30 Days, 30 Parks, Day 29

Baker Park, Evanston, IL
This was a surprisingly popular park with a bunch of other kids and moms in attendance. E&I are definitely friendly (but moreso with adults than with other kids...not sure what's up with that.) and made the rounds talking to everyone they could. Izzie worked a bit on spelling, and Elijah practiced his monkey bar skills.

30 Days, 30 parks, Day 28

Wheeler Park, Wilmette, IL
We happened across this little park hidden in a residential neighborhood and thought it would make a lovely location for a pre-school picnic. I wasn't so sure about this park once I realized that the entire base of the playground was sand. It's no secret that I hate sand. It gets everywhere, is impossible to get out of hair, and I find little grains of it *everywhere* for weeks after just one trip to the beach (and I don't even want to go into how unsanitary it can be....).

Anyway, the kids love it, and they were thrilled to discover that previous park patrons had left several construction trucks to play with. The park itself also had some unique buckets, scoops, pulley systems and tubes so that the kids could interact with the sand in new and interesting ways.

30 days, 30 Parks, Day 27

Dewey School Playground, Evanston, IL
These Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays have been tough lately. There's no time to get to a park before school, and by the time the kids get home, they're pretty exhausted. To compensate, we've kept it close to home on those days, and as soon as the meltdowns begin, we leave. Izzie's been having a really rough time since school started. My girl who was once so independent and determined is now walking around like she's been defeated by the world. It's breaking my heart. At this park, she got frustrated when she fell off the balance beam, and spent the next 10 minutes sitting on the ground pouting. I tried talking to her, Elijah tried talking to her. Even other kids tried to get her to play. Finally I said that we needed to go, which inspired a temper tantrum of epic proportions. I had to carry her to the car kicking and screaming, and it took her quite a while to calm down. I wish I knew how to better support her. ugh!

30 Days, 30 Parks, Day 26

Random Park, Michigan City, Indiana
Confession time: we almost didn't make it to a park today. Earlier in the day, we had gone apple picking, to a corn maze, and to a winery, so as darkness approached and we still hadn't found a park to stop at, we began thinking this was the day that would do us in. On the way home from Michigan, we stopped at a mall in Indiana to check out the Hanna Andersson outlet, and by serendipitous luck, there was a small park.

30 Days, 30 Parks, Day 25

Coolest Park Ever, New Buffalo, Michigan
I didn't catch the name of this place, and cannot find it anywhere on a map or by googling, but we spotted it while driving on the Red Arrow Highway just north of New Buffalo, Michigan and had to make a u-turn so that we could stop to play. What a cool park this was! Everything was ultra modern, and probably wouldn't have been very safe for smaller kids, but the twins had a fantastic time climbing through the hoops and on the webs and sliding down the "tongue slide".

30 days, 30 Parks, Day 24

Raymond Park, Evanston, IL

Today was the sort of day that it took reserves I didn't know I had just to get to the park. The kids each had several meltdowns as we were getting ready to leave, and I was completely exhausted. If it weren't for this monthly challenge, I would not have left the house. Yet, we did, and it was worth it.

This challenge has taught me a lot about the importance of truly connecting with my kids. For me, when I'm at home, it's far too easy to get distracted by the day to day tasks: the piles of laundry that never end, the art projects that need to be filed. Making a concerted effort to get out of the house, and out of our comfort zone, each day has enabled us to have fun together and connect in ways we just don't elsewhere.

30 days, 30 Parks, Day 23

Loyola Park, Chicago, IL

The park, the beach, a kite, and an opportunity to conquer 2 of Izzie's major childhood fears: dolphins and birds, made for a great afternoon. We also got to practice phone numbers on the enormous play phone at the park. The twins have known my phone number for quite a while now, but actually dialing the number on a real phone is more of a challenge. We made it into a fun little game where if he dialed the wrong number, he got "Bob's Car Rental" or "Esperanza's Mexican Cafe". When he finally reached me, he said "Hi mom, I just wanted to tell you you're so beautiful." This boy sure knows how to melt my heart!

30 parks, 30 Days, Day 22

Oakton School Playground, Evanston, IL

I thought today's park outing would be extra fun because we waited until Jon got home so that he could come with us. In reality, Izzie was uber grumpy, and spent most of the time pouting that she was "too little" to do the things she wanted to do. Elijah had a lot of fun navigating a fun climbing wall, and Izzie worked on her balancing skills.

Hilarity Ensues

While in the car yesterday, the following conversation occurred:

Me: "Elijah, why did you want to stand up on the swing at the park?"

E: "So I could be like Hodgins" (on Bones)

Me: "What do you like about Hodgins?"

