The Girl stayed home from camp this morning and spent the day with The Boy, The Tot and me. We started the day by attending the Disney II kindergarten playdate; Caroline D. moved it this week to Kolmar Playlot so that we could take advantage of the park district's Craftmobile. From my perspective, this was a disastrous move; most of the kindergarten was at camp, Magic Mushroom, or other summer programs, and The Boy was not happy about playing with the 3 girls from his class who were at the park. He eventually calmed down enough to paint a beautiful dolphin as the craft. The Tot and The Girl painted dolphins as well.
We made a quick dash to K-Mart afterwards, where we ran into our neighbors D. and H. and their nanny. We met them a bit later at Athletic Field Park to run through the sprinklers together. I somehow ended up pulling 4 kids in our wagon on the way home. Oooof.
Showing posts with label athletic field park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label athletic field park. Show all posts
Monday, July 06, 2009
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Chicago Park District
What I love about the Chicago Park District: classes are generally inexpensive and you can register online.
What I hate about the Chicago Park District: you have to watch the countdown ticker at 9 a.m. on the day of online registration and be quick with the mouse buttons and keyboard.
That said, I got everyone in our family into our desired classes for the winter session. The Boy is taking gymnastics at Peterson Park Gymnastics Center. The Girl is taking a similar class at the same time. The Tot and I are following in his older brother's footsteps and taking a parent/caregiver and tot class at Independence Park. I'm reprising my Thursday wheel pottery class at Athletic Field Park. And I even got The Dad into the act -- he's taking a woodworking class at Brands Park.
What I hate about the Chicago Park District: you have to watch the countdown ticker at 9 a.m. on the day of online registration and be quick with the mouse buttons and keyboard.
That said, I got everyone in our family into our desired classes for the winter session. The Boy is taking gymnastics at Peterson Park Gymnastics Center. The Girl is taking a similar class at the same time. The Tot and I are following in his older brother's footsteps and taking a parent/caregiver and tot class at Independence Park. I'm reprising my Thursday wheel pottery class at Athletic Field Park. And I even got The Dad into the act -- he's taking a woodworking class at Brands Park.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Neighborhood Favorites
I took The Boy, The Girl, and The Tot with me this morning for "the usual" at Curio Cafe. It was packed. We managed to snag a table (it helps that we can cram into a 2-top), but a party of 5 that came in just after us had to wait a bit. The Tot got into a bit of a scuffle with the little boy sitting next to us; they both wanted the same activity cube. It had been the other boy's toy in a previous life and he did not want The Tot (or anyone else) to play with it. I've had more enjoyable meals at Curio, but that was more a function of taking 3 kids and the ad section of the paper to breakfast on a Sunday morning.
When I got home, Uncle Brian and the cousins came over for Football Sunday. The Tot was in heaven. He loves football. I ran a few shopping errands (Gap Outlet, Kohl's, The Home Depot) for The Dad. Then we took a family walk to the newly unveiled playground equipment at Athletic Field Park, at The Boy's request. It's quite a bit further than the playground at Independence Park, but it's quite nice. They've installed a new water feature between the original covered playground building and the basketball courts. It was obviously not working in 55-degree October weather, but I'm delighted at the prospect of sitting in the shade while The Boy, The Girl, and The Tot frolic in the spray park in front of me.
Plus, Meg and Tracy in park management are lovely people. Meg retrieved my keys from the ceramics studio for me on Friday, after I discovered I'd left them there after pottery class.
When I got home, Uncle Brian and the cousins came over for Football Sunday. The Tot was in heaven. He loves football. I ran a few shopping errands (Gap Outlet, Kohl's, The Home Depot) for The Dad. Then we took a family walk to the newly unveiled playground equipment at Athletic Field Park, at The Boy's request. It's quite a bit further than the playground at Independence Park, but it's quite nice. They've installed a new water feature between the original covered playground building and the basketball courts. It was obviously not working in 55-degree October weather, but I'm delighted at the prospect of sitting in the shade while The Boy, The Girl, and The Tot frolic in the spray park in front of me.
Plus, Meg and Tracy in park management are lovely people. Meg retrieved my keys from the ceramics studio for me on Friday, after I discovered I'd left them there after pottery class.
Friday, October 17, 2008
pottery
"Back to school" is my favorite time of year. Partially because I love the fall itself -- crisp weather, crunchy leaves, apple-picking, etc. -- but partially because I love learning. Whenever my brain stagnates a little too much, I start dreaming about school. Because The Boy started kindergarten, and The Girl started preschool this year, I preempted my subconscious by taking a class myself. I had wanted to take a French conversation class at l'Alliance Francaise, but it just seemed like too much for us all to start fresh.
