Chicago!

We had a great long weekend in Chicago! We visited the Bean (obviously a favorite...honestly, we could have taken pictures there all day...it just makes everyone happy! What an amazing piece of art!), Shedd Aquarium (where the kids were picked to pet a penguin), and the Field Museum. We had beautiful weather. We ate good food (although I won't wait in line for Eleven City Diner again...back to Dunkin Donuts next time! But Zapatista's...yum!). We got to stay at the Hilton Chicago (where Prez Obama spent election night and where there are two bathrooms in the rooms!). We only got to stay at the swanky Hilton because the official reason for the trip was Mark's Society for Neuroscience meeting. He did get to come to the aquarium and spend a reasonable amount of time with us, though.

As a bonus, we got to see Mark's college chum, Dave, and his awesome family twice; the kids and I spent a whole afternoon and evening with Steph from London; and the kids and I visited my great Aunt Doris on the way home. Even a short vacation is hard to come down from! Chicago rocks!

The Bean...where everyone is happy. I'm not even kidding!

Bean fun.
More Bean fun.
M and M silhouetted against part of the Crown Fountain.

Sue!! And M4's general feeling about the trip, I think.

12 years!

A few pics from our quick anniversary trip to Elkader, Iowa last weekend, which is reportedly the only city (um, town) named after a Muslim in the U.S. It is name after Abd el-Kader, a young Algerian hero who led his people in a resistance against French colonialism between 1830 and 1847. Go figure!! We ate Algerian food at Schera's, which has its own nice story.

The Motor Mill, which is in the process of being restored. The guy who ran the B&B we stayed at is very involved.

A friend we made at our lodgings.

Then bend in the Turkey River where the mill is located.

Lovely Northeast Iowa. The Mississippi is at the blue line on the horizon in this pic.

Hello winter?

We woke up this morning to this!! Can you top that, Mainers?

Swimming...

Earlier this year, M4 announced that he would like swimming lessons. Wha??!! Well, he had been getting much more comfortable in the water this summer and was even going UNDERWATER! So I was very thrilled to jump right on the bandwagon and hire a college girl to give the kids some lessons.

The first lesson went well...he actually did MUCH more than I expected. Except, toward the end, when she was having him "glide" from her to the wall, and he would get to within about a foot of the wall, I could see the look of terror in his eyes.

So guess what? Lesson #2? Hysterics...I mean, hysterical crying! Like, not-in-control-of-his-body sobbing. So we stopped that lesson early. The college girl looked so completely at a loss as to what to do with this behavior. (Ha ha!! Poor girl! Just a preview of your future life!)

Lesson #3 reportedly went OK (Dad took him). No hysterics despite M4's admittance to being nervous about it. In fact, when I was at his school one day, I noticed a worksheet the kids had filled out hanging on the wall. They had to complete this sentence, "I get butterflies in my stomach when...". M4's completion was, "...when I have swimming lessons."

Cut to lesson #4, this past Sunday. Things seemed fine, no hysterics. Afterward, what to my wondering ears should I hear but "I love swimming lessons!" and "This was the best day of my life!" and "Sometimes when you try something you don't really like it, but then you keep on trying and then you like it!" and continued assertions that "This is the most awesomest day of my life!!"

So even though he had negotiated for "only two more lessons," perhaps we can just keep swimming.

Shabby Tabby

Every year a group of college students called the Neverland Players puts on a performance of short plays written by students from M3's school. Her play "Shabby Tabby" (concerning a girl who finds a kitten and asks her mom if she can keep it...hmmmm) was chosen this year. We weren't even notified, though! We found out by accident and rushed to catch the last performance. That silliness aside, all the plays were very cute; the Neverland players did a great job; and M3 got to go up at the end to receive some very loud applause and cheers. I think she was a bit overwhelmed! Afterward, the thespians chatted with her...it was very cute. A very fun experience...thanks, Neverland Players!

What has M3 been doing while she gets to stay home because her school has electrical problems, you ask?

Breakfast.
Lunch.
Thanksgiving dinner.

I got word today that the electrical problems are fixed and they will be back to school on Monday.

By the way...

M4's opinion of apple picking? "This is grand!"