Yesterday, I enjoyed a rare treat: an afternoon out, one-on-one, with The Boy. We drove The Girl out to Oakbrook to meet Grandma-and-Grandpa Naperville for the weekend. And then spent a couple of hours bumming around together.
The Boy is just learning how to read and having some trouble with it. I love to read, and I really want The Boy to discover this joy as well. So I took him to Borders in Oakbrook. We started with a snack (cherry Italian soda and a marshmallow square for The Boy, hot tea and a snickerdoodle for me) and talked about school, Bakugan characters, and how he missed The Girl already.
Then we headed to the children's section, where we looked at picture books and easy readers. The Boy got a Henry and Mudge book as well as a more mature (but more appealing to my sensibilities) chapter book called The Magician's Boy, and a Star Wars Clone Wars comic book. It's funny, but having a challenged reader has changed my perspective on comic books completely. I refused to buy them when The Boy was younger, but I now think that anything that gets him to read is a good thing, even if the lead is "General Grievous," followed by lots of gobbledy-gook, complicated names.
I picked out a Little Golden Book for The Girl in the vintage style of which are both somewhat fond (Little Mommy), and another Max and Ruby book (Bunny Mail) for The Tot. Then we headed over to the literature section for about 5 minutes so that I could pick out books - the new Audrey Niffenegger and two novels by Alice Siddon and Ann Patchett.
The Boy declared that he was hungry and asked if we could go to McDonald's. Where better to go the golden arches than in their hometown? So we went to McDonald's flagship, where we both had chicken McNuggets and largely ignored each other while watching McDonald's TV on large flat screens mounted to the wall. We listened to music and talked a bit on the drive home.
Showing posts with label oakbrook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oakbrook. Show all posts
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Friday, June 20, 2008
Suburbs!
Today, we went to visit our playgroup expats in the 'burbs. Darien, to be exact. As I turned onto the highway on-ramp, The Boy asked if we were going to the suburbs. When I responded in the affirmative, both he and The Girl shouted "hooray!" Half an hour later, they asked the inevitable: "Are we there yet?"
The answer was no, but 45 minutes later we were in Oakbrook; I stopped in the mall to make a return and buy a present for The Dad. On cue, The Girl declared that she was hungry. So we all got a healthful snack (Clif Kid Z-Bar for The Girl and The Baby, Organic Ducks for The Boy, a veggie wrap for me) and split a gigantic iced tea from the Nordstrom Cafe. The Girl ate half my wrap on the walk back to the car. That kid will eat anything.
We went over to Beebalm's house for an afternoon playgroup that included lunch, time in A.'s swingset "clubhouse," a crazy game of hide-and-seek, bubbles, and seeing old friends. Plus popsicles and rice-marshmallow treats. What could be better? I took the Stevenson home; they all fell asleep.
I made a pit-stop at Trader Joe's on Clybourn to load up on groceries for the crew. It was a mad shopping trip, with The Boy and The Girl each pushing a tiny cart and The Baby in the main cart squawking for more snacks. But we finished quickly and made our way home. The most interesting part of the last leg was driving parallel to two giant semi-trucks filled with...
bees! The Boy noticed all the bees flying around first. Then the rest of us began gaping. The Boy was afraid that the bees would come into our car and sting him. It was the strangest thing. The trucks were carrying stacks of large white containers, covered entirely with a blue mesh canvas, and each had a swarm of bees visible on the sides, around the canvas, and stuck in large pockets of the fabric near the bottom of the flat bed. The trucks had Maryland plates, which added to this curiosity.
The answer was no, but 45 minutes later we were in Oakbrook; I stopped in the mall to make a return and buy a present for The Dad. On cue, The Girl declared that she was hungry. So we all got a healthful snack (Clif Kid Z-Bar for The Girl and The Baby, Organic Ducks for The Boy, a veggie wrap for me) and split a gigantic iced tea from the Nordstrom Cafe. The Girl ate half my wrap on the walk back to the car. That kid will eat anything.
We went over to Beebalm's house for an afternoon playgroup that included lunch, time in A.'s swingset "clubhouse," a crazy game of hide-and-seek, bubbles, and seeing old friends. Plus popsicles and rice-marshmallow treats. What could be better? I took the Stevenson home; they all fell asleep.
I made a pit-stop at Trader Joe's on Clybourn to load up on groceries for the crew. It was a mad shopping trip, with The Boy and The Girl each pushing a tiny cart and The Baby in the main cart squawking for more snacks. But we finished quickly and made our way home. The most interesting part of the last leg was driving parallel to two giant semi-trucks filled with...
bees! The Boy noticed all the bees flying around first. Then the rest of us began gaping. The Boy was afraid that the bees would come into our car and sting him. It was the strangest thing. The trucks were carrying stacks of large white containers, covered entirely with a blue mesh canvas, and each had a swarm of bees visible on the sides, around the canvas, and stuck in large pockets of the fabric near the bottom of the flat bed. The trucks had Maryland plates, which added to this curiosity.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Oakbrook Terrace
Got lost on the way out to Oakbrook Terrace today. The Great White Moose's gas gauge was on empty, so I got off at Highland Avenue to look for gas before heading to the Staybridge Suites to meet my cousin. I drove down Butterfield Road for quite some time before I happened upon a Mobil station, which was completely out of gas. Ran over to the BP; they weren't, and $67.10 later, we were back on our way. Headed all the way back down Butterfield and found my cousin's hotel.
We picked her up -- she looks so much like my mother, it was disconcerting. She looked great, and was lovely with the kids. Later, The Girl asked several times if 'ria (Maria) could come over again. Maria lives in Japan, so it isn't likely, but maybe Maria will be stationed stateside again soon and we can see her. I've never met her husband or her two children.
Anyway, we were all hungry, so we headed to the mothership for lunch. Afterwards, we left the car in the lot, and walked across the street to Oakbrook Center. The Baby liked playing in the dirt of the tulip beds while The Girl and The Boy enjoyed through 1Y pieces that Maria had given them to throw into the fountains. And she and I caught up on family news, etc.
We went into the Land of Nod to change diapers and play, and to Hanna Andersson so that I could make a return. We stopped for 3 milkboxes, 3 cookies, and an iced-tea lemonade at Starbuck's, then made our weary walk back to the car.
We picked her up -- she looks so much like my mother, it was disconcerting. She looked great, and was lovely with the kids. Later, The Girl asked several times if 'ria (Maria) could come over again. Maria lives in Japan, so it isn't likely, but maybe Maria will be stationed stateside again soon and we can see her. I've never met her husband or her two children.
Anyway, we were all hungry, so we headed to the mothership for lunch. Afterwards, we left the car in the lot, and walked across the street to Oakbrook Center. The Baby liked playing in the dirt of the tulip beds while The Girl and The Boy enjoyed through 1Y pieces that Maria had given them to throw into the fountains. And she and I caught up on family news, etc.
We went into the Land of Nod to change diapers and play, and to Hanna Andersson so that I could make a return. We stopped for 3 milkboxes, 3 cookies, and an iced-tea lemonade at Starbuck's, then made our weary walk back to the car.
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