Kick: A Picture a Day: July 2013

Sunday, July 21, 2013

2013/07/20 Saturday: Rehm Park

The kids went on these hand-powered trains over and over again. There loved it. They were so sweaty and worked so hard, they fell asleep on the way home even though it was still morning.

2013/07/19 Friday: The Thrill of Victory

The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.

2013/07/18 Thursday: Beating the Heat

2013/07/17 Wednesday: The Same Dress Again

When she demands to wear something, she does not accept "It's dirty" as an excuse.

2013/07/16 Tuesday: Another Turning Dress

This dress made it harder to climb on the playground equipment, but she won't give it up for anything.

2013/07/15 Monday: No Prize for You

Ninja class is not a place where everyone gets a trophy for participation. The teacher said there would be three prizes. So in fierce competition in a balloon race, there were three winners and three very sad kids. Henry definitely took it the hardest.

You'll notice Gigi is holding a writing implement. She is such a vandal. She is always writing on stuff, whether or not it is appropriate. She conjures pens out of nowhere. This one she found in the bleachers.

2013/07/14 Sunay: Turning Around

Photo by Henry

Gigi demanded to wear what she called the "turning around dress." She was so enthusiastic about turning around, she fell down the stairs because of it. She's fine, by the way.

2013/07/13 Saturday: Is this OSHA Compliant?

My kids get very creative when they want something.

I watched a friend's kids tonight. We had to drive Nick's suit downtown to him, during the "Taste of Chicago" so traffic was terrible. Nick was attending the banquet for the International Microsurgery and Reconstruction conference, which was held at the Field Museum.

2013/07/12 Friday: Chicago Botanic Gardens

The gardens were fun, especially with friends. Their train garden is fun for kids and adults. For some reason, all their volunteers here seemed to not like children, or perhaps people in general. Because of traffic, it took us two hours to get home. I'm sure it would have taken us even longer if we didn't use the Waze navigation app.

2013/07/11 Thursday: Slurpee Day

Brain Freeze

I participated in Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 4, and my name is on the first frame of singer credits. I'm famous.

2013/07/10 Wednesday: She Really Didn't Want to Leave

She just really, really loves playing at Jamie's house. She's undressed because we just took her swim suit off, and she was resistant to the idea of clothes.

2013/07/09 Tuesday: Zoo Adventure

We had a near perfect afternoon at the Play Zoo, the children's section of the zoo. I needed to watch my friend's kids for a few hours, so we all went there and everyone had so much fun. It was one of those rare times where you are able to just enjoy having children and no one is doing anything naughty and no kids are fighting. Of course, as soon as I got my kids back home, the beautiful illusion was shattered with a Gigi tantrum of epic proportions. But it was beautiful while it lasted.

In the evening, the kids and I went to a village party, and Gigi rocked out.

2013/07/08 Monday: White Belt Achievement Unlocked

Henry got his white belt in ninja class for "taking it to the highest level" by winning a memory game.

When we took Caesar to his grooming appointment at Petsmart, I took the kids through the fish section. Henry wanted to buy a goldfish, and pointed at an employee and said loudly, "Ask that old man there." The old man was woman in her early twenties. We did not get a fish.

2013/07/07 Sunday: Talented & Helpful Children

I think he could pick a safer spot to practice his handstand, but it's still impressive.

The kids were "really helpful" as we went to visit Nick in the call room. I'm sure he's getting lots of orders entered with a kid on his back.

2013/07/06 Saturday: The Whole Thing

At Costco, Henry was hungry and begged me to buy him a whole hot dog, which I thought was ridiculous. Even thinking he would never eat a whole hot dog, I bought it because they are inexpensive and not having him whining about it is valuable. He must have been hungry because he ate the whole thing.

2013/07/05 Friday: Tantrum Level 10

Gigi and I were playing, and she was demanding something and I said "You're a little strong-willed, aren't you?" Apparently, this triggered some sort of toddler dooms day device and a gigantic tantrum followed. She began by screaming "No, I not!" over and over again, and it just went downhill from there.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

2013/07/04 Thursday: Independence Day

Nick was actually off today, miracle of miracles. We started at a village party that had pony rides and bounce houses. Despite appearances, he enjoyed the pony ride. Gigi would not go near it. She's fearless in so many ways, but she is afraid of a lot of animals.

Speaking of her fearlessness, she climbed through this obstacle course like she was born for it.

We went to a barbecue at Nick's co-worker's place. The kids loved playing with their cat. The cat maybe loved it a little less. Sort of comically, another co-worker (a doctor, in fact) brought their child who had this horrible rash with pustules around his mouth. I asked, already knowing the answer, "Has he had a fever?" Of course he had, because it was clearly Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. So I don't know if this father was just in denial about the problem, or just wanted to bring the kid to a party despite the infectious disease.

We then went to a party at Abby's house, and she is an amazing hostess. After so much food and treats, she then followed it up with cotton candy. It was a great day and we were grateful that Nick was there to spend it with us.