Ballet

The Girl had ballet this morning at ARCC with Peri, and then we went to a garage sale.

Bounce...Bounce...Bounce

Once upon a time, we went out to the 'burbs on a weekly basis. These days, the school day is much longer and the price of gas much higher and, consequently, we don't make it out as often. Today, however, was a special occasion: Gracie's 4th birthday.

We dropped The Boy off at school this morning, but when the bell rang at 8:50 a.m., The Girl did not run inside to her own classroom, but instead hopped in The Great White Moose with me and The Tot for the drive out to the western 'burbs. Our ultimate destination was the Bounce Town in Oswego, but we made stops at both Oakbrook Centre (for sheets at PBK and in-person shopping for a friend at Hanna Andersson) and IKEA-Bolingbrook.

Until recently, I had never even heard of Oswego. It is far from the city. It is far even from Aurora. It felt like I was driving forever down Ogden, past warehouses and strip malls full of big box stores that used to be farmland and prairie. We got there a bit late, but The Girl had a bit of time to climb on the giant, inflatable structures before we adjourned to the party room for pizza, cake, and to watch the present-opening. The Tot was a bit overwhelmed by all the unfamiliar little people; he stuck close to me the whole time. The Girl hugged Gracie good-bye and we headed back into the city.

Grandma!

Grandma Naperville came to visit today. She watched The Tot and The Girl while I had an appointment, and she stuck around to play with The Boy after school. We stopped at Smoque on the walk home and picked up some BBQ brisket to go. Yum!

Football Sundays

More home projects while The Kids went with The Dad to Uptown.

MDO

Mother's Day Out/Co-op is a non-starter for The Tot. He started crying when his teacher, Ms. Becky, said hello to him today, and pretty much continued until I came back for him at 11:00 a.m. The class is filled with boys and they were all setting each other off on crying jags. As much as I would love some kid-free time, he is not ready for MDO at 17-months-old. I had the same debate with myself when The Girl was the same age, and came to the same conclusion. She went happily into the class after the Christmas break; I am hopeful that The Tot will follow in his big sister's footsteps.

For now, he'll get lots of one-on-one time with Mama in the mornings while The Girl is at preschool (and The Boy is in kinder). The 2.5-hours of preschool does not give us a wide enough window to do much or go too far, but The Tot has been happy enough to cruise around Target and Trader Joe's, or putter around the house, with me in the mornings.

Football Sundays

The Dad and his brother are continuing their tradition of Football Sundays. The Dad takes The Boy, The Girl and, for the first time, The Tot, with him to visit their cousins and watch football. One week, my brood goes over to their uncle's house and one week, the uncle and cousins come here. I get the afternoon off. The kids get to hang out with their cousins (two girls: aged 5.5 and 9) and The Dad gets to watch football with his brother. Everyone is happy.

I spent the afternoon at home, puttering around the house. I finished hacking out the useless range hood over our stove, hung a lamp in The Girl's room, and took a walk in the rain to K-Mart and back. I also discovered leaks in our roof, hauling up to the attic to inspect the source and find something to catch the drips. While I was up there, I also found an old kitchen drawer that matches what we have already. Maybe I can use it in my new over-the-range hood/microwave project.

Floods

Our block party was canceled because of the rain, so we needed a way to occupy two disappointed kids (and a clueless Tot). Unlike the rest of Chicagoland, who stayed home to bail out basements and watch movies, The Dad and I loaded the kids into the car and headed north to Glenview this afternoon. The purpose of our visit was to shop for new kitchen appliances at Abt Electronics. It took less than 10 minutes. But we spent over an hour wandering around the showrooms and atrium in the store. The Tot loved the atrium's fountain, The Boy and The Girl were entranced by the bell sculpture, The Dad scoped out the Apple store within Abt. Me? I just wanted the freshly baked, free chocolate chip cookies.

Afterwards, we stopped at Pita Inn for kifta plates, falafel, and lamb kebabs. Yum! The parking lot next door was a giant pool of water and some of the roads that we had taken up to Glenview were closed on the way back due flooding. When we got home, Independence Park was a giant mud puddle, so the kids and I played in it for a bit before heading home for a hot bath.

Pet Store

Perhaps it's because I don't have any pets, but I never think of going to the pet store with the kids. It is almost better than the aquarium -- no crowds and no entrance fee -- for The Tot. He loved looking at the wall of fish, mice, birds, and hamsters at Pet Supplies Plus when we went this evening to pick up guppy food for our new fish.

First Day of School

From Blogger Photos

From Blogger Photos

From Blogger Photos

Labor Day

This year's Labor Day was momentous in that it was the first time that it was the last day of summer for us. The Boy officially starts school as a Kindergartener tomorrow. As such, we had a very low-key, relaxed sort of day.

I made a salad caprese in the morning and we packed it, The Boy, The Girl, and The Tot into the car and headed to Cara's house for a Labor Day cookout. We stopped at Oakbrook Centre so that I could make a return, and to have lunch (Nordstrom Cafe; it was The Dad's first time!) beforehand. We had planned to leave the cookout by 5 or so to ensure that The Boy and The Girl got into bed on-time and with routines intact, but it didn't work out that way. All three kids fell asleep on the car ride home. The Boy was so exhausted that he transferred into his bed, but The Tot came with me to Walgreen's and The Girl stayed up watching TV before she tiring out enough to go back to bed.