Instead, I signed up for a wheel pottery class at Athletic Field Park's ceramics studio. It's challenging in a much different way than French would have been. Pottery is definitely outside of my comfort zone, but so far, I've really enjoyed. I've yet to make anything, but that's not entirely the point. It's both strange and nice to hang out with people who aren't women, parents, or experienced career-people.
Instead, I signed up for a wheel pottery class at Athletic Field Park's ceramics studio. It's challenging in a much different way than French would have been. Pottery is definitely outside of my comfort zone, but so far, I've really enjoyed. I've yet to make anything, but that's not entirely the point. It's both strange and nice to hang out with people who aren't women, parents, or experienced career-people.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Walk, Walk, Walk
Camp days have become unofficial stay-at-home/neighborhood days for us. With the timing and location of both The Boy's and The Girl's camps and The Tot's naps (plus gas at $4+/gallon), it just makes sense to hang out around the neighborhood. The Girl did not have camp today, but The Boy did.
After camp, I invited Allison and her kids over to play, and O., who will attend Disney II with The Boy and Enver in the fall, came over as well. There were a few squabbles as Enver and The Boy tried to exclude O. on the basis of her gender or age (she's not quite 5 yet), but for the most part, they did really well. We played in the pool, ate a bunch of snacks, and just hung out.
After everyone left around 3, I put a movie on for The Boy and The Girl and put The Tot down for a nap. By the time I was finished, both The Boy and The Girl had passed out in front of the movie. They all slept until nearly 6. We had dinner, and since The Dad worked late and I needed to tire them out a bit, we walked up to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream.
It was a good day.
After camp, I invited Allison and her kids over to play, and O., who will attend Disney II with The Boy and Enver in the fall, came over as well. There were a few squabbles as Enver and The Boy tried to exclude O. on the basis of her gender or age (she's not quite 5 yet), but for the most part, they did really well. We played in the pool, ate a bunch of snacks, and just hung out.
After everyone left around 3, I put a movie on for The Boy and The Girl and put The Tot down for a nap. By the time I was finished, both The Boy and The Girl had passed out in front of the movie. They all slept until nearly 6. We had dinner, and since The Dad worked late and I needed to tire them out a bit, we walked up to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream.
It was a good day.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Camp!
Today was a crazy day. Both The Boy and The Girl started camp (at different parks), so I spent half my day dropping someone off or picking him/her up. A preview to next year, when I will have two kids at Disney II and one down the street at CFC. But back to today: despite all the running around, I saw lots of people I knew, but hadn't seen since the school year's close. The Boy has a ton of mates at camp, and The Girl shares the 2.5-hour playcamp with at least three friends.
The Boy went home with Enver after camp, so I took The Baby to the Treasure Store. He is just done with TS runs.* While there, I ran into Ms. Sarah, The Boy's pre-K teacher from St. Bart's. I found a pair of shorts and some cool red patent leather flats for me, a toy camera for The Baby (what was I just saying about not buying toys?), and some cute kid clothing.
* He also seems to be going through a growth spurt and losing a layer of baby fat. He looks taller and thinner, and seems to have lost that compact new-walker look. His size-21 sandals, the ones that the sales guy at Alamo Shoes assured me would "last through the summer" are already too small, less than a month later. I think it's time to change his blog name to The Tot.
The Boy went home with Enver after camp, so I took The Baby to the Treasure Store. He is just done with TS runs.* While there, I ran into Ms. Sarah, The Boy's pre-K teacher from St. Bart's. I found a pair of shorts and some cool red patent leather flats for me, a toy camera for The Baby (what was I just saying about not buying toys?), and some cute kid clothing.
* He also seems to be going through a growth spurt and losing a layer of baby fat. He looks taller and thinner, and seems to have lost that compact new-walker look. His size-21 sandals, the ones that the sales guy at Alamo Shoes assured me would "last through the summer" are already too small, less than a month later. I think it's time to change his blog name to The Tot.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The end is nigh
The Boy has 3 days left of school before summer vacation begins. Talk on the playground at pick-up has dwindled away from fall 2008 matriculation and toward summer vacation plans. I have so many things I want to do this summer, although I'm sure that I have not adequately prepared for any of them:
- join a pool
- go to Kiddieland
- rent/borrow a beach cottage in Michigan/Indiana/Wisconsin for a week
- hire a babysitter once/week
- visit Super Grandpa in Indiana
- visit family in Michigan on Lake St. Clair
- go to Minneapolis-St. Paul to visit The Girl's birthday twin and her parents
- take the water taxi between Navy Pier and the museum campus peninsula
- go to lots of museums and parks
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A rare day at home
Well, we spent most of the day at home. The Girl accompanied me and The Boy to his school this morning, and then we all stayed to do an art project. The other mom had only brought enough supplies (terra cotta flower pots) for the class, so The Girl had to do mosaics on squares of paper instead. She was fine with that for awhile, but there's only so many little squares that a just-3-year-old can glue on rectangles of poster board without getting, well, bored. She did really well, lasting about 2 hours.
