Downtown

            Yesterday we finally took our family train trip downtown.  We were planning on going sometime this summer, but our busy schedule got the best of us.  The kids have been talking about Millennium Park, the park that doesn’t have a playground since the beginning of the summer.  Caleb had a 5 day weekend and the weather was gorgeous so we could not pass up the opportunity to go. Everyone was excited as we waited at the station for the train.  

The train was much more crowded than we had expected so we had to walk through several cars to find open seats.  Much easier said than done with 3 kids, a huge double stroller, 5 large water bottles and a diaper bag.  We had to walk though 2 cars before finding seats.  Thankfully they were on the top, where the kids wanted to sit.  Maneuvering the stroller up the narrow stairs and balancing it on a seat was interesting.   Caleb and Lucy loved that the seats could switch direction and switched between facing each other and facing Mom and Dad.  

Toby walked back and forth between Mom and Dad most of the train ride. 

We were worried about Toby not getting his nap in, but the long walk to the park at naptime did the trick. 

On our walk, Lucy finally figured out how to skip.  She has been trying to figure it out for a few weeks now and had one leg down.  She was thrilled.  Our walk was pretty neat because they were setting things up for the marathon the following day.  Many streets had fences set up and there were banners hung everywhere.  We even saw many marathoners who had just picked up their registration bags.  









Grant Park was full of tents and port-a-potties for the event.  I guess we had talked so much about the mirror bean at Millennium Park that the huge fountain was not that awe-inspiring to the kids. Lucy’s favorite part there was the rose garden.

  
 We arrived to Millennium Park at the opposite end of the “bean”.  The kids were getting antsy to see it, but thankfully there were some inflatable things for them to play.  Caleb loved the soccer and Lucy the bouncer.  Toby was just waking up. 

 It was pretty crowded because of the Country Music Festival which was taking place this weekend. We went through a garden where they could put their feet in.  Toby especially loved splashing in it.  Caleb dropped one of his socks in so he had to go the rest of the day without them.  Thankfully it was not his shoe.  

We finally made our way to the bean. Sometimes when you anticipate things so much, the actual event cannot live up to the hype.  This did.  Caleb and Lucy loved it.  How could anything be better? 

…. With the arrival of Spiderman, of course. As we were walking under the “bean” 3 men dressed in costumes joined the crowed.  There was a Spider-man, black Spider-man and a green guy with a G on his chest. I couldn’t get a photo of Caleb’s face, but you can imagine his excitement.  The men looked absolutely ridiculous in their full-body suits.  Even the masks were attached to the suit. 

With Toby strapped in the Ergo, we put Caleb and Lucy in the stroller and made the mile trek back to the train station.  The train was just as crowed as the way down, but we were able to find seats on the lower level, much to Caleb’s dismay.  It was a much longer ride home with the kids (and us) exhausted. 

Caleb has been talking about eating at Taco Bell for a while now, so we decided to go there for dinner. 

We had such a fun day as a family and such gorgeous weather to boot.

Maybe we will go and see the Michigan Ave window displays at Christmas time.  

Kindergarten

Caleb started school last week.  He is going to Washington School, the public school that is 2 doors down from our house.  Ever since we moved here and watched the buses pull in and out each day, he has been counting down until he turned 5 and gets to start school.  Thankfully, he got to start just 2 weeks after turning 5.

Tuesday was the first day, but it was only 45 minutes and Mom and Dad got to come too.  It was great to see the classroom and meet the teacher.  He was nothing but excited.  I was holding back tears.  He wore his Spider-man shirt with his Spider-man backpack.

Wednesday he had a full day, 8:45 – 3:00.  He was so excited to finally use his Spider-man lunch box.

Normally the students are supervised in the hallway from 8:25 until 8:40 when their parents or busses drop off.  For the first day, the kindergarten teachers had their class line up outside until the whole class was present.  Lucy, Toby and I got to meet Mrs. Hugo and wait until he walked in.  

While we were waiting, Lucy got stung by a bee (her 3^rd sting this summer).  We got to take a trip to the nurses office to get an icepack!  We tell her she is too sweet and the bees just love her, the office staff said the same. I was surprised at myself for not being sad leaving him at school.  

We didn’t even get a chance to see how quiet the house is without Caleb because we had our pipes replaced that day.  The plumbers arrived an hour before we took him to school and left a half hour after he returned. Since we can see the park from the front door, I told him that I would wave to him at recess.  I tried to pick him out of the crowd, but since it was yellow day, I could not see him.  I didn’t get emotional until we picked him up.  We were waiting a few minutes before the bell rang.  Caleb’s class was the first to the door, and Caleb was one of the first three students out.  He spotted up right away and came running across the grass and jumped onto me to give me a hug.  

When I asked him about school I mostly got “nothing” answers.  He didn’t really know any of the kids names yet, just too many new kids and new things to remember!  I guess at recess he was talking to a boy for a while but he wasn’t playing so he asked a boy in his class if he wanted to play.  The boy said no and that he had already been to school there (jumpstart preschool) and he was waiting for a boy he already knew.  I was sooo sad when he told me that, but he didn’t really seem that worked up.  I almost emailed the teacher! I think that boy was just a nervous with everything new as Caleb.  The next two days they played together at recess.

