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Starved Rock Hike

On July 18th, Rod and I took advantage of the childfree weekend and joined an organized hike to Starved Rock State Park. The park is along the Illinois River near Utica and Ottawa.  The weather was perfect. The temperature was very comfortable for mid July.  I wore jeans that day to protect my legs from the brush and didn't overheat. 

Starved Rock is made up of 18 canyons carved by glaciers. There are a few year-round waterfalls while other waterfalls form briefly after the winter thaw and spring rains.  The exposed, carved stone is mostly St. Peter sandstone. 

The park was a nice change of pace from the urban jungle. I liked getting out of the city to the more natural, rural area of Illinois.  And you don't have to go too far out of Chicagoland to find nature.  The Cook Country Forest Preserve is maybe 45 minutes from the city. Starved Rock is a little farther. It's 94 miles from Chicago and you drive past farm after farm after farm most of the way there.  It reminded me of mid Michigan. 

Starved Rock is said to have gotten its name after some Illinois Indians starved to death waiting for a rival Indian tribe to leave the area.  Go to Starved Rock State Park's site for more information on the park's history, geology and events.

A view of the Illinois River from the Starved Rock State Park.

A waterfall 

Walking through a muddy canyon. The Illinois River is through the trees behind me.

The ground in this photo is solid stone. A waterfall wets the stone and creates pools along it. Kids soaked themselves sitting on the wet rock and playing in shallow pools (out of frame). I kept thinking someone was going to crack his/her head open as many of them insisted on walking or running down the wet rock. Fortunately, the rock didn't appear to be slippery. 

I found a snake!  It turned its head around before we could take this picture.  I haven't been able to determine what kind of snake this is. It was probably 2 ft long and 2 inches in diameter. It was lounging right next to the path along the shore of the Illinois River.

Hey, It's Olive!

When maternity leave ended, the week before Christmas 2005, Rod and I began each weekday morning trudging through the snow-covered city sidewalks to the library L stop with Amelia and stroller in tow. The library station has an elevator making it more stroller friendly.  We'd ride the train to Clark and Lake, the stop closest to Amelia's daycare. 

Most mornings, as we walked north on Clark street near Congress, we'd pass a little girl and her father who were walking the opposite way.  Her name was Olive.

She had gorgeous blonde curls and was just a beautiful little 5 year old. She was also very talkative and eager to get to know us and our baby.  Sometimes we'd also see her at the park next to South Loop Elementary.  Rod and Amelia ran into her today at that park. She's eight years old, still beautiful, but missing the curls.  Amelia posed with Olive for a picture.

 

Classic Literary Characters at the Printer's Row Lit Fest

The Printer's Row Book Fair, which takes place in my neighborhood the first weekend in June each year, is now the Printer's Row Literary Festival.  I don't know why they made the name change, but I suspect it's to make it sound less like a rummage sale.  The kids' area is what draws me. I'm not really interested in the books other than the children's books. 

The kids' area has a live band, story van, coloring, sidewalk chalk, face painting and classic characters from children's books. Unfortunately, it was too rainy for the band to play. Amelia loves to dance and watching her get down with other kids would have been a hoot. However, we did take advantage of most of what the kids' area had to offer. Below are pictures of Amelia taken by the Chicago Tribune with Sister and Brother Bear of the Berenstain Bears and, my favorite photo, with Curious George.  No word if the man with the yellow hat was nearby. 

 

Disney Pixar "Up"

June 5th

As I picked up Amelia from school, she told me she wanted to see a movie. After all, that's where the popcorn is. She had learned from her experiences with Grandma and Grandpa who have taken her to a few movies in Michigan that movie theaters have tasty eats and those eats have butter and salt. 

I thought, you know, we could do a family movie night. We haven't done that yet and I think Amelia is old enough that we can take her to a crowded theater in Chicago without her being too disruptive.  Plus there was the new Disney Pixar movie, Up, and I was all for seeing that. 

We went to the AMC Loews theater at 600 N Michigan for the 7:45 pm showing of Up.  It's a multi-story theater with 9 screens. Up was showing on the top floor in theater 9.  Often, wherever we go, Rod runs into someone he knows. That evening was no exception as a former co-worker of his had just finished watching a movie and caught Rod just as we were heading into the theater. 