E: "He's funny, and smart. Hey mom, there are two smart people: Hodgins and me!"

Izzie: "No, Lijah, there are lots of smart people: you, me, dad, mom, Roscoe..."

E: "Roscoe is not smart."

Me: (dying laughing)

30 days, 30 Parks, Day 21

Butler Park, Evanston, IL

This park is tucked away in a residential neighborhood along a jogging path next to the Chicago river. The layout was fantastic: several climbing apparatus all in a single line so that it could be run like an obstacle course. However, the seclusion of this particular park seemed to make it an ideal location for teenage rebellion. There was a lot of garbage strewn about, and quite a bit of graffiti as well.

One of the things I've really loved about this month's challenge is that it's gotten us out of our "comfort zone" and given us an opportunity to really explore the area and take advantage of the great places our city has to offer. I love that each park we've been to has something that makes it unique, and I feel like I'm becoming an expert on playground design and equipment. I also feel like the simple act of getting out of the house with the kids every day has been absolutely transformational for our relationship. We can't fight about the television if we're outside. The twins get along better with one another when we're outside as well. We're getting exercise, breathing fresh air, and soaking in the sunshine. I honestly believe that this month's challenge was one of my most brilliant parenting moments.

30 Days, 30 Parks, Day 20

Clyde-Brummel Park, Evanston, IL

When we first moved into this neighborhood, long before children were truly on our radar, I was drawn to this park because of the beautiful multicultural mural that adorns the wall between the park and the el tracks. The original mural incorporated the dreams of individual children in the neighborhood. Last year, the mural was redone to reflect the diversity of the neighborhood, with a banner of flags running throughout it, and the statement "A people without a knowledge of their past, history, and origin of their culture is like a tree without roots".

fall

The Lake

57th Street Children's Book Fair

The 57th Street Children's Book Fair is a fall tradition in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. It began 24 years ago as a back-to-school celebration, and continues to inspire a love of learning and reading through the use of storytelling, music, drama, and dance. Booksellers from around the city congregate to hawk their wares, and there are new and used books at every price point. I picked up several new books for this year's 12 books of Christmas!

In addition to the books, there were dozens of tables set up with kid-friendly activities: balloon twisting, crown making, musical instruments, soccer instruction, parachute making, beading, etc., etc., etc.

There were also stages of performers. We spent a long time watching a local school of dance showcase their talents. Izzie was absolutely rapt, especially by the woman who managed to keep about 20 hoolie hoops going for several minutes. Iz declared "wow, she musta practiced for a lotta lotta days!"

To kick things off, there was a parade populated by many favourite storybook characters. Mother Goose:

One of the Wild Things:

And a Tugboat:

My children are not shy about approaching people in costume.

We ended the day with a storyteller. He sang a song that got Izzie up and dancing. The crowd (and the storyteller) seemed highly entertained by her antics! And all that dancing definitely works up a thirst!

30 Parks, 30 Days, Day 19

Hyde Park Playground Tour

Today was truly a tour de force of Chicago Park Exploration. We started the day early, leaving the house by about 8:30 am to travel to my old stomping grounds on the south side of Chicago for brunch and the 57th Street Children's Book Fair (which there will be a separate post about). On our way, we stopped at our first playground of the day:

Harold Washington Playlot Park, Chicago, IL

This is a really fun park just west of Lake Shore Drive. There are several different play areas designed for children of all different ages, and a pirate ship in the middle! We played a fun game of hide and seek, and the kids had a blast getting dizzy on the tire swing.

We gave the kids the choice of going to brunch next or going to another park first and then having brunch. Of course they chose brunch. After sufficiently stuffing ourselves silly, we needed to engage in a little bit of physical activity, so we parked the car and walked to our second park of the day:

Promontory Point

This peninsula offers some of the most beautiful views of the city from the south. the kids had fun jumping from rock to rock and spotting sailboats on the lake. We also had an opportunity to talk about recycling and being a friend to the earth, as many people seem to think that the lake is a giant garbage can.

Next, we headed to the area where the book fair was to be held. There were two playgrounds very close to one another, and we spent time in each of them:

Doing sit-ups at the playground of William H. Ray School

Checking out the water feature at the Bixler Playlot

Bixler Playlot was a lot of fun, mostly because of the location and number of people it drew. We noticed a very diverse group of families at this park, and were especially struck by how nice that was.

After the Book Fair, we drove north to see the twins "unca butt's" new place. It just so happened that his new apartment is right next door to a playground with beautiful views of the city (It is also right next door to a chocolate factory. Being a Sunday night meant that the chocolate store was closed, but that didn't stop the decadent smells from wafting over to the playground and driving us crazy!!!)

Fulton River Park, Chicago, IL