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!

The Chicago Botanic Garden's Model Railroad Garden: Landmarks of America

This morning, we drove to the Glencoe Metra Station (actually taking the Metra would’ve been fun, but incredibly inconvenient for this particular trip).  We parked a few steps from a waiting trolley, which carried us to the Chicago Botanical Gardens.  In addition to being a fun ‘adventure’ for Shawn, the trolley saved us money, too - $4 for two adults (Shawn was free) versus $25 to park the van in the Gardens’ parking lot.  (Though, we didn’t actually know that until we were already there.  We just got lucky!)
As we walked through the Visitor Center, I found a free Bingo Board to play with as we explored the grounds.  Shawn had a lot of fun placing the provided stickers on the pictures when he’d find the various objects.  When he found the very last item, just before we were leaving, he ran over to show me his completed Bingo Board and asked for a “Surprise Fruit Snack!”  How could I resist rewarding all that hard work?  (Though, I’m not sure how much of a surprise it was then…)

We sat at the edge of a pond and admired a water fountain, a rainbow in its mist, and very large fish that were inches away from our toes.  We dabbled our fingers in another water fountain for a little while before finding our friends, Shrenik, Heena, and Veer.  Then we made our way over to the Model Railroad Garden exhibit – the real reason we were there in the first place!

The Chicago Botanic Garden has a temporary exhibit (May – October) that has returned for the past few years called the Model Railroad Garden:  Landmarks of America.  The website’s description was:

The 7,500-square-foot Model Railroad Garden features 17 garden-scale (G-scale) trains on 1,600 feet of track. The garden-scale trains are 1/29th the size of life-sized trains. Train and garden enthusiasts, young and old, return year after year for the delightful sights and sounds of the miniature trains traversing high and low through tunnels, across bridges, and around buildings — all intricately handcrafted with natural materials, including twigs, bark, leaves, acorns, and pebbles. More than 5,000 tiny trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and flowering plants of close to 300 varieties re-create the topographical landscape of America. Vignettes of tiny people and animals give the exhibit a storybook feel, while sound effects and a working geyser capture visitors’ imaginations.

It also had two very cool videos about it:




It was a lot of fun. The train exhibit was a little smaller than Raj and I expected, but they packed a lot into the space. The attention to detail was amazing. There were landmarks from all over the country represented. (Shawn can now indentify the Statue of Liberty and when we saw the Liberty Bell from Pennsylvania, he pointed out that's where Oma and Opa live!)

(A video might be coming... if I can edit it better!)

By the end of our ‘adventure,’ my pedometer had recorded that we walked for a total of 2 hours 27 minutes 44 seconds, covering 4.247 miles, had taken 8961 steps, and burned 242.5 KCAL.  (Unfortunately, it’s a cheap pedometer and it doesn’t always register all of my steps correctly, but it at least gives us an idea of how far we walked.)  Here’s a map of the gardens to show just how big a place it is – we did a pretty good job covering most of it, too!

While we were waiting for the trolley to take us back to our car, Raj entertained Veer and Shawn.  While they sat in an empty tram that had been parked for the evening, Shawn surprised him by pointing out, “There are two bicycles on the right, Dadda!”  Raj was impressed that in fact there were two and in fact they were on the right side of them!

What a great day to spend at the Chicago Botanic Gardens with great friends!  The creativity and handiwork behind the Model Railroad Garden alone was well worth the trip, but I'm so glad we saw the other gardens and made a whole day of it.  Not many more days left like this in Chicago this year!  But, this was had another 80°F day (and 30° swing from the low to the high).  I don’t think we saw a cloud the whole day.

Back at the car, Raj drove quickly to grab dinner before Shawn fell asleep.  (He didn’t get a nap and had only snacked all day, so I didn’t want him to fall asleep before having an actual meal.)  Raj got us to Bucca di Beppo in Wheeling just in time.  I was able to hold Shawn’s interest on the way there by giving him a portable fire truck & station toy that he doesn’t get to play with very often.

