Gobble

I know it's impossible, for our weekends to get any funner... but hold on party people.  Uncle JJ and Uncle Scott are coming to town this weekend.  I know, seriously,, right?   I was able to get Cubs tickets on Craigslist a couple of weeks ago.  I got 4 tickets, thinking that if neither made it, we'd only have to eat the cost of one ticket.  It means that Nico won't go to the game and we'll just pick him up from school after.  Does that make me a bad mom? 

The good news is that he really, really, really likes his new school.  When school started, he lost his best friend, a little girl named Addison because she went up to the kindergarten- so he only sees her in the afternoon. I am sure that they were probably pretty annoying... their thing was that they would call each other animal names... like Alligator Chicken.  Or Chicken Dinosaur. His new little friend is a girl named Zoey, who he really likes.  In fact, last week he said that he loves her.  Which is absolutely darling.  They have a funny game they play called "Gaga".  Which is basically just them dancing with their hands up and shifting their weight back and forth on one foot to the other.  It's pretty hilarious.  

Le Nico was invited to a birthday party this weekend, so I hope Uncle Scott and Uncle JJ are okay with that.  It's at a water park, I guess.  So, that will be fun.  Dave is looking forward to being around adults.  Turns out when you work from home, it can be a bit lonely.  Apparently, the dogs aren't much company.  

Nico and Dave went to the YMCA after school, so it was late when we started dinner.  Dave told Nico to finish up his blueberries to which Nico replied that "he would gobble them".  This apparently means to stuff blueberries into one's mouth.     Which is weird, because I dont use the word gobble.  What is even stranger is that he seemed to have the idea that gobbling also meant holding one's hands up to one's face while stuffing blueberries into one's mouth.  It's pretty funny.  

Still a bit undecided about what we are going to do about school next year.  I spoke to one of the faculty members at DePaul who has a daughter who is three.  She sort of gave me the run down on schools.  I had been thinking about the possibility that if we got him tested for selective enrollment schools, that if he managed to make the cut that he might end up in a school trying to do work that is beyond him because he willl be so young.  This faculty member said I ought not to worry about that and that the real reason to get him into a selective enrollment school is beause those schools tend to be much better... with parents who are much more involved.  She also gave me the breakdown on some of the better, more diverse schools.  I haven't had the chance to talk with Dave about what our priorities should be... whether we'd rather have a selective enrollment school or a diverse school.  While they might not be mutually exclusive, I'd rather not have to choose.  There is still plenty of time to worry about this, I guess.  

Sorry I'm Not Sorry

We had some fun adventures this weekend.  Friday night we had our traditional Lou Malnatis.  And it was amazing.

Saturday I shot photos at the competition that my CrossFit box put on.  Half of the competition was outside, so I was able to use my big lens and get some great photos.  One of the really great things about shooting so often (in low-light) I am getting really acquainted with my DSLR camera.  Also, for some reason, I felt the need to buy a nice(r) 50mm lens last year with a really low fstop capability.  I can't remember why I bought it... but turns out it has saved me shooting at CrossFit... since it's in a warehouse type space with relatively low light.  That bad boy don't care about low light!!

There was a pretty sweet lens that I saw the other day on the internet that I wouldn't mind having.  It basically takes the things I love about my big lens and combines them with the things I like about my little lens.  And costs only 12,000 pounds (as in british sterling pounds).  Can you imagine over $20,000 for something to fit in the palm of your hand?  WOW.  

I have been getting a lot of really positive feedback on the photos.  Only one person has had anything negative to say...to be fair, I had experimented a bit with a particular effect, so it's fair if he didn't like it. It was of him finishing a box jump and I put it more up to brag that I got the shot... seriously, in low light?  Everything exposed right and motion frozen?  Yeah, Imma brag about that.  Sorry I'm not sorry for bragging.  I think I still make some of the girls uncomfortable when I shoot.  Hell, I might make some of the guys uncomfortable, but none of them had ever said anything or appear to actually be avoiding the camera.  Side note: "Sorry I'm not sorry" is one of my new favorite things to say.  It's the ultimate way to acknowledge that maybe you should be sorry, but you aren't.  

After Nico's swim team practice and my shooting Saturday morning, we tried to take a nap at home.  But failed.  Saturday afternoon, Dave and I made the mistake of watching some show on the travel channel about food+travel.  Turns out that the travel channel has completely given up on actual travel shows and are just doing food shows.  We watched a piece about steak sandwiches in Philladelphia (as in Geno's and Pat's).  Well, next thing you know, we were at Dominicks getting stuff for steak sandwiches.  I got a snicker's bar and a green apple to make a snickers apple salad.  I asked Nico if he wanted some, to which he replied NO when he heard the word salad.  Turns out that he actually likes Snickers Apple Salad... weird.  It's almost like he likes being contrary.  For the sake of being contrary.  

