First Day of Spring

I really can’t complain.  We had four days of beautiful mid 60 degree weather before the snow. 

It still reminds me of the first day of spring a couple years ago.

Two Years

Today marks our 2 year anniversary of living in the Chicago area.  A lot has changed for our family in the last couple of years and we have learned a lot as well:

• This is one of the coldest places we’ve ever lived.
• The Spring and Summer make you forget about the long cold winters.
• Frozen pipes are not fun.
• There is a lot of culture and diversity here.
• There are lots of fun things to do.
• We could live at the beach in the summer.
• Long underwear is a necessity when walking kids to/from school.
• Riding the train is lots of fun until it gets really crowded.
• The treasure hunt downtown is lots of fun for kids.
• A working A/C unit in the car is not as important as a working heater.
• It really is beautiful here.
• The schools here are wonderful!
• We have met so many nice and friendly people.

We really have had a great experience living here with all its ups and downs.  At one point in the last couple of years I didn’t think that I would have any good memories of living here, but I don’t think that anymore.  We’re excited for the next few months ahead of us and the changes to come in our family and where we may possibly end up. 

I think one of the most important things that we’ve learned is that change is really hard for everyone.  It’s hard to uproot and move somewhere new and start all over again, but it can be done.  And it can be done with positive results.  The kind of results that you work hard to get and end up being huge blessings in the end.  Life is an adventure and the experiences you gain are priceless.  Enjoy the journey!

Here’s to the start of year 3!

Sister's Weekend in Chicago

Yay for Sister's Weekend!

(more to come soon, I promise!)

MIA

Whew!  These last few weeks have gone by so fast here that I have barely had enough time to catch my breath, let alone blog.  Here’s a quick report of what has been going on here in our little corner of the world.

We officially have a “tween” living with us now.  We celebrated Kelsie’s birthday with a small family party this year.  And it rained most of the day.  Bummer.  She loves being another year older and got (almost) everything she wanted.

Wally spent a week away from us in Europe and had a fabulous time.  He enjoyed the time he had to play tourist in Amsterdam and Maastricht, but in the end decided that there really is no place like home.

The day after Wally got home from Europe, his brother and his family came for a visit from Iowa.  We had so much fun hanging out and playing with them.  It’s always fun to have cousins around and Caleb couldn’t get enough of his new favorite cousin, Caroline.  I also just have to mention how much more fun Chicago is in the summertime.  So.much.fun.

Since strawberry picking is on our list of things to do this summer, and since it is such a short season, we decided to drive up to Wisconsin just before the 4th of July and picked 12 quarts of strawberries.  Caleb ate the berries faster than we could pick them and everyone ended up with juice stains all over their shorts, but we had a great time and had lots of fun together.  We were even excited to get a $0.49 ice cream cone at McDonald’s before we headed home.

 

Then came the 4th of July.  It is one of my most favorite holidays, so we went to just about everything we could.  The parade was fun, even in the rain, and the fireworks on the beach were great (it stopped raining by then).  The kids had fun with sparklers, glow sticks, friends, and fireworks at the end of the day. 

 

A few days later, Wally’s parents came out to visit and watch our kids while we went down into Chicago for a couple of nights to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.  We had a great time together, without any kids and they had tons of fun without the parents.  They were able to eat as much chocolate, donuts, and chips as they wanted and play as much video and computer games to their hearts content.  Just the way it should be when Grandma and Grandpa are in charge!  I have tons of pictures from our little jaunt into the city—I’ll have to post those later.

In between all of this we have also been doing a little bit of:

reading:

crafting:

taking care of bumps, bruises, and boils:

and getting as much play time in as we can!

Dear Summer

57 degrees in June is not acceptable. 

This is a mean trick to play on those of us who only made it through the winter with the promise of sun and warmth to come. 

I have been waiting, patiently. 

Until now.

I need you. 

My garden needs you. 

My kids need you. 

Please come and stay.

Thank you,

RP

p.s. we could do without the humidity for a little longer, if you would be so kind.

Cousins

A few weeks ago, my sister and her family came out to visit us for a few days. After a 20+ hour drive, they rolled into town just in time for pizza night (I think they were coming more for the pizza than us!). We were all so excited for them to come since we don't get to see them very often, let alone spend any lengthy amount of time together. The kids were especially excited to have some live-in playmates for a few days!

Being the ultimate tour guide that I am, we drove down to Chicago one day and walked around the city. It wasn't a particularly warm day, so we ended up in the LEGO store for a while and then had some lunch before walking back to the car. We also spent some time at a children's museum not far from here, played with some dry ice and liquid nitrogen with Wally up on campus, and just hung out together. We introduced them to a Philly Cheese Steak--at least the best one that we have been able to find outside of Philadephia. We even watched Bolt the night before they left.

We had such a fun time and my kids were spoiled by all the fruit snacks they got from their super nice aunt! We were sad to see them go, but all good things must come to an end. We loved having them here and can't wait to see them again!

Anyone in need of a jedi and a knight/police/swordsman?

Such pretty girls!

Just hangin'

Can you tell we're related?

Playing at the lego store

Pumping up the tires on the stroller.