For dinner, we had cheesy bread Florentine, baked rigatoni with spicy sausage, chicken stuffed with prosciutto, all served family style (and had plenty to take home when we were done).  While we ate, we tested Shawn to see if he really did know if right from his left.  He correctly identified his left and right hands, ears, eyes, and cheeks.  Just to see if he was paying attention, I asked him where his ‘left mouth’ was – he giggled, said, “Nooooooo!” but pointed to his mouth anyway.  Not bad for a two year old!

On the way home, he started off a bit wired, sang songs, and made lots of goofy noises, but when I put the toy away and out of sight, he fell asleep almost immediately.  I wasn’t able to transfer him to his bed as smoothly as I had hoped, but after just a few moments of very tired and frustrated crying, he settled down, gave me a goodnight kiss, and fell back to sleep.  The best part – it was only 8:00 pm!

After spending a gorgeous day outside, it’s an early to bed night for all of us.


Sweet dreams.

An Adventure to Sonny Acre Farm

Spanish class focused on body parts.  Our friend, Gavin, wasn’t in class again, but a little girl, named Mia, joined us for the first time.  (I’m not sure if she’s in our class now or if it was just a one time deal.)  Shawn loves the opening song, Buenos Dias, Amigos!  Though he only chimes in to reply, “Muy Bien!” he does it with gusto!  Abby sang along with the ending song Hasta Luego, Amigos! including hand motions, of course!  Our project was simply a coloring sheet, but we had more fun singing and dancing to Mi cuerpo hace música / My Body Makes Music:

Mi cuerpo hace música (track 10, Around the World with Language Stars) Mi cuerpo, mi cuerpo hace música. (2x) ¡Mis manos hacen clap, clap, clap! (2x) ¡Mis pies hacen tomp, tomp, tomp! (2x) ¡Mi boca hace la, la, la! (2x) ¡Mi cuerpo hace cha, cha, cha! (2x)

My Body Makes Music (track 10, Around the World with Language Stars) My body, my body makes music. (2x) My hands go clap, clap, clap! (2x) My feet go stomp, stomp, stomp! (2x) My mouth goes la, la, la! (2x) My body goes cha, cha, cha! (2x)

After class, we headed for an adventure in West Chicago at Sonny Acres Farm with Mothers & More for a Mom and Tot Outing.  The newsletter said:

Let's enjoy the day at the pumpkin farm. At Sonny Acres you'll find everything relating to Halloween, fall and harvest time - including huge mounds of pumpkins! They also have hay rides, haunted barn, amusement rides, pony rides, and a Kiddie Koral where little ones can run and play.

What a day for an outing!  It was 80°F without a cloud in sight!  (This is October, right?  In Chicago?  Really?)  We met the other moms and kids in the Kiddie Koral.  It was a fenced in area with lots of things to explore: tunnels, a tractor, slides, fun Halloween props…

When we left the Koral, Shawn and Abby were drawn to some rabbits, chickens, goats, sheep, ducks, and llama (or is that an alpaca??  I really don’t know.)

Suddenly, they realized there was a mini-train ride right behind them and the animals were no longer exciting enough!  I restocked my supply of tickets and they eagerly hopped aboard.  …Until it started moving, then Abby didn’t think it was such a great idea anymore.  She finished her ride, but was sure to be the first to get off.  On the other hand, Shawn loved every moment of the ride and would have stayed on all afternoon if he could have!

After revisiting the animals, we went on a 15-20 minute wagon ride pulled by a tractor through a ‘haunted’ forest.  Though it was set up to be scary for nighttime visitors, in broad daylight, without spooky sounds, lights, or animatronics, it was perfectly suitable for little ones.  They even had child-friendly characters hidden among the ghosts, goblins, and skeletons, like a cardboard cut-out of Big Bird perched in a tree!

 We finished our outing wandering through rows and mounds of pumpkins.

It was a great way to spend the day!  When we got home, Shelley was home early from work.  So, Shawn and I said goodbye to Abby and headed off to a well deserved naptime.

