LEGO Layout Heaven

We made Jimmy's day today at Cantigny Estate in Wheaton, where they had a special LEGO train layout. His favorite part by far was the replica of a Metra train, but he also loved looking at the SpongeBob section (Josie's hands down favorite) and the replica of the Milenneum Falcon.
















They even had a Harry Potter section, where they'd recreated major scenes from the films with LEGOs.

Turkey Day Treats

Thanksgiving was a small this year, but the meal wasn't! Mom made the turkey, stuffing and other sides (including some rolls that came out as raw balls of dough). I contributed two pies--one pumpkin, one apple crumb. The homemade crusts and special recipes earned A's from the crowd (even Jim), so we'll keep the recipes for next time!

Finally--Some Sound!

Jimmy finally got to make some music with his violin last week. We knew nothing about string instruments, and so didn't know that you had to rub rosin on the bow's horsehair. That creates the friction that allows it to work. This vid is of Jimmy this evening, practicing his Pep-per-on-i Piz-za!

Little Pianists

Josie and Dominik had fun playing Grammy's piano today--of course it helped that Papa/Uncle Danny was impersonating a turkey nearby.

Grand Rapids Marathon

Since this year's Chicago Marathon was a bust for Jim, we made a spontaneous decision to go to Grand Rapids for the marathon there a couple of weeknds ago. Jim got his best time in years--3:23--and Jimmy got his dream come true. He got to sleep in the big bed with Mom and Dad. Jimmy still talks about that hotel room, which he thought was "so beautiful." Josie liked looking out the window to see downtown Grand Rapids, but she slept through a good part of the marathon.

As a speacial treat, Jimmy got to visit the I Love Toy Trains official store in New Buffalo, Michigan. He was excited to see their layouts and their collection of model trains.

Happy Halloween!

I've got to get caught up here with my photos. I've been sick for the last month--now I've got a sinus infection. But there's lots to report: I ran my first 5K over a month ago, Jim ran the marathon in Grand Rapids this past weekend, and there's always plenty to tell about the kids. So this weekend, I hope . . .

In the meantime here are pics of Jim and Josie from Halloween. These costumes have been the bane of my existence the last month. I was up until 2:00 a.m. one night this week trying to get the tin man costume done. It's worth it, though--they look cute and Jimmy was so happy. At his school party today all the kids had drawings up of what they were going to be today, and Jimmy's drawing of the tin man was so cute, with the funnel hat and heart getting the most emphasis. I'll post a scan of that when he brings it home! And Josie was a hit with her costume, although her shoes keep falling off and she's grumpy today.

Walworth County Fair

This was back over Labor Day weekend. We took the kids to the fair, to see the usual animals (and eat the usual fried cheese!). Dan, Anuta and Dominik went too. Jimmy went on his first-ever ferris wheel, which he loved!

Last Pool Day

We spent Labor Day at the pool, since we knew it would be our last chance to go ther until next year. We spent a good deal of time at the pool this year, at least until we had those crazy August rains!

Josie's Birthday

Well, I guess her birthday was almost a month ago now. Poor second child. She had a nice party up by Auntie Jeannie's though . . . with a cat cake and candy (not that she cared), and swimming in the lake.

Jimmy's First Visit to the Art Institute

Finally, some new posts . . . but Jimmy and I went to the Art Institute ages ago now, back in August, right before school began. He really wanted to see some Van Gogh's, but when we got there we found they'd removed most of them while they work on renovations. Oh well. He got to see this painting by Seurat, though, who did influence Van Gogh a bit. He also made a little art of his own in the kids' section by selecting from a box of objects and placing them on the wall.

Motor Boat Fun

Jimmy got a cool radio-controlled motor boat from Uncle Dave, and we finally got a chance to try it out at Auntie Jeannie's the other weekend. Dad, Jimmy and Uncle Danny had fun testing it out. Check out the wake on the boat, which goes pretty fast!

Domino Run

Jimmy got a domino run from Gram Crackers and Pop for his birthday. He'd been creating small ones with dad with some Diego dominoes, but now he's got a load of dominoes and other pieces to combine them with. Here's a domino run he built, and a movie of how it worked!

Zoo Day

Caribbean Block Party

Well, we finally made it to the Tinley Park Caribbean Block Party. Usually it's 90+ degrees and very humid, so we skip it. It was still pretty hot, but Jimmy had fun getting a new tattoo and seeing a guy in a band play the bass. There were all kinds of games and whatnot along Oak Park Avenue. Jimmy got to see his first dunk tank, which was pretty funny (he read about one in an old Curious George book). The guy in the tank got dunked twice while we watched.

Dominik Turns 1!

We had fun at Dominik's birthday party on the 14th. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we had cake and played outside! Josie got dressed up in her early-birthday present from Sara.

Last Leg Slide Show

Here's the slideshow for the rest of the trip, which I put on YouTube (so the picture quality really stinks). Time to cough up the cash for the Photodex software Dave uses ;-)

Summer Curcuit--NC Edition

Here's a slideshow Dave made from photos and videos we pooled during our day at Carowinds amusement park. We had a great time! And here's to the mega-corporation! Carowinds is owned by Nickelodeon, which was good for Jimmy . . .

Jupiter and Moons

We got a good glimpse of Jupiter and its moons tonight with Jim's telescope. We didn't take this image, but this is similar to what we saw, in size and to some extent in detail (in our image you could faintly see one of the "stripes" you see on the planet here). Now if only Jimmy could stay up late enough to see too! Jupiter looks like a very bright star in our Southern sky right now--you can see it easily once it's dark.

Jimmy's Island Party

Jimmy's 5th birthday was a lot of fun--he wanted an island party theme so we pretty much drew upon a mish mosh of different island cultures. We had Caribbean food (here's the Caribbean rice recipe everyone was asking about), listened to Hawaiian and Calypso music, and featured palm trees wherever we could. We even had an island cake--hopefully Mommy won't have to put icing bathing suits on Teddy Grahams again any time soon . . . Jimmy also made an island picture as part of the decorations!














Jimmy had his friends Anna, Caroline and Aidan over, and they had fun in the kiddie pools and Mount Tiki Soki sprinker. They also did their first (I think) limbo. Of course Grammy, Grampy, Uncle Danny, Auntie Anuta and Dominik came to join in the fun, and even Josie went for a little dip in the pool.

Meeting Ben

We recently got to meet the newest member of the Heim family--little Ben! He's a real cutie, and we could tell already that Bradley was going to make a great big brother. Brad helped out by retrieving Ben's bottle from the fridge (along with some mini M&M's).

Summer Festival in Carol Stream

We went to visit Uncle Danny, Auntie Anuta and Dominik. We went to a nice festival in Carol Stream, where Jimmy got to go on some rides and eat ice cream, and Josie got to nap--even though it was pretty hot and humid!
























The rides were fun for Jimmy. He's finally old enough now (and brave enough) to try some neat things on his own, like the big slide (he was really scared and held up the line a bit--but did it!) and the swings.