2013/05/30 Thursday: Up for Grabs

We didn't know why all these people were milling about outside our house.  It turns out, there was a professionally run estate sale, starting next door at 10:00 AM.  The professional shoppers get there in advance to line up for the best stuff.  We did not buy anything, but I did walk through the house.  It's been vacant for a year, since its occupant fell and broke his hip.  He passed away after months in the hospital and rest home.  It was fascinating to walk through the house because the whole thing was like a time machine.  Everything was old and solidly built.  The carpet, wallpaper and furniture all seemed at least 45 years old.

2013/05/29 Wednesday: The Futility of Hair Styling

Mandi came over, and while the kids played she cut and styled my hair.  She spent quite a bit of time blowing it dry, brushing it, and curling it.  It looked great.  Then it started to get bigger.  This picture was shortly after she left, so within 15 minutes of finishing the style.  It had already lost a lot of its curl, and grown in volume.  It continued to get bigger and frizzier, and so by the end of the day it looked as if nothing had been attempted on it.

2013/05/28 Tuesday: Do Not Disturb

I took a few baby pictures for a friend.  It was an overcast day, which was perfect to take pictures outside on her porch.

2013/05/27 Monday: Happy Memorial Day!

We didn't have any of our own honored dead locally, but we did drive through a nearby cemetery and visit the special area where circus performers are buried.  There was a flag by each headstone.

2013/05/26 Sunday: Happy Birthday Gigi

We decorated her bed while she slept.

When she woke up, she wasn't unhappy, she just thought she needed to fix things by pulling the crepe paper and tape off her bed.

A glimpse of Gigi's many talents.

We had our next door neighbors over to share in the nutella-frosted cupcakes.  I did learn (the hard way) never make red velvet cake for kids.  The crumbs that they inevitably get everywhere stain things bright red, and the batter too.

2013/05/25 Saturday: We Lived Through the Night

We made it through a long, cold night.  During breakfast, Caesar pulled off his collar and leash, and lead Nick on a mile long chase, good exercise for both of them.  Unfortunately, Nick's beloved pocketknife fell out of his pocket somewhere along the trail as he chased Caesar through the woods.  The kids loved playing on the camp playground with all of the children.  Ending the morning with nutella s'mores made camping seem a little less miserable, but it was still just about the worst night ever.  We road home comfortably in the car, to our nice warm beds at home.

2013/05/24 Friday: Camping at the Dunes

We went camping with our congragations annual outing.  I did the packing.  In my defense, I have only been camping in the summer.  You would think Memorial Day would count as summer, but no, not in Chicago.  The low was 40, and it was humid which made it feel even colder.  I was under the impression inside a tent would be slightly warmer than outside, but I was wrong.  Gigi would not lay down in a sleeping bag.  We eventually put her coat on her and had to trust she'd live until morning.  I was cold, all night.  I can't remember having such a miserable night.  It was so cold, Caesar slept all the way under blankets, and he has a fur coat on.  The kids loved it.  We will be buying some better equipment before we take another similar trip.

2013/05/23 Thursday: In their Plush Robes

 

2013/05/22 Wednesday: UFO

Henry loves flying things and helicopters, so when we saw a street vendor outside Disneyland selling this toy we bought it as his souvenir from our trip.  You launch it up with a rubber band, and it twirls slowly to the ground, much like the maple seeds that are all over the sidewalk.  It has a light that appears to blink, but that's an illusion from the twirling.
The kids liked it and everyone had fun.

2013/05/21 Tuesday: Feel the Awesomeness

I think Henry's sunglasses are upside-down.

2013/05/20 Monday: Dirty Laundry

When Gigi was an infant, I would get her and the laundry down the stairs at the same time by having her ride in the basket.  It worked quite well.  Now the only problem is she still thinks she should ride in the laundry every time she sees my with a basket.  She's not as small as she used to be.

2013/05/19 Sunday: Ice Cream Social

We invited our friends over for a little cake and ice cream Sunday evening to casually celebrate Gigi's birthday a week early.  We figured more people would be available now than  Labor Day weekend.