All day long, Shawn was having a pants problem kind of day.  Not just pants, but a pull-ups problem too!  Every few minutes I’d notice that he was imitating a plumber!  Oy!  A very (overly) concerned (read: nosey) mom from our group actually asked me if I’d stopped dressing Shawn in diapers when she saw his pants slipping down.  I tried to explain that we’re potty training and done with diapers, but that he wears pull-up type diapers when he sleeps and when we leave the house.  When he’s running around as much as he was this afternoon, his little wiggly waist just doesn’t have enough girth to keep the darn things up very long.  And, when we’re at home, it’s even more of a struggle with underwear… but there’s rarely an audience there, so it’s not a big deal.  And, really, is a little toddler butt that big of a deal anyway?  Who doesn’t like toddler butt??!?!

Speaking of potty training, Shawn filled out another Potty Paper with stickers this afternoon.  He pulled an ice cream truck out of the toy surprise bag.  It’s fun to watch him pick his surprise toy because he knows he’s not supposed to look inside and can only put a hand in.  (I’ll try to remember to catch it on video next time.)  Since he’s not familiar with what an ice cream truck is, I tried explaining it to him, but realized it’s something that’s better seen in person to really understand.  Oh, well.  It’s a new truck to add to his fleet.

Note:  Steve Jobs, of Apple Computers, succumbed to pancreatic cancer today.  It’s interesting to hear, read, and see people’s reactions to the passing of such an influential man.

Tag der Deutschen Einheit

An email to Oma, Opa, and Jennifer:

Haben Sie eine wunderbare Tag der Deutschen Einheit!
Liebe,
~ Shannon

Have a wonderful Day of German Unity!

Love,

Shannon

I've got a great excuse to have German food tonight!  I’m trying a new slow-cooker recipe and  for dessert I have brown bag apple pie, ahem, Apfelkuchen, from the Long Grove Apple Festival we went to yesterday.  Can't wait!

Slow Cooker Smoked Pork and Sauerkraut Dinner

Ingredients:

• Use 1 1/2 lb. peameal bacon roast or a smoked pork loin roast.
• Use 4 potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold because they are firmer and don't fall apart as easily.
• Use one 28 oz. can Sauerkraut, drained.
• Liquid - 1 cup of either apple juice, orange juice, or water.

Instructions:

• Put Peameal Bacon Roast and Sauerkraut in slow cooker (crock pot).
• Add peeled potato quarters to the slow cooker, making sure the potatoes are pushed well to the bottom. Potatoes need to be in liquid to cook properly. Even though there is not enough liquid in the cooker to start, there will be once it cooks for a few hours.
• Pour in about 1 cup of apple juice, orange juice, or water.
• Cook, covered on low to medium, for about 6 hours. Check your slow cooker instructions for approx. times.
• Remove potatoes, meat, and sauerkraut. Keep warm.
• Put cooking liquid into saucepan, bring to boil, and thicken with 1 - 2 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in some cold water. Use as sauce for the meal.

Serves 4.


Abby came over shortly after 7:30 am this morning, while Shawn slept in until a little after 10:00 am!  That gave Abby plenty of uninterrupted time to play with a box of books and Shawn’s new magnetic Thomas the Train book all to herself.

Gymboree’s free Bonus Class schedule changed this month, so we were left without a class today.  I had plans to take the kids to a much needed excursion to Costco, but instead, we spent the day playing at home.  Ahhh… the simple pleasures of a pile of boxes.  (I keep meaning to put these out to recycle, but I just don’t have the heart to take them away!  Maybe tonight will be the night.)  Here, they show off their favorite game – riding a Choo Choo Train!

Sometimes staying home is just as much fun, if not more, than running out to planned activities.

After a stretch of great days, potty training seems to have taken a setback today.  I feel like both Abby and Shawn are peeing every 10 minutes or so – whether they’re on the toilet or not!  Lots of clean ups today.  (sigh)  On the other hand, Abby got enough stickers on her Potty Paper to finish her sheet and take it home!

Luckily, I got a break when both went down for naps easily.  Abby woke up minutes before Bill arrived and Shawn woke as she was leaving.  It was an early wake up for Shawn, but he also went to sleep faster than he has lately.  I was a little nervous that Shawn’s sleeping in this morning was going to mess up the rest of the day, but (phew!) not the case.  He must have just needed a few more hours of shut-eye.

