Swimming Lessons

Noah and Levi had swimming lessons last week at the pool in Hillsboro.  Strange enough, Monday evening when I took them it was almost chilly outside!  The sky was cloudy and the wind was blowing from the north.  The boys were a little apprehensive at first, but quickly warmed up to Cari, their teacher.  Monday they had a 30-minute lesson together.  When they finished, Cari and I agreed that they'd both do better if they had their own 30-minute time slots.  

Thankfully, babysitter Georgia was available to take the boys to Hillsboro in the morning Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to make the individual lessons work out.  

  

 It was fascinating to see the difference between Monday's lesson and Friday's lessons.  The boys were doing great!  Cari taught them several different strokes and even though their legs and arms don't always do what they're supposed to be doing, they certainly were doing a great job!

 The amount of eye wiping was hilarious to me.  Every little splash required lots of eye wiping.

 Noah learned how to dive into the deep end.  I distinctly remember learning to do this as a child and the same amount of anxiety rose up within me watching Noah as it did when I was a kid facing the waters of the deep end.

 The first one didn't go so well...

 But he did improve and also did a great job swimming back to the edge!  I was impressed (and relieved!).

 Then to the diving boards!

 I love how seriously Noah took this part. :-)

 Then it was Levi's turn.  He seemed to really have a good time with Cari.

 They spent some time looking for birds...

 Noah and I enjoyed hanging out poolside while Levi was swimming.

 Levi ended his lesson by going down the big slide.  This had been a topic of enormous stress for Levi.  Two evenings in a row he had cried at supper because he was so fearful of going down the slide.  But, Cari took him up and talked to him a little bit and before I knew it he was riding down!

 And he LOVED it!!

Getting swimming lessons wrapped up felt like a big accomplishment for us.  I think having the kids take lessons is really important and it's always a relief when we're done with them.  We can check swimming lessons off our summer to-do list!

Chicago: Day 5

Sunday was our last day in Chicago.  Our train wasn't scheduled to depart Chicago until 3pm so we had a good portion of the day to hang out with the family.  Andy took us to a restaurant in his neighborhood called Longman & Eagle.  We had to wait a little while for a table because it was clearly a popular brunch spot for folks in Logan Square.

 For better or worse, Levi had a rubber band that he kept busy with...

 The atmosphere inside was great.  It felt Western, but with a modern edge to it.  I really liked it.

 The light fixture was green and the ceiling was covered in scrap wood.  It had a ton of character with all sorts of scraps just hammered into place and layered on top of each other.

 And the food knocked our socks off!  The boys got normal stuff like waffles, eggs and sausage.  The rest of us ordered off their actual brunch menu and it was gooooood.

 I don't remember what my dish was called but I felt like I went out on a limb when I ordered it, but boy was it worth it.  The components I remember were pulled pork with some kind of sweet maple flavor to it, collard greens, cheesy grits, with a sauce and an egg on top.  I know that doesn't make it sound good but it was.  The server explained it being breakfast, lunch and dinner all in one meal and he was right!  It was just the right amount of sweet and savory and it filled me up so fast I could only eat half of it!

 On the way back to Andy's we strolled through the Logan Square Farmers Market.  I LOVE Farmers Markets, mostly for the eye candy.  The prices all seemed pretty steep to me, but it was still fun just to look.

 The last picture I snapped on the trip was of Otto and Andy hanging out on the couch while the rest of us packed up all of our stuff.

It was a great trip and it's always a good time when the Schrag's get together.  We missed Sara and Josh but look forward to seeing them in November.  Thanks for letting us barge into your space Otto and thanks for hosting us Andy!
The train ride home went pretty well.  There were some seriously strange people around us on the train and boy scouts that kept walking through our car, but for the most part it was an enjoyable trip home.  The boys slept for a good chunk of it and we arrived at our house at 3:30am on Monday morning.  Thank the good Lord that we all fell asleep when we got home for a solid 5 hours - without that Monday would have felt impossible.
That's it - the Schrag family vacation for the summer of 2012 is all wrapped up.

Chicago: Day 4

Saturday was a great day on vacation.  We went to the Museum of Science and Industry - a super-boring name for a really interesting (and huge) museum.  First stop for us was the farming section....go figure.

 I think we returned to this area three times - as if the boys don't have a combine and tractor just outside our house in the shed.  It was funny to me how big of a deal this equipment was to kids and adults.  Let's just say, people are crazy...

 The boys "milked" some cows.

 And Levi FINALLY got to ride a cow!

 We saw the HUGE submarine, but didn't wait in line to go inside it.  It would have been really cool to go in it, but waiting in line with the boys just wasn't going to happen.

The kids area was great.  There were all sorts of activities that made the boys think but that kept them engaged and never let on that they were educational.  Ben, Andy and I had a good time too which is always a bonus in the kid section of a museum. 

 The airplane was pretty dang cool.  Levi talked to the Captain of the plane and got a ticket from him that had information about the plane. But, Levi was sure it was an actual airplane ticket.

 The model city/train/countryside display was amazing.  The boys were really excited to find the train and watch it go to Union Station where our real train had really gone just a few days before!

 Levi found out how hard it is to turn the wheel on a ship.

 This gizmo feels impossible for me to explain, but it was fascinating.  I've never seen 30 people crowd around a display to watch a metal ball travel around so mesmerized by it that nobody could leave until the ball finished it's entire course.  Fascinating design and wonderful colors.  This YouTube video shows what it was (it's jumpy at first but gets better).

 On our way back to Andy's we found ourselves at the same train station we had been at the day before.  It was interesting to see just how far we actually walked to get to the aquarium on Friday.  See that white building at the very end of the street?  That's Shedd Aquarium.  In terms of walking around a city, it's not a long walk.  But when you factor in the heat and that for most of that walk two of us were hauling kids on our shoulders - it was a long walk.  Speaking of hauling kids on shoulders, maybe I should do some special weight training prior to our next vacation to help my muscles prepare for that.

 Every El stop in Chicago has blue bumpy stuff along the edge.  Our rule for the boys is to stay off the blue.  This rule gives them lots to tattle on each other about because inevitably, to see far enough down the track to watch for a train, they HAVE to step on the blue.  Then the other one tattles and promptly steps onto the blue bumpy stuff too.

 Train must be coming!

 When we got back from the museum that afternoon, Ben and I took off to a one-of-a-kind ice cream shop in Andy's neighborhood.  I didn't take my camera but I sure wish I had!  It was pretty small, decor from the 1970s with brown vinyl booths, wood paneling, little juke boxes in each booth and a fantastic small time ice cream shop feel.  The ice cream was served in a huge clam shaped dish with fudge sauce that was served in a gravy boat on the side. It was so good and it was fun to get away for a little bit, just the two of us.

 When we got back, Noah was busy showing grandma the video I'm Farming and I Grow It on YouTube. He watched it several times,

 and then Andy's girlfriend Lia came over and Noah showed her the video, too!  Speaking of Lia, it was wonderful to finally meet her and get to know her a little bit during our visit.

That evening, Ben took Levi on the El out to O'Hare Airport just for the fun of it.  Levi made sure to take his airplane ticket since he was sure he'd get to ride on a plane if he had his ticket.  Ben may have played along with this idea and encouraged him in thinking this would all work out.  When they got to the airport they went inside and finally found a TSA agent that broke the bad news to Levi that his ticket wouldn't actually get him on an airplane.  Thankfully, we have plans to fly to Phoenix in November and Levi plans to keep his ticket until then. :-)