The Art Institute of Chicago

With our bags unpacked and our lives settling into a bit of routine we are gaining more energy and enthusiasm to enjoy this great city of Chicago.  Thanks to the incredible generosity of our friends in Portland, Pat & Ashley Roach, we have a membership to the Art Institute of Chicago.  Picking up the 'L' in our neighborhood this morning we rode to the city for our first trip to the museum.  The Roachs gave us a year long membership, so come see us and we'll go again together!

clearly...this is on the way to the city when spirits and energy are still high

trying to catch some blog photos while Jason gives me a hard time...you can see the museum in the background

the outer courtyard 

an art lesson from Daddy

the girls really loved this painting of two sisters in the circus

a little snack break to keep the moods lifted

conversation about the fountain in the background went something like this:

"Daddy, why do the mermaids have penises?"

on the way home

Goodbye city...

and Hello green suburbs.

Oz Park

"Mommy, I don't think Google knows what they are talking about," say Eleanor and Rynn simultaneously as I turn down another wrong street in my attempt to explore Lincoln Park this morning.  Perhaps my wee ones have more wisdom than they know.  Google took us on a one hour journey to find a park that was only fifteen minutes from our front door.   I wanted to get out of the house today and explore another Chicago neighborhood. Not quite up for conquering the Lincoln Park zoo but still wanting to explore this cool neighborhood, I decided we would go on a journey to find a park mentioned in Frommer's "Chicago."  Called Oz Park in honor of Frank L. Baum who resided in the city in the late 19th c., the park has both wide green spaces, a beautiful garden, and a fun playground (complete with a yellow brick road).  Since the girls just saw the Wizard of Oz for the first time last week they were very excited to see life size sculptures of the famous characters.

A fellow teacher and mentor during my year teaching at Episcopal High School in Houston told me, "All stories can usually fit in one of two categories.  Either a hero goes on a journey or A Stranger comes to town."  As protagonists in the plot of our own lives we all find ourselves experiencing both of these plot lines.  I think the Wizard of Oz is so timeless because it appeals to those deep desires both for adventure and for a place of belonging and home.  Who doesn't want a heart, a brain, and the courage to use them all while journeying toward that place where we can finally rest?  

The Tin Man

The Cowardly Lion

The Scarecrow

Rabbits and Reflective Friends

We're all looking for new friends these days.  Sometimes, they are in surprising places like the ceiling, for instance.  The other night Roscoe starting barking and leaping toward the ceiling.  Jason and I couldn't figure out what his problem was until we looked up and saw his reflection in the skylight over his head.  Roscoe has found a friend, another Weimaraner even, to chat with him each night when the sun goes down.  At least this friend is a bit less sneaky than that darn white tailed rabbit that he keeps chasing onto the El tracks right as a the warning bells begin to clang.  My little buddy is not quite a city dog yet.  Maybe we can find a little poodle to show him the ropes.

Gratitude

Today we worshipped at Grace North Shore for our third Sunday, and it, like lots of things, seemed more familiar and comfortable.  I took my camera to catch a photo to share with you some pictures of the church but, alas, my batteries were dead.  Jason participated in leading worship today, and he made a passing comment before the Confession of Sin which has simmered in my head all day.  He asked us to think about gratitude- how sometimes we think we deserve things and in our entitled ingratitude we rob the giver of the joy of giving.  We often do this with God, demanding from Him what we think we deserve with hearts that are irritable and blind to the Giver.  This, piggy backing on a great sermon Stuart preached about joy and contentment last Sunday, reminds me today of how much there is for which to be thankful.

Our home is a wonderful space that with each day feels more like ours.  It is funny how a space that feels so strange and "still like someone else's house" (as Eleanor put it the other night) begins to feel more familiar just by the living in it until one evening while sliding a dish into the dishwasher you feel that sense of 'home' wash over you.  I am so thankful for my family, for Jason, who even with a painfully injured back has been so peaceful and content.  I am thankful for my girls who are rolling with all these changes like old pros.  They are already enjoying the benefits of living on the North Shore as they bounce from the lake, to the amazing local public pool (complete with four water slides and fountains), to their gymnastics camp.  I am thankful for a great church that I am only beginning to know. I am thankful for family and friends who have been so supportive.  The list can go on.... I ran along the lake down to Northwestern University with Roscoe this evening, rounded a corner, and saw the city skyline almost floating out on the lake.  An unbelievable sense of gratitude washed over me.   I guess that is part of the joy of worship...realizing that in our precious gifts is the Giver.

In the Big City

I'm beginning to lose track of the days this week.  I can't believe a week ago our moving van was still in front of the house.  The days have blurred one into another as we have crawled out from under piles of boxes, hung paintings, put away dishes, and begun to claim this place as our own.  With a few walks to the lake and one dizzying trip to the bowels of IKEA, we have scarcely ventured beyond the walls of the house and yard.  It is easy to forget in the whirl of settling in that a gigantic world class city is in our backyard.  I'm still just trying to find the grocery store and my hairbrush.  

With my mom in town this week we decided it was time to journey downtown to see the sights.  We took the much recommended Architectural Boat Tour to get a fantastic perspective of the city from the lake and the Chicago River.  We pulled tired, hot children to Millenium Park to get a quick glimpse of the famous "Bean."  I think 'overwhelmed' is still the adjective of choice...for all aspects of life.  But adventure- lots of it.

View of the city from Lake Michigan

Jason checking his GPS while Mom and the girls check out the skyline

the Trump tower

Nana and Eleanor in front of the "Bean"

Inside the Bean

As we stumbled out of our parking lot under the Trump tower we were surprised by a clustering of pedestrians looking up at the sky.  A bit disoriented, we looked up just in time to see five stuntmen jump off the Trump tower into the city.  They looked like large black moths descending on the city.  It was then we learned that the low flying helicopter was filming a scene from the new Transformers 3 movie.  The photos below are some of the other set pieces set up on Michigan Ave.  Cool.

Hollywood or Chicago???  (this looked really real!)

"Moving In" Day

The Calm....

...Before the Storm

I think a small forest was  killed to move us across the country.  It gave me a bit of a stomach ache to see this pile of paper grow.  Hopefully someone else will be able to use all this stuff.  We are happily no longer sleeping on air mattresses, although still buried in chaos and boxes.  Miles to go before we sleep...well, maybe not.  I think I'm going to curl up with Roscoe- our slightly confused and disoriented dog- and take a nap under some boxes.

This is our new home.  We are renting these days which offers both unforeseen freedoms and restraints.  The house's biggest benefit is its location.  We can hear the rumble and bells of the "El" (Chicago's elevated train system) as it enters its last stop on the North Shore right in our neighborhood. Our next door neighbor said fall is really fun when you can hear the roar coming from Northwestern's stadium two blocks south. It doesn't feel like home yet, and there are many changes to get used to but I think in time we'll settle in and rub a little of our own dirt around the place to make it our own.  One day at a time, right?

Lake Michigan...Who Knew???

With no furniture yet in the house and a summer beach pass in hand, we hit the beach...of Lake Michigan, that is, for a few hours of fun late this afternoon.  These pictures are from our town's beach, only 3/4 mile from our house.  I know where I'll be this summer.