Hunting and gathering

No lily left unsearched...

...no plastic pool left unturned...

...no grass untouched...

...by our cuties in the hunt for Easter eggs.

The sweet fruits (well, fruit-flavored candy beans, at least) of their labor.

Even sweeter is the fact that this little badger shares with Daddy without complaint. Once, at least.  I don't think that we asked for more than that.

Chicago wildlife

Betcha can't guess where we were? I mean, it's not like Iohan is wearing a sign on his head or anything! Oh, wait...

Yup, the Field Museum! In November, our family bought a membership to the Field Museum as an early Christmas gift. It has been worth every dollar. I'm pretty sure that it's impossible to run out of things to see there. As much as I sometimes wish that we lived in the suburbs with a largish yard, or in the country, with chickens and a stream in the backyard, many times I am just very, very thankful that for at least a portion of our lives we live where we are in easy reach of some of the nation's premiere museums. Urban living definitely has its benefits.

Little critters in the woodland.

My three little beasties, in the nest.

And out in the wild.

Roaming the city hills.

Claiming the hilltops, and nimbly trotting along.

Another setting to be climbed and conquered, though defended by many other little tikes.

I've been surmounted.

Little beasties need their water, too.

And off we go again!

Sweet Saturday

My own little piece of sweet candy.

Every year for the past three, my mom has had the hankerin' to come down to Chicago to visit around the first weekend in February. This weekend just happens to coincide with "Sweet Saturdays" at the Garfield Park Conservatory, a program that shows kids (and adults, too, I guess) some foods that are harvested from plants -- cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, chocolate. We get free samples, and the climate is warm and a little humid, which is a real treat midwinter!

The boys remembered this pond from last year, with its magical yellow (glass) "lily pads." These lily pads are art that I can get behind.

In the cafe area of the Conservatory, a local band called Tarima Son was playing some sort of Latin music. I wish that I could be more specific, but there are so many styles of Latino music that I'm not going to pretend that I can keep them all straight! The music got Jonah a-dancin' and Iohan a-starin'. He was what they call "agape"; it was so sweet. Eventually he danced, which at 15 months was little more than several deep knee bends. Can you see it at right?

Iohan enjoyed his first hot dog at the Conservatory. And when I say "enjoyed," I mean enjoyed; he ate the whole thing. Way to go, Fat Man! (Many of Io-Io's nicknames refer to his girth, or to his spherical form.)

Blizzard of 2011

For once the newcasters' dramatic pronouncements weren't misplaced: The snow and winds began at about 2:30 pm and didn't stop until late the next morning. To amp up the excitement, I told the boys numerous times in a dramatic voice, "Boys! This could be the biggest storm of your LIVES!" Which Gabe would usually follow up with, "I sure hope not!" Yes, husband, I too want the boys to live long and fruitful lives, but since this was in fact the third biggest storm in Chicago's recorded history, it could in fact be the biggest they'll ever see. We ended up with just over 20 inches of "global warming" (as my favorite conservative political site calls it) dumped on us. I negotiated a slight break on our rent with our landlord, so I headed out as soon as the snow stopped to get to work. (The landlord was nice enough to pay me a little extra for taking care of the snow from this storm -- woohoo!)

The view from our back door. I've removed the top layer of snow, but you can see from the sunken footprints how much more I have to go.

With the winds, the snow drifted quite a bit. It was probably 3 feet high or so by our side fence.

Our lightweight little boys sank down only thru the top layer of snow. Otherwise, they'd be struggling thru chest-high powder, "Little House on the Prairie"-style.

The boys helping -- or should I say, "helping," since we all know what a help preschoolers can be -- our neighbor clear her front walk.

Jonah and his "removement branch." I think that it removed the snow? Or something? It ended up being an eye hazard and right now resides in our front yard.

Manny pulled his weight ("lifted his snow"?) with his little bucket.

Iohan stayed inside with Gabriel and watched the fun from his new perch, cackling all the time.

Indian summer

Late September graced us with a visit from my sister Kara. (Can you see how happy Iohan is in the picture above?) Kara took three days from work to come visit us, and we made sure to pack those three days with fun, fun, and more fun. It didn't stop. Stop 1, on Monday, was a trip to the Shedd Aquarium. Day 2 included a visit to the North Park Nature Preserve, and Day 3 was for the Brookfield Zoo. Whew! Are you tired yet?! We were. The boys loved the attention from Auntie Kara, and I enjoyed company for three days straight, especially since it was with my little sister.

Do the following pictures look extra amazing? That's because Kara took them. (Yes, she's available for sessions in the Grand Rapids area. http://vividphotoanddesign.com)


I don't know what it is about this picture that cracks me up: Manny casually pestering his brother? Iohan looks stuck? Iohan's doing a pushup? Iohan's checking behind him to see why he can't move forward? I don't know, but I love it. Perfect capture of a quotidian moment.

Manny's mitt, and Iohan's baby boobies!

Angel face.

Somehow Manny has taken up the habit of walking with his hands behind his back. Taking his afternoon constitutional?

Here's my new hair, by the way. And the now ever-present giant earrings! Thanks to Mom for this pair.

Off-roading.

We wanted a picture of Manny pointing on this bridge, and I'm sure that we asked him to point, whether directly or indirectly, about 20 times. This might be the photo of just when Manny got fed up with that.

So big!

Primate House

Here's Kara with Iohan. As you may be able to tell, based on the fact that she's in the photo and not holding the camera at an awkard angle to photograph herself, I took this photo. It's the only one in this post that I actually did take! For the rest, you can enjoy Kara's photographic skills again...

Nothing like a little pre-zoo buffalo horn-hangin'.

Aaaannnnnddddddd... In we go!

High fliers.

When I see this photo, I'm tempted to think: "Why didn't I leave them there?" They obviously want to join the animals.

Here is Sebastian, watching the dolphin show. Alina, Sebastian's mama, was nice enough to invite us to the Brookfield Zoo, as guests on her membership. It was a lovely morning!

Can you see the rhino in the black and white photo? A grey rhino in a black and white photo is kind of like a black and white "Where's Waldo," isn't it?

Iohan sleeps, brothers are silly. Fairly typical.

Kara and I were actually able to watch the primates for quite awhile at our last stop for the day. We were only able to do this because the boys were busy calling Africa. And they should soon be calling Auntie Kara, because they love and miss her! Thanks for the visit, Sister-Friend!