Aren't they cute little monkeys?

Riding in style

Banana, anyone?

She loved the scooter!

Liquid nitrogen is so cool!

Say cheese!

Celebrating Irish Style

We were so excited this year to go down to the city to be part of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations! We rode the train down, which is always a big hit for the kids. We first went to the Chicago River to watch the river turn a bright green. We found a great spot on the bridge across from State Street where we were sure to be able to see. We waited a little longer than we wanted to, and lucky for us there was a group of kayakers on the river entertaining the crowds. Finally, after almost an hour later, the boat zoomed by with the green dye and the crowds cheered! We hung around for the dye to spread out through the river and tried to get some good pictures to share.

We also tried to get down to the parade, but there were so many people downtown, that we decided to head home after lunch. We had a fun time down in the city and it sure got us ready to celebrate on the 17th!

What do you do with...

...3 energetic kids, a busy husband at work, and a flooding basement? We woke up this morning (and most of the night) to rain. We have been having rain as a result of Hurricane Ike and are expected to receive more over the next few days. Between us and our landlords, we have been shop-vacuuming the water out of our laundry area all afternoon, and it looks like it will continue through the night. We have heard that this is the most rain here in a long time.

Since we were stuck inside, I did what any sane mother would do...bring on the video games! We had lots of fun with those, until the fighting and tears came so we turned them off and tried to use our imaginations, old school play. Kelsie built a fort compete with a mailbox. Brandon put up the tent, but then gave up on the hopes that he would be able to play a computer game (which is different than video games). Caleb took a decent nap and then decided to play with his older brother and sister until they got tired of him. In the end, we had a successful afternoon of pirates, marble racing, and make believe. I guess the rain is good for something!

Our front yard this morning.

It's hard to really see, but it was coming down pretty hard.

Family Night Bike Ride

We went on family bike ride the other night and had so much fun! We rode on the bike path along Lake Michigan up to Northwestern to the lagoon. It was a beautiful night and our favorite part of the ride was where we could see Chicago in the distance. We kept it short this time, only about 4 miles round trip. Our rides have been a little more enjoyable since the recent purchases of two new, bigger bikes (you've got to love craigslist!). This is such a fun place to live!

Shedd Aquarium

I took the kids down to Chicago on Friday (yes, by myself but with a friend) so we could go to the Shedd Aquarium. It was discount days so admission to the aquarium was free so I thought it would make a fun outing for us! We took the train down into the city and caught the express (learned the hard way last time) and walked over to the aquarium. The kids each brought their scooters so it would make it a little easier on their legs so I guess technically they scooted while we walked.

We had such a fun time! We got there in time for the dolphin show, were totally wow'ed at the HUGE Komodo Dragon we saw and ate lunch under the sea watching the whales and dolphins swim around. Kelsie was our official photographer and took some great pictures and videos of the penguins, dolphins, and whales. Brandon was so excited to see the sharks! Caleb wasn't really sure what was going on, but seemed to like watching the animals swim around!

We got there early enough that we were able to see most everything we wanted too, but since it was a free day the aquarium was crazy! The man who showed us the boa constrictor mentioned the he hadn't seen it that busy in about 3 years! Even when we left that afternoon, the lines were still super long and crowded! We really had such a great time together and and were so happy that we went. The kids were pretty worn out by the time we got back to the train station to go home, but we managed to keep Brandon awake (thanks, Joy!) the whole way and we made it home in time to watch Camp Rock for movie night. All in all, it was a great day and couldn't have asked for better weather and company to spend the day with.

Spring Break: Day 5

For our last day of Spring Break, we were super excited because Wally was able to take the day off of work so we took the kids down to the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier. We walked over to the train station and rode down into the city. Brandon had a great time on the train and was even more excited to find out that we got to ride on a bus to take us to the museum! Public transportation is a magical thing to a kid!

The museum was so much fun and there was something for everyone. Wally particularly enjoyed the Inventing Lab, Kelsie loved building a dam in the Waterways room, Brandon couldn't get enough digging for dinosaur bones in the Dinosaur Expedition room, and Caleb enjoyed the Treehouse where he could walk around for the most part undisturbed! We had so much fun and it was great to see the kids having such a good time. Kelsie, Brandon, and I even made stamps at the end of the day in the art center to take home with us.

We had dinner at the pier and Wally and I tried a genuine Chicago-Style Hot Dog and Polish Sausage. It was pretty good, but admittedly, not my favorite thing to eat. Wally asked Brandon and Kelsie if chicken nuggets and some french fries would be good for dinner and Brandon said, "But Dad, that's not a happy meal!" I guess that would make it an unhappy meal? So, in the end they got their happy meals and were happy'! (How many times can I say happy in one paragraph?)


We had a really fun day in Chicago! Once we got on the train to come home, Brandon immediately fell asleep and Kelsie was just glad to be done walking. Brandon slept the whole way, even when we changed trains and then walked home from the train station. He woke up right when we put him in bed, so we decided to go ahead with our movie night, since it was Friday. It was an exhausting day, but everyone had such a great time!

Just a short video of the kids dancing at the pier