Finally, we sit down in this small theater, with popcorn in hand and watch previews and an opening short called, Partly Cloudy, if I remember right. That short centered around clouds that created baby humans and animals for their storks to deliver.  Each cloud had its own designated stork.  One stork was a bit beat up as its cloud kept producing baby animals no one would want to cuddle with instead of the kittens and puppies other clouds created. There's no dialogue. Just watch and laugh. 

The main show, Up, is about a 78 year old man, Carl Fredrickson, who spent his life with his wife dreaming about going to South America to live out a childhood adventure. Of course, when he finally decides to go, prompted by factors such as the loss of his wife, city development in his once sleepy neighborhood, and a court order to leave the home for a retirement center, there are a few bumps along the way. He turns his house into an airship by attaching thousands of balloons to it and picks up an unexpected passenger. An 8 year old scout named Russell, trying to get his badge for helping the elderly, is caught under the porch when the house takes flight. 

Mr. Fredrickson is trying to find a way to get the house down to let Russell out when they float into a dangerous thunderstorm. After struggling to stay aloft during a thunder storm, and a good night's sleep, they end up in South America, at nearly the exact spot he and his wife had always dreamed of going. The rest of the movie revolves around the old man, Mr. Fredickson, trying to move his house from one section of a cliff to another while dodging dogs trying to capture a rare bird who is befriended by the boy. 

The movie is nearly an hour and 30 minutes long and moves along very well.  It has some eye-dabbing moments, nail-biting moments, and lots and lots of laugh 'til you cry moments.  I highly recommend getting a group of friends together and going out to see this movie. 

Though Amelia could not see the movie well since the seats had high backs, she enjoyed it with her popcorn and Coke, sometimes standing, but mostly sitting between Rod and me.  Rod tried to coax her to sit on his lap for a better view instead of standing and pushing herself up by grabbing the occupied seat in front of her, but she was not at all interested.  

When the movie was over, Amelia wanted to take the rest of her popcorn and coke home with her. Being the born leader she is she instructed Dad to carry her Coke and popcorn, Mom to carry her own Coke, and for herself to carry nothing. Smart kid. 

Veggie Marinade

I bought too much broccoli for last weekend's veggie rich pasta salad and realized I needed to do something with the extra crown before it went bad.  I also have a huge red onion that I need to use up. I didn't want to steam or stir-fry so I decided on a vinaigrette marinade.  I am out of Italian dressing so I figured I could just whip something up myself. 

I chopped up the broccoli and put it in a glass bowl. I added just enough chopped red onion to complement, then thought about spices. I knew I was going to do two tablespoons cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of canola oil for the base, but it needed more than that.  So I added 1/2 a teaspoon of garlic power and 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt. That was it. I mixed it up with my hands, covered it, put it in the refrigerator and hoped for the best. 

After a couple of hours I took it out of the refrigerator and tried some of the broccoli and onion. Wow! It turned out great! Amelia likes broccoli and wanted to try it too. Sometimes she doesn't like dressing so I warned her she might not like it especially after she had asked me 'what stinks?' after I had just mixed it. She loved it! She didn't want any of the onion which had no heat to it anymore and lots of flavor, but she scarfed down the broccoli with me.  

I love vinaigrettes. They're such a great solution for leftover veggies. Refrigerator pie (quiche), soup or stir-fries are other good options.  

Amelia's first home based play date

Isabella arrived a little later than expected last Sunday, but both girls were ready to play.  There is no shyness between these two. They immediately began chatting, laughing and playing.  They started with a tea party, then played tag, then tea party, then hide 'n' seek, then tea party, then more tea party.  Oh and Isabella put on Amelia's mermaid costume for a bit until she figure out she couldn't play tag or hop into a chair as easily at the tea party table. Alas, the shiny skirt is, unfortunately, a bit restrictive. 

They had fruit leather and water for snacks followed by dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets and cherry fruit drinks for lunch. After lunch it was time to go to the park next to the South Loop Elementary school. 

