The Room

A few months ago, my mom bought us a certificate for this place nearby called The Room. The whole premise is that six people (max) are locked in a room and have to puzzle, search, riddle and unlock their way out.

We booked a babysitter for 9 p.m. on a Sunday night thinking we'd totally be able to sneak away for 1.5 hours (including travel time) for this experience and the kids would have no clue we even left.

Not so. Like every seasoned parent knows, someone is going to be sick or inevitably scream your name because they lost a blanket or something. Sure enough, Benjamin woke in that little window of time and all the babysitter gave me was, "Well, let's just say I was not the person he wanted to see when the door opened."

He's an angry sick kid. Frankly, he spent the greater part of a year before this just being angry for no apparent reason. We're turning a corner, but sick Benjamin is not pleasant. This week has been pretty brutal. I'm certain there was kicking and screaming for that babysitter. Maybe even spitting. I just feel bad for the poor high-schooler neighbor girl who was in English class this morning thinking that she may never want children because of my punkass three-year-old. At least she had plenty of material for her Quick Write this morning.

But The Room.

We arrived and immediately saw the teammates who we'd be locked in a room with for an hour. Four total nerds. They were geeky. They reminded me of my LA rocket scientist friends, except those friends were also a bit wild and crazy in addition to being crazy smart. These four guys shared a compact car to the place (carpooling, how green!). For three of the four, this wasn't their first "room" experience. In fact, they referred to themselves as avid hobbyists. We even had to introduce ourselves to them before they wanted to get started. Their idea. Actually that guy in the blue shirt holding the sign. He was the ring leader.

Do you ever look at pictures and ask yourself WHY you do the stupid hand-on-hip thing? Just me? Probably.

We were given the rule spiel and then they locked us in with the geeks and set the alarm. We searched under everything, found hidden passages and locked boxes (to be unlocked), solved math problems and riddles and puzzle boxes. We used magnets and string and water and picked apart every bit in this bedroom-sized study room. I kind of felt like I was in the game Clue, in the library with Colonel Mustard. Except there were 5 of them, plus me.

It was definitely an experience. We used one of the three clues allotted to us and finished with almost 10 minutes to spare, making our escape. It was fun. It was totally weird. It was the nerdiest thing I've done in years.

Windy City Smokeout

I was listening to the radio a few weeks back while driving around somewhere and heard an announcement that Pat Green (Texas country) would be coming to Chicago. Now, he's a lesser-known country star, but he does get played on the radio from time to time.

For us, however, his music is wrapped up in all kinds of amazing memories.

That's the thing about music. It really brings memories (the only things we really get to keep in life) to the surface and reminds us of how great we've had it. I can name quite a few bands that are wrapped up in the other half of my sadness (Dashboard Confessional and pretty much anything by The Band Perry), but music really does offer a great release of emotion and love. As an aside, I recently heard the 20-something (omg, that dates me BAD) library guy talking to other people about Jimmy Eat World. They had no idea who the band was, and I felt pretty proud and young in that moment. Though now that I type, I'm feeling pretty pathetically old.

While we were dating, my cute East Coast boyfriend introduced me to the music of Pat Green and we went to a few shows back in LA. Most notably, I remember seeing him at the House of Blues, Hollywood. It still gives me goosebumps thinking about dating the most wonderful man I can now call my husband of almost 5 years (Friday)!

Back to that car ride. I called Ray immediately and told him Pat Green was coming. Without hesitation, he said we were going and he'd be buying tickets. A couple weeks later and we found ourselves downtown at a BBQ and music fest with a few friends. It was a day of music, BBQ, and exploring downtown with our little boys. 

When we arrived, we headed to the fest and everyone but me (and B of course...who thinks food is for suckers) ate BBQ lunch. There were Chicago BBQ joints and some from other parts of the country, including Austin-- which I appreciated because they had the single item I could eat at the entire joint-- coleslaw. Benjamin and his friend both received their first ever hand stamps of a pig with a frying pan. Also, it's hard to see, but Benjamin and I are standing next to a WHOLE PIG in the picture below. They even tried to hand me a piece of pig from the belly after the photo was taken. And one questionably inebriated lady kept walking up to Benjamin with her little dog whom Benjamin was not too sure about. He loves animals, but she was making the dog dance and it was just plain weird. His face says it all.

The heat was close to unbearable, and after lunch we headed for a walk to Millennium Park. No swim gear, but it didn't seem to bother Benjamin who was owning the Crown Fountain. He was loving every minute of his freedom and befriended people of all ages, including three teenagers (bottom left).

We attempted to dry off a bit wearing Dad's polo (and looking overall adorable in it) by visiting the Cloud Gate, aka "bean". It was Benjamin's first trip to the bean and he seemed to enjoy it as well. He was running all over stalking other children and attempting to climb in their strollers. We passed by more art on the way back to the fest. But first, we stopped at the Protein Bar for an early dinner for the vegetarian of the group.