Grandma Fanny came over for her English lesson.  We reviewed short a and short e sounds and introduced the short i sound.  I've given her small picture cards of words that contain those short vowel sounds rather than written words and she LOVED sorting them. It helped build her vocabulary, her spelling (I had her write the words on the back), and it gave her something to practice at home between our sessions.  She has a hard time differentiating them and an even harder time getter her mouth to cooperate when trying to enunciate, but she’s such a hard worker and incredibly motivated.  What a difference it is to work with her and struggling middle schoolers!

After emailing with Jennifer, Oma, and Opa, I added soft pretzels to the German meal.  I cheated and bought some frozen from the grocery store.  Not the best, but they fit the bill. Shawn loved his!  After all the food from dinner, we didn’t have any room for the Apfelkuchen for dessert!  It’ll have to wait for another day.

'Hel-talk-oos' in 'Ooo-neee-nee'

During breakfast, we watched airplanes coming in to land at O’Hare. Even though this happens virtually 24-7, they thought it was pretty fun to announce, “Another airplane!” when they saw a new one in the distance.  Abby kept asking for a “hel-talk-oo” (or as Shawn would say, “het-top-ter” or as I would say, “helicopter”), but we were much too late to catch the traffic copters in the air. 

After breakfast, Shawn and Abby held hands and ran around the living room saying, “Whooo wooo! Choo choo train!”  They were giggling and beaming the whole time.  These two are something else!  Later, they helped me put up Spring and Easter decorations.  We stuck window clings on the front window and mirror, poured plastic eggs into various vases and containers around the house, and hung some miniature decorations of bunnies, birds, and Easter eggs from the dining room chandelier.  They had fun checking out the new décor.

It’s deceivingly pretty outside today: crystal blue sky, hardly any clouds, bright sunshine, little/no wind – but 25 F.  It’s a bit chilly for a walk to the park today.  Rats! Looking forward to the days when we can play outside without going numb - though I’m not a big fan of heat stroke either!

This evening, just to see what would happen, I told Shawn that we live in Chicago, Illinois.  Now, we’re practicing, “Where do you live?” “Ooo-neee-nee”  If he’s ever faced with telling someone where he lives, he’ll definitely need a translator!  Too bad we don’t live somewhere easy like… Hawaii!

When I was putting Shawn down to sleep for the night, he pointed to the freckles on my cheeks.  I told him, “Those are Momma’s freckles.”  He gently tapped them a few times, then leaned in and kissed them on both cheeks!  He made the pucker sound and all!  I couldn’t help it - I almost teared up.  My sweet little man.

Dinner at 2Toots

Shawn did not sleep well last night; therefore, I did not sleep well last night.  Ugh.  This morning came much faster than I was ready for it to.  Rats.  As Raj was leaving for work, he suggested that we skip Shawn’s swimming lesson so that we could both sleep in, since Shawn was sleeping soundly now.  Though it was tempting, I knew that would throw off naptime and probably tonight’s sleep too, so I rolled out of bed and braced myself for the start of the day.

Once I was dressed and ready, I went in to wake Shawn, who I found sitting up in bed with a giant smile.  “I had a good nap!” he announced.  Well, it’s a good thing, because Momma didn’t!  He saw our gym bag in my hand and said, “Shawn and Momma go swimming pool!”  With that, we got him out of bed and out of his pajamas.  Before I put his swimming gear on, I sat him on the potty seat… just to see what would happen.  It must have been good timing because after just a few seconds - SUCCESS!  Shawn peed in the toilet!  YIPPEEEEE!!  Despite my rough night, today’s starting look not so bad after all! 

