This was the weekend

This weekend wrapped up the fourth consecutive weekends of family visits. My family. For four weekends. It was as exhaustingly fun as it sounds.

My husband is a saint. Never once complained or said anything slighting them. Even when I was.

And this was an epic one.

Mimi was in town. Mimi is my mother. She takes her role of grandmother very seriously. When Z was first born and she came to help, she was singularly committed to being the one who settled her during the witching hour, and being the one to do it fastest. And she was.

Mimi brings kisses and fun and love and adventures and presents when she visits. Such that Sunday after she leaves, moreso than usual Sundays, is a tear-filled extravaganza of Mimi-missing.

This weekend was nothing extraordinary - we hung around town and did usual stuff - but it was an excellently summery weekend.

Friday I took off work and we headed downtown. It. Was. Gorgeous! One of those days where I kept looking up and thinking, wow, I live here! The city was full with tourists, but not overly so. Office workers mingled with locals playing hooky who mingled with tourists and all enjoyed the gorgeous weather and relaxed atmosphere.
We went to the Crown Fountain and after some initial hesitation, the kids went to town splashing in the water.

There is something supremely humane about playing in the water in public. You're wet and trying not to slip and it's FUN. Kids behave, adults are polite, everyone smiles. It just feels good.

We also took the customary stroll to the Bean and Pritzker Pavillion.  If you come to Chicago in the summer and you don't go to Millennium Park, you haven't really visited Chicago. It is the most glorious part of the city and my love for it is unabashed!

Z was really into the reflections for the first time.



It was a beautiful day.

The rest of the weekend was just as perfectly summery. Playing on the slipnslide (Z), wine in the backyard (adults), barbeque-ing dinners, pool time, relaxed brunches.

Sunday evening, Mimi went to the airport and we are back to the grind. No meals are planned, we are behind on laundry and the coating of dog hair on the living room floor is epic. But we are happy and relaxed. As much as I loved having family in town for the past month, I am already looking forward to a quiet weekend in five days.  We just have to get through the week!

Me and my mom!

This was the weekend

It was two (two and half, if you count slipping home after an early afternoon off-site meeting) glorious weekend days. Summery and hot long days with warm, humid mornings that remind me of summers at my grandparents in Milwaukee. I didn't hardly think about work and we had nothing to complicate our days.

On Friday we met up with my dad and his wife and their daughter for dinner, who were visiting from Arizona and staying with his wife's parents in a nearby suburb. We met and ate much later that we usually do, but the kids rolled with it and were totally fine. I love how kids can sense your mood and enthusiasm and know when going off schedule is a good thing!

My dad has three daughters, and I think it's evident he is very happy to have a grandson. Already he has a very different way about him with G.

He is all about squeezing on this boy and the boy loves his chin facial hair.

Saturday we went to the beach (Jim stayed home with G because it was going to be too hot and windy at the beach for a baby). It was so hot that the cold Lake Michigan felt very refreshing but not so hot that we couldn't spend a couple hours playing in the sand, staring out at the amazing boats and people watching.

Next time we will find more old tupperware/the actual sand toys we own and bring them to the beach.

At one point, Z said to me, I fink dey haf popsicles here. I said, Really? I'm not sure...(knowing full well there was a well-stocked snack bar). She responded, Mmmhhhmmm, dey do. Where Papa Mark? He buy for me.

And sure enough, the man who I split popsicles with growing up, bought his granddaughter two.

The black on her lip is coloring from a gumball eye on the popsicle. Gross looking, but a huge hit for a little girl who doesn't get bubblegum.

On Father's Day, we didn't do much. As he should, the father of the house slept in a bit, went to play some golf, came home to a kitchen smoking with bacon and pancakes and hung out with his wife and kiddos. I wish I could say I planned and executed a grand day for the father of my children, but I didn't and I think he was very ok with that. It was a low-key day for a man who is always low-key but incredibly tuned in. He responds to his children's needs and wants lightening fast and with nothing but love and enthusiasm. He is a dream partner in this parenting journey, and I can't imagine doing it with anyone else. The love he shows his children is beyond measure.

Putting practice in the basement. (Ignore the airbed, ugh we need real guest furniture.)

I went to bed last night feeling very, very tired but very, very full. It was just the kind of summer weekend we needed to kick off the weekend.

How about you? How'd you thank the fathers in your life?