Hooper's Store

Grandma and Grandpa Texas and Aunt Sam left today. We went to Curio Cafe for brunch before they left for the craziest airport in the U.S. on the second craziest air-travel day of the year. As I have said before, and will continue to say, I love the Curio Cafe. Grandma and Grandpa Texas have been there several times -- Grandma Texas even went once with her friend without kids! When we walked into a full restaurant and I immediately recognized 6 kids and 3 sets of parents, Grandpa Texas commented that he expected Elmo and Oscar the Grouch to walk in at any moment. He meant it as a compliment to Claudia and Lucy; that they've created a neighborhood eatery with good food and good ambiance, where everyone ends up at one point or another.

After we said our good-byes, The Girl and I dropped the boys off at home and headed out to Oak Park, to attend a Leslie B. show. Grandma Naperville introduced me to Leslie B. last year.  It's like Chinese artisan/Etsy with lots of one-of-a-kind stone necklaces, pashminas, scarves, etc. The Girl behaved beautifully in the car and at the party, staying close to me and serving as my fashion advisor.

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.

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

One is silver, the other gold. It's been 14 years since I've been a Girl Scout, and the GS credo is still branded in my brain. Today, I got to hang out with one of my oldest friends, Cara, and her daughter Grace. With her oldest two in school in Aurora, and The Boy in school in Chicago, we don't get to see each other as much these days. We did see each other a few weeks' ago, but parties are only good for catching up if you're not the host.

Grace and The Tot had fun eating Dunkin' Donuts munchkins and playing in the bathroom sink together for about an hour at our house before we all piled into The Great White Moose to pick The Girl up from preschool and go to lunch.

We had lunch at one of my favorite spots in the area: Curio Cafe. When we arrived, a group of (impossibly skinny for just having given birth!) moms and nursing newborns was just finishing up. It turns out that it was the monthly meeting of La Leche League of Lincoln Park. The Lincoln Park must be a misnomer, because Avondale is a long way from LP. They meet the second Friday of the month at 10 a.m. - noon at Curio Cafe. C'est tant pis pour moi; I'm long past the point of needing LLL, but perhaps it will help someone else.

Cara had the steak sandwich; I had the plato tipico and they were both very good. Both little girls had grilled cheese, sliced apples, and grape Honest Juice pouches. The Tot had the alphabet noodles with cheese, which (while good) wasn't up to par, and finished the rest of the girls' sandwiches.

After lunch, we headed southeast to hit the Treasure Store, where we both flipped the racks for cute kids' clothes. I spent far too much money and made Cara late to pick up her kids from school. She did better, scoring a pair of MiniBoden pants in size 7/8 for $2.50. The Tot, The Girl, and Grace drove us nuts by playing in the racks.

Plato Tipico

I've been craving Curio Cafe for weeks. So at mid-morning, the cupboard was bare, The Girl, The Boy, and The Tot were rambunctious, and I was hungry. So I took the kids there for some of their fabulous alphabet noodles and cheese (The Girl), eggs (The Tot), PB & J (The Boy) and the Plato Tipico and coffee for me. Yum.

Milwaukee

I didn't go to Milwaukee today. But my brother and sister-in-law did. As The Baby, The Boy, The Girl, and I were circling O'Hare Terminal 3 Arrivals waiting for Uncle Chris and Aunt J. to meet us after their flight from Seattle, they were, in fact, diverted to Milwaukee. And there was much crying (except from The Baby, who was asleep).

So we changed the plan, and went to get lunch. I got horribly lost trying to find Canfield Road from Cumberland, and by the time I realized my error, The Baby was awake and the four of us were grumpy from hunger. We stopped at the Corner Bakery on Touhy for some salad (me), pasta (The Boy), and a ham sandwich (The Girl). The Baby shared everything. Spirits improved immensely. The Boy told The Girl that she was a germ, and that he was a white (blood) cell, gave her a hug, and told her that he was attacking her. Maybe I should rename them The Germ and The Cell?

At the end of the meal, Uncle Chris called to say that his flight had landed in Chicago. And there was much rejoicing! So we skedaddled back to O'Hare and fetched them. We played around in the yard and the house, and then the neighbors came over and there was a mass of little kids running around this side of the block. That was fun!

We took Uncle Chris and Aunt J. to dinner at Curio Cafe. It was our first time there for dinner, and it was really good. Operating on the theory that it's better to do a few things extremely well than a bunch poorly, the dinner menu is extremely limited -- they offer a steak, a chicken, and a shrimp dish, plus the lunch items from their children's menu. The Dad, Uncle Chris, and Aunt J. ordered the steak, served with fresh guacamole and a mound of perfectly molded rice; I had the chicken, served with fresh sauteed carrots (and peas -- my only complaint about Curio is that they use canned peas instead of fresh or frozen) and a huge, steaming baked potato (which I gave to The Baby). Everything came with a side salad or soup of the day; I had the salad, which was served with a lovely cilantro dressing reminiscent of Indian cilantro chutney. Uncle Chris got the soup of the day, which was cream of asparagus and he reported that it was very light and creamy. They are BYOB, and they do not charge a corkage fee, so we split a bottle of white with dinner.

A Strong Community

Can I just say that I love my local community? I've been a resident of my neighborhood for nearly 6 years, but it's only in the past year or two that I've felt like I've been a community resident. Today proved it yet again.