   

On Thursday, he was telling me what he wanted for lunch the next few days.  When I reminded him about the weekend he was a little sad that he would not be going to school. He was begging all morning for me just to take him to school early. I will have to remind him of that when he is a teenager and wants every day to be a weekend.  

On Friday, I volunteered to help with Kindergarten lunch.  They only have three employees supervising lunch so they asked for volunteers for the first week.  I was so excited to go in and meet his class!  Caleb was beaming to see me at school, another thing I am sure I will have to remind him of.

The school day has gone surprisingly fast for me and is very quiet, especially during naptime.  Caleb has not napped regularly for the last 2 ½ years and is very much a boy.  On Thursday, when Toby was napping, I was trying to get some things organized and Lucy just sat quietly next to me organizing her bracelets.  Maybe I will be more productive during the school year. 

Lucy really misses her playmate.  Every afternoon she has asked when we are picking him up.  One morning she was in tears because she forgot to get a hug goodbye from him before he walked into school. 

Toby really enjoys walking to pick Caleb up because he gets to see the school buses up close. 

Dad enjoyed being able to go on the first day of school.  He got out of his meetings early on Friday so go to meet Caleb after school too. 

Caleb, we love you. We can’t believe that you are old enough to go to school We miss you while you are at there, but we are glad you are having fun!  

Gymnastics

Aunt Jaime told us about a gymnastics camp that was right by their house.  Nadia signed up for the whole week and we decided to sign Caleb and Lucy up for Tuesday and Thursday session.  It was from 9-11:30 each day.  We were worried about getting stuck in traffic on the way down, so we left our house as soon as everyone was awake (about 6:45 each day).  The kids ate their breakfasts in the car.  We spent a little time at Aunt Jaime's before class.  Parents we not allowed in the gym during the camp so I only have one picture. We were allowed to peak through the windows, which was fun.   

On Tuesday, the moms and the baby boys walked around the park, let the boys play at the playground and even hit up the Mexican Fine Arts Musuem. 

I guess we bored them. 

Thursday the temperatures were approaching 100 degrees so we decided to go to Home Depot instead. I forgot my camera, but the boys enjoyed riding in the big orange Home Depot car cart. 

We went back to Aunt Jaime's for lunch and to play again until it was time to go home.  It was so much fun to be able to spend so much time with sisters and cousins! 

Poncho-style Towel Cover-up

I love seeing simple projects on other people’s blogs, so I thought I would give directions to a project I just did. 

My Mother-in-law gave the kids cute towels from Lands End.  I love them! They are great because they don’t fall off or drag on the ground and the kids can walk to the car from the sprinkler park or the pool.    Lucy’s is already starting to get small on her and they are always fighting over Caleb’s, so I decided to make some.  

I used the Lands End towel as my example.  I am in no way a seamstress so there is probably a better way to do it, but this is what worked for me.  The Lands End ones have cute characters and such; mine are just plain.  Maybe we will look for some patches to sew on.   

1.  Choose a bath or beach towel and coordinating hand towel.  Fold it in half and make sure it is the desired length.  If it is too short on the child, it will not keep them warm.  If it is too long they will trip.  I used 30 in. by 54 in., which was perfect for my 3 and 5 year old.

2.  Lay the hand towel flat and cut 6 ½ inches from each of the finished side.  The finished sides will be the front of the hood.  Each time I cut a piece I zigzag stitched (basted?) the edge so it would not fray. (for a toddler size I would cut 6 inches, per the small Lands End one.)

3.  Overlap the pieces and sew together.  (I overlapped rather than sewing the right sides together so that I could keep the finished trim and not have too bulky of a seam.)  I sewed the top side down, turned it over and sewed the bottom flat.  (This is the front of the hood.)

4.  Cut the remaining part of the hand towel down to 11 inches wide.  Zigzag each of the cut sides. (for a toddler size I would cut 10 - 10 1/2  inches, per the small Lands End one.)

5.  Fold in half lengthwise.  Starting from fold, cut curved piece off the top. (This will be the back of the hood.)

6.  Pin right sides together and sew back of hood.

7.  Pin the front and back of the hood together (right sides together). The front will be slightly longer than the back because of the piece you trimmed off the top.  Sew together.

8.  Trim hood to desired length.  I Used 12 in. from the top seam.  Zigzag around the bottom.

9.  Cut a slit in the middle of the bath towel.  Measure the width of your finished hood to determine length.  I cut mine 11 in. Better to cut short and have to go further than to cut too far.  Zigzag around the collar.  (For a toddler size use the width of your hood as a guide.)

10.  Find the center of the back of both the collar and the hood. Pin.  Continue pinning around.  It is okay to have the front pieces of the hood overlap.  (The Lands End ones overlap, but their hoods are a little more curved).

11.  I had a small space between the two finished pieces of the hood.  I just barely angled down the finished edges before pinning and folded over the remaining inch or so of collar so that it would look finished. 

12.  Sew the hood to the collar.

13.  You can apply any ribbons, patches or whatever you want.

Sorry for the poor photos, our basement gets very little natural light. Let me know what you think.