a blue screen. Then we headed to the museum's planetarium and watched a show about the beginning of the universe. It was awesome to put it mildly.
On Friday, we experienced Cincinnati, beginning with Skyline Chili where they serve Cincinnati style Chile, which is chili on spaghetti noodles covered in cheese. I know, WEIRD. But you know, when in Rome. . .

Side note: since being pulled over for speeding, Gabby has developed an almost debilitating fear of Police officers. We parked by a meter and only had enough change for about 20 minutes, thinking we'd be all right just getting lunch. Gabby was beside herself, and no amount of reassurance would calm her down. She's absolutely convinced that I'm going to get hauled off to the slammer one of these days. Then it was off to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center which is in downtown Cinci. Wow. Even Alex liked the museum. I was really kind of nervous about taking my kids there because we've never really talked about slavery (not exactly dinnertime conversation). I don't think Alex got it, but Gabby surprised me by bringing up the movie The Prince of Egypt to compare the concept to. We made sure to finish our Cincinnati experience the correct way--with ice cream. And let me tell you, there is not a cuter ice cream parlor than Aglamesis, it's a little pricey, but it's worth a one time splurge.
Friday was reserved for Up. Go see it, it's fantastic!
Saturday came too soon and just like that, they're back in Utah.