We got to the YMCA half an hour early.  The lifeguard on duty let us get in the pool even though our teacher wasn’t there yet.  Shawn did great.  The water was slightly warmer than last week, but he still shivered.  I helped Shawn practice climbing out of the pool and then scoot back in.  His arms were much more relaxed today and he was more willing to climb out and “jump” back in again.  I was hoping that being more active would help warm him up and stop his shivering, but no such luck.  Gradually, a few other students arrived and Shawn grew more and more observant.  Our friend, Tanner, and his mom, whose name I still don’t know, were back to class today.  However, there was still no teacher.  A new lifeguard on duty came over and asked us if we were a part of a class, “Because all the classes are cancelled this week for Spring Break.”  What?!?!  Our teachers told us that Spring Break is NEXT week!  I guess that explains the small class size and no teachers!  Arg.  Luckily, the lifeguard didn’t make us leave; instead, he brought over a crate of toys and encouraged us to take advantage of the unintentional “open swim” time.  So, we did.  The parents joked that aside from acting out a few nursery rhymes in a big circle, we’d probably be doing about the same thing even if the teachers had been there.  We agreed that it was nice to get an extra day of swim time out of our class membership.  Shawn and I finally needed to get going because Baron had an appointment at the groomers, but I think we’ll try to come early next week and see if we can get in the pool early again!

We rushed home, grabbed Baron, and rushed back out to the groomers (practically the same area as the YMCA was).  While “Baron taking a bath,” Shawn and I visited a thrift store down the street.  We found a couple of outdoorsy toys and two shirts that I think/hope will work as smocks, if I can get up the guts to have Shawn and Abby do some artsy-crafty projects.  With the hopes of finding some “foodrink” to snack on until Baron was ready to be picked up, we stopped at a deli that I had never noticed before.  It turned out to be a Polish grocery store, with nothing we could munch on there (mostly dried and canned goods); however, I found the mother load of KinderEgg Surprises!  Like a kid in a candy store, I grabbed a handful of them to use at Easter.  (We’ll see if I can hold out that long!) 

When we got back to the car, I got the phone call that Baron was done.  Then it was home for lunch and then naptime.  Just as I was sitting down to read Shawn a story for naptime, Raj came home.  So, we came back downstairs and played with Dadda for a little while before trying for a nap again.  This time, though he had been running around like a hyperactive squirrel moments before, Shawn fell fast asleep. 

We went out to dinner to celebrate Raj’s birthday, though it was really with Shawn in mind.  The 2Toots Train Whistle Grill was on Main Street in Glen Ellyn, steps away from the train tracks.  (It was really much more of a greasy diner, but food isn’t what they’re known for.)  Each table in the diner was situated alongside the tracks of a model train, which delivered the diners’ meals!  Shawn was in awe from the moment we walked in.  Raj was able to feed him while he focused on the trains that surrounded us: on the model train track, on the wall décor, on the small tv in the corner, on the real tracks just outside window, everywhere!  Shawn was so enamored with the place that I’m actually not so sure he even realized he was eating!  We’ll definitely have to go back, even though the “old fashioned comfort food” wasn’t very impressive.

When our meal was over and Shawn regained his ability to blink, we headed home.  Mona was on her way over to spend the evening with Shawn, while Raj and I enjoyed a simple movie Date Night on our own.  Nice!

Kiddie Klub Lane and NO COATS!

Shawn called out for Oma and Opa’s dog, Gambol, last night/early this morning.  Normally, it seems like Buddy is his favorite of their two Brittany Spaniels, but, for whatever reason, Gambol was on his mind this time!  Must be time to visit again…

Mothers & More had a Mom & Tot outing to Kiddie Klub Lane in Lombard this morning.  I planned that we would stay for about an hour and then go to music class Gymboree just down the street... but it turned out that we stayed all day!  The center was set up like a small village with cottages lining the walls.  Each cottage had a different theme: bait shop, diner, fire department, gas station, grocery store, vet’s office, etc. and each was had a variety of themed toys that went along with it.  There was even a small area with toys for less mobile infants.  There were also a few tables so the adults to sit and relax while the kids played freely.  In the back was a party room, which was also were Mothers & More provided snacks for any of our little ones who was interested.  It was definitely a family owned place, but I was impressed with the creativity behind its design.  I only wished it had an outdoor area, so we could enjoy the gorgeous weather today!  It was 59 F outside, so it was a shame we spent so many hours inside… though it was a lot of fun.

