A very busy Saturday (part 2)

After our bagel brunch, we headed to the Schaumburg Fire & Police Open House. (The perfect followup to this morning's activity.)

From the event announcement:

In recognition of National Crime Prevention Month and National Fire Prevention Week, the Schaumburg Police and Fire Departments will be hosting a combined Public Safety Open House this Saturday. There is no cost for this event and residents of all ages are invited to meet your fire fighters and police officers, have some fun, and obtain valuable safety information.

Kids can make their own police and fire buttons Police and Fire vehicles on display Fire Department vehicle extrication demonstration (They actually used some of their station volunteers as the people needing to be rescued. We hadn't seen that before, just empty, wrecked cars that were pried apart and opened like sardine cans. It was interesting to watch how they actually get people out though. They pretended one driver had a spinal injury and got him out on a back board then places him on the gurney. The officer narrating the extrication also had the microphone up to a radio, so we could hear how the emergency vehicles were called to the scene and how officers communicated with each other, the stations, other crew, and even the hospital.
This demo was much more detailed than others we've seen! Shawn kept asking me if they were real or pretend!) Tour of the Police Station jail, range, and defensive tactics training area (We went on the guided tour, which started in the Sally Port as if we were following a criminal being booked. Shawn was amazed by how hard the bed / bench in the jail cell was. We talked about how people who break the law don't get nice things that are comfortable or fun like cool rooms, soft beds, blankets, or pillows, tasty food, etc. He also noticed that the back of the police car was just hard plastic without any padding for the same reason - I spared him the details regarding the necessity for easy cleaning, etc. Shawn was a bit nervous in the shooting range. He saw bullet holes in the walls and ceiling. The officer showed us actual weapons that the police have and explained when each would be used. He passed around a bean-bag like pellet that's used instead of bullets that'll hurt but not kill - Shawn wanted nothing to do with it. The officer also showed us the fish-hook like end of the wire from a tazer gun and even the zapped the hand-held tazer so we could see the charge. Shawn took a few steps back at that point! He was much more comfortable in the defensive tactics area, which reminded him of his karate classroom in the way the floor was padded. We passed around some padded training gear and defensive batons. There was a lot of Q/A among the adults, but that was the end of the tour for us.)

Police K-9 unit (There was 1 dog, Magic, who walked around with his human partner. No demos or anything. Fun to meet him & his human, but I had hoped for more.)
Child finger printing (We got Shawn's done, but they said Lilly's too young, which I didn't realize. No biggie. The prints came home with us along with a DNA sampling kit, so we could do it on our own if we choose. We'll see.)

A very busy Saturday (part 3)

Sister love

Raj got home minutes after us. When he brought in the mail I found a package from Hayjac Designs: a necklace from Jennifer with the kids' initials. "Sterling silver 5/8" framed discs with decorative scroll at the top. The discs are high polished silver and can be stamped with block, script or lowercase font. The discs are hung on sterling silver ball chain, which come in 16",18" or 20" lengths." Love it!

We missed the Itasca Village Oktoberfest in early September, which we go to every year. It was pretty disappointing when we realized that. So, I did some research to find another that we could still go to. As a result, this evening we went to the Lynfred Winery Oktoberfest in Roselle. There was grape stomping and cork throwing for kids. They had food, but not really what I think of for Oktoberfest, so Shawn had a hot dog, pretzel, and brownie and Raj and I nibbled when he wasn't looking. We agreed to go to Schnitzel Platz tomorrow to make up for it!

Roselle Fire Department Open House

Happy Halloween!

Shawn's Eggs

Abby's Muffins

We started our Halloween morning with a little fun with our breakfast.

Since we don't have any scheduled activities today, we ran to Meijer to pick  up a few last minute things for our costumes.  Back at home, we played with play-dough and did a mini-art project  (thanks to Jennifer for forwarding the idea!).  I traced the kids’ feet and hands onto white paper, cut them out, and then decorated the upside down shapes as ghosts.  So easy!  Abby loved being traced, so we made a few sheets of ghosts for her.  (Bill’s birthday is on Friday, so we’ll make a birthday card for him using her ghosts.)  Shawn liked having his hands traced, but I think his feet were too ticklish to keep from wiggling while I was mid-trace.  I got a couple, but I’ll have to be creative when cutting them out to get the wiggled lines to resemble his feet!