When we got home, we puttered. Had a snack, cleaned up the house (The Girl is an amazing cleaner-upper), did laundry, reorganized a few rooms (I re-arrange my house on a near-weekly basis), and made cookie bars. The Dad took The Girl and picked up The Boy from school. They went to MicroCenter to pick up a cable (to complement the 3,452 cables we already have), and then came home.
The kids all played outside for a bit, and then we changed and walked up to McDonald's for an early dinner before tee-ball practice at Athletic Field Park. Practice was on the diamond, so the kids got covered in brown baseball dust. The Girl spent much of practice, face down in the dust, making swimming motions in it. Yuck. The Boy mostly played, until he didn't like the drills the parent-coaches ran. The Baby walked around the field, picking up all the balls and throwing them 1-2 feet.
The Dad walked over to the field and met us, and took the kids home after practice. I was going to attend Athletic Field Park's advisory council meeting, but I mistakenly thought the meeting time was half an hour before it was, so I caught up to everyone else on the walk home.
When we got home, we puttered. Had a snack, cleaned up the house (The Girl is an amazing cleaner-upper), did laundry, reorganized a few rooms (I re-arrange my house on a near-weekly basis), and made cookie bars. The Dad took The Girl and picked up The Boy from school. They went to MicroCenter to pick up a cable (to complement the 3,452 cables we already have), and then came home.
The kids all played outside for a bit, and then we changed and walked up to McDonald's for an early dinner before tee-ball practice at Athletic Field Park. Practice was on the diamond, so the kids got covered in brown baseball dust. The Girl spent much of practice, face down in the dust, making swimming motions in it. Yuck. The Boy mostly played, until he didn't like the drills the parent-coaches ran. The Baby walked around the field, picking up all the balls and throwing them 1-2 feet.
The Dad walked over to the field and met us, and took the kids home after practice. I was going to attend Athletic Field Park's advisory council meeting, but I mistakenly thought the meeting time was half an hour before it was, so I caught up to everyone else on the walk home.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
The Best Laid Plans
Today, I had planned to take advantage of my relative proximity to my morning's destination/activity (playgroup at Becky's house) and walk there. But fatigue, timing, the weather, and a to-do list a mile long conspired against me and I ended up driving the 1.3 miles to Albany Park. The Baby, The Girl and I had a good time with our friends, and we stayed until it was time to pick up The Boy from school.
On the way, I stopped back home to pick up the mail, although of course there was nothing there from Disney 2. The Girl fell asleep in the car on the way, and although I had volunteered to string fish from the ceiling, I bailed on that plan in favor of letting The Girl get a good sleep. She did, and by the time she woke up, it was too late to go back.
I made up for my gas guzzling of the morning by taking The Boy, The Girl, and The Baby to McDonald's on foot for dinner, since The Dad was working late. We then walked down the street to Athletic Field Park for the kids' Tee Ball game.
It was our first "game," which consisted of letting all of the kids on each team (we had to "give" four of our players to the other team to make two teams of eight) go up to bat and run the bases while the other team tried to catch and/or throw the ball to their teammates. Good thing they're not too serious about it. I can imagine a bunch of 3, 4, and 5-year-olds in hysterics over "losing." The Girl spent much of the game time in the bathroom at the fieldhouse, singing loudly and deliberating over whether or not she needed to pee. In fact, the game was over by the time we got back to the field.
After the kids went to bed, I left them all with The Dad and ran out to do a few errands that took no time at all in my childless state: The Book Cellar to pick up an order (Sears' The Vaccine Book). While I was there, I also grabbed our book club's selection for next month, my friend Jen's boyfriend's book, The Third Coast: Sailors, Strippers, Fishermen, Folksingers ... of the Great Lakes. And then I went to Trader Joe's. On the way home, I nearly got clocked by a fire engine screaming down Irving Park Road (on the wrong side of the divider) on its way to an emergency, and that was with paying close attention. I got over right away, but it was the second fire engine I saw, and about the fifth moving emergency vehicle with its sirens/lights on that had passed through the Irving Park Road/Lincoln Avenue/Damen Avenue intersection. About ten seconds later, a paddywagon passed by as well. I wonder what happened?
On the way, I stopped back home to pick up the mail, although of course there was nothing there from Disney 2. The Girl fell asleep in the car on the way, and although I had volunteered to string fish from the ceiling, I bailed on that plan in favor of letting The Girl get a good sleep. She did, and by the time she woke up, it was too late to go back.
