Spring Break (Day 1)

Is there anything better than beginning your day with a train ride and ending it full of cupcakes? Our first day of spring break was a lot of fun. We got the kids up in the O'Dark Hundreds to catch a 7:30 train to Chicago.

From our previous experiences on Amtrak, the trip there is often as much a highlight of the day as whatever is planned next. The kids love the train trip. We can move around, they can play, and the trip goes quite quickly ... with no stress.

We arrived in Chicago around 10 am. The first stop was the hotel, where we checked our bags so we could travel a bit more lightly through the rest of the day. The hotel was very close to Rick Bayless' fabulous Frontera Grill, so we killed a little time walking around Michigan Avenue waiting for the restaurant to open for lunch. We had gone there over the 4th of July three years ago and loved not only how delicious the food was, but how with it our waitress was in helping with some gluten free options. While this server wasn't quite as well versed with the GF choices, we still all managed to have a great lunch and leave with full bellies.

The next stop was the Adler Planetarium. My good friend Dave had left his job with the BCPA to take a position with the Adler nearly three years ago. Last year he gifted us with a membership pass, which we had not had the chance to use until this week -- two days before it expired.

The trip was fun, though. It was the first trip to the planetarium for all of us. Dave got us into a couple of the Adler's special programs, but the kids had the best time in a kid-friendly area, complete with little rover robots, dress up dolls, and space loader vehicles, which the kids could drive a little ... but ultimately became the scene of a huge dodgeball fight between the kids, as the moon rocks were soft little foam stones, perfect for throwing.

We then retreated to the hotel for a lazy night in. The kids and Amy watched a movie, while I picked up some takeout and made a trip to a nearby Whole Foods for some gluten free cupcakes they sell made by a local bakery. The kids loved them, as the hotel cleaning staff no doubt discovered when they were cleaning our room the next day. There were little chocolate crumbs EVERYWHERE!

Look Who's Four!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAYA!

Maya had a very happy fourth birthday today! We started the morning with some family time. We opened presents and had some family time, Grandpa and Auntie Pam included.

Maya had a princess birthday this year, right down to her new princess bicycle. Unlike Owen, who tore up the sidewalk with his tricycle before moving up to four wheels and then down to two, Maya's been holding out for a bike. And I have to tell you, it was a signature moment of what I always dreamed fatherhood would be when I found myself down in the basement on Wednesday night, assembling the bike from the seat to the front wheel ... all the way down to the tassels in the handlebars.

Maya started off a little tentatively, but then VOOM! She was off!

Missing the birthday was hard on Maya's Grammie and Grampy, but we enjoyed some phone time with them on their trip to Arizona. We also checked in with Uncle Daniel, wrapped deeply in his own birthday celebration in Massachusetts with Owen and Maya's new cousin Cooper, born on March 23.

Cousin Esme with baby Cooper.

He's a handsome devil!

Maya on the phone with Grammie and Grampy.

 Maya's friends then came over for a party. We had a great time with a full house. Costumes were worn. Toys were played with. Cupcakes eaten.

But soon it was time to say good-bye to all our friends and family. We'll do it all again next weekend when Grampy and Grammie get back home.

One final photo to add at the end. Last night when I was reading the kids a book before bed, I told Owen, "Hey, you'd better get in your last hug of this three-year-old sister. It's your last chance."

This is the photo.

Clearly we all love you, Maya! Happy birthday!

Princess Day!

A flier was posted on the bulletin board where we check in at Maya's pre-school advertising a "Princess Day" at a local Paul Mitchell salon/cosmetology school. The graphic of all the Disney princesses standing in solidarity was enough to pique Maya's curiosity, so we signed her up. Who knows, this may have been the same kind of opportunity Kate Middleton took advantage of to begin her own ascent to the throne.

The flier said to arrive in a princess dress. You may recall, one was purchased (but not worn) for Halloween, so that was easy. Auntie Pam was Maya's special assistant for the day of beauty, which involved getting her hair curled, her nails done, and makeup applied.