The name of that park escapes me. There's another park nearby called Roosevelt park with tennis courts, lots of grass and a swing set.  Chicago's park district hosts free movies throughout the summer and Roosevelt park is one of several parks that will show an outdoor movie for one night each year. Grant park shows free movies every week throughout the summer (on a Tuesday?!), but I digress.  It's time to play!

Amelia has a bike that Isabella was enamored with so I suggested we take the bike to the park. The only caveat is that they'd have to take turns riding it. It started out innocently enough. I carried the bike until we got to smooth sidewalk on Polk past Clark. Amelia started out riding it first and Isabella helped push. 

(Amelia wanted her hair to look like Isabella's so I gave her two pony tails in the front. They turned out alright. I always have trouble with the symmetry when two pony tails are requested, but that day they looked fine.) 

When it was Isabella's turn, Amelia happily handed off the bike to her. Isabella was very anxious to ride it.  She had some trouble though. She couldn't steer it and she couldn't propel it forward very well. So I bent over and pulled her along by the handlebars. Oy, my aching back. 

When it was time for Amelia to ride the bike again, Isabella wasn't interested in giving the bike back. While listening to repeated refrains of, "Mom, Isabella's not sharing!", I told Isabella she could go to the next driveway and then switch riders.  Well, when we got to the next driveway, Isabella quietly got off the bike, Amelia eagerly jumped on it, and without a word, Isabella took off running in the opposite direction.  I watched her run, then I turned and watched Amelia pedaling in the other direction.  I looked at Isabella again. Hmmmm, I thought. She's not stopping. Now I'm wondering what to do. There's only one of me, so one child must be temporarily abandoned.  I told Amelia to stop and began running after Isabella. 

As Amelia looked on, I caught up with Isabella and scooped her up. Wow. She's much lighter than Amelia. Three people watching the spectacle commented I should have Isabella run track. She's a fast one!  

After an hour we finally made it to the park. Bringing that bike slowed us down quite a bit. I thought, I'm NOT doing this on the way back. 

The park was lots of fun, but they constantly needed me to spot them as they played on the big kids' slide. Climbing up is a bit of a challenge and Isabella slipped numerous times. That was mostly due to her shoes not having enough traction, but she definitely is not as coordinated as Amelia.  

They also needed me to push them on the swings and play on the train in the tot lot. I got much more of a workout than I had counted on. 

With 50 minutes left to get back home before Isabella's mother arrived, I rounded up the girls and headed home, but not without protest. Isabella insisted she get to ride the bike back.  I maintained that we wouldn't get back in time and that we needed to all walk home while I carried the bike. Isabella was none too pleased with this so I decided on a compromise. I let them each have a turn and then we'd walk the rest of the way. It turned out Isabella was just biding her time until her next protest. When I took the bike away she decided on a peaceful sit-in. She refused to walk as suddenly her ankles were hurting. I offered to carry her, but no, she didn't want to be carried. However, she said she was well enough to ride the bike. Again, I explained that we didn't have time and needed to walk home. Again, she refused to move. So, I used my secret weapon. I called her mom. 

Now we're moving!  We made it back to my home just before Isabella's mother arrived. That gave us enough time to get her changed back into her own shirt (she had borrowed one of Amelia's because she liked it) and have her use the bathroom before bringing her downstairs to mom's car. 

Once Isabella was gone I realized how exhausted I was.  Amelia was still fired up and wanted to play. I just kept praying Rod or Sonya would be home soon, because I had no more energy to give to Amelia. 

What a day!

Empathic Amelia

This morning as I struggled to sleep and later struggled to clear my throat of phlegm, my daughter, lounging on my neck and chest had only one concern. "Don't throw up on me mom".  

That's a far cry from when she and I were both home sick in April of 2007.  She kept vomiting on the floor and me, feeling only slightly better than death, had to keep cleaning up after her.  After about her sixth or so spew, I was tired of cleaning and wanted to lay down. Squatting over the soiled carpet, I broke down and began to cry.  Amelia, aged 1.5 years, walked over, put her arm around me and said, "It's okay, mom".  That was all that I needed to keep going.  

The Onion's hilarious take on Detroit's "development"

I love Detroit, but even I found this so funny I was nearly in tears. Click on the below link or go to www.theonion.com and look for the below story. 