As you can see, the weekends are a bit hard for Drake:

Sunday, we explored Skokie a bit.  Dave liked the Skokie Farmer's market on Facebook and was reminded that there were only a few more weekends of the market before winter.  So we rode up there  (in the rain) and ended up having breakfast at Annie's pancake house before trying the market.  Here is Nico checking his email and having "coffee":

We ended up with a bunch of fruit (peaches, blackberries, apples, etc).  We had a short workout at the YMCA and then headed home for a nap.  After nap, Dave went to get groceries.  He found a grocery that he really likes, called Mariano's.  They have a massive prepared food section, which is THE thing he likes about Whole Foods.  But Whole Foods is expensive for the stuff that you aren't buying because it's organic.  Like paper towels.  And canned beans.  Apparently, Marianos walks that line pretty well.  

While he was at the store, Nico and I hung out at the house drawing maps.  That is kind of his thing lately, drawing maps.  A couple of weeks ago, I found a watercolor tablet at Target for super cheap, and he really likes drawing on these (I think because the paper doesn't get as bent up as regular paper).  This week and next, hopefully, we'll be sending out a bunch of maps to Granny You and Grampy and Grandma and Grandpa.  We might even sneak one down to Max, Becks, and Emme.

Opportunity Knocks

So, in other exciting news, I have been offered a course for the winter quarter at DePaul.  I know, right?  Just when I think I am out, they pull me back in!!

Turns out that the senior research methodologist in the SSRC has taught classes in statistics and methods, prior to my arrival, so the teaching coordinator asked if I would be interested.  While I have never taught a statistics class, I have taught methods.  And I have had some pretty damn good training  in the art of teaching.  And also, I have won two teaching awards.  So it's not really like this:

Of course, I am not sure how much of this the coordinator knew when she asked me to teach an undergraduate statistics course.  It's probably a bit uncommon, for someone who is a good teacher to not move automatically and fully into the teaching track.  If I wasn't in Chicago at DePaul, I would probably be at a teaching college, with my four courses a semester and no research activity.  

The conversation I had with the coordinator was a great conversation and she said that she would send me the course list so that I might consider teaching some of the "fun" classes in demography and health.  Yeah.  How much fun will that be?

This development is actually quite fortuidous...Dave and I watched a thing on Sunday Morning a couple of weeks ago about the Khan Academy that has made me rethink how I would revamp my teaching style, if it ever came to that.  

That said, I believe that I will make every effort to incorporate memes in this class, as well as pop culture references to Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and Keeping up with the Kardashians.  For example, here is a question that I might ask on a midterm:

"Following the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, a CDC researcher is interested in how many people are infected ("turned") each day.  She has been collecting this data for a year, but decides to draw a random sample of 30, for which she obtained a sample mean of 34.1 infections per day, with a sample standard deviation of 0.4."

Question 1: Calculate the standard error of the mean.

Question 2: Construct a 95% confidence interval to estimate the mean number of infections.

Question 3: Write a narrative explanation of this confidence interval.  

And so on... couldn't it be very fun??

I think so.  

In addition to that new opportunity... I was chatting with one of the other girls at CrossFit this afternoon and she mentioned that she (and another girl in our class) do Roller Derby.  Apparently this particular establishment is pretty good.  And they invited me to come to their tryouts!!  Can you believe it?  My mother's dream come true!  When I pointed out that I don't "skate" they replied this as not as big of a problem as you would think.  Apparently, being an athlete is a solid enough foundation... then after that, it's just learning how to skate.  Normally, I would be all over this.  But I decided to show some restraint and not jump with both feet.  But it was cool that they invited me.  And in case you were wondering, yes, I have thought about what my name would be.  

Guns McGee.  

Of course this only works if you have actual guns (i.e. well-developed biceps).  Otherwise, its just sad.  So we will revisit this issue in the nearish future.   

So Grown...

So, I mentioned that Dave and I have found a pizza place in Chicago.  This is actually kind of a feat, since we haven't been here very long.  And when you're talking about Chicago pizza, everyone and their mom has an opinion.  

Lou Malnati's is a Chicago institution....Accordng to Wikipedia (so take this with a grain of salt),  Lou and his wife co-managed Pizzeria Uno in the 1950s, after Lou and his Dad Rudy began making deep dish pizza inn the 1940s.  The first resturant opened in Lincolnwood in 1971 (Lincolnwood is the first 'town' heading north out of Chicago towards Evanston.  We happen to go to the Lincolnwood Resturant, but I don't know if it is the original.  

It's just plain delicious... the crust is sort of biscuity... and the sauce is zesty.  Everytime we get Lou's, Dave and I engage in at least a five minute conversation about what makes it so awesome... of course, we get the butter crust, so maybe that is the key (although Dave contends it is the sauce).  Regardless, it's a friday night tradition I really like.  So much so, I will cut back on snacking throughout the day, make sure I get my bike rides, and my CrossFit workout just to make sure I can really enjoy it (without the guilt of eating pizza in the middle of Mission: lose last of Nico baby weight before trying for numero dos baby).  

Saturday morning, Nico had the first lesson of this new round of swim lessons.  We had a pretty funny miscommunication about them.  I didn't go to his last class and figured that if he was ready to move up to the next class that his teacher would have said something to that effect.  So I sent Dave to the Y with the expressed mission to sign him up for Pike (AGAIN).  Dave, because he is a good husband, did this, even though he had gotten a note from his teacher saying that Nico was ready to move up.  Said note was posted on the fridge... I just didnt notice it.  He contends that I must have had a good reason for keeping Nico in this class, evven though his teacher says he is clearly ready to move up.  Which is all kind of hilarious.  

