Errands

We had a busy morning in Lincoln Square today. Lincoln Square is one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city. It has been established for awhile, but the amenities/shopping have really exploded in the past four years. I could easily spend (and have spent) hours bumming around that area of town. The Boy and The Girl really like it, too.

Our reason for visiting today was The Boy's art class at the Old Town School of Folk Music. I suppose that it is a bit odd to take an art class at a music and dance school, but they seem to offer reasonably priced classes for children under 5. (Plus, they aren't all about branding him. If my kid recognizes brand names, I'd prefer that he learned them from me at this point.)

Before class, we made a quick trip to the Marie Sulzer Regional Library, to return and renew books, and check out some new ones for this week. I find that checking books out of the library is a good way to preview what The Boy and The Girl like to read. If a library book is often requested during its three-week stay with us, I'll buy a copy to add to our collection.

The Girl and I feasted on a snack of hummus (fabulous!) and pita from the Old Town School Cafe during The Boy's class. After class, we all went to the toy store. The Boy played with trains, as usual. The Girl liked just about everything. We got another set of Magna-Tiles, which I cannot recommend enough. My brother and sister-in-law got The Boy a set two years ago for Christmas and it is consistently a hot toy among my children and visiting ones. We made one last stop to The Book Cellar to pick up two books I had ordered, favorites from the previous round of library books, Jazz Baby by Carole Boston Weatherford (for The Girl) and If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen (for The Boy).

Although the kids were tired, hungry, and hot, we had to stop at Trader Joe's. This is one of the brands that The Boy knows and recognizes. Indeed, he shouted out "There it is Mama!" as we approached the parking lot (although I think he recognizes the more prominent CB2 logo that is adjacent to TJ's). We got everything on our list and then skedaddled home to enjoy lunch and the blissful cool of our air conditioned house.