I finished my costume last night.  With black pants, a gray sweatshirt, a bunch of scrap fabrics, and a glue gun, I’ve ‘built’ a building ablaze.  (I hate to admit that I burned myself more than once in the process!  …I guess that’s appropriate…)  I altered a red night shirt (also with a glue gun), added stripes with electrical tape,  and Raj added Chief Baron for our Fire Chief’s costume.  Shawn’s dog was store bought (from our Mothers & More Resale) and I’ve been working on his fire truck for the past few days.  It started as an apple box from Costco, but with the magic of paint, the glue gun, and some random materials, a fire truck has been manufactured.  I put some finishing touches on fire truck during naptime (the hose, drivers, lights, and siren).  DONE!

 

When Bill picked up Abby, I thought I had a little time to wake up Shawn, get him changed into his costume and truck, put my costume on, and then get Baron ready to go, but I didn’t have nearly as much time as I had hoped.  It seemed like only a few minutes later, Abby (Lady Bug), Bill, Viola (Olivia the Pig), and Heidi were at our front door ready to go.  I had my outfit on, but hadn’t done the flaming make-up or false lashes that I had planned.  I quickly tossed Shawn into his suit and then belted him into his truck and we left Chief Baron behind.  I almost forgot to grab Shawn’s Trick-or-Treat bucket as we rushed out the door!


Shawn loved being able to put on his fire truck, though I wasn’t sure he’d ‘wear’ it for long.  It didn’t make walking very easy, bumping into his legs with each step.  In fact, as we were rushing out the door to join the gang for Trick-or-Treating, Shawn took a massive tumble over the step at our front door.  I think the fire truck got caught up on either the step or the door frame, which threw off Shawn’s center of gravity, tipping him forward, over (and off) the front stoop, into the void where there should be bushes (luckily, there aren’t any right now!) where he landed on top of the fire truck completely shocked, disoriented, and scared by the mid-flight somersault he had just made.  Though the fire truck caused the accident, I think wearing the cardboard box actually prevented Shawn from getting hurt at all!  Thank goodness!  But, what a way to start the adventure of Trick-or-Treating !  It can only get better from here…

And, it did.  I was able to adjust the length of the arm straps to lift the box out of the way of his legs a little, but then Shawn said they were too tight.  So, we just walked slowly and I helped him up and down the front steps at the houses we visited.  Surprisingly, Shawn wore the fire truck the whole time we were out with Abby and Viola.  He even insisted on holding onto the fire hose, rather than tucking it into his arm straps, and preferred that I carry his treats bag.  (So, just to get this straight, you want to carry a pretend hose, while I carry candy?  OOOOOOKAAAY!)  We stopped at a handful of houses of people that Bill knew, but then Abby and Viola were ready to go home.  Shawn and I decided to go back out and visit some more houses.


As we past a group of other trick-or-treaters, one little boy stopped us and, with total exuberance, asked, "Did you make that?!" pointing to Shawn's costume.  Needless to say, he was in an entirely store-bought, plastic, one-of-a-million-just-like-it costume.  In fact, I hate to admit it, but I don't even remember what it was!  Maybe seeing us will inspire him (or his parents) to be a little more creative next year... maybe...  I can hope...


We tried finding our dog park friend, Ms. Katie, who would have really appreciated Shawn’s Dalmatian costume, but I only had a vague idea of which building she lived in within the neighboring townhome association.  It was really difficult to tell which residents were welcoming Trick-or-Treaters in her neighborhood, since some buildings had communal front doors.  Though we didn’t find Ms. Katie, we did stop at a plenty of other houses before heading home (well past dark).


I wasn't overly surprised, but still a little disappointed, that I only saw one other parent dressed up (a very elaborate witch) with the kids.  It's a fun excuse to do something silly with your child and there are only so many years that they'll let you get away with it before they're too old to tolerate having that kind of fun with Mom and/or Dad!  I say take advantage of the time while we have it!


Shawn did great and I had fun going out with him in costume, too.  He managed to find a just-loud-enough voice to say some combination of “Trick or Treat!” “Happy Halloween!” and “Thank You!” at each house.  He wore his fire truck a lot longer than I had ever anticipated and even when he was tired of wearing it, he still held on to the hose! The fire truck’s lights and siren were fading just about the same time that Shawn and I were.   It was time to go home.