Saturday night Nico and I went to Target to get a few things.  He's fairly aware that he might get a baby sister or a baby brother someday, and has started keeping track of all the toys he wants to get her.  He says her, because he thinks he is getting a baby sister and that he can call it.  Which is precious.  I have also figured out the trick with the toys, which is that we take a look at the toy section to see what kinds of toys we want to add to his Christmas list (it was his birthday list, but now the big holiday is Christmas).  This helps me get him out of the store without a MEGAMELTDOWN.  

Sunday, we took Nico on a bike ride up to Indian Boundary park, which is abot 2.5 miles away from the house.  The park has this massive wooden castle structure play thing that Nico loves.  

Afterwards, we stopped at Emerald Isle (a pub) on the way home for lunch.  He has entered the age of wanting to play arcade games.  He is also starting to figure out how to work the system.  For example, there was a dart game that he wanted to try.  Not knowing how to play it (and moreover, not having any darts), I explained that I wasn't sure how to play and that was the reason I didnt want him to play it.  He explained that he wanted to learn so that when he was a grown-up, he would know how to play. Who can resist such an argument?  

After nap, Nico and I headed out to get groceries.  He's getting so big and grown-up, I can barely believe it sometimes.  In fact, this weekend, he explained to Dave that he didnt need to go to school anymore, since he knew everything already.  

Lou Malnati's, the Polish Festival, and The Dog Beach

I feel like I write the same posts about every weekend.  We went here and did this awesome stuff... then we went there and did some more awesome stuff.  Do you guys ever get bored with that?? I don't.  :)

Friday night started out eventful. I mistimed my trip home from work on the bike and ended up riding through a rain/thunder/hail storm. Which was kind of funny.  At one point, I actually got blown off my bike by a gust of wind.  It was really kind of funny.  I felt a sense of solidarity with all the other bikers that got caught in the rain.  At one point I exchanged power fists in the air with another dude who was waiting to cross Lincoln Ave (that I was driving northwest on).  When I got home, I grabbed a quick shower and we headed out to what Dave and I have come to describe as "our pizza place": Lou Malnati's.  It's Chicago deep dish.  At it's best.  It has definitely become our go-to place for dinner late in the week when neither of us wants to cook.  

Saturday morning was kind of chill.  Dave and Nico went to the YMCA and I hung out at the house doing chores (boring).  After nap, we headed to Jefferson Park to the Taste of Polonia (Polish festival).  Complete with three bouncy houses, so you know Nico was in heaven.  Dave's former co-worker who is a Polish-American former Southside Chicago boy met us there, so we had a blast (even if I was a little cranky pants myself... which happens.  Sorry... it just does).  

Sunday, we headed to the YMCA in morning... where Dave and I got in pretty good workouts.  I have been doing CrossFit for four months now and I am completely jazzed about it.  I feel myself getting stronger.  Even though some of the olympic lifts continue to be hard, I feel strong.  My legs are getting more muscular... so much so that I am nervous to wash my favorite pair of jeans... afraid that they are going to be unwearable when they come out of the dryer.  You say I could just NOT dry them... to which I reply, "um gross... have you ever worn jeans that have been air dried?  yuck."  

So we finished Sunday at the Y with a swim... through a small miscommunication between Dave and myself, Nico is repeating the Beginning Pike class, when his Beginning Pike teacher says he's ready for Eel class.  this is actually okay, because the little friend he made in his first class is going to be class with him.  I also say that until Nicholas Michael is ready to put his face in the water without becoming Mr. Bargainy McBargain, that he'll be okay in the lower class.  

Monday we took the dogs to the Montrose dog beach, which was really fun.  They always have a blast whenever we go (its a dog beach on Lake Michigan).  

Seriously, what is not to love?  The water is cold and there are all kinds of dogs there.  In fact, at one point, I went to sit on our blanket but couldnt figure out how in the hell it had gotten covered in sand.  Turns out there were two dogs playing chase with each other and the little guy kept running onto our blanket.  He clearly did not care that he was invading our space.  Going to the dog beach ALWAYS wears the dogs out... but they seem to have so much fun when we go.  

Mama Nico Date Night

This weekend was the first in a while where didnt have anything we HAD to do.  Saturday morning, I headed to CrossFit to photograph a weight-lifting competition.  In the past, that hadn't really been my thing.  "Lifting weight just to lift weight?  Ugh, spare me..."  But, something that I have come to understand is that it's almost impossible to do CrossFit right without a solid base in some olympic weight lifting.  Snatches, cleans, jerks, deadlifts, etc. allow one to build functional strength, which allows one to do "work" (whatever that may be) easier.  Also, no one thinks it's cute when I announce, "Yeah, I am not going to do that... "  Plus, a lot of my adversion to olympic lifting has been that I just haven't done any of it.  So, I have no idea what it is supposed to look like, feel like, etc.  For example, I just sort of lumped cleans, jerks, and snatches all into a category called, "shit I can't do."  But turns out, that it's actually cleans and snatches I can't do (due to the absence of any protective cartilige in my left knee... also, I never regained full range of motion on that knee after two knee surgeries).  I can do the end part of a clean and jerk (the jerk part).  So by shooting a lot and paying attention, I am starting to get a feel for how these moves build real strength.  Am I going to be cleanig and jerking in some competition?  No.  But I am starting to get a real appreciation for how important these moves are.