Henry and C seem made for each other.  They rode back and forth with Henry riding the bike, and C standing on the training wheel supports.  Dangerous, but adorable.

We ended up with eleven kids, and somehow the party evolved into a bicycles in front of the house extravaganza.  The weather was perfect, the conversation lively, and the kids were all smart enough to stay on the sidewalk.  We kept counting to make sure we had all eleven children.  When I only came up with ten, we looked and found the eleventh eating frosting out of a can in the kitchen.

2013/05/18 Saturday: In Her Red High Heels

First of all, happy birthday to Mitch!

Gigi found these Snow White dress up heels at a church rummage sale.  She would not let me leave without them.  They are probably going to make her break her ankle.  She loves them even though they are least four sizes too big.

2013/05/17 Friday: Make A Wish

My kids are contributing to the dandelion problem by blowing dandelion clocks and making wishes.  I did not teach them this, but it is cute to watch.

We had dinner at a resident friend's house.  It was nice to see the Mt Sinai crew, some of whom are graduating this year.  Henry got to play with my phone, and this is what he spent his time doing.

2013/05/16 Thursday: Crime & Punishment

A couple of days ago, I was upstairs folding laundry and the kids were in the family room.  All seemed well with the world.  Then I went to the kitchen for a drink, and discovered that the children had drawn all over the carpet in the living room and stairs with a blue crayon.  And when I say all over the carpet, I mean ALL OVER.  They used wide, broad strokes to cover as much square footage as possible.  There was a major time out penalty incurred.
  It was cheap crayon the kids got at National Train day, which meant it was not washable.  None of the tips of how to get crayon out of carpet worked.  It did not iron out.  But then the delightful Lindsay Moss came over with her spray bottle of Goo Gone.  She sprayed the crayon and scrubbed with a microfiber cloth.  It made a huge difference.  I then rented a carpet cleaner from the home depot, and things were back to just having the gross carpet we started with.

I found a used Shark costume for J since he is obsessed with sharks.  We had a little fun with it here too.

2013/05/15 Wednesday: Yard Work

 

2013/05/14 Tuesday: Freddie's for Lunch

Our bucket list of Nick's research year included eating at Freddie's in Cicero.  Today, we took Nick to lunch there and can finally cross it off.  It's only the second time I've been there, and I still feel like I must have missed the orientation video because I have no idea whats going on.  You order in line inside of an Italian Market, you don't know what they have or how much anything is.  It is fun, and the food is delicious.  We sat outside near the door, and Gigi saw every person that was coming out with gelato or Italian ice and screamed "Ice Cream!", so we ended our meal with some Italian ice, and Nick got Oreo gelato.  Nick made the best choice.

2013/05/13 Monday: The Doctor Will See You Now

Nick snuggled with a sick and teething Gigi before he headed to work, a little late.

2013/05/12 Sunday: Out for a Ride

 

2013/05/11 Saturday: National Train Day

We learned a few things from last years National Train Day experience.  So this year, we drove and parked nearby for $12 instead of the effort of taking the train to the train festivities.  We arrived before it started so we could get in line for tickets to the Amtrak excursion.  Next year, I will know to take the second train excursion instead of the first, because by the time you get back from the train ride, some exhibitors had run out of stuff.


Gigi was despondent when we checked our stroller to go on the train.  She thought that the coat check ladies stole it, and kept crying, "my stroller, my stroller!" as if it were her child.

Eventually on the train she was able to enjoy herself, a little.  Henry was, of course, having a great time the whole time.

 

You can tell by his face that this was one of the best days of his life.
The train ride was fun, largely because we were able to see things you wouldn't normally have a chance to, such as the maintenance shed.  I really liked riding along the river, where you were able to see the train level and the "sky rights" level of Chicago at the same time.

After the ride, we played in the area sponsored by Chuggington.  They had been giving away train toys to the kids, but had run out a few minutes before it was our turn.  We did get a DVD of the show, and the kids were really excited about that.  It's so funny to me that in a metro area of nearly 10 million people, we ran into some people we knew there, the Salmons.
We picked up lunch at a famous beef sandwich place near UIC that I don't remember the name of.  Overall, a fun day for the whole family.