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!