If you are interested in seeing some of the photos I took, click here.  The good news is that it's fairly easy to shoot meets... just shoot in continuous mode and model out your settings.  The bad news is that it could be a lot better if I had better glass (lenses).  I could *easily* drop $500-$1000 on some lenses that could get me much further shooting action shots in low light.  But I will try to make do until I get that kind of gear.  

That said... Nico and Dave went to the Family Fun Fest at Hollywood Park on Saturday morning.  We were under the impression that there would be a firetruck (there wasn't).  It was relatively disapppointing.  When I got home, Nico and I ended up snuggling and taking a nap.  When we woke up, we rode over to Petersen Park for a play on the playground.

 Sunday, we rode up to Highland Park (a suburb just northwest of Chicago), which should really be called "Super Swankville".  There is a relatively famous place for breakfast there (called Walker Brothers Pancake House).  We had a delicious breakfast... seriously, Dave and I both had to narrow down our choice to one of about five different things we wanted.  Afterwards, we strolled through an art fair that was going on.  Seriously, here are snatches from two different conversations I heard:
"Well, the place had a gourmet kitchen, so you know I was set.  That was pretty much all I cared about."
"It was so strange- the other day, I went to pay for something and pulled a ruppee out of my wallet.  I hadn't been to India in years."

Both of these make me want to start a tumblr called "rich people problems".

Sunday after our nap, Nico and I went out for a little date night.  We started by taking the bus to the train and getting some dinner in Irving Park.  Then we found a new playground and ended the night with some ice cream at Margies onn Montrose.  It was really fun.

The Good News Is...

Nico has been talking for two years and I still get a big kick out of when he says things that are CLEARLY things that he has heard from us.  Some Gems:

"So, the good news is..." (which is what I say whenever I want to point on the silver lining in a less than great situation).  

"Well, would you look at that?" (which is something I sometimes say whenever I am a little surprised by something).  

"Here comes a snuggle from _________-face" (he fills in the blank with whatever he's been eating that he has on his face... like yogurt.  "Here comes a snuggle from yogurt-face" or "Here comes a snuggle from ice-cream sandwich face.")

"How about if we take a ride down to..." (this is all Dave... this morning Nico suggested that after school today, "we ride down to Margies for some ice cream" after school today. 

He has also started being a bit melodramatic... something he has picked up from someone at school, I think.  He'll say something like, "No one even cares about me!" Which is a hard sell when you are an only child and you've been attachment parented your entire life.  I haven't been startled out of dead sleep at 141am by a foot thrown across my neck for him to claim that no one cares about him.

One of my favorite things to tell him when he starts whining about something crazy, like when he wants to play with a toy that is upstairs and starts whining.  I can't wait for him to parrot back to me: "This is a first world problem.  There are kids in the Sudan that would love to have this as a problem."

Bikey McBikersons

The main problem with Nico riding his own bike is that it's difficult to go anywhere.  We are trying to teach him good habits, so we have him get off his bike and walk it across streets.  Well, we live in the city, so we're always off the bike and walking it across the street.  I have been toying with how to get Nico and me to ride together, so that we can do some more exploring.  And stuff.

On Saturday morning, we rode up to DD for breakfast.  Which is fantastic. However, I have come to the realization that Nico is a lazy only child.  There, I said it.  When it comes to walking- he wants no part if it.  He hates walking anywhere longer than about five steps.  Normally a trip like this would require me putting him on my shoulders.  Which gets annoying after a while.  This particular trip was okay, since he rode the entire way.  

I have been exploring options for Nico and me to ride bikes together.  There are the seats that attach to the back of a bike.  The seats that attach to the front.  The little cart thing that pulls behind.  And this:

What is that? You ask.  That is our new bike trailer.  The grey part is basically just a kid's bike without the front wheel, attached to a tow bar.  It attaches to the seat of my bike.  Saturday morning, before swimming lessons, Nico and I put it together.  Saturday afternoon, wevgave it a test run.  We rode on the bike path that runs north/south towards downtown.  It is the route I take to get to work, but it rolls by 2 different parks.  And he LOVES LOVES LOVES it.  

I need to adjust the seat a bit so that he can reach the pedals better.  As it is now, he isnt much help when it comes to pedaling.  But he totally just enjoys riding along together.  I feel like it is pretty stable, but I want to get a lot more comfortable on it before we take it on any longer range trips. In the time that I have been riding my bike often in the city, I am getting a feel for where bikes can be ridden safely.  Like, if you go just north on Kimball from North Park, you get to Lincolnwood.  But doing so requires crossing to major intersections (including a sketchy diagonal at Lincoln Ave).  I am not sure I'd feel comfortable riding that way with Nico... but I need to figure out something, because there is a really nice greenway on Kimball/McCormick going towards Evanston and Skokie.  I am hoping to take Nico over to the lake before the end of the summer, for some swims.  Wouldn't that be fun??

