This morning, we trekked up to Niles for The Girl's swim lesson at the Leaning Tower YMCA. The weather was finally decent enough for us to enjoy it, so The Boy and The Tot played on the equipment in the attached playground while The Girl had her lesson. I sat on a bench in the playground area observing all of their "Mama, look at me!" moments and making a few phone calls to line up social occasions for the afternoon and next week.
When The Girl's lesson was over, we went over to Target, as has become our custom, to pick up the 3 things on my list, have a snack, and kill time. The Boy and The Girl are at a double playdate at their friends' house now, The Tot is sleeping and I'm enjoying some quiet time. Sometimes, the best part of a mother's day is the part where her kids are happily and quietly occupied.
Showing posts with label niles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label niles. Show all posts
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Note to Self: Dempster Hosed
On Thursday afternoons, The Girl participates in a 3-way kid swap with two of her friends. Today was our turn to host. Before we could open our home to a gaggle of 4-year-old girls, however, we had swimming lessons for The Girl and an errand to run.
It was very important to The Girl that Grandma Texas come to watch her swimming lesson at the Leaning Tower Y in Niles. She did, and The Boy, The Tot, Grandma Texas and I watched the lesson through the glass wall between the pool and the SRO entrance lounge. The Boy and The Tot declared that they were hungry, so I spent my last $1 in cash on a bag of Cheetos from the vending machine.
After class, I got The Girl dressed and to the car, and we headed north and east to Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. The Girl was starving after her lesson and complained loudly that she needed a snack all the way down Dempster, which was completely backed up due to traffic. My snack destination of choice was Breadsmith, near Dempster and McCormick, but The Girl could not wait, so we pulled into the Starbucks drive-thru in the converted Skokie train station and ordered up 3 apple fritters (the kids), a blueberry muffin (Grandma), and a tall nonfat vanilla latte (me). After that, the traffic on Dempster wasn't quite as irritating, although we were still running up against the time contraints of both Grandma Texas's friend coming to our house in the city and the start of the girlie playdate.
I needn't have worried about Grandma Texas's friend, who came from the south suburbs, got stuck in Taste of Chicago traffic, and made every wrong choice possible in the drive up. It took her 2.5 hours to make a drive that should take about an hour.
Fortunately, we found Vogue Fabrics with only a little help from the folks at Verizon Information, parked easily just across the street, and zipped in and out of the store. If you need oilcloth for any reason, they have some great patterns at this location. I picked out a cute black and white pattern that is more grown-up than the juvenile/retro patterns I was expecting to find (and found) based on oilcloth mats available at Land of Nod, etc. We made it back to the city with time to spare.
It was very important to The Girl that Grandma Texas come to watch her swimming lesson at the Leaning Tower Y in Niles. She did, and The Boy, The Tot, Grandma Texas and I watched the lesson through the glass wall between the pool and the SRO entrance lounge. The Boy and The Tot declared that they were hungry, so I spent my last $1 in cash on a bag of Cheetos from the vending machine.
After class, I got The Girl dressed and to the car, and we headed north and east to Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. The Girl was starving after her lesson and complained loudly that she needed a snack all the way down Dempster, which was completely backed up due to traffic. My snack destination of choice was Breadsmith, near Dempster and McCormick, but The Girl could not wait, so we pulled into the Starbucks drive-thru in the converted Skokie train station and ordered up 3 apple fritters (the kids), a blueberry muffin (Grandma), and a tall nonfat vanilla latte (me). After that, the traffic on Dempster wasn't quite as irritating, although we were still running up against the time contraints of both Grandma Texas's friend coming to our house in the city and the start of the girlie playdate.
I needn't have worried about Grandma Texas's friend, who came from the south suburbs, got stuck in Taste of Chicago traffic, and made every wrong choice possible in the drive up. It took her 2.5 hours to make a drive that should take about an hour.
Fortunately, we found Vogue Fabrics with only a little help from the folks at Verizon Information, parked easily just across the street, and zipped in and out of the store. If you need oilcloth for any reason, they have some great patterns at this location. I picked out a cute black and white pattern that is more grown-up than the juvenile/retro patterns I was expecting to find (and found) based on oilcloth mats available at Land of Nod, etc. We made it back to the city with time to spare.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Weather Outside Is Frightful
This morning, it was just cold and icy -- no snow -- so I headed up to Bed, Bath & Beyond in Niles to buy a slipcover for my ultimate bargain occasional chair. It was the easiest location for me to get to, but I needed help and the manager was S.L.O.W. The Tot was getting pretty bitey-grabby by the time we left and I couldn't really blame him for his restlessness.
Afterwards, because The Tot needed a snack and I still had a Barnes & Noble gift card in my purse left over from The Tot's birthday, so we headed over to the B&N in the same shopping center to use (part) of it. He enthusiastically ate half a chocolate cupcake and drank some juice, sitting up so nicely in a chair and closely observing the two other patrons in the cafe. I drank half my marshmallow latte, and then we headed over B&N Jr. to check out the books. Not surprisingly, The Tot made a beeline for the Thomas the Tank Engine section. We have many of these books already, including the complete book of Thomas stories by Rev. Audry; we ended up with Barton's Trains book instead. I let The Tot putter around the book section for about 1/2 an hour before we left to pick The Girl up from preschool.
I really need to make a book wishlist for the kids; while we were browsing the kids' section, there were several books that I was tempted to get for The Boy or The Girl, but don't have the budget for it right now.
Afterwards, because The Tot needed a snack and I still had a Barnes & Noble gift card in my purse left over from The Tot's birthday, so we headed over to the B&N in the same shopping center to use (part) of it. He enthusiastically ate half a chocolate cupcake and drank some juice, sitting up so nicely in a chair and closely observing the two other patrons in the cafe. I drank half my marshmallow latte, and then we headed over B&N Jr. to check out the books. Not surprisingly, The Tot made a beeline for the Thomas the Tank Engine section. We have many of these books already, including the complete book of Thomas stories by Rev. Audry; we ended up with Barton's Trains book instead. I let The Tot putter around the book section for about 1/2 an hour before we left to pick The Girl up from preschool.
I really need to make a book wishlist for the kids; while we were browsing the kids' section, there were several books that I was tempted to get for The Boy or The Girl, but don't have the budget for it right now.
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