Demo Day!

"The Pit" was the highlight of camp.

Yesterday was the last day of gymnastics camp at Wilmette Parks and Rec.  The girls got to show off their skills at "Demo Day!" for lots of parents and cameras.  On a whim, during our first week in town, I signed them up for this 3x/week morning camp.  I needed some space both practically and mentally as we moved into our new home, and they needed some routine, physical activity, and children other than each other.  I would have been happy with a few mats and some air conditioning, but the camp and facility FAR exceeded expectations.  It was awesome.  And, Rynn learned to do a cartwheel while Eleanor perfected her forward roll. 

Bad lighting for my cheap Target camera :)

Lincoln Park Zoo

While Jason is hard at work at his new job at Grace we are hard at play in our new playground of Chicago.  With school only a few weeks away we are taking advantage of these beautiful summer days to continue discovering the city.  Today the girls wanted to see the zoo, so we spent FIVE hours exploring the nation's oldest zoo.  It is also one of the last FREE zoos in the country (if you don't count the $25 they charge for parking!).  Filled with beautiful pots, gardens, flowers, and old brick buildings immaculately maintained the zoo is really quite stunning.  And if you get bored of the animals (not likely) just look up at the horizon for a view of Lake Michigan.  

Some map discussion and big sister irritation.

Once again...stunning gardens around every turn.

The zoo beautifies itself with the flowers but it is also so very CLEAN, a characteristic of Chicago in general.  I am continually amazed at how a city this size is so tidy.  I guess if they can reverse the flow of the CHicago River away from Lake Michigan then they can figure out how to throw away their trash.  I'm impressed.

Life still feels like we are on an extended vacation visiting a new city.  Sometimes I still have dreams I need to catch a plane to get back to Portland.  I still check Portland's weather every day and think about people there, the air and the light so unique to the Pacific NW, and my 'other' life that changed so quickly.  But, at the same time, I am growing to really like this place called Chicago.  It truly is a beautiful city, an amazing American city, that is in many ways a microcosm of the United States with all its different neighborhoods, languages, and cultures all living together in a place that somehow manages to feel so "all American" at the same time.  Around every corner is a new adventure and everything still feels so fresh and exciting.

Rynn grabbed my arm and shouted, "Hey Mommy, check this out!  They named the chimps after my grandmothers!  I guess they decided to use a 'K' instead of a 'C' though."

This was my favorite dude in the zoo.  His 'cool cat' Meerkat gaze is awesome.

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!)