feeding the duckies

Annalise’s school has a program where students are awarded with “green tickets” whenever they’re caught doing something good, such as following directions, assisting another student, etc. Unsurprisingly, Annalise has really taken to this program and works hard to earn these tickets every chance she gets. We promised we’d celebrate with an activity of her choice when she earned 25 of these. Little did we know she’d hit that milestone within the first month of school!

A few weeks ago we enrolled Annalise and Sean in Taekwondo. They’ve enjoyed earning the tape on their belt, and by coincidence, the very week we decided to celebrate Annalise’s 25th green ticket, they both earned a green tape stripe on their white belts. Two things to celebrate!

Thus was born “Green Ticket and Tape Day!”

Green Pancakes

The celebration began with our traditional Sunday morning pancakes — with a twist. I threw in some green food coloring and we had green Mickey Mouse pancakes.

Riverwalk Picnic

Next up, a picnic on Naperville’s picturesque “Riverwalk.” We realized today that the last time we picnic’d there was days before Nathan was born. The riverwalk has since undergone substantial renovation, however the path is basically the same and lovely as ever.

Feeding the Duckies

We brought along some old bread and, against admonitions stamped into the concrete walkway, fed the numerous ducks gathering at the water’s edge. As usual, the kids then spent some time running in circles around the amphitheater and generally having a great time enjoying the mild fall weather.

The Bouncey Place

Annalise choose “the bouncey place” for her celebration treat. So next, we headed out to Airtastic for an hour or so of jumping, climbing, and sliding down inflatables.

Tags: airtastic, Annalise, Celebration, emma, Family, Feeding the duckies, Naperville, Nathan, photo, Picnic, riverwalk, Sean
Filed under: Uncategorized on October 3rd, 2011 | No Comments »

From a dozen or so shots, these were the best we could get. Here’s Emma at home with her family.

Emma in her fuzzy hat from Grandma

Annalise strikes a pose

(well, OK, so Emma’s a bit hard to see through all the bundling)

Tags: Annalise, emma, Family, Nathan, Patrick, photo, Sean, Suzy
Filed under: emma on March 28th, 2010 | No Comments »

Kiddieland is closing.

After 81 years in operation in Melrose Park, IL, the amusement park featuring mainly rides most suited to younger children, will, as rumor has it, make way for a Costco or some-such.  This place holds many fond memories for those like my wife and her siblings who grew up in this area. We simply had to take the kids there before the gates were closed for good. And so, yesterday we packed the kids in the van and along with aunt “Bethie” headed out to Kiddieland on a grand “babenture!” (ed: loosely translated from its native “annalise”: adventure).

What a day!
The weather was forecast to be rather cloudy with increasing odds of rain in the mid to late afternoon. Perfect, we thought. Not too hot and muggy to make walking around outside oppressive and yet dreary enough to keep the crowds on the thin side. The real chance of rain wasn’t until 2-3pm, which meant we’d certainly be either home or at least en-route by the time it started pouring. We got off to a slow start and didn’t arrive at the park until around 11:30, 1/2 hour past opening and the first thing we noticed was the ginormous line of folks stretching a couple hundred yards or so beyond the entrance. Gulp. Alright, so perhaps we’re not the only ones who thought this would be the perfect day to visit the park. Sean managed to sneak in a decent nap while waiting and sometime after noon we found ourselves in Kiddieland.

What a wonderful place.

My first thought was disbelief that they’re actually closing in a few weeks. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was instantly struck by how clean and well-maintained this place was, from the rides to the signage to the people. While there were certainly signs of wear — this is clearly not Disneyworld — the carousels and mid-20th-century rides were obviously well-loved. We started off slowly, taking the kids around to all of the “kiddie” rides first. Unfortunately for Nathan, only a couple were large enough to accommodate an adult with infant. First there were elephants that go round and round and up and down, then cars, stranger cars, spaceships, boats and swings. Round and round.  By this time we were brave enough to take the kids on “the Little Dipper” rollercoaster. This is a small wooden coaster with a 30′ drop (if I recall the sign correctly). Based on past experience with our community pool waterslide, I was moderately concerned that at least one of the kids would be screaming to get off before  it was over. Was I wrong — they both LOVED it!

Their other favorite ride was the “Log Jammer” flume. The weather held out and it turned out to be an absolutely perfect day for our visit. We had managed to ride nearly everything in the park, and taken the kids on the rollercoaster a total of three times. By the time a light rain started, it was after 6pm and we were all ready to head for home. A fabulous time was had by all. It’s rather sad this gem of a park won’t be around for a few more years.

Tags: adventure, Family, kiddieland, rollercoaster
Filed under: Uncategorized on August 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »

Last weekend we went to Columbus, Ohio for Christmas! I know, that’s what I said….who ever heard of Christmas in October? In any case, as this was my very first “Christmas,” I wasn’t about to complain. It all started when Mommy and Daddy took me on another plane ride to visit my Aunt Amy and Uncle Chris and my cousins Zack and Addie – whom I met for the first time. Grandma and Grandpa were there with the rest of Daddy’s side of the family. I got my very own cell phone and car keys! They’re fun, but for some reason, I still prefer Mommys’. Zack and Addie’s new house is very nice and I had a great time crawling around with my cousin Samantha…but I didn’t get much sleep and by the end of weekend I was totally wiped out. The best part is I heard Mommy and Daddy say something about the next Christmas being in December in Naperville. If they have Christmas in Columbus in October and Naperville in December, where can we go to have Christmas in November? Maybe South Bend, Indianna?

Tags: Addie, Amy, Annalise, Chris, christmas, Family, grandma, grandpa, Ohio, photo, Zack
Filed under: Annalise on October 8th, 2006 | No Comments »