Back to School

Jimmy started 1st grade today, and he was so excited! We went to the open house last night, where he got to see his room all set up for today. He was happy to see that he recognized some of the kids who would be in his class.

Of course taking him this morning was chaotic, mostly because of Josie. Strongheaded as she is, she of course didn't want to walk up to the school--she wanted to go to the park instead. She settled for the smaller play area near the playground, and I decided to leave her there while I helped Jimmy find his line. Even though I kept checking for her (and she, rarely, for me), she managed to take off from that spot and head for the park. I had to go grab her just so we could have enough time to say goodbye to Jimmy. Then I stuffed her back in the car only to hear her wailing after she realized we weren't going home, but to Miss Jan's instead. Looks like it will take her a while to get used to our new routines!

Concert at Pritzker Pavillion

Last Friday we took Jimmy downtown to see a concert at Pritzker Pavillion. They Sinfonietta was doing Holst's "The Planets," which Jimmy had been learning about recently, so we thought he'd like that. He'd also never seen a symphony (and I think, neither had I), so we knew he'd be interested in that, too. As you can see in the photo of Jimmy they had a big screen above the musicians. (The other photo is from the Millennium Mark website.) While they played each of the pieces (Holst did a piece for each planet to capture its personality), they had images of the planets and so on. It was very cool, and Jimmy loved watching the violinists play in sync. He was excited that there were about 20 violinists there!

The Last Birthday Party for Josie

Because of our summer traveling, our kids end up celebrating birthdays over and over . . . and over. We had Josie's birthday party with Grammy, Uncle Danny, Auntie Anuta and Dominik this weekend, and it was a wonderful time. The kids played in the water and had fun with Grammy and Uncle Danny making big bubbles. Later we had a burger buffet--yum! Josie got a hippo cake, which she was thrilled about, and then she got some nice gifts from her relatives--a pizza set like Millie's, pots and pans and dishes, and finally, her new kitchen from Mommy, Daddy and Jimmy. She was in heaven. Then we went for a walk to the park, where all three kids had fun on the slides and swings (and Dominik and Josie rode in the wagon after Josie asked her cousin to join her: "Domik, pease!").
















When she got up the next day she remembered the new kitchen and food and said "kitchen!" before she could even eat breakfast. She made a beeline for the playroom and started cooking.

Director-in-the-Making

This video is so hilarious. This was Jimmy's first attempt to make his very own movie. What's cute about it is how he films it--and you'll see how it occurs to him to change the camera angle, and so on, which I think is just so interesting because you see a kind of thought process there, and a kind of thinking about how an audience might experience the image. You have to watch the whole thing! Anyway, here it is:

Weekend at the Lake

We spent another weekend at the lake, and the kids had lots of fun. On Saturday Jimmy and I went out to the middle of the lake for a swim with Auntie Jeannie, Mark, Dee and Lauren. Jimmy loved jumping off the boat and swimming in the deep water. Later Dee got Josie to play in the water, ride in a float with Jimmy and even climb up onto the raft. Josie was beaming.

The next day our friends Jim and Erika and their girls Anna and Caroline came for a visit, where we did more swimming. The kids really spent a lot of time playing in the sand; they were busy building, pouring and protecting their creations!

Trains Until You're Sick of Them

I took Jimmy out last week for a dream-filled day of trains. We took the Metra to LaSalle Street Station, then walked over to Union Station, where Jimmy "finally!" got to see some Amtrak trains. I was surprised that we could walk so close up to the terminal, but we saw plenty. We also saw the Great Hall, something I'd always wanted to see anyway.

Then we walked back across the river to the Sears Tower and its sky deck, where Jimmy spent a lot of time sitting next to the windows, looking of course for trains. He spotted the Amtraks heading into Union Station, the Metras making their way to LaSalle Street station, and plenty of El trains. Oh, yeah--freight trains too. Then we headed back to LaSalle Street station, where we walked along the terminals to see the striped engines. I told Jimmy that I was sick of trains after that. "Forever?" he wondered. "No," I said. "Not forever. But definitely for today."