Raj had been home for a short time handing out candy and his customary (and now requested!) toothbrushes.  He dressed as a crazed dentist… hmmm…


After Shawn changed out of his Dalmatian suit and into little boy pajamas, he continued to play with the fire truck and hose.  He was frustrated that the lights and siren wouldn’t work anymore, but at least the hose still stretched!

He and Raj greeted the last of the trick-or-treaters while I made dinner.  Our menu for the evening consisted of crocodiles’ eyes, lizards’ skins, owls’ tongues, rats’ hearts, frogs’ toes, and vampires’ teeth stirred in a cauldron of orange monster blood and topped with spiders and webs.  And, we nibbled on witches’ hats and severed fingers.

 

 In other words, we had carrot, cashew, and ginger soup (orange monster blood), to which I added meat stuffed tortellini (crocodiles’ eyes), diced onions (lizards’ skin), corn (owls’ tongues), diced red peppers (rats’ hearts), diced green peppers (frogs’ toes), and pine nuts (vampires’ teeth). Then, I garnished it with swirls of plain yogurt (webs) and cheese cut-outs (spiders). On the side, we had baby corn (severed witches’ fingers) and garlic dusted crescent rolls (witches’ hats). (Raj helped me come up with a couple of the Halloween-y names for the ingredients.) We had fun eating the ghoulish concoction and Shawn has now renamed baby corn as "witches’ fingers"!


We put the fire truck in the basement, since it’s still being played with, but I don’t want it to be run into the ground!  Raj thinks we might be able to use it for something next year, but I have a feeling Shawn will be ready for something different a year from now.  (It was a relief to see it last longer than a walk around the block.  Still, I kind of wish we could’ve used it at the Gymboree Pumpkin Patch Party, the Mothers & More Fall Family Party, or the wear-your-costume-but-no-accessories-please Language Stars class next week.  Oh, well.  It served its purpose.  I’ll totally admit I had fun making it, and I’m just glad it was worth all the effort and time!)


However, now that the festivities are over, I’m ready for another weekend!

Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm and Garden Center

After a late night with the Puri family last night, it was really nice to sleep in this morning.  At least, that is, until Raj woke me as he was leaving to watch a football game with some friends/cousins.  It was a sore subject and not a good way to start the day.
Shawn and I leisurely got ready and had breakfast before we picked up a stack of children’s books (including Curious George and Little Bear) and a Sansaveria (or ‘Mother In Law Tongue’) plant from Freecycle.  Then, the two of us went to Goebbert’s Pumpkin Farm and Garden Center in South Barrington.  The parking lot was incredibly full and we ended up in a spot on the far opposite corner from the entrance to the farm!  Oh, well.  It’s a great day to be outside (~68°F), and the walk will be good for us.

When we eventually made it to the entrance, there were vast displays of pumpkins and gourds of all shapes and sizes for sale.  Scattered throughout the pumpkin fields were wooden cut-outs of various children’s characters:  Peanuts, Sesame Street, Winnie the Pooh, Toy Story… just to name a few.  Shawn would pose at one and then run to the next when he’d see another exhilarating character.  I had to click the shutter quickly!  He also found a fire truck among a meadow of climb-able structures.  He was trying to avoid being climbed over by a group of bigger kids, when Raj caught up to us after the football game.  We figured out which attractions we wanted to visit, so Raj and Shawn got in line for tickets, while I held a spot in line for a camel ride.  That’s when Shrenik, Heena, and Veer found us for an impromptu playdate.  By that time, we had made it close to the front of the very long line, so we offered to take Veer with us so they wouldn’t have to get in line themselves.  Veer rode with me, Shawn with Raj, and Heena and Shrenik took pictures from the ground.  It worked out very well.

Next, the kids rode ponies.  Then, we went to Animal Land.  We started by climbing up ramps to a lofted platform that brought us to eye-level with two giraffes!  A very different perspective from way up there!  We also visited with some piglets before touring three very large tents that housed 55 different types of animals.  It was a mini-zoo!  Somewhere along the way, Veer decided he had had enough and they ended up going home, but Shawn was enjoying the day, so stayed to see what else was around.

