24 Hours in Sterling

24 hours in Sterling is obviously not long enough to take in all the fun and soak up all the love of our wonderful friends. But it's a start. We'll have to go back soon. We haven't been out to see Jodie and Pat in at least two years. Since then, they've added a whole new person to the world, and we were so happy to finally meet Helene and see their whole wonderful family, including Max's first friend, Eamon and Otto's birthday buddy Pierce. We have such a special connection to this family, and we absolutely cannot let so much time pass between our visits.

It was the annual hayride, which Papa Joe (Jodie's father) has been having on the last Saturday of October since he was in high school. Here's Papa Joe (as we all call him), readying one of his tractor's for the evening's activities.

 

And a second tractor is ready too.

We got to go on the first tractor ride of the day, as the sun was just starting to set. I think it was probably the most beautiful ride of the whole event. But there's also something to be said for a tractor ride in the dark, where the only light you see is from the kids' flashlights and the tractor's headlights. Sometimes Papa Joe leaves up some of the corn, and it can feel pretty creepy. The farm is so large, and all the fields start to look the same in the dark. Luckily, our drivers always know just where they are.

 

 

 

 More fowl play at the farm, since we can hardly get enough of that at home. Oh, and speaking of our own flock, it was the first night we ever left them alone (one of the other reasons we didn't want to be gone more than 24 hours...we are such new parents).

 

Papa Joe has increased his turkey flock this year. They are selling Thanksgiving and Christmas (the names he has always given the two birds he raises for his own uses) to the masses. 

  

 

Max and Otto had a very serious discussion with Grandma Go (Jodie's mom) about chickens and all sorts of other topics.

 

I talked with Jodie and admired Helene. Oh, and I held her as much as possible.(Helene, that is, although I gave Jodie a big hug too.)

The boys held Helene as much as possible too. Who can resist such a cute and agreeable baby?

 

They adorned her with a crown and jewlery.

 

 

And both boys were so happy to be reunited with Wheatley, who is now 12 years old and showing his age. We have loved him since he was 4.

 

The boys did some tree climbing.

 

 

 

 

We tried to get all the kids to pose for some documentation of this visit, to show we were all together again (and with Helene for the first time).

   

Birthday Week, Recap

We spent Max's birthday out and about, Martin took the day off work, and we went to breakfast at Wishbone, then to the Planetarium for the day. Max and Otto took Mario and Luigi with them to show them the sights.

 

 

My parents arrived that afternoon, and we checked out the chickens, to see how Grandpa's coop design turned out. Of course the boys climbed in and held up each chicken for individual inspection. It was the first time my parents got to meet the actual chickens, although, of course, they knew all about them from all our conversations and the many photos they had seen. It's pretty cool that they have been such an integral part of our whole chicken experience.

We decided to take a walk around the neighborhood, visiting the new bakery and toy store, and going for dinner at Hachi's Kitchen, Max's favorite restaurant and the place we have dined for his birthday since he turned six. It's hard to believe that the first time we went there, the owner had to convince Max to come in by giving him a tour of the place (Max was outside, saying he would rather eat at the Thai restaurant across the street, where, at the time, he loved the shrimp and pea pod dish). Jim, the owner, introduced himself, shook Max's hand, and invited him to take a look around.

We were pretty excited about a tour ourselves, and had thought this would mean a glimpse of the kitchen or something along those lines, but it was actually a tour of the dining room, including a peek at the heating vents and the bathrooms, which are indeed the most beautiful bathrooms you can imagine. Max declared on our last visit, "Their bathrooms are so nice I would actually eat in them." Max was very eager to show my parents these fancy bathrooms (there is a wall of flowers on the way to them, about 30 small vases attached to the wall, each with as single rose), but we forgot. Just like we forgot to take almost any pictures for the whole visit. 

It always seems that we are so busy just being with my parents that we forget to document it. I think this is a good sign, but I do want to be sure I take more photos of the boys with their grandparents, so we will have them in the future. I know how much I love to see photos of myself with my own grandparents.