More BBQ was eaten and more music. Benjamin quite possibly loves my friend Liz over me, and if she is around, he is sitting with her instead. Group shot before heading back to the 'burbs after a fun night of food, exploration and fun! And, Benjamin (and his friend) can check their first concert off the list!

Crazy Midwest Weekends: Cardboard Boat Regatta

I recently received an email from my husband filled with random Midwest festivals that were taking place over a few weekends. We didn't have plans for the last two weekends, so it made sense to find something to explore in our local area.

That, and with this whole nap transition thing, we've found that it's much easier to occupy Benjamin for the entire morning so he's not falling over for a nap by 10 a.m.

Of course the thing we found to do was both absolutely bizarre and interesting. So much that we needed to see it in person.

You see, people get creative when there are only 6 good months of outside exploring to do in a calendar year. They make large cardboard boats, cover them with duct tape, and set a team of people on them to paddle across a lake in the middle of a suburb. The commentator was the best. They obviously don't take this whole thing too seriously, but there were dozens of boats lined up for their race opportunity.

We'd hear various entertaining phrases like...

"Oh, that's not good."
"Well folks, we've just seen our first collision of the day!"
"And, they're down!" {about 1/3 of the boats did sink and were rescued by the boats you see in the background}

Only in the Midwest, I swear.

No more than 5 minutes into this adventure, Ray declares that he and Benjamin will be making one of these in the future for them to race. And probably his boy scout troop or something.

So who's jealous? Anyone want to come visit? In case you want to plan your trip, this is likely to be an annual day for the Wilsons. Plan accordingly. Weekend before July 4th. Book your travel plans now. This opportunity will fill up.

::snickers::

The Other Momma

 Showing herself to the Wilsons for the very first time (on Earth Day no less)...Momma Fox. 

Who picked under our deck for her den... to raise three babies!

Three incredibly cute...

...and curious babies.

...who are a huge blessing to be able to watch from inside our home.

We have no idea how many days they will stick around...

 

...but, we're not mowing the backyard as long as they do! 

(...or until the HOA complains)

Because these guys are just precious...

 

...even if they make Benjamin (who naturally wants all the attention) a bit jealous.

Happy Memorial Day!

This is where we spent our Memorial Day... at the "beach" in Chicago.

 Oh, and we also saw these people.

You're welcome. 

Haven't forgotten about those who lost their lives in serving our country. God bless those families who lost a fallen hero. We understand the pain of losing a loved one. We hung our flag today proudly in their honor.

Awesome Weekend!

Our weekend started off on Friday night when Ray played volleyball with a bunch of friends in the co-ed league he joined. They won 2 out of 3 games! They've played a total of 9 games so far this season and won 5 of them. I usually go watch his games and cheer them on. After volleyball, we headed over to our friends' apartment, Tommy & Alli, where we everyone but me helped them moving the last major items from their current place to their new place in downtown Naperville. We had a great time though it took us about 15 minutes to find the place (oh, the north and south indicators on streets actually mean something? Haha). Sure, we knew that. We just weren't putting it into practice as Liz and I walked all around the streets carrying boxes and pillows. Oh, and a bottle of olive oil. You know... just in case. Their place is sooo cute and reminds Ray and I a lot of our first apartment together (though this will be their 2nd apt. together since they married in early 2010). The walls are painted similar colors, the rooms have similar flow, the house is old (the live on the top level), and the wood molding in the house is all original and so charming. Needless to say, we loved the place!

On Saturday morning, we woke up and headed off on the 9:30 train downtown to see my cousin TJ's soccer game at Moody-- where he attends college. The forecast for the entire weekend was set to be rainy and thunderstorms. Well, they were right about that rainy part! We were decked out in our jackets, rainproof shells, and umbrellas. It rained for about 1.5 hours of the time we were downtown and then stopped. We decided to have lunch downtown before his game and found the address on the Blackberry to Frontera Grill. If you watched Top Chef Masters or are familiar with who Rick Bayless is... he's basically THE chef in downtown Chicago. He's all about using unique, sustainable, organic ingredients in his dishes under the Mexican food genre. In the summer, they serve "rooftop salsa" made from ingredients organically grown at the top of that skyscraper in a garden. There are 3 restaurants he runs that are all connected on one street: Xoco (lower end, cheapest), Frontera (middle), and Topolo (high end). We walked right past them on our way and had to trek back about 2 blocks. We had no chance of eating at Xoco because of the crazy lines going out the door in the rain but checked out Frontera. They sat us outside (though rainy, still in the 60's, warm and covered). Ray ordered the chicken tortilla soup first and another entree he loved. I ordered some veggie enchiladas and did not enjoy them. I loved the sauce and homemade corn tortillas, but the filling was eh, gross. Collard greens and beets, basically raw, inside my tortillas. No cheese, no beans, no normal vegetables. Blah. I would go back because the quality was great, but would not be ordering that meal again. Here we are and here are the meals we consumed...