When Shawn woke up from his nap, we went for a walk.  I just couldn’t let this beautiful day pass by without taking advantage!  It was the first day of the year that we went out without a coat.  We played at park, watched trains, gazed at and heard geese at the pond, and watched dogs playing at the dog park.  By the time we got home, we had spent 2 hours on our wonderful walk enjoying being outside again.

We could have spent all day outside! (could’ve, should’ve, would’ve…)

Woo-Woo! Wow-Wow!

Shawn, Raj, and I spent the day at the High Wheeler Train Show at Harper College in Palatine, IL.  Veer, Heena, and Shrenik joined us to see the 20+ “spectacular operating railroad layouts”, which did not disappoint!  There were model train sets of all sizes, “from the tiniest "Z-scale" up to the popular garden sized "G-scale" - and every one in between.”  There were vendors and hobbyists with everything train related on display.  There were a few sightings of Thomas the Train, but it was much more geared towards the model train enthusiast.  The artistic talent and attention to detail that we saw in the models was incredible.  These were much more than toys, though I do think that many of the people who were involved in these incredible displays would admit to a combination of many hours of hard work with blood, sweat, and tears and a tad-bit of childish delight from “playing” with a hobby they loved. 

As mere spectators, I’m sure we didn’t comprehend all there was to offer at the show, but it was impressive to see the handy-work that was exhibited.  I’ve got next year’s show on the calendar… just in case  Shawn’s still interested in trains.

Ice and then The Freeze - Brrrr!

It rained ice last night.  Everything was coated when we woke up this morning.  The trees looked like they were decorated with Christmas lights the way the sun was glimmering on their ice coated branches.  It would have been really pretty, except that the skies were an ugly grey and it was cold and wet.  When Bill came by with Abby, he said that he really had to pull on his truck door to get it to open – it was sealed shut.  News reports warned of dangerously slippery driving conditions, too.  Hmmm… not exactly motivating to haul the kids out to Open Gym today! 

Instead, we played in the basement while I got some laundry done.  The tunnel was a popular toy today, though some days it’s completely ignored.  Aside from chasing each other through it a dozen or two times, Abby and Shawn also played on it like the do the air-log at Gymboree.  In class, there’s a song called The Freeze to which the kids tap on the air log and dance until the lyrics say, “Freeze!” and we put our hands on our heads until the music starts again.  We don’t have an air-log at home, but the top of the tunnel was just as fun to tap on – and I didn’t even have music on this time!  (Shawn also discovered that it’s fun to lean on the tunnel and “melt” to the floor as it collapses under his weight.  He even started giggling, “I’m meeeellllllting!”)

After lunch and naptime, it warmed up to a balmy 33 F!  Practically t-shirt weather!  Well, maybe not, but the sky cleared to a beautiful and cloudless blue and the sun was deceivingly warm as it streamed in the windows.  For a moment, it looked a little like it was raining - but only under the trees!  In reality, it was the ice melting from the branches and dripping down, sometimes with ice chunks still intact.  It was nice to see that the roads weren’t coated anymore and, even more so,  I won’t have to scrape my windshield (or de-ice my doors) when Shawn and I deliver the business / referral cards I made to Raj’s office later this afternoon.  (I like it when Mother Nature does that kind of work for me!)

After Abby went home, Shawn and I delivered the cards to the Artistic Smiles team.  Shawn’s starting to feel much more at home there.  He knows that the front window and door are the perfect viewing stations to watch the trains at the station across the parking lot.  He also knows exactly where to find an assortment of teeth on display, which are apparently fun to play with.  He talked freely with Ms. Jeanne and Ms. Debbie, but still no luck with Mr. Tony.  Even when he did Donald Duck impressions, Mr. Tony couldn’t convince Shawn to crack a smile or anything.  Instead, Shawn would scurry over to me and shy away.  Luckily, Mr. Tony understands kids pretty well and will just keep trying whenever we come over.  One of these days, Shawn will realize he’s a really nice guy! 

We had one more exciting point of the day, just before going to bed.  I was getting Shawn changed out of his clothes from the day and had him sit on the toilet before getting into his pajamas.  He peed!  I think he got just as excited as I was!  I’m not sure if it was just good timing or if he’s starting to understand what the whole toilet-concept is all about.  Either way, YEAH!