The Accidental Boilermaker

 This was the week of summer day camp. Evelyn had river camp at Shoaff park which is right on the St Jospeh river. She learned about river ecology and how to be a good steward of the rivers. She got to fish, canoe and kayak. There were also lots of water games because it was very hot and humid all week.  Jameson had splash camp at the same park, but just in the afternoon. So we dropped off Evelyn at 9 and had until 1 to do fun stuff. On Monday we went to Tim Hortons for coffee and donuts.  Tuesday we went blackberry picking. Wednesday and Thursday we didn’t have a special activity, just extra screen time. Today we planned to play tennis but it stormed.  Jameson had fun at his camp too. They played in the splash pad, went down a slip n slide, had water balloon fights, all water related fun. He did not want his picture taken on his first day of camp. 

 Usually our last day is more relaxed and we don’t wonder far from the apartment.  But this time we thought it would be fun to go downtown and visit Millennium Park. We took the L and got off right by Marshall Field’s (which of course is now a Macy’s). But my mom worked at Marshall Field’s for several years when I was kid. Our first stop (after coffee and a treat) was the bean. Evelyn and Jameson thought it was pretty neat.  Then we went to the crown fountain.  After cooling off, we walked to really fun playground and then wandered around a bit more before heading back to the L via the river walk.  Kate and I got to point out the IBM building (the black one) where my dad used to work. It was a great morning to walk around and sightsee. Back the apartment, we ate lunch, packed up the car and it was time to leave.  I was glad we were able to squeeze in one last trip.

 I had the idea of visiting Lincoln Park zoo on Saturday. Kate has brought us to Brookfield Zoo several times, but Evelyn and Jameson have never been to Lincoln Park. Kate and I remembered it had somewhat of a sad reputation, but we were so surprised! The exhibits were really nice, lots of the animals were very active, and the grounds were beautiful.  The zoo also isn’t huge so you can easily see everything. I chose not to take lots of pictures of the animals, but Jameson was excited to see the rhino and the camels. The polar bear was so fun to watch; we saw him in two different viewing locations. I think my favorite was the gorillas.  They were very active, but also almost interactive. They were up close to the glass of their indoor viewing area and as you watch them you can’t help but think that they too are thinking about something. The lion exhibit was super cool too with great outside and inside views.  After the zoo we headed back to the apartment for lunch, th...

 Me and the kids went to Chicago for the weekend. Kate is moving to LA for a new job so this was a chance to spend time with her and do all the fun stuff we like to do in the city. On Friday Oma and Grandpa met us at Kate’s apartment. It was a long drive with lots of traffic right at the end so I was happy to get inside and relax. Evelyn, Jameson and Grandpa worked on a puzzle.  After dinner we went for a nice long walk for bubble tea and ice cream. 

 Wednesday was our last day of camping. We ate breakfast, packed everything up and did one last hike. We hiked farther than I planned, but it was a nice morning and we had a three hour drive home.  We left the park and enjoyed lunch and ice cream at the same walk up restaurant we visited last year. Then it was time to say goodbye.  Jameson needed a bathroom stop on the way home and we found the perfect place. 

 This year we stayed an extra day so we thought it would be fun to try something different - tubing down Sugar Creek. There’s a tube/kayak/canoe rental place just down the road from the state park and you always see lots of people on the creek while hiking.  It was a lot of fun. It was also slow. It took us three hours to tube the three miles. There are parts where the current really carries you and parts where you get stuck if you don’t move yourself. But the scenery is beautiful and it was a beautiful day. The best part other than splashing around in the water was watching a green heron on the shore catch little fish and bugs.  Tubing while relaxing was also surprisingly exhausting. And our trip was over lunch so we were very hungry when we got back to the campsite. After late lunch/early dinner, we did my favorite hike at Turkey Run, Rocky Hallow Canyon. Since we started the hike in the late afternoon the trail was almost empty which was so nice.  Coming back acro...

 No one sleeps well the first night camping. Except Evelyn and Jameson. They slept with Grandpa in his tent this time. Any they don’t even stay on their sleeping mats; they roll off and just sleep on the ground. After breakfast, we went on a hike.  Grandpa took our picture and then a nice lady absolutely insisted that she take a picture of the five of us. She made my dad get in the picture. Good thing because it’s a great photo.  We didn’t cross the suspension bridge and instead hiked on the south side of the creek. Grandpa hadn’t done this hike last year.  We headed back to the campsite for lunch and to wait for our friends Tamber, Paul and Natalya to arrive. They were joining us just for the day.  This time we crossed the bridge so we could do all the fun hikes with the canyons and ladders.  We saw three of these salamanders or skinks.  It was lots of fun. And pretty tiring. Jameson was filthy, he fell a lot. We all took showers after dinner and rela...