A trip to remember...

Isaac celebrated his sixth birthday this week, and we decided to surprise him with a special trip with just him and Daddy. Isaac has been begging for months to ride on an airplane (we had never flown with the boys before), and so when we began thinking of ideas for his birthday I was reminded of all the frequent flier miles Luke stored up last year with his trip to India. We also had loads of Marriott points from all his work travel last year so we decided to put them to use and give Isaac a special birthday memory.

Since Chicago is pretty close to us (about a one hour flight) and there are some really cool science museums there, we decided that would be a great place for them to go. We bought the tickets about a month ago, but decided we wanted Isaac to be completely surprised so we didn't tell anyone what we were planning until right before the trip.

Tuesday evening I put the boys to bed a little early, and after they were sleeping Luke and I got all their things packed and ready to go. They had to be ready to board by 5:40, so Luke got up at 4 a.m. to get himself ready before we woke Isaac. At 4:15 Luke woke Isaac up and brought him into our bedroom. He told Isaac that for his birthday present they were going to go on a plane ride to Chicago and they were leaving right now. The look on Isaac's face was priceless (although he was still half-awake) and he was very excited. We got him dressed and they hurried out the door!

They had a great time. Isaac loved flying and enjoyed seeing a big city. They went to the Science and Industry Museum and the Field Museum. While Isaac really enjoyed these museums, one of his favorite things about the trip was the "L" train and the city buses! He had never experienced public transportation before and that was quite an experience for him. Here's some pics from their trip:

Here they are getting ready to leave for their fun time!

Isaac at the corner of Lake Shore Drive.

Standing in front of the coal mine at the Science and Industry Museum

He has always wanted to be an astronaut!

One of his favorite things at the museum was this incubator where he got to watch a baby chick hatch.

Isaac the rock climber

Devouring a cheeseburger at McDonald's

He loved the dinosaurs at the Field History Museum

He also really liked Lake Michigan and said they should have named it Ocean Michigan.

One of his favorite things--riding a city bus.

In case anyone is wondering about poor Caleb feeling left out, we have told Caleb (and Andrew) that when they are six they will get to go on a trip with Daddy too. We decided to start this as fun Father/Son tradition that Luke will do with all the boys. We want Luke to make some really fun memories of quality one-on-one time with all our sons, and the 6th birthday trip with Daddy will be a great way to do that. I think the boys all agree!