The highlight was when Shawn, Raj, and I got to have our picture taken with a 12 week old white Bengal Tiger.  The handler worked tirelessly to get the cub to look in the direction of the camera for a good picture.  (I thought it was hard to keep my own focus on the camera instead of on her or the adorable cub laying just inches away from us!)  Afterwards, she explained that when the barometric pressure changes, her cats get very excited and have a hard time paying attention and cooperating, part of their instinctual nature to find shelter before a storm.  With rain in our forecast, it made sense.

Are Shawn and the cub wearing the same expression?

I had hoped to watch the pig race, where a group of piglets race around a track for an Oreo cookie.  The description of the races said:

Come cheer on your favorite pigs. “Kermit the HOG”, “Miss Piggy”, “Hillary RodHAM Clinton”, and “Kevin BACON” are all here to race for that Oreo cookie. We are sorry but, Arnold SchwarzenHOGGER will not be competing this year due to a pulled HAMstring.

But, we spent too much time in the tents looking at animals and didn’t realize that we missed it.

Raj vetoed the corn stalk maze after he and I got lost in one a few years ago at the other Goebbert’s location in Hampshire.  Instead, Shawn and I ventured through a straw-bale maze that had an old west, kiddie-town façade.  Every once in a while, a dead end would actually be a photo-op for the friends and family outside because the kids would look through windows, which turned out to be funny props with holes for faces.  Shawn had a great time running through the maze and deciding which path to take… Until, three girls came from around a corner and bumped into him.  He was startled.  He was knocked down.  He bumped his cheek on a straw bale and got a little welt.  The maze fun was over. Luckily, I was tall enough to see over the bales, so we found our way out quickly and looked for other fun things to do.

We saw a pumpkin eating dinosaur demolish a couple of pumpkins and then belch smoke from his nostrils.  (It didn’t have any arms, legs, hands, or feet – it was just a head, neck, and small body.  It looked a bit like a small construction crane, which was draped in orange cloth to cover the mechanical workings inside.)  It would position its head over a pumpkin, open its mouth wide, then reach down to pick it up.  Then, it would lift it high over our heads and crunch its jaws until bits of pumpkin came crashing to the ground.  Sometimes, very large hunks would fall and splatter at its ‘feet.’  The ‘man behind the curtain’ must have had fun at the controls because he’d pick someone in the audience for the dinosaur to interact with.  At one point, he picked me!  I’d wave, he’d bobble his head from side to side.  I’d shake or nod my head, he’d mimic.  It was fun, though Shawn wasn’t too sure what to make of this huge creature with very large teeth, jerky movements, and growling roars.  We kept reminding him that it was just a pretend dinosaur, but even after we left Animal Land, he’d occasionally ask, “Where’d the dinosaur go?” and look around nervously.  It’s a good thing there was plenty to see and do to keep him distracted!

 

We ran out of time to go on the tractor pulled wagon ride, but Shawn played on some more on the fire trucks and a train before the staff made their rounds to announce the farm was closed.  On our way out, we picked up two large pumpkins.  (Hopefully, we’ll decorate or carve them in the next few days!)  Then, we headed back to our cars.  By the time Shawn and I hiked back to the minivan, Raj had already left the property!

I told Raj that we should get dinner before going home – partially because I knew Shawn would fall asleep on the drive home and I wanted him to eat first, but also because I simply didn’t feel like cooking!  So, we met at Chili’s for an easy dinner.  Sure enough, after filling his tummy, Shawn fell asleep on the way home (~8:00 pm).  Luckily, I managed to transfer him fairly smoothly to bed.  Later, I went to bed as a thunderstorm was starting.

I guess the Bengal cubs’ internal barometers were right!

Firey Abby, Dueling Shawn, Melodious Mom, Pixies, Wizards, and Dragons! Oh, My!

It was a rough morning.  Abby threw her breakfast of scrambled eggs on the floor.  She and Shawn were like oil and vinegar today.  They bickered all morning and couldn’t figure out how to share any of the plethora of toys.  This doesn’t happen often, but WOW!

