Author Archives: Jen
Braving Chicago, Day 2: Shedd Aquarium
Starting the day with bear hugs.
Going into the pool (aka basement) for breakfast.
Arriving at Soldier Field after parking in the garage (it’s kitty corner from the aquarium).
Waiting patiently while we get our free (!!) tickets!
Getting ready for a 4-D movie short.
Do you know what these are?
How about now?
Shark eggs!
We got a stranger to take our group pic…
But of course I had to do a selfie!
After a somewhat agonizing drive home through rush hour traffic, we arrived to this:
I’m glad we got to see our friends, but after two full days in Chicago I cannot understand how people there don’t go postal. Between traffic, bikers, and congestion, I had a headache almost the entire time I was in a car plus I got stuck in rush hour coming home today so that made it a sucky ending. I understand there is a crap ton to do there but it’s just not for me. So I was right, I will be visiting even less then I visited DC because at least DC was only 20 minutes away. Caitlin, I love you, but next year you’re coming to the ‘burbs. 🙂 :heart:
I wouldn’t brave Chicago traffic for just anyone.
My good friend Caitlin (that I just had to leave in Virginia) and her kids came to Chicago (they were already in Indianapolis) so we drove down to explore some touristy stuff with them. I hate traffic and congestion so it was a mini nightmare for me… But I did it.
Our first stop was the Museum of Science and Industry…where we spent seven hours (egads, I know). The kids had fun but it was a long day.
At the Toy Maker area, it cost $5 to get your own personalized gravitron—and you could watch as it passed through each station. It was cooler than we thought it would be.
There was a Fault (you can’t see the red light on in the photo) so the human operator had to come in and fix it.
And I was thinking it was just a top but it’s a gyroscope—so much cooler than a top. They had a little station to test it out so we all played with it. Then it was back to the exhibits.
Katie got to create her own fireworks display!
Wind tunnel! Owen wanted no part of it (even though he had to do it at the $2 machine in Virginia at swim lessons).
I should have recorded more of this—the kids had an absolute blast with it:
Ice cream for lunch because why not?!
The kids loved the big tractors SOOO much.
If you stood still, butterflies would land on your shadow.
Then it was finally time to head to the hotel… The drive was a bit precarious with all the traffic and insane bikers…but we all made it in one piece. The hotel was really neat—it was all sports-themed and the rooms were like dorms.
And then after a brief rest, it was off to Navy Pier! The kids really wanted to do the Ferris wheel (like we did at National Harbor).
After we walked around a bit, it was time for dinner—and we wanted to sit down and waste time since we had to wait until the fireworks at 9:30. I figured I deserved this:
The traffic wasn’t actually that bad getting out after the fireworks (thank heavens for small favors) and soon we were back at the hotel, where the kids were all super excited to sleep on the top bunks!!
The kids finally quieted down around 11 and Caitlin and I stayed up chatting until almost 12:30.
New city, same Lego build!
We were very excited to learn there was a Lego store here which meant we could continue the Lego builds!
Our first Illinois dinner outside!
We are bad doggie parents.
We had to take Maggie in for a non-emergency emergency appointment. I’m glad I’d already researched local vets and had picked one… And that they could get us in within the hour.
We’re always a little lax on cutting her nails. Tom actually attempted it a few weeks ago before our move but hit the quick on one and it bled and bled and he obviously stopped and didn’t finish them.
Well, before then, I’d noticed one was getting very long and starting to curl around back towards her pad and I know I mentioned it but it got forgotten. Then the move happened, then vacation, etc. I noticed her licking and chewing on one foot but didn’t think much of it. Until this week and I rolled her over to look at her foot and OMG that nail had curled around and was growing INTO HER PAD.
Oh the horror and guilt we felt… We immediately cut the nail as best we could (we’d actually luckily unpacked that box) and it was bleeding a bit and we wanted to get it checked out to make sure it was okay.
The vet’s office was awesome. They gave her an exam, cut the rest of her nails, and gave us some antibiotic wipes. They said it wasn’t bad at all. (And in fact, it was pretty much healed by the next morning, so we likely could have skipped the appointment but of course we felt better going.)
Even though it was a regular appointment I was steeling myself for the cost. And it was only $59. It was $58 for the exam and $1 for the antibiotic wipes. Complimentary nail clip, complimentary tick pill. So we have a great vet now!!