We headed on foot (Moody is about 2 miles from Union Station) to TJ's soccer game. My aunt was already there along with TJ's awesome girlfriend, Pauline. We had a great time catching up, watching them win, and watching TJ score a goal. It was parent's weekend at Moody and all of the players gave roses to their parents.

 The team being recognized before the stands at halftime.

After the game, we hung out with TJ, Pauline, and Robin for a bit longer and had dinner with them in the Ukrainian Village. We tried a restaurant called Shokolad and had some wonderful foods. I had some pierogies, others had borsch (beet soup) and pelmeni (dumplings with meat). We shared a few desserts and hung out for awhile before heading back.

After saying goodbye, Ray and I checked the train schedule and realized that we didn't have another train to catch for two hours! We walked over to Michigan Avenue and down State Street to check out this sign in all its glory...

Then we headed into a mall on Michigan Avenue and walked around the Lego store. Baby W may have a few legos... I'm a fan. Here I am with Lego Woody from Toy Story. Ray had his moment below, too. Yes, he has his hand on that man's thigh. Oh my!

f

On Sunday afternoon, we carpooled to an Orchard in Malta, IL (DeKalb area), about 40 miles from our homes in the 'burbs. Here's the group in a photo...

Above are photos of Ray & Derrick holding Luke and Joel-- friends' kids. Below are photos of Kristi and Joel (mom & son) at the pumpkin patch where we attempted to find nice pumpkins without completely covering ourselves in mud.

Some great friends hanging out on the "hayride" wagon (no hay to be seen).

Post hayride shot of my amazing husband holding our iced cider (just like it sounds... basically a cider slushie... it was delicious and so were the donuts and caramel apple we bought to go with it!).

Llama.

A few fun and cheesy shots of the cutouts... Joel's is quite classic.

Our wonderful friends, Derrick & Liz, with Joel.

And finally... we bought a 1/2 gallon of fresh cider and hopped up in this chair for a photo before making the drive back to the 'burbs with our friends. It was a nice fall outing in some pretty nice weather! Like I said... the forecast said thunderstorms ALL weekend and we didn't have a single one until we got home that evening. It made for a great weekend to explore. We're excited to take Baby W back next year!

730 days until I hit the big 3-0. Woah.

This birthday was totally different than I'm used to. First off, I'm pregnant. Like... almost 8 months pregnant with a clear, protruding, moving, uncomfortable belly. I'm thankful for that little bean and he's the best present of all, but it's quite different not being able to enjoy a nice salt-rimmed margarita as you drink to another year of glory. December. I just need to keep telling myself that. Perhaps that's why I have purchased not one, not two, but three bottles of tequila while pregnant. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that ice-cold drink. Margaritas are green and that's a Christmas color, right? And honestly, the smell while pregnant is pretty repulsive, but the idea sounds nice. :)

So, it started actually a week prior when I started receiving countless emails from favorite restaurants and ice cream shops. I took advantage, though have no photo proof, of the loot I scored from these emails.

I indulged in a freebie chocolate with peanut butter swirls ice cream at Baskin Robbins... for free. It was so incredibly divine.

I dined on a freebie veggie burger at our favorite burger joint, Fuddruckers... with all the pickles I wanted. :) Maybe a few extra were thrown on this time. I blame it on baby W.

I enjoyed a freebie stir fry at the Bd Mongolian BBQ place in downtown Naperville... and it was tasty. Even if they were out of the baby corns and rice noodles I love.

I shared a freebie ice cream "like it" at Coldstone of sweet cream and Reese's peanut butter cups. Nevermind that they were out of chocolate, strawberry, cake batter,  & anything vanilla. No whining when it's free, right?

Needless to say, I took advantage of some goodies-- but not all on my actual birthday. These freebies were giving all week long! I should take photos next year.

As for my actual birthday, we woke up at a ripe hour of 6 a.m. to complete our insulation project. Weekends are crucial for house projects and my birthday meant celebrating half-day would have to be the way it was. I woke up to a wonderful card by my adoring husband and granola bars as we set out to Home Depot. Insulation down, we headed over to our friends' house to pick up some drywall and garbage to dispose of from one of their house projects (we had a big truck = dumpster visit). Then, home to shower and clean up before heading back to Home Depot to drop off the goods before dinner out in downtown Naperville, followed by ice cream, of course!

