Me in Place

I also checked off two other things downtown:

One from the 30 Things to Do in Chicagoland created by Roger: Get your picture taken by the Monument to Standing Beast.

It’s a rather strange looking monument, but here’s to Standing Beast! I even made sure to walk around inside the monument to get the full effect. The full effect included obvious signs of someone relieving himself in the monument, which just goes to show you, there’s more than one standing beast.

We also stopped in for coffee at Intelligentsia – a shop I’ve passed many times and always wanted to stop, but for one reason or another, we never did. This time? This time we walked about 400 miles out of our way to get there. But it was worth it when I ordered my medium mocha and the angst-ridden barista looked at me out of his horn-rimmed glasses and said, “Sarah?” (Not my real name. But I don’t give my real name at places where they yell out your name. It, for some reason, creeps me out that random people would know my name.) “Sarah? Here’s your mocha.” And, with a final flourish, he handed me one of the best mochas I’ve had. (Besides mine. Which I’m sipping right now. Which is perfect. But doesn’t have that extra dollop of angst-y intellect, so I’ve got to give it to Intelligentsia on that one!) If you want to visit – there’s one east of the train station on Jackson. And there’s one about a block west of the exit from the South Shore Line on Randolph.

On your first weekend trip with people, you really try to be on your best behavior and so you do things like hold your pee for as long as you can so they don’t have to make a pit stop and you don’t eat a stinky snack like a Slim Jim beef stick in the car and you don’t want to make them feel they have to stay up til midnight watching baseball play-offs…oh, wait…you do do that one.  Anyway, I thought I did pretty well. I mean, look how well it all started out.

But then I saw this…

And, yeah, this little number…what AM I doing?

Ooohhh….*Wince*

I’m such a letdown to the family…

I kinda felt bad when I noticed those pictures. Couldn’t I have behaved a little more grown-up? Mature? Door County-ish?

Nah. You know what? I think I did just fine.

P.S. And, yes, as a matter of fact, I did make them make a pit stop.

We spent the first day touring the northern half of DC…and eating the northern half of DC.

Since it was 2/3’s first time, we showed them all the typical stuff you just have to do when there. Like:

Climb Cana Island Lighthouse:

Take pictures by the shore of Cana Island:

Discover Mrs 1/3  – otherwise known as JC – takes great scenic photos just like Mr MIP does! Yay!

Meanwhile, I can sit and relax while Mr MIP and his travel buddy take pretty photos of every bloomin’ leaf on the island.

“Hm…I really could use a travel buddy.” thought MIP.

On from the lighthouse, we stopped by Gallery Ten in Gills Rock to view our friend’s photos which had been displayed all summer and fall. Here’s me and Mr JC checking out Jim’s photos and looking for the deeper meaning in it all. (Secret: There is no deeper meaning.) If you want to check out Jim’s awesome photography, check his site at Points of Light.

And, of course, take a picture of this famous swishy road. (Swishy?)

By then, we were starving and had to…just HAD to get some food.

Mr MIP and I love to travel – but when we do, he always steals my camera and I have to wander aimlessly as he traipses all over looking for just the right shot. It’s another reason I like traveling with people – I have someone to talk to at scenic overlooks. But, hey, the payoff is I get these cool pictures back on my camera:

The kids and I returned from Pennsylvania and by Friday I was ready to escape again! This time it was Mr MIP and me and 2/3 of our friends. (We have three friends.) It was Mr MIP’s and 1/3 of our friend’s birthdays and it was also peak color season in Door County…what other excuse could you need to take a little road trip?

Here are some of my favorite things about Our Road Trip:

1. Nobody called me the following: Mom, Mommy, MOMMMMMM, Oh, Mom, Mommmmmy!, Mom-What’s-For-Dinner?  (If they had, it would have been a bit…um, awkward?)

2. We ate. We ate Walleye. Bagels. Lemon Chicken. Ribs. Cherry Pie. Cherry Scone. Chicken Parmesan. Eggs, bacon and hash browns. Chips Ahoy. Grilled Pizza. Fried Cheese Curds. Food. More food.

A cheese curd alien!

3. 2/3 of our friends didn’t know my third spiritual gift (after Teaching and Being Funnier Than My Brother) is making Road Trip Mix CD’s. Oh, yeah, baby.

4. Learning people’s timelines. Isn’t it cool that we all have a story?

5. Taking pictures of every bloomin’ thing under the sun. That’s what happens when you travel with me AND Mr MIP. You can’t ever relax. Cuz you never know.

1. My cousin and I got hooked into washing dishes for 18 bazillion people who came to a yummy dinner organized by my gramma, because we’re “young.” I showed my passive-aggressive rebellion by wearing a Bears sweatshirt to her Steelers-decorated party. Take that, Gramma.

2. I introduced my gramma to her very first Starbucks ever. She’s from Cape Cod, and has held on to her accent. So Starbucks is “Stah-bucks.” (You should hear her order a Whopper at Burger King!)

