April 16th

So, the funniest thing happens with kids:  they keep growing!   I took this picture on Saturday as we were starting through the zoo.  It wasn't until after we got home (and I was exhausted from the workout of hauling the wagon!) that I looked at this picture and saw this grown up boy.  Wow!   I guess that's what happens when you're weeks away from your 5th birthday!

 

Besides the trip to the zoo, we haven't been outside much.  It's been COLD (in fact, there was snow yesterday - the first time I remember snow on April 15th) and we've been busy on our kitchen remodel (Jason) and tax season (me). 

 

A couple of things I don't think I've blogged on:

• Will had 5 trips to the dermatologist over the past four months.  They all involved targeted laser treatments to remove a growth on the side of his nose.   Due to the location, they didn't want to try to cut it out, so the lasers were used.  Will was very brave, but not a fan.  The process was numbing with ice, then numbing with a shot to the nose (the worst part), and then a zap of the laser.  The bump had a complicated name that basically meant "non-cancerous growth that we don't really know what it is, but there are a lot of capillaries in it, so it will bleed a lot if you try to scratch at it." 
• Swimming skills have continued to improve.  The past two trips to the pool have been floatie free.  He still doesn't like to dive underwater, but he puts his face in to swim from place to place.
• We have been updating the kitchen:  new cabinets, countertops and lighting.  So far the top cabinets are out, lighting/wiring updating, walls painted and the new cabinets ready to go in (fingers crossed that we get to that on Saturday - they have been sitting in boxes in my living room for six weeks.).  In order to minimize the distruption, we are putting in the top ones before taking out the bottom ones and counters. Until the countertops come out, we still have the sink and dishwasher!

Grandpa Ed should be proud that Will asked for a picture in the eagle cut out.  Grandpa loves eagle watching on his farm.

Spring Break

As I write this, many of my Kansas friends are on Spring Break.  Our schools don't break until the first week of April, and that's probably a good thing.  It's not very spring like yet.   Not to mention, with the cold and snow days off in January and February, the school district had to add four days to the end of the school year, so the kids now have to go through the first full week in June.  It's raining today, so hopefully that means that the accumulated snow will finally all melt from my back yard.  The front yard is melted and soppy grass is finally exposed.  My neighbors with shadier yards still have some snow piles from shoveling and snow blowing left. I'm pretty sure the Target parking lot will have a snow pile for another month, since it was 8 feet high at one point!

 My optimism of two weeks ago was misplaced.  This snowy scene was taken after a fresh 4 inches fell on Wednesday, March 12.  At least it's pretty, right?

The dog and the boy are both ready to get out and play.  We had to just go for it one weekend and trudge through the puddles and ice for a walk.   It wasn't bitterly cold (see jacket instead of coat), but the wind became too much and we went back inside after 15 or 20 minutes and just one loop around the block. 

Winter Wrap-up

My title may be a bit optimistic considering it has snowed 4 inches in the past 24 hours.  But it's March, so I'm ready to start thinking about spring, the end of another tax busy season (although really this one has just started), and our May vacation!  Hmmm, perhaps I am delusional in addition to optimistic!

While we continue to have cold temperatures and snow (whether fresh or accumulated), we have stayed busy.   Last weekend we had friend Ava's 7th birthday party which was the usual crew of kids and adults and delicious food and drinks.  Last night most of the same crew got together at another friends' house to celebrate their move to join us all in the suburbs.   We intended to play cards after dinner, but once the early to sleep kiddos took their parents home, we had an odd number, and then the got to stay up late kiddos were getting on each other's nerves, so someone was always up in the game room refereeing.   Oh well, between all that we ate tons of food and enjoyed chatting. 

 

I'm probably going to wait to post pictures until we have some "after" shots, but we officially began a kitchen remodel in February.  The new cabinets arrive next week, and the old cabinets are in the basement.  I'm not too worried about a torn up kitchen since I eat most of my meals at the office and Will loves foods from the microwave.  But, I'm sure once April rolls around and my house is still a mess, I'll have a different attitude!

 

Will is pictured above with the Yoda that he assembled from his punch out Star Wars Valentine's card from Grandma Hilary and Grandpa Ed.

Gymnastics

Will had his first gymnastics class today.  He loved it!  We decided to try it out since soccer is over, but the winter is not!   He must do tumbling in school, because he knows about things like balance beams and often demonstrates his "gymnastics moves" at home (which usually involves jumping on the bed and spinning before diving into the pillows).  Today was just a free trial class to see if he liked it.  He was all smiles during class and afterwards he said he'd like to go every Saturday, so I'm going to get him signed up for the next session that starts in a few weeks. 

Snow Play

We are so tired of being cooped up inside in the cold!  Because while we have snow gear, when it's single or negative digits, you can't play outside.  Finally yesterday it was warmer (mid-twenties) and sunny, so we went out for an hour after lunch to play.  For the most part, we just moved snow from one spot to another.  Will attempted to uncover his sand box (ironically, I typed snow box the first time), but stopped once he found his dump truck toy. 

Rachel was out back with us, and I figured the snow was too deep and she was too old to go far, so I let her off her leash.  I was wrong.  She took off through our long back yard, through the neighbor's yard behind us, and around to the front of their house before I finally caught up with her on their street.  Then I had to haul her back by her collar through knee high snow drifts.  She got put back on her leash after that.  I would have sent her inside but Jason was working on a kitchen project and wouldn't have appreciated her whining to get back outside.