It was late, and everyone was pretty cranky and tired, not really the way you want to spend your birthday evening. And we still had cake at home, so we walked back, on a very warm evening. We talked about how unpredictable the weather seems to be on Max's birthday. For his fourth birthday, there was actually a big snowstorm, and it snowed so badly that one of our guests couldn't even make it to his party. The next three years were beautiful Octobers, cool but sunny. Last year, we convinced our Canadian friends to visit Chicago for that sort of delightful October, but it was gray and miserable. And this year, it was not only sunny but extremely warm, weather more fit for August.

Cake and presents perked everyone up. Max was most excited about his new hat from Grandma and Grandpa, a brown fedora-type hat, looking a lot like something Indiana Jones might wear.

Max wore his new hat to Michigan Avenue the following day, when we took Grandma and Grandpa to see the sights (or at least the shops). We started with the Museum of Contemporary Art, where there was a Calder exhibit on his mobiles and stabiles. And then a companion exhibit of Calder-inspired artists.


 

We had drinks in the John Hancock and watched the sunset. It is both the best time and the most challenging time to be at the Hancock, because the sun usually shines right in your eyes and causes a lot of squinting as it is getting to that perfect place in the sky. But if you wait it out, you are rewarded with lovely views of the city and the lake.






And no tour of Michigan Avenue is complete without a visit to the Lego store (or all the many giant Legomen that decorate the sidewalks). Plus, we had to pick up Max's birthday present at the Lego store, one of the new Harry Potter sets the boys are very excitedly collecting.

My parents left on Thursday morning, and that evening, Uncle David and Noah and Owen came. It was a last minute decision that they would come. I had jokingly mentioned to David that we were having a Mario themed party and that he and the boys should come on up for it. And David said, "When is the party? We are actually on Fall Break." And so it worked out. The twins haven't been to Chicago since they were babies, and they had been hoping to visit this summer, but it hadn't worked out. So...the party continued.
 

Super Mario Party: Live Action

We had a 9th birthday party for Max on Sunday, with the theme of a Super Mario Party (a real life video game). Everyone got a Mario or Luigi hat and a foam mustache upon arrival, so they could compete in character (only if they wanted to, of course), and then we started a series of mini-games.

The first game was a room filled with balloons. The kids had to sit or stomp or break the balloons in whatever way they wanted in order to reveal and collect the gold coins inside them.



Then Mario Kart (with mini RC cars). Extremely mini, look how they are dwarfed by the cones! Max and Otto got a turn, but Owen and Noah (Max's cousins, below) were having some trouble with their cars. After a bit of frustration, we gave up and moved on to the next game. Getting frustrated with not being able to figure out the controls is also part of playing a video game, right?

Stick the mustache on Mario. Max drew the mustache-less Mario, and he definitely did not look like himself without the facial hair. We spun everyone around 9 times, and everyone had fun watching the kids wander into the wrong walls.






Sita was feeling a bit shy at first and spent most of her time being a wall flower, albeit a beautiful one.

Piranha Pinata.







Even unschoolers like to get gold stars. Truman shows his off.

There were nine party guests, so we asked each guest to light a candle, if they wanted. Not everyone did, but it was a nice little ceremony anyway, especially since Max is not a big fan of singing happy birthday (and so there have been a few awkward birthdays where we just stood around after lighting the candles and then waited for him to blow them out). This year, we kicked it up a notch, and after all nine candles were lit, we lit a sparkler shaped in the number 9, and we all counted to 9 in rocket launch style as we watched the flames climb up the number, split at the "O" part at the top, and sizzle until it went out.










After cake, it was time for the craft portion of the party. Build your own marshmallow shooter. With a selection of 1/2" pipes and fittings and a bunch of electrical tape, the kids assembled and decorated their own shooters. If you are searching for the connection to Mario and Luigi, remember they are plumbers, and they like to work with such pipes. I have no idea if they like marshmallows, but I am pretty sure they'd enjoy shooting them, especially at Bowser.

It was such a gorgeous fall afternoon, we were extremely lucky about that part. And we all headed to the park for a shoot out.

Noah, Max's cousin (one of the twins).



Nicholas, Max's friend from up the street.



Sita got really into the party at the marshmallow shooter part and snuck around trying to shoot me, then laughed hysterically when she hit me.



 

Ruben was a natural.

Max loads up his shooter.



Then we went back to our house for pizza. I think Mario would have approved.