It was a very busy October. The first week flew by in preparation for Max's birthday. The next two weeks were filled with me working on a design project for my dad. And in between days when we were here and I was working away, we tried to get out and enjoy some of the beautiful fall weather we have been having.
I get a bit stressed out in October, the sudden change in temperature that can happen in Chicago, the way it can tease you, going back and forth between summer and winter weather. I love the transitional seasons, but the transition is what I like about those seasons, and sometimes in Chicago, the transition is lost entirely, and suddenly it's winter. We've had a little of that this year, like one day it's 90 degrees and two days later, it drops to 30. But it has kept going back to those warmer days, and mostly we've had those crisp, cool, sunny fall days that I love. They're perfect. And that's the problem.
I start to panic that THIS, yes THIS VERY DAY will be the last nice day we will see until next spring, and I'd better go out and SEIZE it. And then, if I feel like we've spent a really lovely day inside, I can feel depressed, as if we've missed out on an opportunity. And on top of that, I can't figure out what to wear, because I'm still in summer mode. Luckily, we just keep having fabulous days, and so as I stare out at the sunny day today, and my kids are content to play Star Wars, I guess I'll just seize the moment to stay inside and get some blog entries up. I'm woefully behind, with many half-written entries about the month.
We did absolutely too many fun things to recount them in any detail (you are likely very relieved not to have to read a full account!). But here are some photos from our very full October.
We decorated witch houses.
We made frosted cookies because Otto wanted to eat some plain frosting, and I am always looking for an excuse to make cut-out cookies.
Martin had his first bubble tea ever.
We tiled the floor of our playhouse.
We visited Niki in the Garden at the Garfield Park Conservatory one last time because it closed at the end of the month. Otto was so sad that these sculptures would leave us forever that he cried. He doesn't like the idea that things will be gone for good. He is still sad that Hands on Art closed in June. I wish I could have a ceiling made of mosaic blue stones with a sparkly white moon in it.
We began building a robotic mouse. I am very grateful Martin is a mechanical engineer and understood the drawings. They were supposedly at age level 14, but I didn't know where to start.
We built things with our Kapla blocks, which Grandma and Grandpa sent Max for his birthday.
We went to Noble Horse Theatre to see "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The only decent photo I got was of Otto feeding a horse an apple.
We went to Midnight Cirucs, two different days. The boys especially liked the new act, Otto von Autobahn, where a guy spins around in a giant wheel, kind of like a hamster, but much better. They also like Zombie, who stacks up bricks and does a pretty good job at comedy at the same time.
We ate caramel apples and looked at the orange fountain in Daley Plaza, and the boys slid down the Picasso "slide" and played on its base for hours.
We went to Kohl Children's Museum with Ruben and Sita and Barrie on a day when schools in the suburbs were not in session. It was very crowded, but the kids still had fun. It was a warm and sunny day, and we spent much time outside in the sculpture garden. Afterward, we drove into the Glen and had gelato and climbed on the sculptures.
And on the last weekend in October, we went to Sterling to visit our friends Jodie and Patrick and their two children, Eamon and Pierce. Eamon is Max's first and longest friend. And I'd have to say that Jodie is also my first and closest parenting friend, even though she's now two hours away. We met when our first borns were almost a year old and spent so many lovely days together in the last five years, getting to know each other and our families. We had our second children on the very same day, so we shared that pregnancy and the adjustment to life with two children. They moved to Sterling more than a year ago, and we have visited them there quite often, but it still seems like such a big loss to have them so far away. I think our visit to Sterling warrants its own blog entry, but in short, Jodie's parents have a big hayride each October, and we've gone for the last four years, I think. Often the hayride weekend is the same weekend they are harvesting the corn and soybeans, and we get a ride in the combine and a tour of the fields. We got that and more on this visit.
It was definitely a busy October, fitting right into our full and busy year. Before we realize what's happening, it will be April again, the weather will be similar, cold, then warm, and I will be confused as to what to wear, wondering what it was that I wore the previous summer and where in the world did I put it. The long days of summer will be ahead of us, and so will be the prospect of days at the beach, the return of the ice cream truck, the debate of whether or not we really need an air conditioner. It will be time to plant in the garden, and next year, we'll make sure we get the vegetables in, since it was a big disappointment for the kids when we didn't grow any. And until then, we'll cozy up together and enjoy all the delights of being inside, when we tend to get creative and crafty and experimental, or outside, where we anticipate cool days in the park, walks in the crunchy leaves, and later, building a really great snowman. Back inside, we'll make popcorn and watch movies. Hot chocolate all around.
