Spring Break!! (part 1)

Spring break.

What a wonderful time of the year!

I have been looking at some Chicago education blogs (which are getting ugly, thanks to all the budget problems and proposed cuts) and one topic that continually comes up is whether teachers are underpaid and overworked, or overpaid and spoiled. After all, they get an endless stream of vacations, with spring break being just one prime example.

While I could go more into this debate - I am on vacation! So right now, I am going to shut my brain off, sleep in, and enjoy the ride.

This spring break will definitely have 2 parts - the first part will end in a manner of minutes, when I leave to go to the airport to pick up my sister and her family. We will be helping to tour them around during the next few days of the trip. The rain kicked in a couple days ago, and the weather forecast looks soggy. No fun. I will post pictures in the next few days!

So far, we have been doing many things...3 games of Catan, a trip to the bulk market for Rachel, going downtown for Thai food, a trip to Happy Valley, and other fun errands.

The break was actually kicked off with a middle school party. The student government (for which we are sponsors) planned a lock-in for last Friday after school. The principal switched it to a party ending at 9pm at the last moment. We breathed a sigh of relief, because I do not believe I would have had the stamina for it.

Here's a picture of one of the silly games they played - it actually looked more fun than it turned out, because the kids were not very good at it. You were supposed to swing the sock-filled stocking around until you twisted it with your opponent, at which point you try to pull their stocking off their head. Very few were successful.

The night ended with a rousing game of Capture the Flag, which the 7th graders dominated. There were only a few tears and bruises, so considering the circumstances, I call the evening successful.

In Catan news, Rachel won today, and I took 2 second place finishes out of the last 3 games. It feels funny not to win...

But the main highlight of this post, in terms of pictures, is from Happy Valley. We have made little use of our season pass in recent months, mostly due to weather and time constraints. So our trip this week, though somewhat short (because we also saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D at the theater attached to the park - our group was 7 of 12 people in the whole theater), was fun. And since we have our new small camera, we took some pictures.

The center of the park has a man-made lake, and the rides are organized into thematic sections (carnival, bird park, Szechuan, Mediterranean, water park, etc.) around the exterior.

The biggest rides are the two roller coasters. We like the red one. The yellow one is a little too bumpy - it rattles your brains.

The red one is called "Dream of the Mediterranean" and it has a giant replica 1940s-era plane hanging out front. You can also pose a cool looking pilot!

Another one of our favorite rides is the tower - I really do not remember the name! You can be launched up (like the one below) or dropped from the top depending on which line you wait in. This line was shorter - we do not like having to wait longer than 5 minutes!

The park definitely is infringing on various Disney trademarks - notice the dwarf-like creatures in the background below. It is also funny to see Chinese ladies dressed up like Southern belles. There is no unified theme, like you would see at an American park - it is more like take anything that is remotely "Western" and throw it together.

The landscaping is great - there are ALWAYS flowers blooming, because they place the flowers that are blooming in individual pots.

And finally, here are the adorable....ants? This is their mascot. You see them walking around the park....though they are mischevious! We saw one trying to steal a woman's bag!! [in jest]

Ok, time to go to the airport!

-alan