Bubble Magic

Gretchen's art class (appropriately titled "Messy Creations") always ends with some bubbles. The kids love bubbles. It was the only time that Gretchen stood still (except for when we were sitting painting).

Cinderella's Glass Slipper

Glass Slipper
Originally uploaded by Piedmont Fossil

Gretchen and I went to see a local play of Cinderella's Glass Slipper. It was very informal which was good since she walked "backstage" about three times. Gretchen can only sit still for about 30 minutes at a time so we had to leave before Cinderella got her prince.....

End of Summer Edition

The end of summer is always a big ordeal for our little family. Lindenfest, Labor Day, Steve’s birthday, pool closing, and the start of school all happen in the last days of summer.

August started out good – we had some beautiful weather for Lindenfest (our neighborhood food/music/entertainment extravaganza). Gretchen got to ride the merry-go-round with Steve while I was able to “donate” my hard earned cash on bingo. No wins for me this year. The second half of August, it rained, and rained and rained. I swear we did not go outside the second half of the month!

It cleared up however just in time for Steve’s 40^th birthday party. Lenore, Gretchen’s grandmother, taught Gretchen the happy birthday song in anticipation of the little party we had to celebrate the occasion. The party went well – the iPod I bought Steve arrived just in time for his birthday. He already knew about it because Best Buy left me a message on our machine about how the iPod I ordered from them (that they said they had in stock) was not in stock. I canceled my order with them and got it straight from Apple. At any rate, the party went well. Our phone service coincidentally went out that night so it took a few days to hear from some of our friends. Our friend Todd thought perhaps it was such a blowout party that we took out a telephone pole. Hee!

The week of Labor Day we took a vacation. We went to Great America with Gretchen – she is a few inches too short for a lot of the rides but we did get on a mini drop ride in Wiggles World. Gretchen cackled the entire ride! I think she liked the belly flop you get when you drop unexpectedly. Since it was pretty hot, we took her on Loggers Run. We think the drop freaked her out a little (and me – I kept asking Steve if he had a good grip on her).

We also went to Lincoln Park Zoo. I used to volunteer there when I was in high school but it has changed so much since then…. They have re-done a lot of the exhibits and it was very impressive. Gretchen got to have her first taste of Mario’s Italian Ice afterwards. Steve wasn’t too impressed with all the bits of lemon but I was in heaven. I lived around the corner from there one summer and I lived on Mario’s Italian Ice. Yum! We drove around Maxwell Street and it was so different from when I was in high school. We used to drive there for lunch (polish w/onions or Mr. Submarine sandwiches). I don’t think I could afford it now – it is so gentrified. I guess it’s good for the city – no more flea markets and food stands but I still kind of miss it.

Luckily the weather held up and we were able to enjoy the pool one last time as well before closing it. A lot of times we don’t know it’s the last time for the year because the weather just gets cold and we have to close it. So it was nice to be able to get in and play. Gretchen always fusses a bit when we first put her in the baby float (probably her last year for that thing) but she manages to enjoy it after a few minutes. One year we will have to take her to the beach in the city – she might like Lake Michigan.

I have a lot of pictures this time so you can check them out on flickr. I know some of you save them off the internet. You can download them from flickr at a good resolution.

Steve and I are both taking classes this fall as is Gretchen (we’re taking an art class) so this will be the last post for a little while but I will keep posting my pictures to flickr even if I don’t send another update until mid-October or so…..