I LOVE IT!!

Well, we are finally ALMOST finished with the play room.   I thought I was done once, but I was wrong...    Two of my dear friends have moved out of state recently, and both of them had bookshelves they were getting rid of.   I can't pass up a good bookshelf.  And a free or cheap one from a friend is even that much better!!  So with a few coats of paint, and a little Pinterest inspiration, I turned three cast-off bookshelves into Play Room Perfection!!!

 

 First, we painted the three bookshelves a nice
"Lego Blue" color.  We brought them in the basement & got them positioned where we wanted, then screwed them together & used brackets to anchor them to the wall.   We wanted the two end shelves to stand up like traditional bookcases for storage, and the 3rd one we laid down to create a window-seat type sitting area, which AJ was more than happy to demonstrate.   Hunter insists that is not the only good sitting space....

Here it is after we got our stuff organized into bins & boxes, labeled, and put on the shelves.   We are putting some of the boys books here too, but keeping the majority of the books in their bedrooms.  The small wooden shelf is one my father in law made years ago that is perfect for those Lego storage boxes by Iris.  I am going to paint or cut letters on my Cricut for a quote I want over the shelf.  It will say "PLAY is the highest form of research. - Albert Einstein" 

Gotta love labels on boxes!  I printed labels off the computer with pictures of what is in each box and the words to help my learning-to-read 5 year old know where things go.  Eventually there will be a nice soft cushion on the bench part to make it a cozy spot to curl up with a good book or the latest Lego Club Magazine! We just have to go pick out the fabric.  Both boys want Lego fabric, but alas, I cannot find it

This corner has chalkboard paint on the wall, which the boys have really enjoyed.  They use that wide windowsill for displaying some of their favorite Lego builds, and store chalk and things on the Crayola shelf they got from Aunt Jenn.

This wall is where my Gramma and I have been painting Legos on the wall.   They aren't quite finished yet, but you can get the idea. 


It is definitely a Lego inspired room, but that is what my boys are really into!   We love the bright colors, without it being overwhelming. 


So, I think I will call this my Jane & Jill shelf, in honor of those friends who made this whole project possible!

Our Busy End to Summer

After having an awesome time at the Bee in Columbus, Ohio, we came home for a grand total of 8 days, we were on the road again. This time to Chicago for family vacation!



None of us had ever been to the Windy City, and needless to say, there was WAY more to do there than what we had time for!! Here is how our trip broke down:

Aug 4:
Travel Day. 8.5 hours from Nixa, MO to Chicago, IL. Actually, we stayed in Schaumburg, a suburb to the NorthWest of Chicago, because it was closer to LegoLand. We arrived in time to hit the mall next to our hotel to find something for dinner. Woodfield Mall turned out to be an awesome place! Great play area for the kids, and when we walked in, we walked right into a Rainforest Cafe! Great place for a fun dinner after being on the road all day.



Aug 5:
LegoLand Discovery Center!! Where as most people can get through this in 3 hours or so, we devoted a whole day to it for our crew. AJ is so obsessed with Legos we wanted to give him as much time as possible.




Aug 6:
Shedd Aquarium. Again, almost an all day thing, for us to see it all! The kids loved the Fantasea show where we got to see Pacific Dolphins, Penguins, and Beluga Whales. They also loved the different play areas for the kids; exploring in a submarine, dressing up like penguins, and touching real starfish!



Aug 7:
Field Museum, Adler Planetarium & the Skydeck. Sue the T-Rex was definitely the highlight of the Field Museum for all of us!! This is the 10th anniversary of Sue, and extra special for us because James' college roommate got to help work on Sue when he was working at the Field Museum after college. They were also doing a large Lego mural, which of course we all took part in. The Planetarium was very cool too - especially the kids area where they could drive lunar rovers, walk through "space" and wear a Mission flight jacket! After that we went downtown & ate dinner at Giordano's, then went up to the SkyDeck of the Willis Tower, more popularly known as Sears Tower. The photo of this is actually a large Lego version of the tower that was in the lobby. :)




Aug 8:
Museum of Science & Industry and Kohl Children's Museum. S&I was amazing - way more than what I expected. An interactive periodic table was one of my personal favorites. The boys loved the lightning show and the 40-foot tornado in the weather exhibit. It was also very cool to see the U-505 exhibit. The Kohl Children's Museum was so much fun. It was great for the boys to have a museum where they could touch and play with everything!

Aug 9:
LegoLand, part 2. We took the boys back to the Lego store at Woodfield Mall and LegoLand again until noon, then headed for home. All in all, it was a very memorable vacation, and I think everybody had a GREAT time!!




There are so many things we wanted to do but didn't have time for. We didn't do anything on Navy Pier, there is another Children's Museum we would like to go to sometime, and we did not see Millineum Park or Grant Park. Obviously, there were many, many more photos than this taken...to see all the photos, check out my facebook page. Now... all I have to do is start SCRAPPIN'!!!