I brought The Girl to her ballet class yesterday morning. I had planned to walk there, but The Boy was limping along, so we had to abort the mission and drive instead. I passed Allison and her kids along the way. The Girl, The Baby, and I waited for them after parking The Great White Moose, but they had stopped to chat with Caroline D. and her family, who were on their way home from the YMCA. So we went into ballet instead, where we ran into Beth T. and her daughter, and a few friends from various other classes. As soon as we got inside, The Girl told me to "go," so I walked over to Starbucks with The Baby and Allison.

Afterwards, I picked up The Dad and The Boy, and we joined Allison and her family at Caroline D.'s house to hang out. The Boy stayed behind to play with the boys, and The Dad and I took The Girl, The Baby, and Allison's daughter, Peri, with us to lunch at our favorite breakfast-lunch spot, Curio Cafe. The Dad was quite cute with the girls, holding hands with each one across the street. I had the Plato Tipico ($7.95), which has become my new favorite CC dish, The Dad had his favorite CC dish, the steak sandwich ($7.50), The Girl got the alphabet noodles and cheese ($3.50), The Baby had eggs-potatoes-and-toast ($3.50), and Peri got the grilled cheese ($3.50). Yum! Afterwards, we came back to our house to let The Baby nap and let the little girls play: kitchen, dress-up, and coloring.

Peri's mom picked her up, and we took The Baby and The Girl and headed back to Caroline D.'s house, where we dropped off the little ones and picked up The Boy. Then we headed to Uptown to attend Uncle Bad's birthday BBQ. The Boy left with Grandma and Grandpa Naperville after about 1/2 an hour; they took him to visit Super Grandpa in Indiana. It was odd being at an adult party! I think The Girl and The Baby may have had a better time attending a birthday party at Caroline D.'s neighbor's house.

It was a great day. I also fell asleep at 8:30 and got a solid and rejuvenating 12 hours of sleep.

Closer to Home

I had a very full day yesterday. While The Boy was at school, The Girl, The Baby, and I met our friends Cheryl and Amelia at the Curio Cafe for coffee/breakfast. I love that place. They are so nice and accommodating of small children, and the food is really good. I had the pretzel bun with housemade strawberry cream cheese, while The Girl got the kiddie pancakes and The Baby had an egg and toast. He squawked up a storm when I didn't give him enough of my coffee. Afterwards, we walked around the block and the next block over, letting the babies (Amelia is 2 weeks older than The Baby) explore a bit. The Girl wanted to hold Amelia's hand, but she asserted that she was a "big" kid too and could walk alone.

Afterwards, we went back home so that The Baby could take a nap. The Girl did an art project; I started laundry (it's neverending in this house). Then we went to Home Depot for a replacement set of Allen wrenches, and to pick up The Boy from school. After fetching The Boy, we made amazingly good time down to Lincoln Park, to get our hair cut at Snippets. I got my hair cut, too. Total cost for 3 cuts and tip? $80. A bit pricy for a kid cut, but not bad for a bill that includes an adult's shampoo, cut, and style as well. And we all got lollipops for being good in the stylists' chair.

Busy, Busy, Busy

One of these days, my life will slow down. But if I am honest, I am not sure I want it to, as I generally enjoy being busy. However, there are some times when it's just too much.

Today, I saw the dentist, got yogurt at Whole Foods, bought clothes at the Salvation Army flea market event, took The Girl to ballet class, had a coffee date with The Girl and her friends and their mothers, and took two little girls to the park -- all before noon.

We met the boys at the park, and I took The Baby and The Girl (and her friend) to meet our friends at the Curio Cafe, while The Dad and The Boy walked up to the Golden Nugget for a reprise of last night (for The Boy, anyway). I got the plato tipico at Curio, and it was really good. Afterward, I attempted to go to the organic plant sale at Kilbourn Park, but the sale had closed for the day by the time we got there.

Grandma and Grandpa come to visit

My parents came into town this weekend on a whirlwind trip to attend an elegant wedding in Andersonville and squeeze in a visit with their three grandchildren. Unfortunately for them, they heard the most dreaded sentence uttered by any pilot flying in North America: "There's weather in Chicago," on Friday and were 6 hours late flying into O'Hare.

By the time they drove here from their Evanston hotel on Saturday, my kids were stuck to the ceiling in joyful anticipation of a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Texas. Grandpa Texas, who has been working long hours on a power project in Connecticut, arrived, turned on opera on NPR, and promptly fell into dozing on the couch. The Baby took a nap. The Dad and The Boy spent some quality time together playing games and doing puzzles. And I took The Girl and Grandma with me to buy $4 worth of secondhand treasures at the Mayfair Presbyterian Church rummage sale. Then we all had a cuppa, and Grandma and Grandpa returned to their hotel to get ready for the wedding.

They came back again on Sunday, and we took them to meet Grandma and Grandpa Naperville at the Curio Cafe for brunch. It was very good, as usual. And, at just under $100 for 6 adult entrees, 3 kid meals, 8 cups of coffee and tea, and tip, a good value as well. For perhaps the second or third time in my life, I have become enough of a "regular" at the Curio Cafe that they recognize me as such, and know the names of my children, if not my name. I've never particularly felt like a regular anywhere, even when I went to Farley's in Potrero Hill on a weekly basis, so it's a nice feeling to have someone recognize me. Despite what this person may think, I am all for supporting businesses and organizations in my immediate community and its surrounding area.

After brunch, we headed back to our house for a bit before G&G had to catch their plane. Grandpa came with The Dad, The Baby, and I to look at a couple of expensive open houses in our neighborhood, while Grandma made tea for the kids and gave The Girl her birthday presents (2 Strasburg Children dresses, one of which is pink; she is in love!).