Thank goodness for a change of scenery at Music Class at Gymboree.  Miss Elizabeth subbed for Miss Kim.  There were many of the usual students missing from class, but there were also lots of new people in class either coming as makeup from other sessions or newly joining us.  Miss Elizabeth used Abby to demonstrate the movements for some lap-riding songs and my lap was happy to take a break from having two “riding along”!  Shawn was pretty quiet today (maybe all of the bickering earlier wore him out!), but he participated and followed Miss Elizabeth’s directions for each of the songs.  Whenever a new tub of instruments was brought out (maracas, blocks and sticks, or the music exploration box), he’d suddenly jump to life and sprint across the room to pick out his instrument.  He and Abby always want their maracas to match.  They even pick matching ones for me to use, too.  (Sometimes that means taking a little longer to find “the perfect” colors they each want to use.)  Abby was very hot and cold in class today – one moment she’d be enthusiastic and excited about the activity and the next minute she’d cuddle on my lap or (if we were standing up) she’d want me to pick her up.  (I don’t think she was tired because she normally puts her head on my shoulder when that’s the case.)  Even with her unpredictable mood today, she was an absolute star during the “Bah-bah” activity.  Miss Elizabeth held the microphone to Abby first and she showed the class exactly what to do.  When it was Shawn’s turn next, he froze like a deer in headlights!  Rats!  I thought last week was the beginning of a new trend!  Oh, well.  We’ll try again next time.  It turns out that Abby was one of the only kids in class who did the “Bah-bahs” today!  Way to go, Abby! 

After class, we had a few minutes to play in on the gym equipment before heading home for lunch.  A few of the parents from music class asked about Shawn and Abby and I had to explain that they’re not related.  More than once, I heard about how well they get along with each other and how nice it is that they get to do things together… I have to agree - though maybe I wouldn’t have this morning!

On the way home, Shawn called out, “FedEx mail truck!” each time he saw one, and we must have been on a busy mail route because we saw many of them.  We also practiced identifying colors by naming the signs, cars, and trucks that we saw on the way home.  Abby figured out pretty quickly that when in doubt, the signs are green (at least on the highway)!  She asked for a pink sign, too, but as hard as we looked, we didn’t see any.  Maybe we’ll try a different way home sometime or maybe one day we’ll see a billboard that will be pink.  In the meantime, we’ll keep looking.

I assumed Abby would be more than ready for lunch when we got home, so I got the kids in their boosters right away.  Abby gobbled down her yogurt without hesitation.  She looked like she was enjoying it so much that Shawn asked for some yogurt, too!  While the yogurt was disappearing quickly at both seats, I warmed up Abby’s mac & cheese and cut up some turkey and cheese for Shawn.  I presented Abby with her main course as well as a side of blueberries, a granola bar, and her cookies for dessert.  I guess I didn’t have to rush quite so much though because all she wanted was her yogurt – nothing else interested her.  Not even the blueberries or cookies!  This is not normal for Abby.  I got her to eat a few fork-fulls of the mac & cheese, but only if I fed it to her.  (She’d be tight lipped until I got it to her mouth and then she’d take the bite with no problem.)  Meanwhile, Shawn kept eyeing her untouched blueberries, so I made sure to get him a bowl of his own. 

About halfway through the meal, Shawn started making requests for various songs:  The Wheels on the Bus, Ring Around the Rosie, The Monkeys on the Bed, Mr. Sun, ABCs, and Boogie Woogie Piggy… just to name a few!  As I performed my best repertoire of children’s songs (which you will NOT be finding on video!  Again, I’m instrumental, not vocal!), the young diners helped me with the words and actions when they could and when they couldn’t they giggled encouragingly at Silly Mommy!  When it was pretty clear they weren’t going to eat any more and I was getting weary of my own song & dance act, we were off to nap time.

Abby woke up from her nap seconds before Bill knocked on the door to pick her up.  She was definitely still drowsy when I brought her downstairs with her head on my shoulder.  When Shawn woke up from his nap, I found him climbing into his rocking chair with a book.  When I greeted him, he replied, “Abby at home. I see Abby to-mon-ow (tomorrow).”