I made up for my gas guzzling of the morning by taking The Boy, The Girl, and The Baby to McDonald's on foot for dinner, since The Dad was working late. We then walked down the street to Athletic Field Park for the kids' Tee Ball game.
It was our first "game," which consisted of letting all of the kids on each team (we had to "give" four of our players to the other team to make two teams of eight) go up to bat and run the bases while the other team tried to catch and/or throw the ball to their teammates. Good thing they're not too serious about it. I can imagine a bunch of 3, 4, and 5-year-olds in hysterics over "losing." The Girl spent much of the game time in the bathroom at the fieldhouse, singing loudly and deliberating over whether or not she needed to pee. In fact, the game was over by the time we got back to the field.
After the kids went to bed, I left them all with The Dad and ran out to do a few errands that took no time at all in my childless state: The Book Cellar to pick up an order (Sears' The Vaccine Book). While I was there, I also grabbed our book club's selection for next month, my friend Jen's boyfriend's book, The Third Coast: Sailors, Strippers, Fishermen, Folksingers ... of the Great Lakes. And then I went to Trader Joe's. On the way home, I nearly got clocked by a fire engine screaming down Irving Park Road (on the wrong side of the divider) on its way to an emergency, and that was with paying close attention. I got over right away, but it was the second fire engine I saw, and about the fifth moving emergency vehicle with its sirens/lights on that had passed through the Irving Park Road/Lincoln Avenue/Damen Avenue intersection. About ten seconds later, a paddywagon passed by as well. I wonder what happened?
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Two down, one to go....
Yesterday, The Girl decided that she was going to potty train herself. And she did it! She peed on the potty several times, including a few times at home, once at the Shedd Aquarium, and once at Athletic Field Park.
She also pooped at the Shedd. Grandma Naperville was suitably impressed with this feat. The Boy, who took about a year to be comfortable enough to poop in public places, was not. Such is life.
Because she now meets the requirements, The Girl is eligible to go to preschool "camp" at Athletic Field Park. So I signed her up. She'll be going with at least one of her friends and is very excited about being a "big girl" now.
She also pooped at the Shedd. Grandma Naperville was suitably impressed with this feat. The Boy, who took about a year to be comfortable enough to poop in public places, was not. Such is life.
Because she now meets the requirements, The Girl is eligible to go to preschool "camp" at Athletic Field Park. So I signed her up. She'll be going with at least one of her friends and is very excited about being a "big girl" now.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Tee Ball
The Boy and The Girl are both playing in the Avondale Park (satellite)-Athletic Field Park's Tee Ball league this spring. The Boy is somewhat into t-ball, at least in theory. He can throw a bit, and sort of catch, and he went through a heck of a lot of drills the few times we made it to the serious, no-parents-allowed, learn-to-play-t-ball clinic at Horner Park during the winter session. The Girl, OTOH, is totally confused. She likes the running the bases part, but generally singsongs in the outfield, or plays in the dirt with her friend Peri or Kathy, another little 3-y/o teammate.
The league is incredibly cheap, which means that it's basically run by parent volunteers, with a few pointers from the park district coaches and a bag of loaner equipment from the same. Our team, the Giants, is lucky enough to have several dad-volunteers to run drills and organize practices. They're pretty good at it! I'll admit that except for the availability of the dads, the timing of it all -- 5:15 - 6:15 p.m. -- is pretty crummy for the 3-5-year-old set. We practice on Tuesdays and play games on Thursdays. My two have yet to make a game, either due to rain or laziness on my part.
However, it is rather fun to see all the different teams practicing along the perimeter of the park, figuring out how this baseball thing really works (or just having fun running circles in the dirt). Jessica's son is in the same league, and as I took The Girl to the bathroom, I saw her, standing in the dirt and yelling plays to Lil E and her team. Cool.
The league is incredibly cheap, which means that it's basically run by parent volunteers, with a few pointers from the park district coaches and a bag of loaner equipment from the same. Our team, the Giants, is lucky enough to have several dad-volunteers to run drills and organize practices. They're pretty good at it! I'll admit that except for the availability of the dads, the timing of it all -- 5:15 - 6:15 p.m. -- is pretty crummy for the 3-5-year-old set. We practice on Tuesdays and play games on Thursdays. My two have yet to make a game, either due to rain or laziness on my part.
However, it is rather fun to see all the different teams practicing along the perimeter of the park, figuring out how this baseball thing really works (or just having fun running circles in the dirt). Jessica's son is in the same league, and as I took The Girl to the bathroom, I saw her, standing in the dirt and yelling plays to Lil E and her team. Cool.
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