My present from my husband (not pictured) was a full length robe. While I own two robes, I don't own a full-length one that is perfect for pregnancy and post pregnancy. It's big, cuddly, and will be needed this winter. :)

Monday, we met my best friend, her husband, and their two kiddos in Downtown Chicago for dinner at Gibson's Steakhouse. I had a planked whitefish while the rest of the crew had steaks. It was a steakhouse after all. They gave me a wonderful Kai candle. I don't have a photo, but I linked it. I LOVE this smell. I mean LOVE. It smells tropical and reminds me of Hermosa Beach where I come from and used to visit this store that sold all kinds of their products. I just love it. It's really the small things that excite me.

They came to stay with us Wednesday through Saturday and that was such a nice time for me. I love having time with friends. It was so nice to spend extended time with Alison since we haven't really had that much time to just hang out in years!

More lovely birthday presents are below, but not all are pictured:

This is from Kay, Steve, & Samantha. It was a lovely indulgence box of goodies, all individually wrapped. It was great fun opening each little package. The main gift was a prenatal massage at a local place here in IL! 

My brother sent me a huge box of my favorite chips from the Orange County area in Cali... Have A' Corn Chips. There's a legend (I doubt it's true) that the Hare Krishna are the makers of these lovely treats. Either way, they're amazing. I was first turned on to them during my college days when people would walk around campus eating these. I thought they were crazy... who likes plain corn chips that much? Well, that was until I tasted them. Oh man. They are seasoned with a light touch of soy sauce and it makes them have this special tang that is unlike any other. You can buy them on Amazon I think, but only in bulk. I have about 22 bags left!!

 This isn't really a birthday present, but it was sent around the same time. Jeanni & Chris, friends from Colorado, sent me my favorite Top Ramen. In the Midwest, they only sell the Maruchan brand. I only like the Top Ramen brand in Oriental. I'm very specific about my {white trash} foods. Haha. I think I'm good for years now. We saw them a few weeks ago and had dinner with them in downtown Chicago... this was a conversation and they didn't forget! Imagine our mail delivery people as they deliver these huge packages of food for us. Ah, so funny. Of course I haven't touched these yet. I don't think my child needs to develop high blood pressure from the daily allowance of sodium that is in one of these packages. But come December, oh, ramen is on.

My parents also sent me a gift card to Borders for me to find something to read after Baby W is born... now to decide what I want!

I'd say it was a great birthday. It helps that I have the best husband ever. I really do feel incredibly blessed to be alive, healthy, married to my best friend, and pregnant with our baby boy.

Now if only I could add a few more days to that countdown of my 30th birthday. I'm not ready for that.

Fall is Fun.

Could my titles be more lame? Didn't think so. I could really use some assistance.

This will be a smorgasbord or photos, so prepare yourself. I just don't know how else to post them other than in one lump sum. Plus, this will be my 3rd blog post of the day and I believe that's a record.

This is to get you in the fall mood, especially to my peeps in California who surely don't experience this. I hadn't either until last September when Germany brought so many gorgeous colors to my attention.

Invasion of the leaves in our yard! I also purchased two large pumpkins for a smoking deal at Aldi ($1.99 each!). I'm still a proud German supporter all the way from the States. Hello to our German readers, too. Happy autumn to you all!

We attended a wedding for a few friends, Eric & Kim, who were married in late September. They're already back from their honeymoon so it's about time I get these posted. This one is my favorite because there is more personality...

...and the more boring shot... a bunch of our Chi-town friends. There's also a picture of all the girls out there somewhere but since I was in the photo, I have no proof.

Now this little gem. I mentioned before that I would be heading to the Salvation Army to find some "throw away" clothes for our messy insulation project this weekend. I was literally walking down the aisles (after a woman asked me if I worked there. hm.) when I received a call from Ray-- don't buy clothes because he'll be using a heavier duty suit from work. Okay, fine. But, I couldn't leave without finding something fun and tchotchke, right? So here she is. Birdie. She cost me an entire 95 cents and I fully intend to spray paint her white and put her in Baby W's room. In person, she is more of a dark brown stain but the lovely flash paired with the oh-so-dark kitchen makes her whitewashed. The tree branch snowman for Christmas is not pictured (for $1.95), though it will likely make an appearance in the next couple months. Stay tuned.

We also spent some time in Colorado as I flew the very last few days before I was no longer allowed (according to my OB). On our drive to Denver, we saw some gorgeous creatures. We love moose. You probably knew that because we are obsessed over that wall hanger in Baby W's room. But, here's a photo of a mom, baby, and daddy (bull) moose we caught on our way from Denver to Steamboat Springs.

 Just beautiful, right?

You may remember, if you've been following our journeys for awhile, that we took a boat early in the morning and hiked 4-5 miles just to see a bull moose in the Grand Tetons last summer. He had a much larger rack and we were considerably closer to him out in the wild... it was a cooler experience because it was so serene and we found him. While still cool, we just saw these three off the side of the road and along with about 40 other camera-snappers, we caught it on digi-film.

We're enjoying fall... looking forward to more fun as we adventure around the Midwest during this beautiful season.