Biking to Eat Street Crossing and Funlandia, Commence

We had unusual summer temps in early spring this week. I thought we'd have snow piles until mid May but everything melted this week.

I guess it was time to take a look at the gardens.

Meadow set up her fairy garden.

Oh hey they did actually come back and take our old boiler.

No more lawn ornament.

Meadow and I recovered from a stomach bug and were ready to get out of the house to enjoy this weather.

Much later we'd realize our fridge wasn't fridging.

Our first trip to Eat Street Crossing; a food hall just down the block from our house.

Nice to have an ice cream shop that's only a quick bike ride away.

Bebe Zito is probably the best ice cream in town these days. So it's nice to have it so close. Just wish they offered the same flavors as the original location.

Smaller than I thought but it was a nice space. I imagine it gets crowded during the colder months with the patio closed.

We go to the movies once a year. This year we had to take the kids to the new Super Mario Bros movie. I'm glad we picked the noon showing, because by the next showing the theater was packed.

Everyone loved the movie. Theo declared it the best movie ever.

Our attic space was officially ready. Before moving things up we had to bring down all the tools.

So many tools. I'm glad to be more or less done with this space.

Meadow was excited to finally have her reading nook.

We started collecting rugs and furniture to furnish this space. The braided rug in the background came from our basement; left by the previous owners. I have a soft spot for this type of rug, since we had one when I was growing up. After many vacuums it was perfect for the space.

Meadow had officially moved into her space.

Funlandia is open for business. We originally thought this space would be an extra living room but once we brought up all the kids stuff it turned into a playroom.

It seemed way bigger without all the kids many, many toys.

Since Theo has turned five he has become a whole new person. He's learned to swing on his own, play at the playground with other kids and now is semi-interested in riding the balance bike.

He's been going on walks with me to the playground. A few days ago this playground was full of kids, the temp drops and now there's no one.

We've been getting Mexican food from the local Mexican market just down the block, La Casa, when we're too busy too cook. You can buy everything ready-to-go in bulk. Warm local tortillas are even ready in a cooler. Much better than Dominos; not as cheap.

Comments

Sisters, a Brother and Walking Chicago

Summer always seems to mean one thing: weddings. Whether I'm shooting or attending, we're bound to end up at a few every year. This time around we were heading down to Chicago from my big sister Katrina's nuptials. I feel like all our vacations are centered around a wedding or something wedding related. I wish we could go on a vacation without having to worry about being somewhere. It also means a few repetitive trips down I-94. There aren't nearly enough unique stops off the interstate. One outlier is Foster Cheese Haus , the only organic Wisconsin cheese shop I know of. Run by the folks behind Castle Rock Organic Farms , we always try to stop by. Unfortunately for us they were closed on Wednesdays, but at least we got to spy on their darling garden out front. Brooke and I arrived in Necedah. We decided to stop at Brooke's sister Brittany's home along the way to cut the ride in half and get her dressed hemmed. ...

Dakotas Road Trip: Badlands and Black Hills

I thought we would skip Wall Drug this time since we've seen it before but Scott was gun ho on going. Come on. You can't go to the Badlands and skip the world's greatest tourist trap. First stop ice cream. We thought we would have lunch here but after seeing the prices decided we would cook something at the park instead. But first we had to take a couple tourist pics. When we we decided we were coming here I was expecting it to be 90's and hot. Did not think it would be rainy, chilly and foggy. I always make Brooke look cool. She on the other hand always finds a way to take a pic at the most awkward possible moment. Either that or I'm just really awkward. Earlier this year, I asked Theo where he wanted to go on vacations this year. He said he wanted to backpack camp at the Badlands because he was sad he didn't get to go yet. This is all for you buddy.

Yardwork, Ikea and Pumpkins

My new parents-in-law got us a dehydrator for the wedding. Knowing we were going to be cleaning up the garden and going to farmer's market, we took a gander at our millionth kitchen device during breakfast. Scott added granola to his oatmeal. The oatmeal was rather bland, just the way Brooke likes it. Scott was actually cleaning up so I had to take a quick photo of him as proof. Scott told me he was, "putting a blanket down for Peanut," while singing. During the winter months peanut needs a warm place to peer through the window. Seeing as it was nearly November, I setup his blanket for him. Seeing as the farmers market season is dwindling down, we headed to the market...once again. The close proximity to the cities central farmer's market has to be one of the best assets of living in NoMi. We were both amazed by the bounty of produce still on sale. We quickly filled up our first bag and took it back to the car....

Search This Blog