The wheel of time

You may not remember shots of the kids in this tractor wheel through the years, but they are memorable to us. We take a new one each time we revisit the Museum of Science and Industry, as we did today. It's a neat record of their growth. Look back at the first one, of just Levynn, in April 2008.

A family adventure

As we were walking - and walking - from the closest bus top to that remote Chicago spot known as Northerly Island, at the furthest reaches of Museum Campus, we were beginning to wonder. Was this worth it?

But it was! The Chicago Park District's Family Adventure Day, the kickoff to Chicago Wilderness’ June Leave No Child Inside Month, was one of our most enjoyable outings in a long time with a variety of activities both kids could appreciate and (though perhaps sadly for the park district) not many other people to get in their way.


There were campfires to roast marshmallows and popcorn:



There was a bird-watching station with binoculars, telescopes, field guides, and a craft:




There was a mudpie-making station:





There was an entertaining animal guy with frongs and snakes and turtles:



There was fishing:


and more!

The new mayor

Dad and Lincoln went to Millenium Park today to see Rahm Emanuel's inauguration, Chicago's first mayoral change since Uncle Dan was a year old! Maybe it will mean something to Lincoln in another 22 years.




By the way, the grass was glorious! Off limits this spring, it has grown so lush it felt like a pillow.

Outings!

Suddenly, Levynn's class is all about the field trips. It must be that time of year - you know, the end.

This began with a Mom-led trip to Tribune Tower last week. Actually, it began with Mom's appearance in the class for career day months ago. After that, Levynn's teacher contacted Mom and asked if it would be possible to bring the class to the Trib. So Mom looked into it, organized it and made it all happen. With the help of Dad and a page designer at work, and using class photos submitted by the teacher and writings from the students, she even put together a mock front page for the kids to take home.

(Click on the photo for a closer look.)

She's gotten compliments for pulling it all off, and she deserves it.

The class also went to a play place this week - all the way out in the suburbs, like there aren't a gazillion right here in the city! - and they'll go to Lincoln Park Zoo next month.

And Levynn had two playdates at other kids' homes this week.

Meanwhile, Lincoln's been making his own field trips with us: Chicago History Museum and Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum last week and Adler Planetarium this week.

Happy Mother's Day

... to Mom, Gram, Grandy, Mammy, Aunt Christina, Aunt Rachel and any others out there!

Congrats, Mom!

At the end of a token interview of several unimportant questions this afternoon, Mom was told that she had been chosen - over two veteran Trib co-workers and friends - to move into the open copy editing position in the features department in May.

This means she will be working a day shift! (And it feels good to be validated, too!)

Honey, we shrunk the kids!

See? They're smaller than a penny!

We walked through a "shrinking machine" today in a Field Museum exhibit, Underground Adventure, that we hadn't seen in previous visits. As you can see from the photos, it's interesting. Its focus is on soil, but the kids liked the critters in the soil.


Once again, we can thank the library for the museum pass.

An eggs-tra busy day

The day before Mom and the kids head to Kentucky for a spring break trip, we decided to be busy - not including the packing.

We tackled the Soldier Field Spring Egg-Stravaganza for the first - maybe only - time and also went to the Hancock Observatory for its last day of skating.

We had done the skating before. But the Soldier Field experience was new to us, and we're thinking of it as a "been there, done that" kinda thing. There seemed to be thousands of people, and the kids were sent onto the field in waves by age group. So there was a long wait, and once you were on the field the candy - no eggs, actually, just candy scattered around - was gone in 30 seconds. It was nuts. Oh, and it was chilly.

But it was an experience. It was Soldier Field, after all.

Nana, preschool, playdates, and activities

Yes, a month has passed since we last posted here. And, yes, that last one came after another silent month. So we have some catching up to do.

First, we should mention that Nana - Dad's last living grandparent - died recently, two days shy of her 91st birthday. Her health had been declining quickly. But she went in peace, in hospice care. Dad flew to Massachusetts for the services last week while Grandy came here to help hold down the fort.

Meanwhile, the kids have been enjoying playdates with classmates - Lincoln back-and-forth with one boy, Levynn here with one girl and there with another - and we've visited Adler Planetarium and Chicago Children's Museum.

Now, to the best news: We have a preschool program for Lincoln to attend in September!

As our public preschool options appear to be nil where we now live, we have been crossing our fingers for a private option that is (almost) affordable. Fortunately, one of the closest schools, NAEYC-accredited Fourth Presbyterian Church Day School (on the Mag Mile!), kindly has made that possible. We've visited the school and feel very comfortable with it, particularly with its warm and engaging teachers. So we've enrolled him there. Phew!

Raise your hand

... if you've been married for 65 years.

That's you, Mammy and Pap - and only you, we're pretty sure.


The rest of you can try to wrap your minds around that number. We're still trying. Congratulations!

Here are some photos of the kids - ours, cousin Clark, and even others (big and small) - from last weekend's time in Kentucky.