Hail to thee, Kamp Kowsky...

...by the shores of Big Snake Lake...**

This is only day #8 in my nascent blogging "career," and I'm pretty sure you're already getting the idea that I loves me some o' that Simpsons. Best... written... satire... EVER!!

But I digress.

In my first post, I wrote about finally being healthy after 2 years of back hell, and while I'm currently enjoying teaching about video games, it's definitely more a means than an end.

I'm actively looking for a marketing or strategy position in the video game industry, and when I eventually get hired, I'll have to... y'know... go to work full time. During the school year, it won't be as big a change for the kids, but in future summers, we're simply not going to have such a block of time together as a family.

As a result, my wife and I decided to get the most out of our waning family togetherness, and take advantage of this unique opportunity. So instead of signing the kids up for day camp for the entire summer, we turned the first half of summer into a veritable cavalcade of family fun. My wife has found a lot of great activities, starting with the Justin Roberts concert at the Printer's Row Book Fair, which got us off on the right foot.

Today, we took the kids to the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville, Illinois.


With such a conservative, nondescript facade, it was very tough to identify the building as a place for kids. * makes exaggerated winking motion *


One bubble...


...two bubbles.


Bubblicious!
(mmmmmmm... Bubblicious )


The giant, acrylic Lite-Bright wall, avec blacklight


Self portrait


Don't pick your nose!


The wall of joy. Or, the way it looks in this photo, the wall of sushi rice.

There's even a video game connection. On the 2nd floor, we stepped off the elevator, and this sculpture was the first thing we saw:

Sure enough, the kids ran up to it and exclaimed with glee, "Daddy, it's Jake!"

As you can see, a good time was had by all. It was better than both the Kohl Children's Museum in Wilmette, and the Chicago Children's Museum (at Navy Pier), which used to be brutal, but has improved.

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** For those of you who thought I was gonna leave you hangin', shame on you:

Hail to thee, Kamp Krusty,
By the shores of Big Snake Lake.
Though your swings are rusty,
We know they'll never break.
From your gleaming mess hall,
To your hallowed baseball field,
Your spic n' span infirmary,
Where all our wounds are healed.
Hail to thee, Kamp Krusty,
Below Mount Avalanche.
We will always love Kamp Krusty,
A registered trademark of the Krusty Corporation,
All rights reserved!

FYI.