Cheap entertainment...

Ok, so this would have made a much better video, but I only took photos.

Jason has taken to everything relating to trucks (monster trucks, daddy's truck, etc.), tractors, and anything construction. Allison has taken to anything that Jason likes. So, here was our morning yesterday. It seems that our neighbor at the corner is getting a new roof and yesterday morning, the supplies were delivered. Jason had never seen a forklift up this close and he spent much time figuring out how it worked. Here, he is pretending to be a forklift....

Now, they need a closer look....

Last night telling daddy all about it, Jason started out by telling him that there was an elevator in our circle.

Stars WIN!!!!

Well, our last adventure of the Suprise Chicago Trip was to venture on over to see the Chicago Blackhawks get defeated by the Dallas STARS!!!!!!Planning this part of the trip went actually quite smoothly thanks to the best Stars Season Ticket rep that Crystal has ever had!!!!!!! Whenever we have gone on trips to see the Dallas Stars, Crystal has always taken care of getting the tickets. This was going to be tricky because we needed 7 tickets, not just 2. Rhonda found out Crystal's rep's name and I gave him a call. I told him who I was and explained to him what we were wanting to do for Crystal for her birthday and that it was a .... suprise!!! Daniel is AWESOME!!!!! We had great seats and Crystal never found out that he was in on it ---at least, not until we got to Chicago. So, if by any chance you are reading this Daniel ------- thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!! We had a great time!

Now, only Sophie really had appropriate attire to wear to a Stars Away game, so we headed out to get the rest of us suited up...including the face art!

And, no sporting event can be complete without some sugar!

Happy 40th Birthday, Crystal!!!

Around Chicago

After we arrived in Chicago, we headed out to wait for the Go Airport Express Shuttle that I had reserved in advance. This was NOT a successful experience and I would NOT ever recommend this company. We waited and waited...and waited. Shuttles came for the north end of downtown -- shuttles came for the south end --- of course, we were right in the middle and .... NO shuttles came for us. We waited some more. Did I mention that I reserved this in advance?? THEN, we went down and got a taxi in about 5 minutes. I am very thankful for the pic below as it will always remind me how patient my children were during this whole time. There were many smiles and very little complaining ... at least from the kiddos. I know for sure that I was not as patient as they were when I was a kid (or now) ...just ask my mom!!
We finally got to the hotel, dropped off our bags and headed out for dinner at Giordannos(http://www.giordanos.com/). Stuffed Pizza -----yuuuummmmmmmy! I forgot to get a pic of the pizza, but here is Allison enjoying some Sprite -- which was a treat from their usual H2O or milk.

On Saturday of Crystal's Birthday Celebration Weekend we spent most of the day doing the touristy things. This is us on the top of the Double-Decker tour bus just moments before it started to rain and sleet on us:

We passed the hotel that we wanted to stay in, but they were booked by the time we got around to making reservations.

After getting totally drenched on the way in, we went to the Shedd Aquarium. Here are our little penguins:

Later, we sent John and Allison back to the hotel for a nap while the rest of us went up to the Sky Deck of the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower). Rhonda and I refused to venture out, but Crystal, Sophie and Jason all step off the solid steel part of the building out onto the glass ledges. I held the queasiness in check to take these pictures.

Then, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the last part of our celebration! Check back tomorrow.

SURPRISE!!!!!

Well, later this month my friend Crystal will be celebrating the Big 4-0! We wanted to do something special for her, but I am not really the party planner. So, we decided to plan a little weekend get-away. My sister asked her about going to Chicago when the Dallas Stars were playing there and being the hockey fan that she is, Crystal immediately jumped on that idea. What she didn't know was that the whole Heston Clan would be crashing in on their trip.

We spent several weeks planning and even let the kids in on the plan. Shockingly, we actually made it all the way to the big day without anyone letting the cat out of the bag ... at least to the birthday girl. I know that both the older kids told their teachers and some friends about it....how could we possibly expect them to contain all that excitement for over a month.

When Rhonda and Crystal got to the airport, I believe all Crystal wanted to do was get something to eat. But, that pesky Rhonda wanted to go find the gate first to "find it and make sure everything was ok" ... or actually just to find us so that she didn't have to keep the secret any longer. Here we are on the plane. It was actually a 777, so we all got to sit in one row.

And, here is part of the birthday celebration. Cakes are too hard to get through security and on a plane all with kids in tow. So, we opted for Cookies on a Stick.....Big Hit!

Happy (early) Birthday Aunt Crystal!!! (more posts on this in the next couple of days)

Faces!

Allison's preschool class learned about different faces today. She gave me a few poses after we go home. Here's the MAD face:
The SAD face:
The SCARED face:
The HAPPY face:
Thanks, Miss Kim for the post!!!!

NaBloPoMo '09 and Halloween pics

Ok, I'll give it a try....but don't hold your breath!!!

Here is our family's first ever attempt at carving a pumpkin...

Our family artist drew the face and daddy carved...

Here's the costumes --- Barbie Mariposa, the Pillow (for the 2nd year in a row!!!), and Abby Cadabby!!

Here's our little trick-or-treaters with their pumpkin.

We'll see if I can fill the rest of the month with some of last month's activities.....say a suprise trip to Chicago!!!???!!!

Big Owie

We have started talking about getting me a new van in the spring.

I think John just wants to get a new car/truck first!!! This was at his office this morning. Luckily, he was already inside working, so he is fine...but as the kids have said, "His truck has a BIG Owie!!!"