Finn and Wylie were baptized on Sunday, August 21--Hallelujah! We are grateful to Michelle and Jamie and Sara and Joe for agreeing to serve as the boys' godparents.
The deacon is blessing us, or something.
Wylie enjoyed making faces at the family members sitting behind him, especially Godfather/Uncle Joe!
Finley had a busy summer. Somehow I decided he would enjoy a sampling of activities to see which were the best fit. T-ball class had not been as successful as I'd envisioned back in the spring. Finn did learn the proper way to run the bases, but he then spent more time running his own imaginary bases, regardless of whether he'd hit a ball or had been at bat. Is it that he is an independent thinker, preferring to do his own thing or a three-year-old choosing not to listen to the coaches instructions? Or, how about when he earned a time out during swimming lessons for spending too much time under water?!
Gymnastics was a better match for our high-energy, self-directed boy. He, and his friend Hayden, had the most fun in "the pit" during the last day of class.
We spent one morning at Valley Lo last week, enjoying the benefits of the country club set. I thought for sure Finn would sprint into the water and spend the entire morning swimming non-stop. Instead he fixated on the boats. So, we enjoyed some paddle boating, then a bit of swimming, then some canoeing.
Finn, Wylie, Mom, and I are doing our very best to squeeze the fun out of every last minute of summer. We had three "Grandma Days" last week and are looking forward to two this week. Last Friday's adventure was one of the simplest, most fun, and allowed me to stay in a good mood rather than turn into the grouchy Mommy.
We took the green line into the city, paused at Starbuck's for some caffeine and a potty break, then hopped on the water taxi to Michigan Avenue. We ate lunch at Corner Bakery while watching and listening for flyovers as the jets were out practicing for the air show. Finn was in little boy heaven as we got to ride the water taxi and train again to get back home, all the while hunting for "giant planes" to fly by.
Grandma would tell you Finn has a particularly well-developed sense of smell. It is true that now and then he stops what he's doing and asks, "Do you smell that?" He'll comment when we drive by a garbage truck or happen to be nearby a restaurant wafting hamburger smells. Apparently he's also been mentally chronicling the scent of people's houses.
He said to me tonight, "Different houses have different smells." WHAT?!
"When you go to a friend's house, it smells different than our house. Then you come home and it smells normal." Uh huh?! "If different people come to our house, it will smell weird to them because it is not their house." Really?!
Jason and I spent two perfect days in Chicago this weekend...(Special thanks to Mom and Dad for donating babysitting services and to Kathy for lending her parking spot!)
We started our getaway with an architectural kayaking tour on the Chicago River with Kayak Chicago. It was a delightful way to see the city from a new angle and do something that required my muscles to remember their purpose. Sure the Chicago River is not the cleanest body of water, but we did our best to look past the water itself.
Next, the nice hostess at Goose Island gave us a table for lunch despite our mild river-sent. After sampling eight different beers (just four were mine, but I taste-tested Jason's too), I went back to good ole' Summertime, yum! And I am not exaggerating when I say the Black Earth Burger was the best hamburger I have ever eaten. You must get one, as soon as humanly possible.
Sure, we are old and needed to rest a bit after our active morning and beer-filled lunch, but by 6:00 we were cleaned up and ready to enjoy our Saturday night. We started with a drink at Zed 451. I felt a little guilt ordering a frou-frou cocktail in this wine when I had made fun of people ordering wine and mixed drinks at Goose Island earlier in the day, but I was worried that wine might put me to sleep. From there we went to Steppenwolf to see Middletown-thought-provoking, well-acted, a bit odd, and now closed. Dinner was at GT Fish and Oyster. Amazing tuna poke appetizer, wonderful fish tacos, and mouth watering lobster mac 'n' cheese. Truly a perfect date night.
Sunday we slept in (hallelujah!) then dined at a bagel place from our DC days, Einstein Brothers. We wandered up Michigan Avenue, per Jason's suggestion (yes, really) and stopped in the Disney Store, Banana Republic, and Water Tower Place. While paying for our purchases at Macy's, it occurred to me that we could go see a Sunday afternoon movie, something we have not done in nearly four years. So, thanks to the brilliance of the Fandango app on my phone, we headed off to see Crazy, Stupid, Love at a theater near us. Popcorn and Milk Duds for lunch!
By 4:30 we were back in OP, excited to see the boys! Date weekend morphed into family night as we enjoyed the concert in Scoville Park with my parents. Here's a glimpse of Finn in goofy-mode, doing a moving version of his self-named "head dance."
After two months of drool and a grouchy few days, Wylie's first two teeth finally appeared this weekend. They're hard to capture via camera, so you're welcome to come over and stick your finger in his mouth if you want verification.