Yesterday, I took Nico to school and scooped him up after.  This morning, Dave took him on the bike.  The only downside to having the bike trailer hooked up, is that we ended up hooking it up to my bike.  Today I had to ride this ancient roadster bike with the low handlebars.  I havent quite figured out how to shift which made for some slow going up a couple of the hills on the trail.  Plus the seat is old and hard.  And the handlebars are low... so I am really supposed to be way-leaned over on this thing.... which is just so awkward.  Even worse is that non of the "universal" accessories fit this damned thing.  Which means I have to carry my bag on my shoulders.  But Traps McTrapsimus here seems to have a pinched nerve in her neck (or something) because that hurts.  Which is a bummer.  So, I am going to look into buying a cheap used bike.  Or stealing one.  Bikes are like those take a penny leave a penny trays at the checkout counter, right?  No?
Damnit.  

Happy Birthday Nico!

Well, you know you're in bad straits when you're mom, who hardly ever posts, is all over your back about posting on your blog.  To be fair, I have started the post-birthday a couple of times, but just haven't had the time to sit down and finish it.  And last week, I did a training in downtown Chicago... where I had sketchy internet access.

That said.  The birthday.  The big 0-4!!  We had a really fun time!  Dave's mom came to town for a visit, and we started with a trip to the Children's Museum at Navy Pier.  Dave picked her up from the airport and I met them there (after leaving the office for the day).  Recall that the Children's museum was one of the places where Dave and Nico went before Nico started school.  Dave wanted to go back on Thursday night because the first Thursday night of every month is free family night.  Pro Tip: Family Free Night+summer=madness.  There is a giant ship's rigging that Nico climbed.  We also built with some play-building materials and Nico worked the construction and transportation equipment.  After, we grabbed some dinner from Harry Carey's at Navy Pier and headed home.

Nico's actual birthday started with a birthday breakfast of Dunkin Donuts (one of the perks to living 3 blocks away from a Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins).  We let Nico unwrap a couple of presents early in the day, so he would have something to do at the house.  He was thrilled to get a new Chicago Police Department shirt and Chicago Fire Department shirt.  Plus the big gift, a new bike.  With the training wheels and everything.

We made him wait till I got home later that night (after work) to open the rest.  We got him some new books and a new ambulance that he has been eying at Target.  Granny You sent him a new firefighter coat, made with real firefighter coat material.  This one looks more like the first coat he had, which actually looked like it was a slim fitting firefighter coat.  This one also has clasps that are much more reasonable than the other one.   

Grandma and Grandpa Royse got Nico some fun gifts, like a Spiderman lunch case and thermos, which Nico has been making use of.  Although, he did give me a good telling off when I tried to put cars and other vehicles in the lunch case.

  Saturday, we to Grandma Royse to swimming lessons, which Nico calls his "swim team practice". Saturday night, we had steaks and coconut cake for dinner.  Both were really delicious.  Sunday, we started with breakfast at Tre Kroner.  I went ahead and put us on the wait list, and had a few minutes to kill in the Sweden Shop (which is right next door).  Luckily, I was checking out when I saw that they had a selection of Swedish fabrics.  I say luckily, because it could have gotten ugly, with me buying 948534985 yards of their supercute fabric.  No joke.

Per usual, Nico put the muscle on his belgian waffle.  That kid can put away breakfast at Tre Kroner.

Dave and I had a soccer game, so Grandma and Nico hung out at the soccer field.
Altogether, it was an awesome birthday weekend.  Busy, but fun.

The Illinois Railway Museum

I meant to post this earlier in the week, but forgot.  Last week was pretty awesome.  We wanted to have a bit of a low-key weekend, because we still had work to do on the house.  So much stuff to do, cleaning, organizing, cleaning.  You get it.  Friday night we stayed in and hung out.  Saturday morning, I got us Panera for breakfast and Nico said the funniest thing.  He had been eating a parfait and came over to where I was sitting in the living room, with yogurt all over his face.  He made the funniest motion with his hands and said, "Here comes a snuggle from yogurt face!"  Which was hilarious.  Later, Saturday Nico had his swimming lessons.  Still weird about jumping in and putting his face in the water, but I am hoping that wears off soon.

After, Nico and I headed out to Sonic in Franklin Park.  Turns out while I love most of everything about living in Chicago, the proximity to Sonic is thus far, unsatisfactory.  After snagging some lunch we tried to take a nap at the house.  But the 20 min nap in the car was basically a cat nap that served to power Nico up for the rest of the day.  We facetimed with his BFF from Tallahassee, which basically resulted in Graham and Nico making funny faces at each other and showing each other their favorite toys.  Which was great.

There was a festival in Lincolnwood (just up the road from us), complete with a carosel, ferris wheel and rides.  So, that is where we spent Saturday evening.  The festival had gyros and beer and street food, so you know Dave and I had a good time.  The weather was delicious and Nico had a blast.  He even recognized a friend from his new school.  It's funny, because we bought the unlimited ride bracelet at the fair last year and ended up getting burned because Nico only went on like 5 rides.  This time we didnt do the bracelet, but there were like 5 rides that Nico could have ridden all night.  I guess we are there now.

