Libertyville Days Festival/Parade - June 20

Last year, somehow, we had heard about the parade in Libertyville. I remember being quite impressed with it. This year's parade was nice, but of course the second never has the taste of the first one.

This time, we were there with Tena, Beck and Tamsen. It was a very hot day, one I expected from the Chicago summer. The kids got a lot of candy and this year, F was quite outgoing. She was waving to get candy and toys. Last year, we had to push her to the front.

After the parade, P left for shopping (he needed clothes and we didn't need to go shopping with him.) So Tena and I took the kids, to the rides. Oh, they had fun. F was going on every possible ride. A only wanted to do some kind of a game where you could win rubber ducks. We didn't win a thing, because we didn't play. You had to pay extra for it. At the very end, A decided to take train ride. Tamsen started off fast, got tired at the end. Beck was the one to go first on the roller coaster. That gave F courage, so they did it together. I was impressed. It is a child size coaster, but still... One of the things that I found cool was the fireman's pole. It wasn't a ride, it was more like a do it self demonstration. They had a construction that was around a pole. The kids could climb up the stairs and slide down the pole like firemen. They loved it!

At the end, I was exhausted. It was a long hot day. I wonder how the kids survived it. Tena had to bring us home, P was still shopping. Oh yes, his day was also successful. He came back with many bags!

The next day, we came to the Libertyville days with P's parents. We walked around, looked at the stands. I still had couple tickets from the day before, so the kids got to do another ride. I was surprised they didn't ask for more. They probably had enough as I did.

BBQ at Brook's

Yesterday, we were invited to a BBQ at Brook's house. I knew she had catering, I knew she had everything arranged. I didn't know what to expect... would it be stiff, formal, too chick? It was partly yes, but in an OK way. It was really nice actually. Good food, nice people... Duncan is really fun, the right person to sit next to at a dinner.

I met a woman who is related to Voltaire! What are the chances that you meet in your entire life to someone related to Voltaire. I found that very exciting, though I just couldn't remember the name of at least 'Candide', I read the book before and we studied it at school. Missed a chance to show off, he he. By the way, P's parents were back from their trip, so we had excellent sitters!

F's new sport

F started with tennis lessons. She likes it much better than soccer and I can see that she feels comfortable. The teacher is a French woman who is really good with kids: she is nice and playful yet she is hard enough to keep the attention.

A at doctor's office

Today, I brought A to the doctor. She keeps on complaining about her eyes and the eye doctor couldn't find anything. She wakes up in the night, just after she falls asleep; or in the morning, she cries and says that her eyes are hurting. She also says that she sees little dark circles. This happens especially in the night. This goes on for a while now, maybe two months. The thing is, I never too it too seriously, especially after seeing the eye doctor. After all, she used to complain about stomach aches and that just disappeared by itself. The doctor couldn't find anything then.

Today at the doctors office, the doctor checked her really thoroughly. Reflexes, eyes, hearing, balance, anything. All the little tests took so long, that I started to get anxious. Why was it taking so long? Was the doctor seeing something wrong? It really scared me. The doctor didn't find a thing but ordered an MRI. I hope that she has nothing, just our little A asking for her little attention. And oh, we have so much attention to give to them, no problem! Love those kids!

The girls had such a beautiful day. After summer school and lunch, we went to the park that we usually meet other mothers and kids from the school. The moment we arrived, it started to rain. We went to my friend's house and picked up Salma and Amina. The girls played hours so beautiful, I enjoyed being with them. This is also how it's been lately. Yesterday, Annemieke was here with her kids and the weather was beautiful. We were outside the whole time. The kids played and we had our little chat with our little cocktail! Fun fun fun! Last Friday, we had Sheila here. She is such a lovely girl. You know that happy children's laughter, that's what I heard from the three girls for over 4 hours. Sheila is going to have a brother soon (this week probably), so I thought her mother could use a break. Last couple weeks I was feeling a little restless, a little not happy. These couple days have been opposite, I feel piece around me. It's such a beautiful feeling. This is how life should be!