Raj got home from work just in time for us to go to a Mothers & More Family Outing to MagiQuest in Lombard.  We had never been there before and really didn’t know much about it, but this was a good excuse to check it out.  It was a sort of a living video game.  The website describes it as, “an interactive live-action, role playing game where players embark on quests and adventures in an enchanted fantasy world using real magic wands to solve the mysteries of the game.”  The interesting thing about the wands is that they ‘remember’ what quests you’ve done and what you’ve already accomplished on each quest.  Repeat visitors can buy their own wand, so their progress is recorded and so they can visit other MagiQuest locations (or online) while adding to their own profile.  (Of course, the store in front as all sorts of trinkets to buy in order to ‘personalize’ the wands, too.)  When we got there, we were given a Magic Wand and a pamphlet sized guidebook, or Ancient Book of Wisdom, to use along our ‘quest.’  The Magic Wand worked as a sort of remote control to trigger things to happen along the way.  We’d point the wand at a treasure chest and it would open to reveal the loot inside.  We’d point it at a forest scene and the monitor would reveal a nymph or wizard who would grant us a charm or give us a clue for our next step.  Shawn figured out that the wand caused things to happen, though he didn’t always point he wand at the hidden sensors in the scenery just right, so he’d start shaking it wildly in hopes that something would react to it.  Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t!  He really liked pointing at the gemstones that would light up in different colors.  Later, we actually went on a quest to find all of the gems and Shawn was thrilled to revisit them, so we already knew where most of them were.  Along our quests we found a Pixie, learned from a wizard, fought a goblin, and tricked a dragon. Though it’s a good thing we could use Shawn as our excuse to be in this living video game, I can honestly say we had a good time and it was fun to act like kids running around on secret quests through dungeons!

It's Finally Friday

Abby arrived at 7:30 this morning.  About half an hour later, we were playing and getting ready for breakfast downstairs when we heard, “A dump truck!  A dump truck!” being squealed from upstairs.  Shawn’s awake!  He was very excited to see a truck from the landscaping crew parked in the island in the center of our cul de sac.  (It was actually a pick-up truck, but who’s counting?)

At breakfast, I opened the front and back doors to let some fresh air in.  It was a bit wishful thinking though, or maybe just too early in the day.  We didn’t even finish the meal before I closed the doors again because it was too cold. 

Both kids had pants problems today!  Must not have eaten enough at breakfast!  They’d be playing and look down to see their pants on the floor.  Shawn was even running around without them for a few steps before he even noticed it.  We decided to change clothes (or at least put on different pants) before going to Gymboree – otherwise, they might have climbed right out of them!

Listening to CDs on the way to Family Gym, Abby identified Mickey Mouse’s voice each time he sang a song.  Though it was a CD of songs song by Mickey and his friends, it turns out that most of them are by Goofy.  At Gymboree, the theme of the day was ‘Construction Zone.’  The kids made ‘cement’ by putting scarves and air bags into a big barrel, they filled ‘holes in a bumpy road’ by stuffing toys into the creases of a mat, they ‘hammered and sawed a leaky roof & painted the house’ using plastic sticks on a climbing structure, they ‘fixed a clogged pipe,’ by retrieving a huge pile of scarves from a tunnel, and they ‘turned on a faucet’ by climbing through the cleared tunnel.  Later, both actually participated in Freeze!  Towards the end of class, while Abby was catching bubbles in the air, Shawn was trying to pick them up off the ground.  When that didn’t work very well for him, he switched to purposely popping them with his fingertip.  Much easier!  Of course, Abby loved dancing to the music, and Shawn danced a little on his own today.  When Gymbo (the toddler-sized clown doll mascot) came out at the end of class, both of them gave him big hugs.  There’s part of a song that gives directions of how to dance with Gymbo.  One part says Gymbo’s tired and goes to sleep, so everyone lays down on the mats and pretends to sleep.  BOTH kids did it AND BOTH jumped up when we realize that Gymbo doesn’t really want to sleep.  Usually, I have to give Shawn more than a little nudge to get him to lay down and then it takes him a while to get up again afterwards – he’s too busy watching everyone else dance along to the music.  We stuck around for a little while after class was over to play in Open Gym, but we still needed to have nap time, so we didn’t stay very long.  Neither of  the kids were quite ready to go when I was and they kept trying to go back to the equipment and play more.  Sorry, guys!  We’ll have to wait until Monday!  (I did manage to schedule a makeup session from when we missed music class to go to Kiddie Klub Lane.  We didn’t get another music class, but we have an extra gym class next week.  Next Wednesday we’ll start with music,  stay for a gym class, then come home for lunch and naps – perfect!  I think they’ll be happy to have gym after music class anyway.)