Sunday, Dave and I had a soccer game.  We ended up being short 5 players, which is awesome when it's only 8 a side (you do the math).  I got shelled, but made some good saves.  I also got megged.  And that is never good for business.  Dave had found out about the Illinois Railway Museum which is in Union, IL (about an hour drive from the city).  This weekend, they had an antique car day at the museum.  So we headed out, hoping to find antique firetrucks and police cars, after our soccer game.

We got there a bit late (after the car show ended), but had a good time walking around checking out the old trains.  Nico wasn't as interested in it as we would have hoped.  The really cool thing is that they have a track that they run the old trains on, out a couple of miles into the Illinois countryside and back.   We rode on the Zephyr, which apparently used to provide service between Chicago and Nebraska.  

We can't wait for the cousins to come to town, because we think they would like it!!

The Bike

Dave and I have started watching The Newsroom. Somehow we ended up with HBO when we moved, so I thought it would be great to start recording season 2, and we are going back to season 1 to watch it for the first time.  When we watch a 45 minute episode, it usually takes us about an hour and 15 minutes to get through it because Nico wants to play a game on the ipad, but then decides he wants to watch a Diego.  And so on and so forth.  

Birthday festivities are ramping up nicely.  This weekend, I went to Target and got Nico a bike (with training wheels).  I then met Dave and Nico at the Y for Nico's swimming lessons.  When Nico and I went to leave, I ended up taking Dave's car, which had the bike in it (in a box), in order to avoid a meltdown about the playground, since my car was parked near the playground.  It was the first thing he noticed when he got in.  DOH!!  But I played it off like "That's just a box of stuff to take to Goodwill."  Yikes!!

Grandma Royse is coming to town this week.  The house isn't exactly a disaster area... but there is still work to be done.  I do just about have the kitchen sorted... so that is good.  

Swimming

Like most of the weekends that we have been having around here, this past one was great. It really started Thursday night when we went to Movies in the park.  This is apparently something that a Chicago bank does every Thursday night, at parks around Chicago.  This Thursday it was The Lorax at Hollywood Park, which is the park that is literally, steps away from our house.  Nico was a gem, but didnt want to stay for the whole thing.  This was after Nico's school went to Shedd Aqaurium during the day.  I can totally tell that Nico is an only child- he has no perception of the idea of sharing.  Still.  I will post pictures from Shed later.

Friday night we met one of his school mates at a jump place in Niles.  This proved to be very fun and they proved to be good people.  Apparently, he is part of the old swedish mafia of North Park (it was originally settled by swedes).  They have a boat and have promised to take us out sometime.  Which is awesome, because I was just thinking that I needed to figure out a way to swing having a boat.  But it seems a bit unrealistic when the cost to park a boat in Lake Michigan is probably more than our rent. 

Saturday we headed to the YMCA for Nico's swimming lessons.

He was not too keen on sticking his face in the water, since he did it last week.  Which makes sense, I guess.  But then this happened:

(Sorry that Nico is selling so much crack... those trunks were a bit big).  

Here he is with Ms. Erin swimming.  No big deal.

Saturday afternoon I went up to Michigan to see Uncle Scott and JJ (who just moved to Kalamazoo from Rochester, NY).  We hung out at the house and watched Old School (apparently Rock had never seen it before).  

Sunday, I met Dave and Nico at the soccer field and we played two games (we won one and lost one).  Then we headed home and got to bed early.  Arent you worn out from reading all of that?  This coming week, we are going to try some vintage transportation vehicles museum/festival in Rockford- which Dave found.  The general consensus is that Nico is going to love it.  

Today I had a skin doctor appointment.  For the last year, I have been a bit nervous about skin cancer- mostly because I am terrible at remembering sunscreen.  And when I do wear it, it never seems to keep me from getting burned.  In particular, I was nervous about a couple of spots on my arms and a spot my nose.  Turns out my doctor just froze off some "likely precancerous" spots off my left forearm.  Which is so much better than I thought it might have been.  

Ramping up Festivities

We're  a couple of weeks away from Nico's birthday and we are starting to ramp up the preparations.  For one, there are there:

I ordered the Emergency shirt from CafePress a couple of weeks ago.  And the Chicago Police and Chicago Fire Department Shirts from the Kids Museum at Navy Pier.  Aren't they awesome?  We're also thinking about getting Nico, his first big kid bike (with the training wheels, of course).

Also, we are going to try a play date with a kid from Nico's school.  This kid's mom clued me into this: http://www.olearysfiretours.com/

I know right?  Can you imagine?  Not sure we are going to do this, but OMG, it looks like so much fun!!

Swimming Lessons

So this week has been a bit exciting.  Dave went to Florida last week for work and Nico and I hung out in Chicago.  He's not super excited about going to school yet- I think it's mostly because he doesn't have any really good friends there.  But I am working at it.

On Thursday night, we made homemade ice cream.  We did it with heavy whipping cream, so it was sort of gross... mostly because it was so greasy.  But Nico thought it was fantastic!!

