Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Today, Santa Claus came not to our town, but to Lisle. Close enough. We met him (and Mrs. Claus, and Grandma & Grandpa Naperville) at the Morton Arboretum for breakfast. It was a nice time. The Boy ate his pancakes, The Girl didn't like hers, The Tot ate everyone's sausage and bacon. We saw Santa Claus walking up the path and got to sit on his knee (well, The Tot screamed bloody murder when Grandma held him next to Santa Claus). Mrs. Claus came over to say hello.

From Blogger Photos

After we had full tummies and had put in our requests to Santa (necklaces and rings for The Girl, a play gas station for The Boy), we went across the way to the train room, which The Tot loved. He did not want to leave when The Dad came to pick us up 15 minutes later.

Chicago Mama, Exhausted Mama

We celebrated Halloween in our neighborhood this evening. As usual, a ton of trick-or-treaters visited our house in search of candy, and the neighborhood was filled with happy little groups of costumed kids and their parents. Our friends Stella and Frances came over with their mom and little brother to go T-o-Ting with us. We made it just a bit further than we usually do, but after a trip down our street and the street just east of us with 5-6 kids, I was pretty tired. The Tot was in a crabby mood, so we dropped him off after the first block, leaving him with The Dad to hand out candy.

The Dad ordered a pizza for us all; it was a nice antidote to all that sugar and red dye no. 7.

Independence

Today, we celebrated America's birthday by participating in our local park's Independence Day festivities. The Boy decorated his scooter and The Girl decorated her Dora plastic trike with red, white, and blue ribbons and a flag. The Tot didn't much care; he rode in our red e3 (and fell asleep) during the around-the-block, all-neighborhood parade (headed by the fire engine from company 69). The Girl sat in the fire engine before the parade began. The Boy scooted around with his friends.

After the parade, there was a neighborhood sing of "The Star-Spangled Banner," the raising of the flag by the Boy Scouts, and races (sack, running) and games (egg toss, etc.) for everyone. There was also a little bouncy castle (with a long line) and the City's Bicycle Ambassadors offering a bike obstacle course and helmet fittings. The Boy had a severe case of reality not meeting expectations. So we eventually went home.

And had the neighbors, a few friends, and The Dad's cousin over for a lunch from the grill. The kids all whooped and hollered and slipped and slid in our borrowed (from our neighbor) Slip-n-Slide. It was a great day.

Chores

With the price of gas over $4/gallon, we stayed in town for the 3-day weekend. And spent much of it doing much-needed chores around the house. The Boy even got in on the action, by helping The Dad wash the windows in the front of the house. (The Baby helped, too, by letting them do it.)

Our big outings of the weekend were to Home Depot, Whole Foods (to stock the larder), and Chicago City North 14 movie theater in Logan Square (to see Speed Racer). The Boy was really into the movie, which was like live-action anime with garish colors. The Girl was kind of bored, given how many times she had to go potty during the 2-hour film (seven).

It was a nice weekend of family time.

Mother's Day

This year, Mother's Day was not all about me as a mother. But that's OK. It was a nice day anyway.

The Dad's 35th birthday happened to fall on Mother's Day this year. And his octogenarian grandmother was visiting from Florida, so we skipped our usual Mother's Day brunch at Ina's Kitchen in the West Loop and went out to the suburbs for a huge family gathering at the Holiday Inn instead. I was a little frightened when I walked into the hotel and saw large rounds and other tables scattered around a cavernous banquet room. But the food was good for what it was (mass buffet), and the dessert table was even better. Uncle Bad Influence riled up The Boy, The Girl, and their second cousin, while The Baby snuggled on Uncle Fuzzy's lap. The Dad and I got a rare moment of peace (but only a moment!) and some adult conversation.

Afterwards, we headed back into the city to clean the house before The Dad's friend and former colleague, Ranga, came to visit. Ranga used to be a software engineer, but now does IP work for a respected Silicon Valley firm. He was in town to depose an expert witness for the defense (his client), so we talked about people and places we used to know back when The Dad and I lived in San Francisco. We ordered Chicago's famous stuffed pizza and, afterward, had an ice cream cake to celebrate The Dad's birthday. The Dad took his friend back to his hotel and I put the kids in bed.