It was quite fun. The girls ran some errands after and returned to our castle pretty zonkered. Maya was dead asleep in the back seat when they got home. I moved her to the couch and gave her a smooch on the cheek, which woke her up for good.

It's the sort of thing that happens to princesses all the time in books ...

Pinewood Derby

Race day!

I wish I could say it went exactly as we'd hoped. Owen's car (at least from our perspective) was the handsomest car there. Turns out, though, his Tiger Den has some real gearheads who designed some of the (and indeed the) fastest cars of the race day.

Owen's car came in 4th of the four boys in his Den, but, looking at the times from the rest of the day, finished somewhere in the middle when it came to the entire Pack.

So he did OK. But it was still a disappointment.

After we talked about it, we had a good time cheering on the other boys, particularly Owen's friend Isaac, whose car won the event. Owen took away a trophy for participating and we, of course, still have the snazziest Hawkeye pinewood derby car in Central Illinois to play with around the house.

We're still proud of you for all your hard work, Owen.

The race track

Owen checking out the finishers

On his way to collect  his trophy

 

With Dad, Owen was all smiles at the end

Yellow belt!

Congratulations, Mom! As you know, Owen's Tae Kwon Do experience has been a great source of inspiration for Amy. She began classes after the new year and the two of them have been enjoying going to an all-ages class together several times a week.

Amy's first test to move up from her beginner's white belt to a yellow was a great source of excitement in our house. Having seen Owen break three boards, we were all excited to see Mom take a whack at it.

Literally.

No surprise, she did great. One quick kick with her right foot and it was over. We were all very excited and inspired.

The new yellow belt looks great on you.

A green belt and a wooden car

The weekend started out not so much with a "bang," but a mighty "CRACK!" as Owen added another broken board to his collection and moved up a level to the Green Belt in Tae Kwon Do.

It was a great test! Breaking the board took a few more tries this time, but Owen stuck with it and got it done. Perhaps the most impressive part of the test was the fierce determination and sharp movements he demonstrated as he was doing his two multi-step routines at the start. He has been working very hard and really knows what he's doing.

Owen's Tae Kwon Do success has been an inspiration to all of us ... but particularly to his mom, who signed up to take lessons herself two weeks ago. There she is in her own uniform at the top (she stayed for her class after Owen was done).

I think we're all looking forward to Mom's first test ... and her breaking a board.

After the test was done, Owen, Maya, and I drove up to Grandpa's house for the weekend. We had lots of projects in mind, particularly checking out all the work Grandpa had done on his house ... and getting some work done on Owen's Pinewood Derby car for Scouts.

Operating under the belief that the race was this Monday night, we gunned our way through the project. And now it turns out the Pinewood Derby isn't tomorrow night; tomorrow is just the night we bring the cars in for an intital weigh-in and some instructions about the final steps. The actual race is at the end of February, which is good because we've got two ounces of sinkers we need to add to the car before it's ready to race.

Otherwise, it's all done. Thanks go Grampy for the work in the shop and for the use of Grandpa's basement where we sanded the edges pimped Owen's ride. It's very cool!

We had a nice weekend with Grandpa. At Maya's request we had a picnic for our Saturday lunch.

We also visited some friends of Grandpa's from the church who have lots of model trains, Maya hung some art on the magnetic wall Grandpa added to his basement, and we went to a puppet show at Grandpa's church.

Most importantly, the kids got some cuddles in.

Which was good for everyone ...

Dance, little lady bug!

It's been weeks since my last post. I'm still hoping to get back and correct the record of a very busy New Year's and January with updates of our trip to San Diego, Owen's two lost teeth, the start of school, and much more ... but today belongs to Maya.

Maya had her first dance recital on Sunday afternoon. As you will see from the video, the performance was short but fun. There was some doubt whether she would actually make it to the stage. She missed last week's practice due to a very bad cold, so I learned her steps and we practiced at home. She was also very, very nervous the morning of the performance, but her mom did an excellent job encouraging her and inserting her into the group of waiting dancers. In the long run, she had a wonderful time and was beautiful on stage.

Great job, Maya!