What Ana Does

This Saturday we went to a party in downtown Chicago with work colleagues ... and no kids!! Sure, there was a fair amount of office gossip discussed, but it wasn't too bad. And there were a few spouses to chat with. And adult beverages. And no juice boxes. And lots of adult language. It had been awhile since I've been to a party and didn't see small kids running around. A nice change. And the view from his windows were pretty cool ... View of Chicago From the Condo Sometimes, being an adult is kinda nice! 

A few weeks ago we met some friends at the Chicago Botanic Garden and checked out the Wonderland Express exhibit. They recreated some famous Chicago buildings and set them in fairy-like settings -- with several trains running around them. It was kinda magical! (And by "magical" I mean seeing a GREEN landscape in winter fills me with warm feelings of spring. Sigh!) Here are a few pictures I snapped. Pretty!  Train Swooshing Past

Camp Outfit: We Can Do Better With the new school year underway and a new full-time job for me starting at the end of the month, I'm beginning to think of new schedules and strategies. I know, I know ... you think, what do I have to improve on? But life isn't perfect in Illinois and there is a lot of refinements that need to be made. There are two, in particular, that I'm focused on. 1. Our morning routine is a mess. I did it sorta on purpose, as it's the summer and my schedule was flexible, no school bus runs and only a loosy-goosey camp schedule to keep. Because of this, the kids head to camp with unbrushed hair, outfits that don't match ... and they don't so much "walk" out of the door as pushed and prodded -- with me running in several times to reclaim something forgotten in the haste. No more! The school year means more routine. I got a "Star Chart" for morning and evening routines -- to help remind all of us (me included) ...

Outside the Field Museum Let's be honest, I don't have the best impression of the city of Chicago.  In my mind, it's just a scatter of weird neighborhoods with some tall building in between. And finding anything worth finding takes way too much searching.  So when Dave got a hotel room for a weekend-long conference, we decided to crash his hotel room so we could explore "the loop" on foot.  We left Saturday after soccer practice on a warm 80-degree day. By the time we got downtown, the temperature dropped 15 degrees and it was pouring rain.  The next morning, it was 50-degrees and raining. Not what I had packed for. We did our best. Got to the Field Museum and stopped at Old Navy for sweatshirts.  In Front of Sue the T-Rex So, instead of walking around "the Loop" and maybe Miracle Mile, we did the Field Museum, packed up and went home.  This seems to happen to us a lot in Chicago. The weather here just never cooperates...