Will and I walked next door to visit with Ms. Vanessa and Jazz and Sigma, and saw this hot air balloon as we were neighboring.   Rachel joined us, as well, since she was so jealous of Jazz and Sigma getting Will's attention that she pulled hard enough on her leash to break it at a weak spot.  So much for my old lady idea. . . .I know I'm exhausted after the whole thing!

Will, however, still had plenty of energy, so we took him swimming last night.  He did great!  His progress through swimming lessons these past few months has been amazing.  He kept initiating a "race" where he would swim between me and Jason.  I was shocked at how he went farther and farther each time - always sticking his face in the water.  He didn't want to wear his Puddle Jumper floatie at all. 

Bulls Game

I had suite seats at the United Center for Bulls-Nets on Thursday for work.  I'm not a basketball fan, but the environment is always fun.  This is only the second time I've been to a Bulls game for work, since most of my clients are in New York, so we do games there. 

I planned on buying Will a new t-shirt since the last one was a size 3 that I bought when he was 2 1/2.  I won a free replica jersey from a BMO Harris giveaway, so I thought I'd get to avoid any out of pocket cost.  But those were only available in adult XL, so I've got a nightgown now, and I bought Will a size 5/6 shirt that matches his old one.  I can't believe how much bigger the new shirt (and my older boy) is!

 

Equality Illinois Gala

I was Ryan's guest at the 2014 Equality Illinois Gala on Saturday evening which included a cocktail reception; silent auction; and dinner. It was a great excuse to get dressed up and mix and mingle while supporting a fabulous cause.   There were a lot of government officials in attendance, so I met Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel; stood next to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn; and talked with Lt. Governor Sheila Simon, whom Will and I met this summer during the bike ride.

The event had a particularly festive feel this year since the passage of marriage equality legislation in Illinois this year.  Honorees included Chicago-native Lana Wachowski, who along with her brother is the creator and writer of The Matrix trilogy. 

Wisconsin Dells

We had a weekend roadtrip to Wisconsin Dells, a family friendly vacation destination about three-hours from Chicago.  (Think Branson for the KC crowd.)  One of the big draws is its hotels with indoor water parks.  The one we stayed at had both an indoor water park and an indoor theme park.  

 

Since we were leaving directly after soccer, we picked up lunch at Wendy's to eat on the road.  Will ended up with this cool toy that was little pieces to put together, so it entertained him a good deal of the way to the Dells!

 

 

Our package included unlimited miniature golf, so we played three or four rounds between Saturday and Sunday.   On our first round, Will got a hole-in-one on #10.  So exciting!  Jason got his on 11, and I got mine on 14.   We all played pretty competitively!

Not so competitive was our bowling game.  One game and the shoe rental for four people was included.  One game was all we needed!  Since we had four spots, we let Will play two people.  He bowled with the guide, but not the bumpers.  As you can see from the scores, he got an 82 - beating my 67.  His second slot was only a 53, so I guess I've got that going for me. . . .My favorite part of bowling was the appetizer of fried dill pickles that we had!

The theme park rides included Go-Karts (for the 42 inch and taller crowd, so Jason and I took turns without Will), ferris wheel, carousel, something called 360 that made me sick to my stomach, and these cool bumper boats for the under 48 inch crowd.  Will LOVED these!

Kalahari, as its name implies, has an African theme.  In addition to these statutes of animal throughout the resort, they also had a little display of animals from a local animal sanctuary.  I found it at bit disturbing, but Will liked seeing the baby kangaroos in the lobby.

The water park portion of the resort was exhaustingly fun!  We actually ran into one of my co-workers and her family at the water park.  (Ironically, another one of my co-workers is going next weekend.  I told you, this is where Chicago families get away in the winter!)  

The play area here is for kids.  Parents can play in the water areas, but can't go down the slides.   The green slide was Will's favorite.  

In addition to the big area with kid slides, there were four "body" slides and four raft slides.  Two of the raft slides had no height requirement and all of us could ride together.  Since we are old pros at the Disney "rider swap" game, we did our own version on the slides.  The Rippling Rhino family slide queued up at the same spot as our favorite slide, the Tanzanian Twister.  So, one parent rode Rhino which was alway a short line while the other ditched for Twister if the line was short enough.

 

I found this picture of the Twister on Kalahari's website.  It's an enclosed tube slide that dumps into this bowl where you circle around and around before dumping (usually disoriented and not the least bit gracefully) into the pool.

 

We had a fantastic 48 hours away, and Will proved himself to be an excellent traveler again.  No fussing in the car or needing any entertainment help.  And he slept great in the hotel for at least 10 hours each night and woke up happy each morning.  He even chose to sleep on the couch in his sleeping bag, so no one had to share a bed with him!   We will definitely be looking forward to a return trip once he has grown two more inches!

Soccer Wrap-up

The soccer season has come to an end.  Will had his last game, and all the kids received participation medals.  This was our first activity like this; luckily I knew the protocol from "Hannah's Mom," my friend, Michelle.   Will's orange team actually played Hannah's black team for the last game, so she's in our pictures too!

 

 

Will scored at least two goals in each game except the last one.  He was just running around being silly and not concentrating on the game.   I think a lot of the kids are stir crazy that we're going on about week six of below freezing temperature and snow.  In fact, Saturday morning we woke up to about 3 of the 5 inches of snow we were getting Friday night through Saturday noon.   Our street wasn't plowed, but once we got out of our subdivision the streets were fine for my all-wheel-drive car.   Jason missed the last game, because he stayed home to drop off Rachel at the kennel and pack his car up for our roadtrip.   Luckily he didn't miss much except the medal and team photo.