Total Eclipse

We definitely caught the eclipse fever over here.  The whole country went crazy with the desire to see something that had not been seen since 1979.  Solar eclipse glasses, which probably cost about $1 to make were selling for as much as $300 on Amazon and Ebay.  I was so excited to see it that I looked everywhere trying to find glasses.  I drove the kids around to a couple of 7-Eleven convenience stores after reading online that they had some available for sale.  Turns out they were selling dark "solar glasses" that block sunlight on a regular day for older people--the kind you can slip over a pair of regular glasses.  Total scam. After going to the planetarium downtown and striking out, I tried to go to the Chicago Botanic Garden on the day of the eclipse for their eclipse watching party, but there were so many people there that the line of cars backed up onto the highway and the parking lot overflowed. After making my way back to Park Ridge, I was delighted to find that there were plenty of glasses and an eclipse watching party in our little town. 

Here is a summary from the NASA website of why this is so cool:

On Monday, August 21, 2017, all of North America will be treated to an eclipse of the sun. Anyone within the path of totality can see one of nature’s most awe inspiring sights - a total solar eclipse. This path, where the moon will completely cover the sun and the sun's tenuous atmosphere - the corona - can be seen, will stretch from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. Observers outside this path will still see a partial solar eclipse where the moon covers part of the sun's disk. 

The kids were already in school on August 21, and their school planned far enough ahead that they were able to have an eclipse watching party and let all of the students see it during school with the eclipse-approved glasses.  The picture is of AJ's class watching.

Happy Mother's Day from a Tiny Baby Turtle

I got to spend Mother's Day with my mom and the kids, which made it a pretty great day.  Add in breakfast in bed, kid art and a walk at the nature center where we saw a tiny baby turtle?  Did I mention that Gene and Joe cooked dinner for the moms as well and we got to have dinner with Arlene?  It was wonderful.

Queen of the Monkeys

I remember taking Julia to the playground the week before kindergarten started and she could only do one or two rungs on the monkey bars, and even then only after some help getting started.  Here we are in the last month of kindergarten, and she can easily pull her way across and back five or six times.  Her arm muscles are noticeably bigger as well.  It feels like a metaphor for kindergarten as a whole, with all of the learning and growth that happens in one short school year.  She is definitely my hero and my queen of the monkeys.

Field Trippin'

I took the day off of work on a beautiful Friday recently to take AJ on a field trip with his fourth grade classmates.  It amazes me after a day like this how teachers do it every day.  My senses are on heightened alert at being responsible for four other children in addition to my own.  There is something so much more stressful for me about being responsible for other peoples' children. I am, of course, very careful  with my own kids, but I know them so well and when to expect trouble or a challenge.  Plus, something about the idea of telling another parent that their child got hurt on my watch makes me incredibly anxious. 

Despite all of that, we managed to have a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, the kids were well behaved and I got to see Chicago through their eyes and marvel at things that I forgot to notice after awhile, like the Marc Chagall Four Seasons mural pictured above that was right outside my law firm's office. Nothing like seeing the world through your kid's eyes to make you appreciate it a little bit more.

Evil Princess Leia

The kids know I adore homemade Mother's Day gifts and that I start quizzing them early about what they are making me at school.  AJ seemed bummed this year when I asked him.  He told me that his class was doing a story about why their moms should be on the cover of People magazine, and while he liked his story, he had ruined it by making me look like an evil Princess Leia in his drawing on the cover.  I told him that was awesome because the picture would definitely become part of our family lore and be told with lots of laughs for years to come.  Introducing Evil Princess Leia, my alter ego. I like her already.

Double Thumbs Up

How can you not love this guy and his enthusiasm for life?  I was in Washington DC this week for work meetings, and David's coach posted this picture on Facebook of Davey at his baseball game. It is hard for me to be away from the kids when I travel, but this definitely gave me a double thumbs up day to see his joy even from far away.

Pretend Play

I love that they both, at ages 6 and 8, are still happy to wear their costumes to their big brother's baseball game and run around the whole hour and a half playing in their own imaginary world.  It feels like David is slipping in and out of imaginary play, and my sister says this is the age when he will developmentally begin to drop it.  I want to hold onto it as long as I can, and I know Julia does as well.