Something always happens to me when I start seeing the backpack and pencils displayed at our local Target.  It's a nagging alarm clock that reminds me of the finite amount of time left before the sunshine and warm weather fades.   Damn you Number 2 pencils!  We joined the throngs of tourists in Chicago's Millennium Park.  It was our first time in the Lurie Garden...absolutely beautiful.  Fun is always found on the eL too.  

It's not often that we get a babysitter and go on a date night.  This certainly qualified as one of our more adrenaline driven evenings we've had in a while.  Spontaneously planned the night before...so as there was not much time to reconsider.  It was so much fun yet I couldn't wait for it to be over.  Why they didn't allow us drinks in between turns was beyond me.  This experience could have been a bit more spectacular with a little rum runner before heading up that ladder.  The first thing we did once we were safely in the car on our way home was call our parents and let them know we were alive.  Crazy amounts of fun that I will not soon be repeating.  I can promise that.  But dang, look at our form!  

Some of my best childhood memories involve me and the outdoors.   I remember trudging through the marshes at the Arboretum as a child.  I remember looking for spit bugs, holding milk weed pods, taking apart cat tails and collecting fistfuls of wild flowers.  Josh and I spent many afternoons riding our bike through the unmarked trails of Hidden Lake and climbing through pipes in search of small streams after it rained.  There was so much fun to be had outside, unsupervised with nary a bottle of hand sanitizer in sight!  I want the girls to have those same experiences, but lest I be accused of child neglect, I thought we could slowly wade into these waters of outdoor exploration.  Yesterday, we spent our morning at the Morton Arboretum.  I signed up the girls for a class on dragonflies.  It was organized, instructive and supervised, yet the girls had fun.  Here is Ella holding a dragonfly nymph as Viv looks enviously on.  



Mariachi freeze dance!



Churros, strawberries and chocolate fondue for dessert.



The mad dash

Viv had two simple requests for her fourth birthday...a pinata and churros.  We celebrated with a few neighbors and family on a hot. muggy July evening.  Luckily the rain held out just long enough for us to get a few swings at the pinata.

How do we feel about the camera?

Viv, your father, sister and I thought extra hard about what you might want as your fourth birthday wish.  Ever since you were formally introduced to a mermaid named Ariel via preschool friends, you've been smitten.   A tail and a two hour cruise on "Prince Erik's" ship around sunset and I believe we have accomplished a birthday celebration you won't soon forget.   

Happy 4th!

Waiting for the parade to start!

Vivian posing as the "American Gem Horse" for the Fourth of July "Chariot"...what?
Standing is "Queen America" and kneeling is "Queen Stars and Stripes".  Joey and her brother Julian are the normals in the back.

Children with fire?  Why not?

We decorated "floats" with crepe paper, stars and stickers and marched around the driveway to John Philip Sousa before heading to the Oak Park fireworks last night.

Our second trip to Michigan City with Miriam and the girls was a success as far as collection of family history goes.  The Lighthouse Museum was open!  We were finally able to lay eyes on the trunk that accompanied my thirteen year old great-grandfather to the United States following his stint as cabin boy on a ship from Germany.  The girls couldn't get enough and spent an entire ten seconds admiring the piece that symbolizes our family's start in the US.  As you can tell by the pics, the beach was enjoyed to it's entirety.  So were the hotdogs and root beer floats at Carlson's.