Know what is really great about living 1.2 miles away from his school?  Being able to walk to pick him up from school.  Even cooler, is that the walk home took us through North Park's campus village and Peterson Park.  And we saw this girl.  Just hanging out.  

Saturday, Nico started swimming lessons at the YMCA.  He was a champ.  I was worried that he wouldnt want to do it... since he was a bit reluctant on Saturday morning when we woke up.  But he jumped in the pool and listened to his teacher and everything.  It was great.  After, we headed out to Franklin Park (near O'Hare) and had Sonic for lunch.  Then we scooped up Dad from the airport.   

Sunday, Dave and I had a game at the Foster Turf fields.  And one of Nico's sitters came and hung out with him.  I got to play in goal (I have been playing in the field).  And we won.  Does anyone else wonder how it is that the two games where I wasn't in goal are two games that we lost?  Coincidence?  I think not.  Okay, don't tell any of my teammates I said that.  :)

School choice

With Nico starting his new school, I have been thinking a lot about how we are going to do school in Chicago.  I know, right?  Just what I need, something new to obsess about, right?  Given that we are thinking about having another kid in the next year or so.  And given that not all of Chicago's schools are that great.  And given that we're not opposed to moving up to Evanston, Skokie or any of the other nicer suburbs on the northwest side of the city... it's a lot to think about.

One thing that gives me pause is that CPS doesn't allow for redshirting.  I understand why, intellectually.  It creates an unfair situation where the kids of affluent parents (who can afford another year of preschool) are at a natural advantage because they are older, bigger, smarter, etc.  when they start.  And therefore will be for the rest of their lives.  As an October baby, I believe that I had a distinct advantage over a lot of my peers because I was much older than most of them... because I turned 5 right after the cut off, I had to wait till I was almost 6 to start kindergarten.  Nico's case is even more extreme because he will turn 5 about two weeks before he would start kindergarten.  CPS deals with this by putting a kid into the age-approrpriate grade.  So even if one did redshirt their own kid (but letting them do another year of preschool/junior kindergarten), CPS would fix that by booting that kid to 1st grade when he started (not kindergarten).  Most people I have heard of have never regretted holding their kid back a year, but most have regretted not holding them back.  And this seems to be the case with boys... since they are so immature anyways.  Of course, this is all part of a crazy conversation about parenting, one that I have no interest in conducting here.

While we have a couple of years to think about it and make that decision, I am looking into our options.  We could enter him into the lottery for a magnet schools.  Chicago actually offers STEM, Language and the Humanities magnet schools... although I am not sure that is a great idea... to start fostering a love of the humanities at such an early age.  I mean, I'd like for him to be employable at some point.  The unemployed humanities major that decides to get a PhD in humanities and still cant find a job is sort of an inside joke in Academia.  

The other options are regular school,  private schools, charter schools, and selective enrollment schools (Chicago really is the wild west in terms of education).  The good news is, that two of the best schools in the city are close to us (Edison Regional Gifted and Northside Prep).  The downside is that they are both selective enrollment schools, which means that he would have to test into them.  BTW, I have no idea how one would test into a kindergarten.  I mean, seriously.... what the hell?  However, that said, I am kind of  in love with North Side.  Choice of languages one can learn: mandarin, chinese, japanese, latin, french, and spanish.  And seriously, you can't swing a dead cat at the course offerings without hitting an AP class.  

Of course, this is all assuming that Nico is going to be interested in being all academic.  It's possible that he's not able to do the work.  Or that he won't want to.  I mean, I was burned out of school by my junior year at Ft. Myers.  And if he wants to be a soccer player or a judoka?  I am not trying to have Nico staying up to 3 AM doing school work and trying to be an athlete.  

Then there are the private schools... not unless one of us gets super rich.  Charter schools?  Actually, it's funny you mention charter schools.  But someone at my work is working on a project where he compares the test results for charter schools and traditional schools?  Yeah, charters aren't really that great.  They just tend to look better because the "cream of the crop" of students (the ones with educated/engaged/interested/concern parents).  Coincidentally, those are also the kids who have regular bed times, eat breakfast, and don't live in shitty neighborhoods (all things that can influence academic outcomes).

So it's a lot to think about.  In the mean time, we are going to start "academic enrichment night" at the Bishop-Royse house.  Instead of going to the park and the gym and such, we're going to do academic things after work and school.  Like science experiments, reading, writing, etc.  It will all be fun and games and low-key.  At least till we get a sense of which direction we want to go.  

New School

Things are going well.  Nico has started his new school.  And loves it.  The first day, he was clingy and didn't want to be there- but since, he's been excited to go every day.  It's a Montessori school- so it's good in the sense that he has quite a bit of freedom.  And apparently it's fun.  So that is great.

I'm hoping to go up to Michigan this week.  Apparently South Haven has a blueberry farm... so Nico and I might head up there and then swing by to see Uncle Scott.  Which could be fun.

The house is coming along.  We have it mostly unpacked.  I got the girl cave squared away.  Dave's parents are coming up next month- so next up is getting the rest of the basement good to go.

Having extraordinary adventures

You know, it has to be hard being you guys and not being us.  I am almost at the place where I am like, "look at your life, now look at mine.  sadly, you don't have this life..." but I figure that would make me even more insufferable than I already am.

