Starved Rock

We took a little day trip to Starved Rock, which is this awesome state park about an hour north of Normal. We hikes many miles and had just a fantastic day adding on to our fantastically fun summer travels. 

I just don't understand why they think day camp is boring. 

Spring harvest

We were able to get some spring onions and broccoli from our garden today. Penny has become very helpful and interested in the garden. We love biking to our spot and then taking a look around at the other gardens. We've got some great ideas for next year.

The rest

My phone ran out of juice in chicago, so I wasn't able to post the rest of our day. But here are the rest of our pictures.

I just threw up in my mouth a little

Thank goodness there's wine.

Urban Chicago

The Chicago subway is not very tourist friendly. Actually, I take that back. The transit staff has always been very helpful. Today was no exception. But the trains themselves are full of locals. Most of them scowling at the little rich girls with their American Girl dolls yelling "Hello!!!" loudly into the subway tunnel.

Chicago selfie

Chicago bound

We're headed on a day trip to Chicago. I hope we have enough strength to carry back all our goodies home on the train tonight.

Also, I just have to say I love the new train station. Super modern and clean. Subway sandwiches for some good eats on the train (the girls love, love, love to eat on the train). I even paid the $6
to park and charge my car. Too bad it was already charged.

Edit: just found out the train travels 110 mph between Pontiac and Chicago. High speed rail!!! And Amtrak now has wifi. This trip just gets better and better.

Anyway, all this for $56 and not needing to drive and park in Chicago... Amazing.

Lettuce

I harvested my first crop. Lettuce. When we were regulars at the farmers market or when we belonged to the CSA, I always lived the lettuce in early summer. It's so much better than the store stuff.

So I watched a video on YouTube and decided to pull some before it bolts. And I'm darn close. It started getting that milky discharge at the base of the plant when cut, a sign that it's reached maturity.

But it looks pretty good. I cut three plants and got more than I think we can eat. Although, I can eat a lot of salad.

Summer vacay

The girls finished school Friday. So we did what everybody secretly wishes they could do. We went to Michigan.

It was a lovely trip. We saw our Battle Creek buddies. We went to the farm. We saw Julia. And, best of all, we played volleyball. In the sun!

It was a nice trip. And a good reminder of how fun the farm can be, especially when you're 9. Carol had so much fun exploring out there, especially the old hay loft, my favorite childhood hiding place.

Let's just hope it takes a few years before she realizes it's a good place to smoke cigarettes and kiss boys. Although, I have no idea how I know it's good for that.

Growing like a weed

I went out to weed today because A) it rained last night and the ground was wet, and B) the community garden lady sent out a very friendly reminder that weeding was our responsibility. Something like, "Get out there and weed before you go jaunting around the Midwest this Memorial Day weekend or you'll be sorry."

Anyway, it needed it. As seen here.

But it looks nice when it's done. As seen here.  (Notice the empty plot next to me and its weed patch. I think this is very bad for me.)

I saw a few small victories while I was at eye level with the plants. My first tomatillo flower.

My first sign of broccoli. This crop has pretty much been a failure for me. I think most other broccoli plants are much further along. But I was still happy.

My lettuce looked very pretty.

But an hour of weeding provided me with a very good lesson. Number one, I need one of those little foam knee thingys. Also, there were A LOT of ants in my garden. I don't know if ants are good or bad or neutral in a garden, but I need to find out. Also, they were the biting kind. Ouch.

 

Also, yes I am wearing shorts. Stop judging me. 

Anniversary garden

In honor of my and Steve's 12th anniversary, here are some pictures of my garden. A garden that needs to be weeded.

A metaphor for marriage? Probably not.

But I'm glad to have the day off to look at the garden, hang out in the backyard and eat a steak off the grill.

Almost summer

Fishing

Carol has moved on from virtual fishing on the Wii to sort-of-real fishing at Normal Circle. Every year, people populate the deep pool with fish. And sometimes those little fishies get carried away by the current and sucked into the drains. That was about to happen yesterday.
But a group of brave teenagers was trying to rescue it with a styrofoam cup. After a couple minutes of failure, Carol jumped in, grabbed the fish with her hands and stuck it in the cup.
"And that's how you catch a fish about to get sucked into a drain, " I'd like to imagine is how she explained her actions to her new teenage friends as they admired their work.

Garden in May

Not the best garden of the lot, but not the worst. Things are growing steadily despite a frost (freakin' May frost? For reals?) last night.

Thanks

The weekend, Penny came over and straightened out my shirt. Girlie is always fixing me up.

So I pulled my shirt up and struck my best awesome pose and asked if I should wear my shirt like this, with my big old belly hanging out.

Carol, who happened to be walking by said, "You don't have the right kind of body for that. "

Oh. Thanks.

Chores

For a long time, we have used a point system for allowances. For every chore the girls do, they get a star. For every star, they get a quarter.

I know. I'm a genius... Right!!!

But it was a flawed system. The girls, carol on particular, aren't all that concerned with money. There is rarely an instance where they feel compelled to buy something. They like having extra cash for the ice cream truck and maybe a toy,but they just weren't all that into it. And as a result, they weren't very concerned with chores.

But all that as changed. I've decided to change the system. For every star they earn, they get 15 minutes of video game time.

My house has never been so clean.

But after this weekend, I'm thinking it might e TOO good of an idea. They were literally doing one chore, playing 15 minutes, for a big large of the weekend. I created two monsters. Or two addicts. Or maybe a combo.

And this picture doesn't have anything to do with video games, other than to document they did make it outside briefly this weekend.

Community garden

Normal is, like, the best place in the world to live. Other than the harsh winters, harsh summers, unattractive landscape, lack of water and relative isolation, it's totally perfect.

I have already penned my love of Normal's great biking, great schools, great electric car access, great trains (more on that later this summer), great restaurants, and so-so parenting scene. And I think I've mentioned once or twice, great vegetables.

Now I'll go ahead and talk about the (hopefully) great community garden. For $15, I got a 10x10 plot. Bonus it's only one block from my house.

Because of the close proximity, last year we watched the garden prosper during its first season. So we decided to give it a try. Of course, we were 3 weeks late on sign up, so all the 10x20 plots were gone. But perhaps, this was a blessing in disguise.

I'm actually not a great grower (I would have said Gardener, but the joke seems a little played out). I'm ambitious in May, but I lose interest in those hot, dog days.

So, in an effort to create accountability. I've decided to do some blogging.

So far this year, we've put in lettuce, broccoli and cabbage. We've also planted onion bulbs and spinach seeds. It's about 60 yards to a playground, so no excuse not to bring the girls.

So here we go. Another reason to love Normal.

Circus

Carol just finished her first circus. For those of you who think I'm talking about a slumber party or some other parent-maddening adolescent activity, let me assure you I truly mean circus. With clowns and juggling and popcorn and everything.

Illinois State University is home to the oldest collegiate circus in the country. The Gamma Phi Circus. It's a local gem. And because Metcalf is a lab school of ISU, they have the Junior Gamma Phi Circus for students in 3rd through 8th grade. It's sort of a big deal. Carol did unicycle, cylinders and diablo. She was fantastic.

But that's not why I'm talking about it. There was hardly a moment during the 2 hour performance that I wasn't on the verge of sobbing. To see all these kids, who have been practicing for months, perform as one group was very emotional for me. Whether they were awesome or horrible, whether they pulled it off or failed, they went out there together and smiled. And there wasn't one star of the show. It was the group and they were there to make the crowd happy. A
nd they did.

And when the blind kid did the tight wire, I about lost it.

Unfortunately, my picture taking abilities were clouded by emotions. So basically, my photos suck. I'll try better next year.