Return to the old neighborhood

Not that old neighborhood, back in Louisville - where we actually are planning to visit on the way to Tennessee soon.

We just went to our old Chicago neighborhood today for fun and frozen custard.

Celebrating at Navy Pier

As we did with Levynn, we started celebrating Lincoln's birthday early - at Navy Pier, of all places, after hearing that Chicago was the No. 1 destination for travelers this holiday weekend.

But that's another story, and we mostly beat the crowds anyway. We had tickets for our first Chicago boat tour, we thought this was a good occasion to use them, and Navy Pier was where we had to go to do it. So we threw in a pre-lunch treat at Häagen-Dazs and the outdoor rides - including Lincoln's first on a Ferris Wheel - as well.

"Arrr, Matey!"

"Arrr, Matey!" again!

And "Arrr, Matey!" one more time!










I'm gonna be four.

And I'm happy about it!

Art, food, music - and more music

Do you like the new look of the Art Institute's outdoor terrace?

We did. So we stayed awhile and ate lunch al fresco.


We ate al fresco again tonight, with a picnic dinner back at Taste of Chicago - for the music again, not any of the food.

On the bill this time, as part of country music day: Court Yard Hounds, featuring two of the Dixie Chicks, and "coal miner's daughter" Loretta Lynn (and family).







Levynn grooves along.



And the kids stayed hydrated.

So... have you kept track of how much live music we heard in the last week? There was rock at Taste of Chicago last Saturday; a wind quintet at the library and Glen Hansard at Millenium Park, both on Monday; the one-man band at the library on Wednesday; more rock (below) at Millenium Park on Thursday;



and the country music at Taste of Chicago tonight.

It's hard to beat that!

Reading machine

Levynn blew past the summer reading goal of 10 chapter books in barely two weeks - she's at 19 now! - and was rewarded with the official t-shirt today.

Speaking of which, the library has put together great programs for the Book Beats theme. We attended two this week: a wind quintet that performed animal songs and discussed their instruments; and a one-man band performing energetic, interactive songs.

Glen Hansard!

Who's that, you ask? He's the star and Oscar-winning songwriter of the great film "Once" from 2007, and Mom was just as excited as Dad - perhaps even more so - that he was playing at Millenium Park's Pritzker Pavilion last night. (Dad's always the excited one for these things.)

So she met him and the kids there after work, and, likely thanks to the competing free music playing at Taste of Chicago a short walk away, we had our pick of seats for this terrific show.

The kids were all smiles, too - at least while Lincoln was awake.

But he fell asleep in the middle of it, while Levynn got out of her seat and danced.





Here's Hansard playing the award-winning song "Falling Slowly," which he co-wrote and usually performs with co-star Markéta Irglová but, we were happy to hear, did on his own this time.

Our weekend

Now that Lincoln is old enough to remember past experiences, object to repeating them and offer his own ideas, we won't be celebrating his fourth birthday at Taste of Chicago as we did each of his first three. He wants to go to Rainforest Cafe instead.

In fact, the rest of us have more than a little of a been-there-done-that feeling about Taste of Chicago, too.

But there was some music there Saturday night that interested Dad, and we like to do picnics at the park in the summer, and Taste does have plenty of treats in addition to all the meat we don't eat anymore. So we decided to pack a picnic dinner, buy dessert, listen to the music and do some kids' activities.


Then on Sunday afternoon, while Mom was working, Dad and the kids attended the open house at the Poetry Foundation's just-completed building. It's pretty cool.

The Poetry Foundation is the publisher of Poetry magazine and didn't have a home of its own until this, three blocks from us. It's so bright and open that the kids enjoyed just walking around the building, and there was a small set of muddy footprints (yes, already!) that they followed in hopes of finding the source.


(And, yes, those are trees growing inside it!)

More from the visit

At the beach...


At the children's museum, playing in forts and cooking...




At the aquarium (including the new jellyfish exhibit and these Blue Blubbers)...





At the family fest (where Lincoln spelled out the kids' names with blocks and, believe it or not, spelled Chloe's from that exact position where he's crouching in the photo)...


At Crown Fountain at Millenium Park...



And saying goodbye...

Happy birthday, Levynn!

Gram, Papa, Aunt Rachel and Cousin Chloe have arrived!


Chloe's first visit to the "The Bean"...




Levynn blows out candles for the second time, at the end of dinner at Park Grill in Millenium Park.




And, a short time later at Hershey's, here she goes blowing them out for a third time!

What a day!

An American Girl birthday party!

We gave Levynn some options for a party - before Gram, Papa, Aunt Rachel and Cousin Chloe arrive on her actual birthday - and she picked Day at American Girl Place. Here it is!