Last bits of summer

The last 3 days were amazing! The temperature was around 18- 20 C. We walked around in t-shirts. The first day I picked up A from school and I just wanted to be outside. We went in the nature preserve next to our neighborhood for a picnic. I knew there was a bench just at the end of the forest. We biked there and had our sandwiches and cookies there. It was beautiful and I could see how A was enjoying it. Monday is my creative writing course day, so I couldn't do much with F after her pick-up. We picked-up another girl, Salma from school as her mother was to the city and her train arrived just 10 minutes too late. We walked together to the station and then went to the park for a short while. That was F's share.

Next day, we went for a picnic again with A. Our bench was taken, so we went a bit further. I knew we would end up by a playground which I was trying to avoid, but it went OK. We had our lunch, A played a while and we left without any arguments. On the way back, we ran into Kim who was walking her dog. We walked together and finally had the chance to catch up. I took F and Rowan to the park after 2.30 and of course half of their class and their mothers were at the same place. I think we stayed there till 5 p.m., left when Brooke finally managed to convince her kids to go home. I was exhausted! Hardly managed to see the speach of the new president Obama.

Today, I finally got the chance to pickup A on the bike. Today is supposed to be the last warm day, snow is expected in the week-end. The wind was quite strong, it was tiring to bike. I picked up A and she said she wanted to go for a picnic. Well, we did that too. After 1,5 hours of biking, I am exhausted, but happy. These were unexpected, beautiful days in November in Chicago. Ironically, P who is in Miami since Friday, had only rain...