We are having a blast.  Seriously.  We are loving living in a city of decent size, with decent weather.  I am also loving working at a place where securing the next R01 isn't that big of a priority.  I take days off.  Isn't that crazy?  Last week, Nico and I drove out to Earlville to pick strawberries.  It was a bit of a drive, but worth it in my book.

And since we had so many strawberries, we made strawberry pie this weekend.  I mean, what else would you have done.  I brought one in yesterday and was declared queen of the pies at work.  

Friday had an MRI on Friday (guess what? He has a torn rotator cuff.  It's a good thing he lives with a doctor.  Because I diagnosed that mess a year ago).  This necessitated me staying home with Nico on Friday.  Which started with us going to breakfast at a freaking Swedish restaurant.  In our neighborhood.  It is called Tre Kronor and is our go-to place to go when family and friends are in town.  Look what Nico had:

Doesn't that look heavenly?  After said breakfast, Nico and I went to the library.  The library stresses me out a bit because they don't have many firetruck or police car books.  But we'll find them, I think.  

Saturday night, we headed down to Navy Pier.  We had dinner and walked around.  Nico took us to the Children's Museum store and we picked up a couple of t-shirts for his birthday (Chicago Police and Chicago Fire Department).  Which is very awesome.  Do you see them wearing sweatshirts?  Awesometown!!  I remember this time last year playing a game of soccer in Tallahassee where I had sweat dripping off my eyebrows.  And I was standing in goal.  Seriously.    

Sunday we played soccer.  We joined an 8 v 8 league on a team that already has a goalkeeper.  You know what that means?  Me playing in the field.  Which you know is never good for business.  The bad news is that we ended up losing someone to a red card and then proceeded to lose the game.  The good news is that it wasn't me.  So I have that going for me.  

This week I have Thursday and Friday off... so we're probably going to have some more adventures.  

Wedding in Louisville

We had kind of an interesting weekend.  One of Dave's cousins got married in Louisville this weekend.  Since we haven't found a vet/dog hotel yet, I didn't go, I stayed with the dogs in Chicago when they drove down on Saturday morning.  Apparently Nico was a peach and a half.  For serious.  Here is one of the few good pics from the wedding, where Nico and his cousin Darby are apparently having a blast.  Even though I told Nico NO HAVING ANY FUN without me.  

Me?  Well, I got a workout in, plus I got a massage and saw a movie.  I headed up to Michigan on Sunday to see Uncle Scott.  In all, it was a great weekend.  Not long enough.  Not enough of the house is unpacked.  But I guess it will do. 

Engine 82

This week has been crazy.  I took Monday and Wednesday off of work... Monday to go to the doctor and Wednesday to hang out with Nico.  When I went to the doctor, I tried to have the conversation with him about replacing my left knee.  He doesn't seem to think that is a good idea, since I can still play my sports.  Says I ought to consider doing different sports.  What is weird is that he was completely different with Dave, wants to help Dave get his shoulder squared away, so he can keep doing judo.  This was very strange.

A couple of nights ago Nico and I were pretending to be EMS workers:


Isn't that adorable?

This was also the same night that the Blackhawks lost to the Bruins.  Here are some of Nico's thoughts:


Isn't he funny?

Dave and Nico are headed to a wedding in Louisville this weekend.  I am going to stay at home with the dogs.  I am hoping to be very productive.  But I might go see a movie.  Or two.  :)

Nico in the K'Zoo...

On Wednesday, Dave took Nico to the Children's Museum.  Which is apparently, the best place on earth.  While there are things to learn there, the place is mostly for play.  Including this:

Doesn't that look like fun?  Can't wait for the cousins to visit... think they will love it!!

Yesterday Nico and I drove up to Kalamazoo to see Uncle Scott.  It's an easy, if somewhat boring drive.  Which is saying something, because I figure I have driven every inch of Florida's interstates, plus the turnpike.  Uncle Scott is having surgery today on his arm, which he broke in the car accident last week.  

Nico was a gem, except for a 2 minute meltdown he had when we left because he wanted to cuddle with me.  So, we swung by my grandparents old house on Lorraine Ave (literally a street away Scott's).  I sat in the back seat and cuddled the boy while a bunch of nosy-body neighbors wondered what the hell was going on.   

To me, this is a very "Michigan" house.  I can't even explain why.  

We had to stop three times on the way home so Nico could pee.  Including once in a traffic jam.  We pulled onto the left shoulder.  Nico totally peed outside... with lots of slow traffic driving by.  As we were getting back in the car, a tow truck pulled in front of us.  And then I had to explain what we were doing there.  Apparently, Chicago drivers take disabled vehicles seriously, because a bunch had apparently called to report a disabled vehicle on the shoulder of the westbound Edens.  See what I did there?  I just referred to 94 as the Edens.  In the 2 months I have been here, I have listened to the weather report on WBEZ and have had NO IDEA what was going on.  But apparently it's like this: The Edens=I-94, The Stevenson=I-55, The Kennedy=I-90, The Drive=Lakeshore Drive.  Yeah, I am really figuring things out.