Road Trip Blog!

Hi everybody! My new blog is up and running. Stop by and check out what we have been doing this summer. We have been busy!

http://redefinecloudnine.blogspot.com/

Road Trip Highlights
Originally uploaded by redefinecloud9

Happy New Year!

The title of this blog is "Chicago When It Sizzles". We certainly made sure our year lived up to the name. It has been an interesting time for us. We had so much fun exploring Chicago and living it up in the city. I didn't love our apartment... but the neighborhood, friends we met and the experiences we had were amazing. The kids were pretty healthy and in high spirits. (And what kid wouldn't be with all the adventures we had together?) 

My stress level was pretty high this year. Between the Sandy house disaster and then the house closing issues here, I almost checked myself into an asylum. When I get stressed out, Max and Maddie always tease me and start chanting, "Recalculating, recalculating, imploding, imploding..." in a robot voice. I am hoping to kick myself back into working order in '09. 

So here we are. The end of the year. The end of 2008 also brings an end to this blog. (It's sort of bugging me to type a blog named Chicago When It Sizzles, when we no longer live in Chicago.  Someone suggested that I change the title to The Chicago Suburbs When They Sizzle...but I decided that it was time to move on.)  I am setting up shop elsewhere. In mac world to be exact. Please visit my 2008 album there to get caught up on what we have been doing for the first half of the school year. (Each album will have text and descriptions like my blog posts here have. It was just faster to get caught up in album mode.) Here is the link: http://web.me.com/aprilandtodd/Site/My_Albums_2008/My_Albums_2008.html

Click on the earliest dated album and then continue on through.

You can reach our new website and blog from the top of that screen, or by using this link: http://web.me.com/aprilandtodd/Site/Welcome.html

If any of you have me on a blog list, make sure to change it over to this link:
http://web.me.com/aprilandtodd/Site/Blog/Blog.html

So please join us on our new family web site!  

Happy New Year!

Our Home

Everyone has been curious about the house we are trying buy.  Here it is!  Yes, the closing date has fallen through again, and again, and again.  When you try to buy a foreclosure, it takes a long time and is never certain until the papers are signed.  

Les Madeleines

8/20/08

While visiting Utah, we went to Les Madeleines for lunch.  I had heard a lot of good things about the pastry chef here.  I had also been wanting to take Madeline here because she shares the name.

I ordered the Genoa sandwich and the Limeade.  Mmmmm.  The french pastry selection was nice too.  It's my new favorite place, even though I don't live nearby.

 

We stopped at Rockpick Legend Rock Shop so that my tired Maddie could check out the place. She found a few cool rocks to take home.

Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop

8/20/08

Maddie is my scientific smarty and lover of all things nature.  She really loves rock shops.  In Evanston we found Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop.  It is a great little place with a nice selection of rocks, fossils, minerals and all manner of cool things.  There is also a small rock museum downstairs.  There is a Math Start book about this shop.  While we were there, Dave signed the book for Madeline.

McDowell Forest Preserve

8/15/08

We have driven past the entrance to the McDowell Forest Preserve every day since we moved into the vacation home in Naperville.  Today, on a whim, we decided to pull in and check it out.  The kids were excited to take a nature hike with me.

Max was singing this song to the ducks:

Five little ducks went out to play,

Over the hills and far away.

Mama Duck said, "Quack! Quack! Quack!

Four little duckies came running back.

It was a nice, peaceful summer day.

School Clothes for the Kids

School Clothes
Originally uploaded by redefinecloud9

A new school year quickly approaches, and I am having fun picking school clothes for Maddie and Max. No uniform this year! Yay!