Not Waterlogged, But a Bit Damp

Spring!!!


April was a bit wet in the Chicago area - there were a few days that getting to Costco or Target was somewhat challenging, with all the bridges looking more like lakes.

But that doesn't stop t-ball!

(Ok, technically it does stop the t-ball.  Spencer's team finished their game because it was not-totally-raining until the 4th inning, and they had to finish 5 innings or have to reschedule the whole thing.  But subsequent games were cancelled to give everyone a chance to wring out our clothes before sending the kids out to play in the mud.)

And it was a 24-21 victory, so, you know, worth it in the end.

Teddy and Lizzie hung out under umbrellas and blankets.

There was some sun at some point...

You can fly a kite even on non-windy days, provided you're willing to run really fast.

And, plan Tire-the-Kids-Out worked really well.  Too well.  I left them to unwind while watching a show, and when I checked on them 15 minutes later, there they were.  I had to carry sleeping, grumpy children upstairs, and change them into pajamas, and that's when Lizzie woke back up and insisted she wasn't tired.  Argh.

And eventually the fields dried out enough for t-ball to start up again.  The Condors are doing well so far - Spencer has had a couple home runs and lots of RBIs, and the team is 4-2.

And the twins are enjoying the opportunities to climb things while big brother is playing:

 

 

 

Happy spring!

 

Lion / Lamb / Whatever

Winter is doing its best to make up for lost time, but I think this was the last "big" storm (I'm frantically knocking on my desk as I type.)  Note that local news outlets went into full "Snow-maggeddan!!" mode for this last 6-8 inches, which, to be honest, was maybe the 3rd worst storm in a very very mild winter, and lots of it turned to slush almost as soon as it came down.

But it was very good packing snow for building stuff!

 

 

 

And this is, I think a day or two later, and the playground was already partly clear:

The only sledding hill I know of is due to be demolished soon, along with the ice rink and swimming pool it's near.  The pool and rink will be rebuilt, presumably newer and better, but the hill will be gone, alas.  It's really, really flat in Chicagoland.  Which is great for a non-athletic bike-rider, but not so great for kids with sleds.

I wanted to take the kids to the hill while it's still there, but I didn't realize that the snow was already pretty much gone at the top.  Ew.  It ended about as well as you might expect: 3 filthy, wet, disgruntled kids.

 

 

A month or two ago, we went to the Lego store downtown - it was fine, but underwhelming.  I'd rather just buy lego sets on Amazon, frankly - I was expecting something bigger.  It turned out, I was confusing it with Legoland, out in Schaumburg.  We finally made it to the real thing last week, and much fun was had (though, it was insane on a Saturday.  I believe we'll make all future trips on a weekday.  And I may take earplugs.)

 

 

 

March appears to have gone with the "out like a lamb" option this year - Easter was lovely.  Maybe a bit chillier than normal temps?  But I'll forgive quite a bit for a view of the sun.  The kids dyed some eggs last week, and the Easter bunny actually thought the weather was nice enough hide them out in the yard!  (I would have thought the aggressive squirrels would have made off with some, but maybe the vinegar in the dye kept them away?)

 

 

 

 

Plus - the first bike rides of spring!  I think we were riding well into winter, technically, but even a short mild winter makes Spring a joyous thing.

 

 

 

 



The Longest Shortest Month

Subjectively, February lasts forever, right?  Ah well.  At least the sun is still kind of up when I get home from work now, so I don't feel like I live in a cave.

For the kids' haircuts, we often go to a Kidsnips (one of those kid salons where many of the chairs are cars) in a mall with a California Pizza Kitchen.  CPK is a favorite, so we often make it a combined haircut/pizza outing.

Looking at these pictures, I'm kind of wishing I'd scheduled the haircuts before the photo op.  Ragamuffins!

Alas, Chicago's winter thing did finally kick in - it's pretty sloppy out.  At least I have helpers with the shoveling.  (Of course if you look carefully, they're mostly taking snow off the lawn and putting it elsewhere on the lawn, which isn't so very helpful.)

And more backyard skating - we probably won't be able to skate again this winter, so I'm glad we got it in before it all turned slushy.

New Champion!

Spencer was our previous winner in the Number-of-Stitches competition, but we have a new entrant:

Lizzie is very fond of cannonballing into the swimming pool, or, you know, anywhere else.  Alas, as the ER doc pointed out, the sofa isn't the best place to do a cannonball.

On the other hand, this time we knew exactly where the hospital is located, after Spencer's ear incident last month.  And my sweet girl makes a model patient, pleased to show how calm and brave she can be, and not particularly disturbed when they wrapped her up like a mummy.

Actually, all swaddled like this, with sterile paper covering her face, she fell asleep and snored gently as they sewed bits of flesh back together.  And: big brother only got 9 stitches.  Lizzie got 3 internal, and 7 external, making 10, which means she's the new champion!

And thus, she gets a popsicle.  (Probably even 2nd place would merit a popsicle, frankly.)

It's been a week, and things seem to be healing nicely.

Spencer tried to come back in the competition this weekend by badly stubbing and possibly breaking his pinky toe (not pictured.  You're welcome.)  It remains to be seen if he has to sit out a very short basketball season.  Nice try, sweetie, but even a broken toe requires 0 stitches, so Lizzie's still winning.

Darth Teddy remains my uninjured child.  Maybe being on the Dark Side gives you power to somehow keep flesh intact?