A chilly family day
Tom’s new office had a Family Day today at a park on base by Lake Michigan and of course it was the coldest day we’ve had since being here—we were all in long pants and jackets and I was still freezing. It would have been an amazing day if it would have been in the 80s. Needless to say that made the event less than stellar for us but the kids had fun playing some lawn games, watching people get pies in the face, and getting dunked in the dunk tank. I only took one picture the entire time and it was as we were starting our walk to the beach:
I was fascinated watching ants devour a piece of biscuit.
Without really thinking this morning, I tossed a half-eaten biscuit out of the car, assuming some animal would come by and eat it. Later that day Katie came back to tell me there were lots of ants on her biscuit so I had to check it out. This is what happened.
My 5yo first grade teenager.
Katie did an outfit change. Owen sees her and says “Wow, Katie, you look like a teenager!” She says “Yeah, I look like I’m in first grade!” 😂
The kids’ new schools!
I had to pick up missing paperwork at Owen’s school today so we took a picture… And then Katie wanted one at her school so we did that, too.
Bella likes Tom’s new body pillow.
Of course. It shouldn’t surprise me but it kinda did.
First time at the water park!
Our neighbors invited us to the water park and we eagerly accepted. Unfortunately I didn’t have my waterproof camera so missed being able to take pics of the little ones going down the kiddie slide and Owen going down the big water slide! This was the only pic I got of them—the other two were off playing in the grass.
Also unfortunately the day was cut short because of weather. Kind of. There were darkish clouds in the sky…
And apparently Katie has now turned into Maggie and completely freaks out at just the mere thought of dark clouds and potential rain so she was a hot mess crying to go home. I put it off as long as I could but when it actually started to sprinkle ever-so-slightly out was game over.
More windows equal more sun equal comfy sunning spots!
A few minutes at the mall playground.
The kids had to run an errand with me and the mall playground happened to be right outside the store I was at…so I let Katie play for a few minutes. (If it looks somewhat familiar, it’s because it’s the same parent company as the mall by us in Virginia.)
We are now Wildcats!
Today was the Proof of Residency/packet pickup for school. It was quite the process overall as we were there for about an hour, though most of that was time doing other stuff like signing up for library cards, talking to people about school programs, shopping for spirit wear, etc. Of course they only had Katie’s packet (?!) so it was a bit more involved to get Owen’s info (they were able to print some but I’ll have to pick up the rest at his school in a few days).
No more training wheels!
He’s been going out biking a lot with the neighbor kid and he said he was finally ready to take the training wheels off. Tom had moved them so they were still on but up high enough where he couldn’t really rely on them. So we made him ride down the street and I followed him to see if the wheels ever touched. They didn’t, so Tom took the wheels off! Then it was time for the first real ride!
And of course sister was with us, too, because she is a bike riding fiend.
And getting his reward for learning to ride—his new (adult!) bike!!
Returning mail leads to this.
The neighbor kids brought over our mail which then led to our kids going to play at their house. About a half hour later the mom and I had this text exchange:
Stacey: Girls are putting on a concert on the trampoline.
Me: I’ll be over.
I walked in to them jumping in tutus (of course there was an outfit change—there’s always an outfit change). 🙂 So we just sat and talked while all four kids played and rode in the power wheels.
Ahhhhh, neighbors. ❤️
Necessity is the mother of invention.
None of the cabinets are tall enough. Then it hit me. It’ll work.
And this is why we can’t seem to make progress.
Apparently they never put anything heavier than Kleenex on the hall closet shelves. All I’m putting on them is regular hall closet stuff like shampoos, lotions, cleaning products, wipes, towels, etc. 😣 THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T GET ANYTHING DONE. We have to keep stopping to fix shit. (And in this case I have to have Tom fix it and he’s obviously working and has a huge list of other stuff to get to that’s more important…) So now it looks worse then it did in the last photo because I had to take everything off two whole shelves.
Sigh.
Charlie is still glued to us.
She’s following us around as we unpack. Don’t worry, she’s getting lots of love and scritches.
This is how unpacking goes.
I start working on the upstairs hallway closet which leads me to take stuff to our MBA which leads me to put stuff away in the kids bath which then leads me to see Owen’s room needs attention where I find a box of guest room bedding so now I’m working on the guest room and the hall closet looks like this. It feels like I’m spinning my wheels.