While both napped, I opened the doors again.  It was just shy of 50 F, but the fresh air was nice.  Abby woke up and Bill came to get her shortly after.  When Shawn woke up, he asked if the boys were playing games outside, like yesterday.  He also wanted to “ride the bicycle with Momma” again.  How could I resist that?  So, out we went! 

Unfortunately, the temperature must have dropped considerably by that time because by the time we got to the park (the closer of the two near us), I was already chilled.  Grant it, walking with Shawn isn’t exactly expeditious!  We stopped along the way to check out each “fy-ah hide-nt” (a.k.a. fire hydrant) and mailbox in our path, not to mention the occasional pinecone and stick too.  Plus, he had picked up a football from the garage before we left and was practicing throwing it (which looks more like holding the ball over his head and then spiking it down to the ground) at least 2 or 3 times on each block.  When we finally got to the park, he climbed the stairs and went down the big spiral slide a couple of times before I figured we better start heading back before it got much colder.  (At the rate it took us to get to the park, it very well could have been dark by the time we got home!)  Another boy at the park arrived on a small, neon green and black bike that captured Shawn’s attention.  When he and his mom were leaving the park in the same direction as our home, it was pretty easy to convince Shawn it was time for us to go, too.  We watched the neon green bike peddle ahead of us until it was out of sight, but luckily it helped keep Shawn motivated to walk forward – we even passed a fire hydrant or two without him noticing.  The combination of watching the fancy bike and my resistance to let Shawn investigate every landmark on the way made the walk home much faster.  Still, he was not happy that I rushed him inside to warm up and get ready for dinner, rather than let him play outside on his tricycle or in his Cozy Coupe car.  They will be there another (hopefully slightly warmer) day, little man.

Mullet Be Gone!

Back in September, Raj talked me into having Shawn's first hair trim done where he gets his cut, at Great Clips. I was really unhappy with the results. You could tell that the stylist didn't like having a child in her chair. She rushed through it, ending with a really choppy cut and saying that it was as good as it could be because Shawn was "difficult".  Meanwhile, Shawn was terrified of her and sat on Raj’s lap in an almost bear-hug. It was not a good experience for a first timer!

This time, I took Shawn to KidSnips in South Barrington today. It's only his second trim, though it's way over-due!  He had a super curly mullet that was getting out-of-con-trol!  (Raj was calling it his "Kane-r," after one of the Chicago Blackhawks hockey players.)

(I had to have a little fun with it one last time!)

Anyway, the KidSnips stylist, Ms. Julie, did an amazing job.  Shawn sat in a chair that looked like a little car, got to watch a Thomas the Train DVD (which was a big treat, since we don't watch TV, unless Raj’s home), and played with toys while Ms. Julie worked her magic. Not only did we NOT need a bear hug to hold him still, but Shawn was perfectly happy while scissors and clippers went zipping around his head. When she was finished, Ms. Julie gave us a "First Haircut Certificate" with a lock of his hair and a picture of the new "do," since his real first haircut wasn't exactly one to put in the baby book! She made Shawn feel very comfortable and relaxed (even pretty excited when he saw the trains, trucks, buses, and other toys she offered him). For a child who normally has stranger anxiety, Shawn was far from being "difficult" during this haircut. He was happy and his hair looks great. He even got to leave with a new toy of his choice (a red double-decker bus) and a balloon.

We'll definitely be going back to Ms. Julie for our future haircuts!

On the way to the Chicagoland Kids’ Expo, we stopped at Culver’s for lunch.  While we were eating our burgers and fries, Shawn squealed at the sight of two firetrucks zipping by with sirens blazing and lights flashing.  Talk about the right place at the right time!

Finally, we made it to the Chicagoland Kids’ Expo.  There were aisles and aisles of vendors and activities.  We had lots of fun at the petting zoo and even got to ride on a mini-train. 

There were magicians and musicians.  We even saw Craig, the director of Language Stars.  Shawn didn’t get to experience all there was to offer though, he fell asleep on my shoulder.  Okay.  That’s my cue that it’s time to go home. 

As luck would have it, Shawn woke up for the entire ride home!  How is that possible?!?