Merry Christmas to all!

We hope everyone had a happy Christmas day, as we did!

Here was the scene.

And not a creature was stirring.

... until 6 a.m.

And everyone was merry!

It's difficult to say that Levynn was more merry, but she did receive a very special gift, a meaningful one that really made her day, from Pap: her late Mammy's American Girl doll Molly, one of the originals. Watch how delicately she opens the tissue paper, without any prompting from us.

Snowflakes even fell, enough to cover car windshields - our biggest snowfall yet!

Same old Santa

But that's a good thing.

We visited Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus today at the Hancock Observatory, just as we have done every other Christmas season we've been in Chicago. That makes six times - all six of Lincoln's Christmases! - and each time we've seen the same couple.

We did have to break our tradition of Christmas Eve visits; that wasn't available this year. Otherwise, though, we stuck with the routine, including lunch at Cheesecake Factory.

And go here for a fun step back in time; that will take you to last year's, and there are links to three other years, too.

Another tooth!

It was suddenly hanging by a few threads, down there on the bottom, and she just yanked it out tonight!

Jingle bell rockin'

The kids performed in their holiday assembly today - luckily for us, given that only half of the school did. The other half had been in a fall assembly instead. Don't ask us why!

All the better for us, too, since this was Lincoln's first school assembly, his first time on stage. It was very exciting.

And Dad, who volunteers in the school library on Thursdays, was invited by the librarian to attend the morning assembly for fellow students and teachers rather than have to wait for the afternoon assembly for parents. So Dad got a sneak peak!

Each grade sang two songs. Video for one of each is included below. Enjoy!

The wheels on the bus

... take us to the museum, to the museum, to the museum.

Lincoln rode on a school bus today, for the first time in his life, for a kindergarten field trip to Science and Industry. Dad chaperoned.

Rites of passage

Notice anything different?

More than a year ago, Levynn went to get her ears pierced at Claire's and couldn't go through with it. But today, with Grandy by her side, she did it!

It was a little dramatic, but only a couple of tears, as Mom and Grandy shielded her from the other little girls who wanted to watch. She was a brave, good girl, and Mom was proud of her. We all were proud of her.

Thanksgiving

The kids have been out of school for the last week for Thanksgiving break, and we've tried to keep them busy.

Much of that has been all things Harry Potter, which has greatly interested them in recent weeks. We just finished the third book and its film adaptation; after we read one, we watch its corresponding movie. And they've been role-playing as Harry's friends Hermione and Ron.

We've ventured outside, too, of course - beginning with Chicago Public Library's annual Bookamania last Saturday.

We skipped the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival parade that evening.

But Mom and the kids stopped to see some of the parade's participants at the staging area, around the park across the street from our building. Lincoln here is trying to describe an instrument he saw, a saxophone.

We returned to the Children's Museum on Tuesday, and its "ice" rink was open for the season.

Mom had to work Thanksgiving night. So we ate a holiday lunch together before she left. Then, around dinnertime, Dad and the kids braved the rain to visit her and see the giant Christmas tree lit in the Tribune's plaza, pretty much kicking off a new holiday before the the other even ended.

We went to the Museum of Science and Industry on Friday, and there were more trees! This big one was decorated in honor of "Peanuts" creator Charles Schultz, for whom the museum currently has an exhibit.

Charlie Brown's little tree was there, too.

The museum wasn't all about Christmas.

And, today, Dad and Levynn went to Millennium Park for the first skate of the season with her new, single-blade skates.

It's back to school tomorrow!

School updates and more

There was no school today, to make room for parent-teacher conferences and report card pickups. But that doesn't mean we didn't fill the day.

First, Lincoln visited his preschool class with Dad. We learned last year that it's common for "graduates" to visit, and we had been encouraged to do so. This was as good a time as any. Six of his classmates remained, and the teachers were the same. So there was some familiarity for him, enough to stay for 45 minutes. There were hugs.

Then we all met Todd for lunch. We hadn't seen him in a while. More hugs.

After lunch, Todd walked with us to school. We met with the kids' teachers and received sparkling reports.

Lincoln, we learned, is in the strongest reading group and is "well-developed" in many of the areas. That's how kindergarteners are "graded:" well-developed, partially developed, or beginning to develop.

Levynn, meanwhile, continued her streak of straight As to at least six terms, dating back to first grade.

We're very proud of both!

From the kids' school, we followed Mom to Northwestern University's Chicago campus (across from Lake Shore Park, where the rest of us played). She had an appointment with an adviser in advance of winter quarter registration. She'll be taking a class!

"Thank you, Dad and Susan!"

She even got a student I.D., making her an official Wildcat. Maybe we'll be proud of Mom soon, too.