"Detroit Mayor Throws First Brick In Glass-Breaking Ceremony For New Slum"

Hosting munchkins:)

On Sunday I'll be hosting my first playdate for Amelia and her friend, Isabella.  Isabella's mom has been gracious enough to host Amelia three times now so when Amelia told me she wanted to go to Isabella's, I decided to reach out to Zarina this time and invite Isabella over for a few hours on Sunday. 

This is new territory for me. Not only is this the first time having Isabella over, this is my first time hosting any playdate since Amelia was born. It will be just me on Sunday with the two girls. 

My plan is to take the two to the park to play, but I'll have them for 5 hours from 10 to 3, so I'm thinking they can hang out in my humble abode for an hour or two, go out to lunch, and then go straight to Roosevelt Park.  As long as I can locate my camera expect lots of pictures! 

De-clutter Therapy

Nothing makes me feel successful, relaxed and confident like being productive.  This past week I went through my daughter's baby and toddler clothes which seemed to pile up awfully fast as she grew out of them every few months. 

Her clothes were overflowing between two dressers and a large Crate and Barrel box.  Going through the tiny outfits, some never worn, made me think about the practicality of baby clothes.  

MINIATURE ME

I blame no one for fantasizing about dressing their newborn in fashionable dresses, jeans and sweaters topped with a bucket hat or beret, and finished off with infant-sized versions of adult shoes. Babies dressed in adult style clothing are nothing short of adorable. Plus, these fantasies can be realized as such chic outfits are easy to find. But, they need to be made with easy care materials, allow easy access to diapers, a chin-strap to hold on the hat and soft-soled, soft-sided shoes.  

SHOES

We were given two pairs of leather, hard-soled footwear, sized for a non-walker that she never wore. They were adorable mary janes and boots, but she was never going to have a chance to wear them, especially the boots. What infant wears boots? I carried her through the snow and covered her up head to toe in a one piece winter coverup. Besides the experts say babies should wear only soft-soled shoes or even better, go barefoot. Any sort of covering around the foot restricts stretching and toe movements which purportedly can weaken the muscles. 

CLOTHING MATERIAL

The material should be soft, irritant free and easy to clean.  If it's stiff, or scratchy chances are I wouldn't even wear it, so I'm certainly not going to put it on my baby with more sensitive skin than myself.  And since babies and toddlers tend to mess their clothes every half hour or so, the cloth needs to be receptive to detergents and stain removers, and survive repeated washings. It also must be the type of material that travels well by being easy to fold and pack since you'll need several changes of clothes on top on all the extra diapers, wipes, bibs, etc. when you venture away from home. 

SIMPLICITY

When I say simplicity, I mean ease of dress and accessibility for changing diapers. I am giving away a couple pairs of jeans size 3 months because they are not user friendly. Denim, first of all, is not soft and doesn't allow for ease of movement.  Second, to access the diaper, these jeans must be removed. There are no leg snaps. Honestly, I find it faster to remove jeans than to undo and redo all those snaps, but when you have to change a diaper every 30 minutes or so, you want to be able to change a diaper without having to remove the clothes.

HANGING OUT IN YOUR UNDIES

Whenever I was home with my daughter, she wore the simplest of outfits. I wasn't going to bother with pants no matter how cute they were.  She was either in just a t-shirt and diaper, a onesie or a bunting that cinched below the feet. 

When buying onesies, make sure they are easy to put on over the baby's head. We had a cute Apple branded onesie that was unwearable because it had a normal crew neck. There was no way that onesie would fit over any infant's head. Most onesies are designed to expand effortlessly when pulling them over a baby's head so this shouldn't be an issue. T-shirts can be the wrap style, bypassing the head altogether. The best part is onesies are cheap. You can buy them by the pack at a store near you.   

HATS

Why bother? Babies don't like hats. My daughter would not keep a hat on her. And those sunglasses with head straps? Forget them. They seem even more annoying, strapped onto the face, than the hats do.  My daughter wouldn't wear those either. Just put on sunscreen and keep a shade over her head via the stroller or carrier. 

DE-CLUTTERED

I finished sorting through the clothes and reorganizing her drawers Saturday morning. I had the rest of the weekend to relax and revel in one more job completed in the Rakic home. Now to finish the rest of my projects. Ugh.