This Week

Mom was in town, so on Sunday we took a spontaneous trip to Lincoln Park Zoo. Mom and Clara enjoyed watching the young turtles push each other around.
Clara and Henry enjoyed acting like apes.


And we said Hello to the giraffe.
Then we started camp at the Botanic Garden. Clara's camp is one where I get to attend with her. It's supposed to be art and music, but so far there hasn't been any music.
Henry's been spending lots of time crafting marble machines out of various toys.
Yesterday Dad and Kathie arrived for a couple of days and the two Grandpas put together a sandbox for the kids.
Henry helped. He went along to the sand and gravel place too and watched the big backhoe put the sand into Grandpa's truck. Sounds like it was a pretty fun experience for a 5-year-old boy.
Clara has a few mosquito bites.
Here they are before the seats are nailed on the end and the top is on. It's a quite fabulous sandbox!

A Blustery Day at CBG

I heart tulips.
And smiles.
And crawling around like kids.
And copy-catting your brother.
I heart baby bellies.
And my mom.
And joyful pointing to big ugly fish.
And big ugly fish.
I heart fountains.
And family.
And getting down for a closer look.
And testing the water.
And big trucks.
And purpley-blue.
And orangey-yellow.
I heart serious walks.
And studious drawing.
And tentative waving because you were told to.
And pointing.
And flowers.
And bonsai.
And running.
And mermaids.
And my kids.
And you too.

February Fun

Last weekend we took the kids sledding at the big hill. Anna came along with us, while Sebby stayed home with a tummy ache. The kids had an awesome time, but I think the most fun of all was had with all 3 being in the back of the car together.
I'm sharing this picture as an example of Clara's little miss "I do it!!!!"
The other night the kids were running around the house "shooting" things with Crayola markers. Henry told me they were playing Army. I suggested maybe they play Firefighter instead. When they turned around to pose for me Clara mimicked everything Henry did.

And then they sat and wore their helmets at the dinner table.
This morning we decided to get up and go somewhere. We wanted to go to the nature center, but remembered that the indoor part is closed on Fridays. So off we went to the Botanic Garden.
And then we ran into our favorite neighbors.
It was fun to hang out in the greenhouses today, but guess who wouldn't give me a normal face for a picture.
Tomorrow Pete and I head downtown for an evening with Amber and Jeff. It will be lots of fun to have an adults-only overnight! We're meeting up with some other friends of theirs and going to dinner and Second City. We'll spend the night down there while the kids party it up with Grandma and Bampa. Woo hoo!!

Early Literacy

Henry was antsy in the car today as we ran errands. I handed him a pad of paper and told him to write me a note. He wrote this list of what we should do when we got home:

Play a game
Watch a Pepe
Eat Lunch

He only asked me for help with the "ee sound in eat" and the "uh sound in lunch". The kid is brilliant.

And just for good measure, here are a few more cute photos from yesterday...

I'm Afraid to Move

I should be doing dishes or coursework or napping myself, but I'm kind of afraid to move. The kids were a challenge to get down for naps, but they were SO tired from our morning at the Botanic Garden. Here are a few highlights. Clara toddled all over the place...
And they both got extremely wet in the rose garden fountain. Note how Henry is practically leaning on the sculpture and the water is pouring directly onto Clara's shoes.
Here you can start to get a feel for how wet they were. This does not, however, show how they looked after walking around for another half-hour and after Clara sat down (several times) in the dirt path.
Ah well. What is childhood about if it's not about getting all wet and dirty just for the hell of it? Now I'm going to try to close my eyes for a moment on the couch....which I'm sure will guarantee the kids will wake in about 3 minutes.