Michigan Part 1: Chicago

 Michigan Road Trip 2013 looked a lot like this:

 Yes, that's our 14-year-old with a pacifier.  Just whatev.  Two-thousand miles, people.  Two.  Thousand.  Miles.

 First stop is always just outside of Indianapolis for dinner and a night swim.

 Northern Indiana:  soy, corn and windmills forever.

 

We got to Chicago around mid-day on Day 2 and headed straight to the lakeshore.

 Ice cream break for these hard-core bikers.

 

After we checked into our hotel, we hopped into a taxi to meet up with one of my very dearest friends and her sweet family.

 Eliza thought this cab ride was going to be the transportation highlight of her time in Chicago (the no car seat thing kind of blew her mind), but we one-upped it later that night.

 Splashing at Millenium Park.

The Bean!

 Dinner on Michigan Avenue with our friends Jennifer and Andy and their beautiful girls.

About a block into our walk back to our hotel, we accepted a ride from this pedicab driver.  Dude was incredible.  He pedaled all 5 of us (with stroller and miscellaneous kid crap) about eight city blocks.

Watching them take in the city in that pedicab - that's a memory captured in my heart forever.

 Lake view from our room.  There was, of course, another late night swim to be had. 

And we hit the Lincoln Park Zoo the next morning before heading on for the final leg of our journey.

Oh, To Have a Brother/Sister Love You

No, of course they do not always fawn all over each other.  And YES, there is lots and lots of bickering among them - I just don't usually pick up my camera in those moments.  So, with the understanding that these were brief moments in time, I can't help but swoon over them when they happen.  Some tender sibling love to round out our July:

 Evening fro-yo happies.

 Grocery shopping with "the littles," as Jess and I sometimes refer to these two.

 Ridiculously cute sibling television viewing.

And this.  There are no words, really.  Except that I hope Noah holds on tight to his big brother like this for many years to come.  As in, his whole life.

The Super-Saurus Turns 6!

 Noah added a new item to his birthday wish list approximately every 3.6 minutes for the four months leading up to his birthday.  But the two items that remained constant were a python and a fishing pole.  Guess which one he got?

 

Whipped cream in the mouth initiation - 6-year-old rite of passage.

 

A couple of days after his birthday, Jess took the morning off of work to take Noah on his first-ever fishing expedition.

 

 No fish, but Super-Saurus loved it nonetheless.  He's hooked!  (See what I did there?)



Camping (ahem) Weekend

When Jess asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, he about choked (and I kind of did too) when I told him I'd like to go camping.  Camping?  From whose mouth were these strange words coming?  I'd rather eat dirt than I'm not entirely fond of the whole sleeping-in-the-woods, smelling-like-charcoal (or worse), getting-eaten-alive-by-mosquitos scene.  BUT ... my kids are.  And somehow I was kind of craving that for them, and I suppose for us as a family.  So, we loaded up the car (OMG, actual campers, is the packing and the loading of the stuff not enough to make you want to just call the local Hilton next time?) and headed to a state park about an hour away.

 

**I like full disclosure here on the blog, so I'm going to clarify "camping."  Alright, so we stayed in a cabin.  With running water.  And air conditioning.  And a full kitchen and bath.  Okay, and a TV.  With satellite.  Baby steps, people. 

 "Mom, we made a see-saw!"

 

It was, in a word, magical.

 

We were thrilled, thrilled, thrilled that our friends were able to join us for the second day and night.

 

Looking out the window to see this crew checking on the fairy house Ava built?  Totally worth packing and loading the car.

And clapping over and over again for this joint family pyramid?  Worth the mosquito bites.

Jess rented a boat and spent almost all afternoon tooling around the lake with the kids.

Eight-year-old captains are totally safe.

And seeing this pic of two old friends just chatting about life when Jess texted it to me?  Well, let's just say I guess I understand why you may not want to call the Hilton (all the time).

 

We were up near an historic Indian burial site that Ben visited on a class field trip last year, so we made a quick trip there to check it out.

 

Ended the weekend feeling really thankful for new experiences and great memories made with friends.  And, I think, with a full year's time to forget the agony of the preparations, I may be up for doing it again next summer!



I Stand Corrected

I'm sorry, it's actually not been like "Summer in Seattle" here.  In fact, Seattle's been more than doubly dry than us.  According to today's newspaper, we've more than doubled Seattle's rainfall total for the year - 42 inches compared to Seattle's measly 18.05.  WTF, Mother Nature?

There was a point in time when I thought sun showers like this were beautiful.  Now they just make me want to stick a fork in my eye.  Enough.  Already.  (And if anyone is tempted to utter, "First-world problem," beware of forks coming for your eyes.)

 

Summer in Seattle

Oh wait, that's right, we don't live in Seattle.  It's just that with the cloudiness and rain, day after ever-lovin' day, it's hard to remember that we're not in the Pacific Northwest.  Or the tropics during rainy season.  Or wherever else on earth it rains EVERY.  SINGLE.  DAY.  When the sun does make its rare and short appearances, we dash outside and soak it in.  In between, I think we've visited every indoor attraction this city has to offer.

Or we practice bedtime yoga (tree pose).

 Or we babysit.  Ben has a very soft spot for this cutie pie.

 Or we play Mancala.

 Or we sucker Mom into paying for this "Hurricane Simulator" at the jumpy place.

 

Or we trade baseball cards.

Or we read books about snakes to our sister.  "And the python squeeeeezed its prey to death."

Or we paint on the back porch.  You're getting the picture, right?
Lots.  Of.  Rain.

But occasionally, the sun has poked through and we've taken full advantage of it.

 Go Braves! 

 And other times, Mommy's just so sick of being inside, she makes everyone play outside even though it's sprinkling.  Then, we just get resourceful and make a fort.

Shockingly, it rained on the 4th of July and all of the festivities were cancelled.  So instead, we headed down to celebrate Grandpa's 70th birthday.

 

 And on the way home, there was this moment:

 Heart-meltingly sweet (despite Noah's fake sleeping).

 But no fake sleeping here.  We put the kids in PJs before we got in the car in the hopes they'd sleep on the way home, but Ben complained that it was too light out to sleep.  A little while later, it was quiet and I turned around to find this.  Again, resourceful little boy.

 The next day I celebrated my birthday with my sweet family ... in the rain.

And lastly, you know who this is, right?  If not, you can check her out here and you should definitely get your hands on a copy of her book.  I was thrilled to go meet her when she came through town on her book tour.  Fun moment.