Just today, I hit Fox Park with the kiddos, met Vanessa and her son for coffee and beignets, watched the River Forest Memorial Day parade, took Z to a playdate (where I scored some hand-me-downs for A) and had Jodi and Peter and their 4 month old daughter over for a visit.
The parade, my favorite, was a hit with all of the families we met there. We sat, as usual, at Ashland and Iowa, near the home of the guy who offers all the kids free rides on his model train. A practiced a lot of new words and phrases, including "flag," "another fire truck," "more people," "choo-choo train," and "candy." I liked the marching bands and old-school planes flying over in formation. The highlight for Z? "The princesses." Really, how can three not-that-pretty beauty queens perched on the back of a convertible beat out gymnast kids doing handsprings, flag team girls and the entire staff of Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor? They didn't even throw tootsie rolls!
Here's Z riding the train with Vanessa's kids. A was too scared to ride the train, but her daughter--only 2 weeks older--jumped right in.
Sunday night we had a cookout with two sets of neighbors and their relatives. Nine kids and 10 adults put away a ton of grilled burgers, chicken breasts, brats and hot dogs. And we finished with this strawberry-rhubarb crumble from Smitten Kitchen.
It was so good we made it again today.
Lots more photos are up on my flickr page.
