1883

Today, I took a field trip with The Boy's class to the Naper Settlement. Despite the fact that Grandma & Grandpa Naperville have lived in Illinois's second largest city for 20+ years (and I've been married to their son for 11 of them), I'd never been to Naper Settlement before today.

A walking history museum, Naper Settlement is sited on what is left of George Martin's expansive 1883 acreage. It's like Illinois's version of Colonial Williamsburg, but smaller and forward in time by about a century. We started the tour with the Martin Mitchell house, a circa 1883 brick-and-limestone building described to our little group as "the smart house of 1890." I learned a few interesting little tidbits in our 4-hour ramble around the grounds, including the fact that the Spanish silver dollar was once the standard monetary increment and two-bits is actually 1/8th of said coin (or 12 1/2 cents). Grandma Naperville met us there, and we had a nice visit with her as well as with the other chaperones in The Boy's class. The kids were well-behaved and seemed to have a great time.

Crazy Long Day in 'Burbs

Had a crazy long and hot, but fun day in the Western 'burbs today. I had three reasons for going out that direction today. The first was that I partook in the Best Brands Resale consignment sale, leveraging my love of both bargains and kids' clothes, and my drop-off appointment was at 10:00 a.m. in Wheaton. The second was that we have barely seen Cara and her kids this summer, so we had planned to spend part of the day together. And finally, The Boy and The Girl had a sleepover at Grandma-and-Grandpa Naperville's house.

After we dropped off my Rubbermaid bins of clothing, I made the mistake of getting on the express lane on I-88, thereby missing the Morton Arboretum exit. I had to turn around a couple of times before I resigned myself to driving on surface streets to get there. The Tot, The Girl, The Boy and I shared a yogurt-granola parfait and a coffee before we went into the Children's Garden. Last time we were there, we never made it into the Treetop Walk, so we started today's visit up there. The Tot was amazing; he was unafraid about walking through the rope maze and eventually did it all on his own, "racing around and about again every minute or two"* with his big brother. Cara & the kids met us up there and they raced around as well. We gradually made our way down through the sections in the garden, although we were all quite hot and sweaty (and Cara's kids were soaked!) after catching tadpoles in the swamp section, so we decided to get lunch.

We caravanned over to the Colonial Cafe in Naperville to have lunch. The place was crowded with moms and kids eating lunch in the air conditioned cool -- so much so that we had to wait 10 minutes for a table, even at 1 p.m. Even in such an environment, I think our party of 8 (6 kids, 2 moms) overwhelmed our waitress. It was loud and chaotic, but everyone ate fairly well and we all got ice cream (frozen yogurt for The Tot and me) afterwards.

I took The Boy and The Girl over to their grandparents' house for their sleepover, then circled back to meet Cara at Fox Valley Mall (my least favorite Chicagoland mall) to shop the Gymboree sale. Cara and I were supposed to go to the BBR pre-sale at 6 while Cara's husband watched her kids and The Tot, but he was late getting the train and The Tot was pretty tired. So I took him with me to the sale and Cara met me later. Afterwards, I realized that I was starving, so I took The Tot over to the Wheaton Town Center to have dinner at Potbelly. It's so rare that I get to spend one-on-one time with him, but it was really enjoyable. Across the open patio area were a couple of large dogs (collies, I think) and although The Tot is usually quite scared of dogs, he wanted to go up to these dogs (but didn't want to pet them).

It was a long day. We didn't get home until about 9. Grandma Texas and Aunt Sam showed up from Texas (in for Lollapalooza) about 10.


* Dr. Suess' The Sneetches. "They kept paying money, they kept running through. 'Til neither the plain nor the star-bellies knew, whether this one was what one, or which one was who." Does anyone else find that lines from children's books seem to commentate on their daily lives?

How did I not know this was here?

Today, The Dad, The Boy, The Girl, The Tot, and I all piled into the car to attend our playgroup friend S.'s 2nd birthday party. It was at Adams Playground Park, on Seminary, tucked into a corner of Lincoln Park. It was an awesome space, with a shaded sandbox, two playground sets on recycled tire hardscapes, and a separate water playground within the lot. How have I lived in the city for this long and not known what a gem was lurking around the corner from my favorite strip of Armitage (with its Paper Source, Art Effect, Old Town School, and CBA)?

We got there late, so we had pizza and cupcakes with bright blue frosting, and then changed into our suits and played. The Girl, who normally does not like water features, was having a blast going down the water slide with The Boy and A., while The Dad and I enjoyed chatting with R. and M., and The Tot alternately walked around the water park and explored the traditional playground features.

After the park, we headed out to Naperville for a post-4th BBQ at Grandma-and-Grandpa's house. I had not planned to be out of the house for more than just the party, so we stopped at Meijer in Naperville to pick up disposable diapers and fresh clothes for everyone. The kids had a great time at G-and-G's house with their cousins.

Just Another Manic Monday

I got The Girl to school this morning, and took The Baby with me to run errands. First, we went to the bank, and then over to the new Disney II to register The Girl for pre-K. The Baby was very interested in the junior high kids currently there (and they, at least the girls, were pretty interested in him as well).

We had lunch at our usual pre-Treasure Store spot: the Vienna Beef Cafe and each had a hot dog and fries. Then we hit the Treasure Store, which was kind of a bust. We went back to pick The Girl and her friend from school, dropped off the friend at her house, and got on the road for the long haul to Naperville, to fetch The Boy from Grandma-and-Grandpa's house.

And that's where the problems started. I'm sure everyone knows the saying about Chicago: There are two seasons in Chicago: Winter and Construction. If there was construction along our route, The Great White Moose and I managed to find it. We got stuck in the construction along the Oakbrook toll plaza, the 3-lanes-down-to-1 problems along 22nd Street in Oakbrook, and the repaving right by the I-355 on-ramp. We also had to take a detour getting to Grandma's house when I realized that the Bailey Road bridge was out. And throughout all this, The Baby screamed bloody murder. My nerves were fried by the time we arrived at Grandma's house.

We played for about 45 minutes at Grandma-and-Grandpa's house, and then they took us to dinner at The Patio. The Girl and I each had 1/3-lb. cheeseburgers (and The Girl ate most of hers!), while The Boy had a hotdog and fries and The Baby sort of had a grilled cheese and fries. Then we got back on the road to come home. I took I-55 to the Kennedy on the way back, and it was a good choice because we made fantastic time coming home. We got back within 45 minutes. The Baby was crying again towards the end, but it was only the last 3 minutes or so of the trip.

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.

Grandma and Grandpa Naperville

After we left Maria back at her hotel, instead of heading back into the city in Friday afternoon traffic, we headed southwest, to Naperville.

We had a playdate with Grandma and Grandpa, had dinner, and they had a mini birthday party for The Girl. Since I didn't have to make dinner, I got to play two rounds of Candyland with The Boy and The Girl. We ate cupcakes and ice cream, and The Girl opened her present from Grandma and Grandpa, a Dora Big Wheel.

Then it was time to go home. Mercifully, they all fell asleep on the way home and The Dad and I were able to transfer them all into their beds.