Holder House

Spring Break, Part Two

Did I mention that I am LOVING this Spring Break business? The only bad part is that everyone else is loving it too, so everywhere I want to go is crowded as all get out. But does that stop yours truly?????? Nooooooooooo! Remember - my inner day-tripper has been thwarted for far too long! MWAH HA HA HA HA!!!!   

Yesterday was the zoo. This time it was a double header - The Two Toots Grill, which is a train themed restaurant where your food is delivered via choo choo, then the Children's Museum for a little educational fun. This time Daddy came along to join the party. Not sure if he will ever recover...but he was a good sport anyway! Joining us this time were some good friends of ours from across the street, Michelle and her boys, Baron and Harrison.

The best thing about two Toots, according to the children in my family, is not only that your food is delivered by Lionel Train, not only is the diner across from a REAL train station where you can watch the real thing roar by, but that they serve killer cupcakes complete with a completely obnoxious train whistle on top... I don't know why the restaurant owner always looks like he has a headache when they start tooting on the darn things...weren't they his idea in the first place?

It was hard to top lunch, but we tried. A good two hours was spent at the Dupage Children's Museum, where we built with blocks, painted with light, froze our shadows and experimented with bubbles. And I would like to report that I didn't lose Georgia here, either!

WooHoo! The Zoo!

It's Samuel's Spring Break, and my inner day trip demon is finally unleashed!!! This half-day kindergarten business has really been cramping my style. Not enough time to do a proper day trip!

The weather looked good (ie not so fricking cold it would freeze your you-know-whats off) so I packed 'em all up and headed to the Brookfield Zoo in the city. 

I wasn't the only one with the bright idea of going to the zoo and enjoying the warmer weather - the place was packed. It didn't bother us, however, the zoo's a big place, and we just took the time to see some of the less popular animals, instead. The Monkey House, however, being a Holder Family Favourite, could not be skipped, regardless of the crowds!

We then enjoyed a lovely lunch, prepared by yours truly, while watching the elephants. PB&J always tastes better outside, don't you think?

Jonah couldn't resist chasing the Canada geese, and I hope learned his lesson when one of them chased him back.

This was Georgia's first official trip to the zoo where she wasn't caged up in the stroller the entire time, and I am pleased to report that I didn't lose her.

I must say that I am really enjoying having Samuel home all day for the first time since school started, and I CAN'T wait for summer vacation!

A Canadian Family during American Thanksgiving.

Being about 38 weeks pregnant during Thanksgiving this year, somehow I just didn't feel like making a big, ol' Thanksgiving turkey...so Jim busted out the hotel points, got us a room downtown, and we did the big parade and then stayed overnight. Now, any big jaunt like that with young kids is bound to be challenging but we had a great time anyway!

We bundled up to watch the parade, then hit the Palmer House Hilton after for a bit of brunch. Georgia didn't like the cold so much so we didn't make the whole parade, but at least we saw the Elvis impersonator. I mean, what's a Chritmas parade without an Elvis impersonator?

Kickin' It Old Skool at Navy Pier

Well, time grows short before bambino numero quatro arrives, so even though Jim was out of town in Arizona this weekend, I decided to get some quality time in with the current munchkins before I am a leetle more tied down.

And if you know me at all, when it comes to day trips, I am a "go big or go home" kinda gal.

So, I packed 'em up and hit downtown Chicago and Navy Pier for the day. We had fabulous weather for late October - close to 75 degrees although really, really windy.

Navy Pier had a Hallowe'en event called "Navy Fear" going on, so we thought we'd check it out. So, we did the Ghostly Gardens (which mostly involved bounce houses), the big Ferris Wheel, the standard choo-choo ride, a lovely overpriced lunch, and even made a jaunt over to the Magnificent Mile. We played in Grant Park, and climbed among the many sculptures.

The kids were really good, even when we did the walk to Michigan, which isn't far for me, but pretty far for little legs.

I know things are going to get crazy here pretty soon, and I will be in full blown survival mode, so it was nice to be able to do something fun and special with my babies. I love them so much and feel blessed to have them in my life.

Lincoln Park Rocks!

Ok, living in the 'burbs is fine for the most part, and most importantly, it means I can have a house that is bigger than 500 square feet. However, every once in awhile I get the need to go somewhere more REAl..with restaurants that aren't owned by nameless corporations, where there is some character.

So, I made everyone hop into the car and drive to Lincoln park, just Northeast of downtown. How cool was it? Pretty effing cool! Lots of local colour, great restaurants, boutiques, rowhouses, brownstones..I totally loved it. had some fun taking a pic or two...

Now I just need to come up with 2 or 3 mill for my own brownstone.