We have plenty of pet beds but…
Typical behavior when we come home from a vacation…
She almost made it home…
This was about 20 minutes from home.
The possibility of taking the ferry.
So we looked at the possibility of taking the ferry sometime. Ha. Bahaha. A whopping $400 (one way!) to save exactly 0 minutes (and it probably takes longer because I’m pretty sure Google didn’t allow for pre-boarding wait time). So if we decide to do it, it would be for the experience only. Fingers crossed they run super specials…
It pays to know the owner.
Shopping before the store opens…the benefits of being related to the owner. We brought home 18 packs of brats!!
Len Christmas in July, Year 4
Nick and Gracie making Christmas M&Ms (the rest went into Lisa’s monster cookies).
Just a few brats to cook…
All the kids like to fish but they say Aubrey is the one who loves it the most and is the best at it. She apparently gives lessons to other kids at their house!
Katie caught a fish!
Someone took an unplanned jump into the river (learning you can’t walk on lily pads):
Drying off…
I think this picture is a tradition.
And the mandatory annual family Christmas photo! Every year they give us grief about taking it… And this year with the craziness of the move I didn’t post it immediately and they were all asking about it!! So there. :p
And the annual kid comparison—Katie is getting closer to Aubrey but Aubrey is still ahead (which should be the case, as she’s almost 9). And as usual, Owen is definitely taller than Gracie…
But I think he beats Nick this year!!
Last year:
More fishing!
After a campfire and s’mores it was time for bed. The kids decided to all sleep in the living room… Poor Timmy. 🙂
The smell and taste of my childhood.
We made plans to pick up some of our favorite sausage before the Len Summer Christmas started. My family has been getting the amazing smoked and fresh sausage here for 60 years! It’s the smell and taste of my childhood! 💕
A list of things to even out my karma, Illinois edition.
So back in July 2014, I compiled a list of things I liked about our new house to hopefully counteract all the bitching I’d done about it. Well, it’s time for another list.
- We live just about equidistant from both sets of grandparents.
- The house is on a flat street.
- The house has a flat yard.
- We have a nice green lawn.
- We have a decent size back yard.
- We have a good place for our patio set.
- We have a good place for our picnic table.
- We have kids living next door and next next door and around the corner.
- We have great neighbors—with kids our kids like.
- The bus stop is three houses down.
- We live near two cul-de-sacs and one dead end which are great for bike riding.
- There’s a small playground a short bike ride from home.
- We met our landlord and he’s really nice. He told us he has learned “to make his renters happy.”
- Our landlord said he’d give us his pool passes to use the rest of the summer.
- The landlord put in a brand new insulated garage door (because we said the old one was falling apart).
- The garage door is wifi-connected.
- The landlord will be putting new hardwood floors in the kitchen because of the failing grout and his unhappiness with the overall look.
- We live less than a mile from both kids’ schools.
- We live about three miles from a big city water park.
- We live three miles from a huge mall and pretty much any basic store we’d want (Target, Lowe’s, Marshall’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc.).
- We have granite countertops in the kitchen and master bath.
- We have a great gas stove with a center burner.
- We have a good dishwasher that actually dries dishes.
- I finally have an undermount kitchen sink!
- Our sectional couch fits in one of our living rooms (so it’s no longer relegated to the basement).
- The A/C works well.
- There is a big storage room in the basement.
- The kids will love the pool table the landlords left.
- Katie gets a pink room (it was pink for the owner’s daughter).
- Most of the house is freshly repainted.
- There is so much natural light everywhere that we generally don’t have to turn on lights until it gets really dark.
- There are windows in the master bathroom.
- There are windows in the laundry room.
- There’s a window over the sink which overlooks the back yard.
- There is a wood-burning fireplace.
- The household wifi seems to be really good.
- We have a covered porch.
- We have room for guests to park in the driveway and on the street (just not overnight).
- Sixty miles of bike trails nearby.
- Located by many sporting events (professional and college). [Note: that one is from Tom—it isn’t a big deal for me!]
Owen’s treat with Gramma!
Owen was bummed that Katie got a small present from Gramma at the art fair but there weren’t any “boy things” for him to get so Gramma promised to take him out to buy something at the store. I jumped in to suggest an experience instead of a thing and they were both good with that. We ended up getting ice cream at a shop downtown and eating it in the gazebo. And he told Gramma he wanted a day with her for his birthday like Katie had!!
Own patiently waiting at the wine store.
