Miss A's book club

Miss A is doing "Book Club" at the park district. It is the cutest class and she loves it! They read a book and then do activities related to the book. They made kites, petted a Guinea Pig, and all other fun stuff. She feels so big and she is so proud that she goes to her "Book Club." I love the enthusiasm!

In Bartlett with Dave and Tena

I keep on saying how much I miss Dave and Tena. Luckily, they try to keep in touch as well. They were staying with Dave's sister Anissa and her husband Todd. They invited me and the girls. Of course they would have invited P, too. However, he was out of town. What's new!!

When I left home, I had no idea where Bartlett was. I was actually thinking I would go to Wisconsin. At this kind of moments, I love my GPS! It send me to the opposite direction, right to Anissa's.

In a second, the kids were best friends again. The girls played most of the time with Tamsen, but I could spot Beck and Miss F playing as well. We went to the swimming pool - which gave me a lot of itch the day after - and then to some dinner at their church. Nothing religious, it was for scouts or something.

On the way back to home, I realized that the reason why I miss Dave and Tena so much: there is no other couple here that we like both the wife and the husband and vice versa and hang around together. There are families we like, but somehow I see my friends, P sees his friends, we hardly ever see couples. I don't know why, it's just he way it is. Well, enough about these deep thoughts, I hope to see Dave and Tena soon, the rest of the family likewise!

Caroline's birthday

Such an exciting day for Miss A. She was preparing for the party for three weeks. She draw, she wrote letters, she made me do crafts. When we arrived to the party, we had one bought present and a big bag full of Miss A creations. So much fun! The party was nice. A managed to sit next to Caroline during the pizza and cake. The look on her face was telling "see, this is my best friend's birthday party".

I should just mention that the same day in the morning was the parent teacher conference for Miss A and her teacher said she was doing beautifully! Of course Miss F is doing just fine, too. My little happy lady!

Miss A loves her friend!

Miss A's new friend Caroline celebrated her b-day today. (the party is this Saturday, this was the school celebration.) I spent a big part of the afternoon singing for Caroline. Not that she was here, or we were with her. Miss A decided to have a "pretend" party for her in our living room. We also wrote letters to Caroline. One goes like this:

Dear Caroline,
I love you. Can you come to my birthday party. Do you love me? (all told in English by Miss A!)

We'll give the letter on Saturday. I wonder what Caroline will say!!??

We are jinxed!

If you need a new job in a new, cool place, come and be our friend. Check this list:

Ale and Martin - to Uruguay (we knew that, though!)
Anne - to Germany (OK, we knew that one, too)
Dave and Tena - to Denver
Leo and Carla - New York - oh so unexpected!
Padraic and Anitra - Boston - we were just becoming friends

All happy to be gone, all to a new challenge. If you become friends with us and you have ambitions, we somehow - don't know how - make it possible for you! And we were supposed to be here for a short time. We were supposed to leave and have everyone wave us good bye! What is happening here?

Someone said to me today how wonderful it will be to visit New York and Boston and all the other places. Yes it's true. Denver was great. Still, it's not the easiest thing to find new dear friends in a new country. Then they keep on moving so far away. The only thing I can say is: we are jinxed!

Oh mine! What a week!

Spring break is fun for the kids, a bit of a stress for mothers. i decided that I will have as much fun as the kids this time. We are staying home, so I need planning.

The week started with a party at pump it up. Brook just invited a bunch of people from school, for just fun. The kids and some grown ups jumped around. Miss F won twice at the obstacle course from me. Although I did like I let her win, I stood no chance.

The next day, I met with Jacqueline and Hester from the Netherlands. We had a "Dutch party". We met at the Old Orchard Mall and had lunch. The shopping before and after with Hester was really fun! The kids got along so well. It still amazes me how the language makes them feel comfortable. Miss F is very fond of Koen and vice versa. She sure likes Dutch guys!

Wednesday was the only regular activity that did go on. We went to the pool for the swimming lessons. On the way to the pool Miss A kept on saying that she has a surprise for us. The lesson started as usual. She said right away that she doesn't want to put her head in the water. The instructor threw her couple times in, and she didn't cry. this was already quite a surprise for me. But after the lesson, while waiting for her sister, she went to swim at the shallow end of the pool and... there she went right underwater, she started swimming. it was so funny to see her trying free stroke, but the arms turning the wrong way round. Her friend from the lessons, Tristan saw Miss A and guess what. Before we knew, he had his head under water. What a wow evening!

We finished the spring break in the city. The four of us got a hotel room and spent 2 nights downtown. Thursday, we took the train and after checking in, we just cruised in the city till my feet were hurting like crazy! We had dinner at South Water Kitchen at Hotel Monaco. I had great expectations after the review in our guide book. The entourage was very nice, just what we imagined it would be. The food, though, missed the final touch. It was OK, but not great. We were disappointed.

We spent Friday at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The first time I was there with the kids was two years ago. We went with my in-laws. I remember the animals looked sad and neglected. It reminded me to the old zoo in Izmir. I used to find those animals sad and neglected, too. But recently I hear many people talking about how much they like the Lincoln Park compared to Brookfield. So I thought we will give it a try. Well, the difference of this experience to the first one was like black and white! The zoo looked fun, nice and well kept. (I always find the zoo animals a bit sad, even if they have space and friends.) I don't know what was going on last time, but I remember that a part of the zoo was closed because of some event. We probably didn't get to see the nice stuff then. P enjoyed the day, too.

In the evening, we had dinner with Padraic and Anitra. I was first thinking that it was too bad to go to somebody's home for dinner. How often are we in the city anyway! Of course, Anitra had prepared a lot of nice Indian dishes and the dinner was delicious. The kids played nicely. After dinner, we went to this cookie place that was open till late and bought cookies. We sat at the patio of a bar. I really had a great time. It felt like tasting the city life!

Saturday was the museum day. My choice was the Field Museum. After feeding P to some coffee - otherwise he is unbearable - , we walked through the African and Egyptian exhibits. We will have to return to see more. That museum is just huge. We will never be able to see everything or get bored!

I forgot to mention that we went to the pool at the hotel for a couple of times. honestly, P went with the kids, I just joined them for once. Miss A was excited to show her swimming to P. We also found out that she is very dangerous around pools. She just jumps in and thinks someone will take her out of the water anyway. I just couldn't watch it too long, I left the pleasure to P!