Sunday morning, we set out from our hotel in the direction of Waunakee, Wisconsin. Two important stops on the way: The Home Alone house, and the Jelly Belly Center.
You're not supposed to park on the streets in this small, quiet neighborhood 45 minutes north of Chicago, but after the police car left the street, we did a U-turn and parked anyway...right behind another car with people snapping pictures of the house. So I asked again to trade photography.
I showed the kids what pose to do for our pictures, but some of them still were a little unsure.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
{Two, Three, One, Four, me, Five}
Shortly across the border into Wisconsin is the town Pleasant Prairie, home of the Jelly Belly Center.
Let me be clear: this is NOT the factory. We were a little disappointed, thinking we were going to the Jelly Belly factory because this facility is what came up when I searched on the internet. Rather, the factory is in North Chicago and probably doesn't do tours because this center is the only option I found for tours. However, if you go in knowing that it is not the factory and only has screens with short videos showing the bean-making process, then you won't be disappointed and it's still enjoyable.
{Two, Three, Five, One, Four}
We had to wait approximately 30 minutes for our turn to go on the tour, but we entertained ourselves by playing D&D. Owing to lack of d20's (20-sided dice), we played Rock, Paper, Scissors to resolve anything that otherwise would have been a roll check.
Then we got to get our paper hats (Five hated wearing his by the end of the tour) and hung out in this waiting room upstairs where you could see a timeline of Jelly Belly history, their old machinery, Jelly Belly art, and sample the three stages of jelly beans.
{Two, Four, Three, Five, One}
Jelly bean art
The tour itself is a train tour. You ride around the warehouse and stop occasionally at screens that show Jelly Belly production.
{Three, Two, One, Four, Five, me}
And then the tour guide hands you a bag of Jelly Belly's taped to a box of Bamboozled Beans and ushers you through the warehouse door into the Jelly Belly shop where everything is imprinted and scented with Jelly Belly. Clothes, flip flops, plates, mugs, scratch and sniff chargers (I can't smell, so don't ask me how that works!), frisbees, notebooks, harmonicas! We did get two notebooks, three harmonicas, two cycling water bottles (we always need more of those!), a pen, and a frisbee. I think that's all. One suggested the frisbee for Dad since Dad had suggested we tour Jelly Belly if we were in its area, not even knowing where that was.
Walking out, an older couple saw me taking a picture of the kids by the Jelly Belly car and they offered to snap one with me in it. I love travelers and how we help each other!
{One, Five, Four, Two, Three, me}
We arrived in at my uncle's house and the kids jumped right into playing with their cousins (okay, MY cousins, but again, I'm not explaining family intricacies yet).
Sam piggy-backed Five around the house. He kept telling her, "Giddyup!"
Monday was Labor Day, which we'd all have been happy to spend out hiking or paddling on a lake, but it was rainy all day. So Aaron (my uncle) asked the kids if they like puzzles. Yes. He pulled out a couple books of wood puzzle designs and proceeded to cut out designs my kids picked. An elephant, a tiger, a horse and foul eating grass. I should probably take pictures of them to post.
Aaron at work in the basement, cutting out the very intricate horse design.
Aaron is practicing being a better Grandpa than he was Dad/husband, so during meals he told me to just sit and eat because he hears mothers don't often get to eat warm meals. He provided all cutting and drink and second serving assistance to my small humans. Pretty sure the wood puzzle creations fell into that Grandpa practice.
The rest of the day was spent coloring, crafting with Perler beads, building blanket forts, and watching Alone: Redemption.
And doing a treasure hunt that Two made. She drew two maps, split us into teams and wrote our names on the maps. It was well-planned in thought, but not so in execution. Both teams were finding the same treasure and Two participated instead of sitting back and letting us all find it. So we ran upstairs from the living room, and looked around the bunk room for MAYBE 30 seconds before she pulled out the ziplock bag of Tootsie Rolls. You know that Christmas episode of The Office where Andy and Pam set up a game in the warehouse for Darryl's daughter? "And the game's over, seconds later." Hahaha!
Five showing me his watermelon. "Megan, take a picture!"
I love it when they're sleepy and in denial about how sleepy they are.
After dinner, Aaron took us to a park even though it was still misting. We decided it'd be good to run the kids tired. His chosen park has a zipline.
{Two}
Three keeps breaking out of her shell and being brave to try new things! I'm constantly surprised by her. She used to be afraid of everything. I called her my timid mouse.
So fun!
Four needed help, so she rode with Aaron.
Blurry due to movement and low light, but I still love that grin!
I guess I didn't get pictures of One and Five riding. Oh, well. They did and had fun. Five rode on my lap. We finished the night with ice cream back at the house, said our goodbyes to everyone that would be at school and work in the morning when we planned to leave.
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