Cooking Class with Grandma Sue

E.B and Nata spent Friday night at Grandpa and Grandma's.

They went swimming at Grandma Cle's house in the morning.

In the afternoon, Elliot and Grandma took a cooking class at the Dole Mansion in Crystal Lake. He may have been the only boy/player in the class.

The Giacometti-style Abe Lincoln statue seems more than a little weird to me but, perhaps suburbanites are still feeling deeply alienated as a result of the horrors of WWII.

Uncle Geoff's Visit

A quick vist from Geoff Reed this week. He was "force choked" over fifty times in less than 24 hours AND SURVIVED.

Nata's Ballet Class

Sink Project

We are painting everything in the basement. D. D. Kitty may be next.

Finished up the sink today (1/20/10).

Sledding

Upper teens Sunday did not deter us. We hit Humboldt Park's hill (John Hancock visible in the background.). Both kids had long runs that got them out onto the frozen pond. We also hiked around the entire fieldhouse and found a cache of giant icicles. For the record, Dad did NOT almost drop 50 pounds of ice on Elliot's head, how could you even think that? Also, Nata was a "snow worm like on Ice Planet Hoth" for a time.

An hour plus was all they could take out there. Faces got really red and Nata's toes started to ice over.

Julie took them out to the hill on Friday when temps were in the upper twenties. No fair.

First day of School

Nata had her first day at Ukrainian Village Children's Center on Monday. Drop off pre-school for 2 hours. She was a little nervous initially but proceeded to have a very good time after Mom and Elliot left. She was so excited to get to do her art show for Mom after school just like Elliot does after HIS big boy pre-school.

After, she took a break to recharge her batteries.

Forest Moon of Endor

Aka Garfield Park. A princess appeared here Sunday. Odd.

Nice to see living plants though.

Tour de Latino

Headed out in the cold today. Hit Carneceria Aguas Calientes in Little Village for tacos. Elliot got to apply his own salsa to the taco and the table.

Then, checked out the National Museum of Mexican Art. We ended at a cafe where Dad poured a cup of hot coffee on E.B. Aside from the spill, a pretty fun winter's day.

Basement Project

This is what lame, old people do on New Year's Eve.

Nata for the New Year

Everybody's favorite little girl.

Traditional Gender Role Reinforcement

Nata LOVES ballet and the Nutcracker. She is learning/inventing new positions all the time. Also, contrary to popular sentiment, the animated Nutcracker is one of the best films ever made.

Lincoln Park Zoo Lights

A little cold for this tonight (20 degrees or so) but we had fun. Snowball fights and snow angels at the zoo is pretty cool.

Hoth

We had to bail out on a Schuerr family get together today around Des Plaines due to road conditions.

On the plus side, we got Natalie an essential and epic nap. E.B. and I went for a hike to Johnny Merc's park. We tried out his binoculars and the "snow speeder" at the park.

Finally, Fondue Party

First time having cheese fondue with the kids. Elliot LOVED the game where, if you drop your bread in the cheese, you have to do truth, dare or a trick.

We focused on tricks. Dad had to do a somersault, Mom had to do 5 Jedi Jumps, E.B. did about 10 different tricks and began dropping his bread on purpose, I think. A dinner where you can get up and do jumping jacks every 3 minutes is like a dream come true for him. Nata was a bit more reserved and focused on eating a half ton of edamame.

Nata took the spooky pic of Deb menacing her with a fondue fork.

Joy Yee for Lunch

After
the Nutcracker, we hit Joy Yee at UIC South Campus. Spicy Vietnamese calamari were awesome. Long tentacles.

Nutcracker on Horseback

This was today's big event at the Noble Horse Theater. Freaking awesome indoor riding arena a mile from our house. The building dates from the 1870s. Natalie sat transfixed for the first 45 minutes. Dead still mouth open. When the man on a horse jumped through a ring of fire, I thought Elliot's head might pop off.

When Nata had her chance to ride a pony she lept at it and rode ridiculously comfortably for a city kid.

2 More Walnut Room

OK. Moving on. We spent damn near 5 hours getting to and through this lunch so pics must be shown.

More Walnut Room Pics

From Grandma Bonnie's camera. The tree was pretty spectacular. We were lucky to get seated right next to it.