Union Pier, MI

I don't think that the beach could have been any better. It was empty and absolutely gorgeous --it is amazing that this is less than two hours from home.

Noah getting his bearings.

Ruthie and Baby Owen

Digging in

Making pools

Burying himself

Probably about to make a sand angel...she was crazy. I'm still finding sand in this one's hair.

Rinsing hands

Ruthie and Aunt Barb

Barb's sister and Baby Owen

Attempting to make drip castles. They did not really get it.

Nicole and Barb

First Day of School

Okay, so it is not really school. The schoolish part is the lunch boxes and the fact that I drop them off and pick them up. Really, they are just spending a morning a week in a whimsical play land with a couple of other kids and an amazing woman. They do free play, songs, stories, crafts...everything that they love.

Noah with his 'suitcase.'

Neither of them batted an eye when I left the first morning. When I went to pick them up, Noah pointed to the outdoor play equipment and exclaimed 'Momma, playground!' Ella just darted around between all the little houses outside yelling 'no go home, no go home!'

Toddler Summer and Goodbyes

We are going on our third week of Matt away during the week so I've been extra eager to get out of the house and do fun stuff with the kids.

Last week, Meg and I decided to take the kids on a final adventure before they head down south for Dan's new job. We hopped on an early train to Geneva to spend the morning together. The kids were beyond excited to ride the train again. Noah kept saying 'all aboard' before we got on. Notice Isaac putting his little arm around Noah in the shot below.

I was sitting across from Ella, Noah and Isaac. Noticing that she was missing out on the photo op, Lily spoke up and asked that I take a picture of her. Done.

I was truly amazed at how easy it was to travel with 4 kids, three and under. Yes, we contributed significantly to raising the volume level in the car, but other than that, the ride there and back went perfectly.

Once we arrived, we headed up to the bakery in town to get snacks.

Feeling full, we crossed over the Fox River and headed down to Island Park. Again, the kids were so thrilled to be together and to be running, as fast as they could, to the park.

After the park, we walked back across the river, this time under the train bridge, and had lunch at a little deli in town. We killed a little more time by letting the kids play in a fountain. Ella won the award for getting completely soaked.

Here is a shot of Meg and I at their going away party last night. We are so thankful that God has been so clear in providing the right position for the Orrs...it makes the parting a tiny bit easier.
We are going to miss the adventures, the silly play dates, the crazy dinners and everything else! We are so thankful for our dear, dear friends.

Sigh...

Moving on...This morning my neighbor Rae and I took the kids to Morton Arboretum. If you are in Chicago, have kids and have not been there, you really should go. We had the best time and we did not even cover half of the Arboretum!

In the Children's Garden there is a maze...

...and little places for kids to sit.

Ella fell in LOVE with this little house. I'm seriously considering making one for her. Okay, I should say that I'm seriously considering asking Matt to make one for her. I even took pictures from all angles to that I could remember how it looks.

Noah was a little bit harder to capture on film as he was in little boy heaven and constantly moving.

I did manage to catch this shot though.

After that section of the garden, we headed over to the frog pond where you can take off your shoes and wade in the water. Perfect, huh? I tucked Ella's dress in her collar so that it would not get totally soaked.

Noah thought that he should do the same.

Grabbing hand fulls of little rocks, a very Ella-ish thing to do.

Tomorrow we are off to the beach in Michigan. More pictures to come.

Non-Waffle Food

At some point last week I realized that we were eating lots, and I mean lots, of pancakes and waffles. While I realize that this was my diet and the diet of my husband for the majority of our childhoods, I figured that I should at least try to get some vegetables into the kids. So, determined and resolute, I found recipes on this website for kid friendly food that includes vegetables.

I started with Sweet Beet Cookies because Ella used to eat beets, I had fresh beets from the garden, and the cookies are pink. Pink food = good. At some point in the baking process, Noah pulled marshmallows out of the cabinet and hence the topping below. The verdict? They ate them. They do taste like beets but it is not overpowering. I can't say that they loved them. Noah kept taking small bites and then telling me that it was 'for Daddy' which I think is code for 'I'm kind of okay with not eating this.' I think that I'll try them again, maybe with frosting next time.

Feeling ambitious, and also realizing that it was 7:30 am and we had nothing better to do, I decided to follow our cookies with some Carrot Snack Sticks. These ones basically taste like Cheez-It crackers and you really don't notice the shredded carrots. The verdict on these? We'll be making these again really soon.

Going to get ice cream

Take a note from Ella and Noah. If you are going to get ice cream, you should put on your sun glasses.

upside down.

Sweet Ella

Checking out the ceramic hand that I bought for her in NYC

She is at such a darling stage right now. A few current favorite things about my little bird...

...picking flowers from 'Ella's garden' after her nap. I choose the zinnias for her; she knows that they are hers and is so pleased when we bring some inside. Occasionally she'll have me put them on the fridge so that 'Noah no touch them.'

...when she realizes that she has forgotten to feed her baby all day long. She exclaims 'feed Baby!' with concern and passion. There is no stopping her....she is like a mother bird going to her chicks. I've also realized that Baby's feelings are a good indicator of Ella's. During a thunderstorm last week, Ella grabbed her baby saying 'Baby scared!'

...Ella's fascination with Peapod in our book 'The Six Little Possums and the Babysitter.' She completely identifies with the littlest possum named Peapod and talks about the things that they have that are the same...'that Peapod pink towel' or 'that Peapod Gee-Gee.' Or the other day she asked me to count the tags on the possums. She was really asking me to count the tails, but since she loves feeling the tag on her beloved Gee-Gee, she assumed that the tails were also tags.

...hearing her sing. We listen to a song called 'Little Liza Jane' quite often and she sings along in her sweet voice. Sometimes I can't quite make out what she is saying, but I have realized that she is not singing about Liza Jane. She sings about 'Little Noah James.' She loves her brother, that is for sure.

...speaking of loving her brother, Ella continues to defer to Noah quite a bit. If a stranger comes up to Ella and speaks to her, the immediate response is to say 'Noah' and point to her brother. She even tried to do it the other day when we were at the grocery store without Noah. I could tell that she felt quite confused by the whole situation.

...and last but not least...waffles. This girl loves her waffles right now. She is really into 'jam waffles' which, surprisingly, is a waffle with jam on it. She would eat them for every meal, every day, not that I'd ever allow such a thing to happen.

Showing me her flowers

'Ella show me your feet'

'Ella show me your hands'

'Ella show me your mouth'

'Ella show me your tummy'

And a few silly ones of Momma and Ella together

I should have known better...

This is what happens when I leave to load the dishwasher. Notice the green line on the carpet by his hand. Thankfully, when Crayola says 'washable' they mean it. It took about two seconds of clean up.

A month later...the 4th of July

4th of July. Last year, we were digging out sweatshirts to keep the kids warm in the misty rains and this year we packed extra bottles of water because it was so sticky hot. Such is summer in Chicago...
We went to a parade last year, but I was not sure how much they remembered. This year, we gave them a head’s up that we’d be hearing lots of loud things and seeing fire engines at the parade. When we arrived sirens were blaring. Noah watched silently as each one passed by --it was like he could not take it all in. Every once in a while, he’d see a ladder truck and tell me that it was ‘like Noah’s’ ladder truck at home. Finally at the end of the line of fire engines, he raised up both arms and shouted ‘FIRE TRUCKS!’



Pish and Noah watching the parade intently (Ella wasn't so sure)

Meghan, Nicole and Ella