3. We stopped at James Garfield’s house on the way home because my mother is trying to visit all the president’s houses. It actually turned out to be a very interesting stop – and the kids were entertained with great workbooks provided by the National Park Service. They had to do certain workbook things while taking the tour and then they earned a Junior Ranger badge. We had to get SuperBoy the Ranger hat. He wore it all the way home.

Ed. Note: My mom took the top two pictures and was the one that stopped and got us the Stah-bucks. That must be noted. (There’s only 70-ish days until Christmas. I’m on my best behavior!)

The trip to Pennsylvania included a visit with my cousin Heather and her three kids. We drove over into West Virginia to a place called Oglebay Resort. It includes a zoo where you can feed lorakeets.

I am eternally grateful for my family. And I spent lots of time looking at pictures with Gramma and asking her and Grampa questions about their families. I’ve always enjoyed learning about people’s life stories – because I think if you understand history (good and/or bad), you can better look at life with a Big Picture View and it helps you realize how important it is to stay consistent with your choices and example to your children. Doesn’t make the cleaning and dusting anymore exciting – but it does give me encouragement. When I get to the end of my life, I want my testimony to be one my kids can look up to.And I have the utmost respect for people like my grandparents who have remained consistent and have provided such a testimony of God’s grace.

*Fun Field trip for Friday Family Fun Night

Mr MIP and I have little plans we make just talking out loud and when we can make one of them come true, oh, it just feeds my little plan-tific nature. We finally made one come true last Friday night and I thought I’d tell you about it, because it would be a fun option for yourself and whomever you’d like to take with you on your trip!

1. We hopped the BNSF Metra Line and rode to Downer’s Grove. MIP’s Travel Tip: If you go on Saturday or Sunday, your kids would be free and your ticket would be $5 for the weekend pass.

2. Exit train at Downer’s Grove and walk across the street (north) to Aurelio’s Pizza. Aurelio’s has been around for 50 years in the Chicagoland area and serves thin crust pizza with a sweet tomato sauce, and the best pizza cheese I’ve had. Also, a fun fact to know, is that Mr MIP played on a Little League Team sponsored by Aurelio’s and has always had a sweet little sentimental spot for them. Mr MIP’s sister had her rehearsal dinner at an Aurelio’s. There are only a couple little tables inside and a few little plastic patio tables outside to eat at, but you should be able to find a spot.

3. After we ate, we walked over to Every Day’s a Sundae, where we had huge cones for the kids and sundaes for the adults. The ice cream was very good and the portions were generous. Yum!

4. We then walked around and waited for the train and came home. Ah, Mr MIP and MIP give each other high five for an outing well-done.

Here are other ideas for you if you go:

- There is the Tivoli Theater right next door to Aurelio’s. You could catch a movie. (Right now they’re playing G Force on Saturday and Sunday only.)The Tivoli Theater has been around since 1928 and was one of the first theaters to be built to show “talkies.” In our family, it’s known as the place we went to see 3-2-1- Penguins when Daddy did some sound/foley work for it.

-You could also eat at the 2 Toots Grill. Haven’t ever had it – but it’s one of those places where the food comes out on trains. It’s right there by the sundae shop.

-There’s also a Starbucks and an Anderson’s Bookshop within walking distance.

After the dairy, we continued on our merry way to Indianapolis! Let me just say that my in-laws enabled this weekend and we are thankful to them! We met up with my mom, the in-laws and my sister and bro-in-law (you know him as Cool Not-Skycam-But-Robotic-Cam Dave) and their kids.

Friday night we went to Conner Prairie to hear the music of Billy Joel as performed by the Indianapolis Something Symphony. I was secretly afraid it was two hours of dentist office muzak…you know, the “yazz” flutes taking the melody line…but no, no, it was great. The man that sang and played piano was the star of the Broadway musical “Movin’ Up” (which had the songs of Billy Joel in it) and he was terrific. Lots of energy. Backed up by his great band, he kept the energy going. We have no pictures of this – but just picture our six kids jumping up and down to “My Life” and you’ve got the idea.

The next morning we made our way over to Conner Prairie and had a great time. I highly HIGHLY recommend this attraction – there was so much for the kids to do and it wasn’t crowded and ahhh…. prairie life. The kids chased chickens, held chickens, kissed chickens, milked a cow, learned how to say thank you in Lenape, and got to dress up and pretend to be all kinds of prairie things. SuperBoy even got a lesson in how to stand up for yourself against a mean little booger of a boy on the prairie. Yee-haw!

Last weekend we drove down to Indianapolis – and I convinced Mr MIP with all my sweet, sweet charm to stop at Fair Oaks Farm. The Farm is a dairy with, like, 30 million gajillion cows and I’ve always wanted to take my kids there. So we stopped. And we had a dairy good time.

I’d recommend the Dairy for kids and adults…but I’m thinking there’s an age in between that would not enjoy it very much.  There are fun play areas, a bus tour where you drive to see the newborn calves and the cows being milked on a giant carousel machine. There is even a birthing barn where you sit and watch a calf being born. Yep. There is also a cheese factory and a cafe where they serve milk from the dairy, ice cream and grilled cheese sandwiches.