Could there be a more beautiful day?

There's a cliche about Chicago weather - If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute and it will change.  This weekend was the perfect example of that.

Friday was cool but sunny.  Saturday was rainy. Sunday was a torrential downpour, while driving to our hometown I might add. That brings us to today....

It's 90 degrees


and our air conditioning does not work


great

Thankfully, our place stays pretty cool thanks to the two big trees on our property.  Matt started off by tackling the jungle of a lawn.  All the rain this week has made it quite difficult to get out there before it became what it was today. Once the jungle was tamed it was time for lunch.

We zipped in to Park Ridge and then off for a completely impromptu drive into the city that turned out to be a fantastic day.

Clearly with the beautiful weather, we were not the only ones with this idea.  We found parking near Navy Pier and walked along the river to the tourist mecca.  M loves the city and she does not care where we go.  G has only been to the city a few times, and he has no recollection of the place.

"Oh, Boats! Boats!"

Understandably, Navy Pier was packed but since we had no plan there were no worries.  A little Gelato and everyone was happy.

M & Matt @ Navy Pier

Feed Me!!

 We expected both kids to pass out on the way home, but they decided to stay awake.  That made for an interesting evening, but thankfully they are now asleep and will be much happier in the morning.

Come on summer!

Can you feel it?

There are only about 10 school days left in the year.  That is good news and bad news.  In those ten days I will conduct no fewer than 13 parent meetings.  It's going to be busy, but the reward is well worth it. 

Ants are smarter than me

We've had some freeloaders in our house for quite some time now, and I think it's time they start paying rent.

It all started back at the beginning of April.  It was a Sunday night.  It was around 11:00, almost bed time.  Matt was wrapping up at his desk and said "Uh oh," followed by a long silence as he bent over to put something under his desk.

Now Matt has a way of letting silence go a smidge too long, and by nature I'm a freaker-outer.  His long silences give my brain a lot of time to freak out and think the worst.  Uh oh what?  Did we take in water?  Is there a huge spider?  Did you throw out your back?  No, it must be a mouse.  What?!

"We've got ants," he moaned.  I immediately jumped up from the couch because the mere mention of ants gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Those little bastards had found a nice warm spot under Matt's computer mega surge protector.  They told all of their friends about this place because there were hundreds of them.  We have not had ants in our house for quite a while so there was not a drop of indoor ant killer to be had.  Doesn't that give you a cozy feeling going to bed on a Sunday night?

After work on Monday afternoon I zipped to the Ace Hardware to get some Tarro liquid.  It came highly recommended by friends and the girl at Ace.  Tarro is called a sweet bait because it is a sugar base laced with Borax.  Yum, yum!  The ants are to eat the bait and take some of it back to the colony and give it to the queen.  Once everyone has had a great meal, they all die!  Problem solved.  The ants sure liked their little snack, and they brought all of their friends.  The pieces of paper with the bait soon looked fuzzy because of all the ants.

They decided to leave from under the surge protector and move to one of the corners in the basement.  

Let's fast forward to today, May 11, 2011.  The ants are still in the same corner in the basement.  It is not for a lack of trying on our part.  Several bottles of Tarro, Raid solid baits, and a powder shaken around the perimeter of the house have not reduced their numbers at all.  I think they are now making fun of us because the granules they use to make their nests ("frass" as I've learned it to be called) are showing up on the bits of foil with the Tarro.  Seriously, die already!

Can you hear them laughing at us?  I sure can.

We have nickel and dimed this problem enough.  It's time to call in the big guns.  An exterminator is coming on Friday.  Look out my little creepy stowaways your days are numbered.  Muhahahahahah!

Wheels

Wheels have a verbal and physical presence in our house this week.

Wheels is G's new word.  Since his birthday there are a heck of a lot of wheels around this house.  The best part is that he pronounces it "wee-ohs".  Love him.

Both kids now have bikes to ride.  As you know M's training wheels were taken off last weekend and she's having a great time showing off her wobbly new skills.

G got a Big Wheel for his birthday.  I have to brag about this Big Wheel for a short bit.  With the help of my sister (T!) I've collected Pampers diaper points for quite some time.  As I came to the realization that I had a couple thousand points (yeah, babies wear a lot of diapers), I should see what I could get for them.  Low and behold there was a rockin' Big Wheel available.  Not wanting to miss out I ordered it in October and held on to it until the big birthday.  He was not sure of it at first, but as soon as he saw that he could be like M - look out!

Not to the pedals, yet!

I foresee a lot of time on the sidewalk this summer!

Birthdays Galore!

April is a busy time for our family.  We had combined party for the kids' birthdays and Easter the day before Easter, and a friend party for M this past Sunday.  For her friend party, M had 12 friends meet us for a few hours of gymnastics.  The gym was big enough for all the kids to play and not have to wait for anything!  

The adults even had fun on the trampolines, foam pit, and balance beams.  Matt's legs are sore even a bit today from all the jumping :) 

M was quite brave climbing the rope wall.  Thanks to our friend Mike for taking this video.

She did this twice!  What a brave girl.