After that, we burned some time until American Girl unveiled its holiday windows, with hot chocolate and cookies. We seem to do that every year now.

Quite a day!

Halloween... in a galaxy far, far away

You're looking at Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, in case you didn't know already or (astonishingly!) you cannot see that for yourself.

A lot of work went into these get-ups! Mom sewed Leia's cape with hood and Luke's tunic, Dad made the blaster pistols, and we hunted for worthy belts. (The lightsaber already existed.) What do you think?

With that kind of build-up, it made sense that the Halloween experience was so drawn out, if exhausting. It started Saturday, with a costume party in our building. At school today, the kids paraded outside; Dad tagged along.

Right after school, with backpacks still in hand, Dad took the kids to one of our favorite playgrounds, Goudy Square, in what might be the wealthiest enclave in the state. The neighborhood association decks it out beginning at 4 p.m. every Halloween - too bad we didn't know that before! - and residents already are stationed outside their homes to pass out candy at that hour. Bonanza!

The kids filled their buckets and were pooped, and we still had our building to visit. So we only went to a few floors before calling it a night.

Happy Days

Granddaddy and Susan were here for a visit over the last few days, well-timed for his 60th birthday (earlier in the week), our 10th anniversary, and an event for fans of architecture.

Yes, Mom and Dad have been married 10 years!

Have a look.

Granddaddy blew out the candles on a pineapple upside-down cake on Thursday night.

Granddaddy and Susan walked to school with the kids on Friday morning.

We ate a celebratory dinner at Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse that night. (Thanks to Susan for most of these photos; for this one, however, we have to thank the waitstaff!)

Saturday was the first day of Open House Chicago, which you may remember from last year. On this day, we stayed in the Gold Coast neighborhood to see a couple of mansions from the late 1800s and early 1900s. But we started at the kids' school, which also was part of the event. Here we are in the library.

On Sunday, Dad guided Granddaddy and Susan on a wearying walking tour of other sites. The highlight was the Kemper Building. Its 360-degree public observation deck, the city's first when built in 1962, had been closed for the last 40 years but was open on this day. Imagine the views from the 41st floor of a building directly across the river from Trump Tower.

Best of all, perhaps, was the view of the Jeweler's Building next door. People supposedly waited two hours or more to get inside the Jeweler's Building but couldn't see the best part - the outside of it!

Stars of the week

Lincoln's class began its Star of the Week program this week, and his teacher chose him to be the first!

Also, Mom and Dad each began once-a-week volunteering assignments in Lincoln's class, and we're very pleased to say that we're impressed with his teacher's handling of the students. For one reason or another, we had concerns - until we saw the class in action for extended periods of time.

We're not sure how much he'll learn in kindergarten, considering how far along he is already and the seemingly limited curriculum (so far) the school uses at this level. But what new things he has seen, like tally marks, he has absorbed like a sponge.

Progress reports and NWEA test results came home this week, as well. The former are not very revealing for kindergarteners, simply noting whether a student is "beginning development" or better in different subject areas. But the test results put Lincoln in the 99th percentile in both math and reading. To put that in perspective, Levynn is a straight-A student these days, and she never has tested that high in math.

As for his reading...

He was reading from a "Cars" storybook, and that was the first time he had read that particular story.

But let's not forget Levynn!

Her progress report was a little more detailed (you may recall the B in math she fretted about in the middle of the spring term last school year). This time there was not a B to be found.

Back to the Botanic Garden

With a library pass for free parking (the only admission fee) and no other plans for our three free car sharing hours for the month, we couldn't pass on the chance to go back to the Chicago Botanic Garden today for its fall festival.

Plus, after seeing the colors of summer, we wanted to see the colors of fall.

And there they are.

We met Dad's friends John and Carolina there. She snapped this shot of us in front of a beautiful pile of gourds.

The festival included a hay maze that - even with those low, single-bale walls - kids loved.

And look how easy it can be to get kids to be useful!

See that structure in the distance? That's a carillon. We don't remember seeing it last time. And it's functional! We definitely don't remember that.

While school was out...

There was Open Streets Chicago.

Dad and the kids joined friends for a water taxi ride to Chinatown.

Dad and the kids brought one of Levynn's friends to the Museum of Science and Industry, where we found a couple things we somehow hadn't seen on our many other visits - like the inside of this United Airlines plane, which we had thought was just another of the planes hanging from the ceiling.

And remember the wheel of time?

For the grand finale on Tuesday, the last day of the strike, Dad and the kids joined all of the friends from the previous two outings and their families at Adler Planetarium.

The Field Museum, with the same gang, was on the docket for the next day - if school had not started. Thankfully, it did.