Chicago

OK, just updating with some pics from a few weeks ago. I went to a conference in Chicago, and so Brenna and the girls drove with me, dropped me off in Chicago, and then went on to Wisconsin for a few days. They then came back through Chicago after the conference was over and we did some touristy things.

First, we had lunch and then walked down to Navy Pier. The girls put their feet into the lake and then we wandered around for a while. There were some amusing moments with the funhouse mirrors and the binoculars on the pier, and Abra was very excited that she had spotted a "very rare bird" (in her words). You can see the rare bird yourself, pictured right. (Note to self -- must get the children into the city more often....)

We took the trolley back from Navy Pier to the hotel, and the girls were tuckered out enough that they just wanted to watch some TV for a little bit. So they climbed into bed with Deery and Meow-meow to watch:



After that we went swimming in the hotel pool. Abra is at that terrifying age where she insists on not needing help, flails so much you can't tell if she's swimming or drowning, and then screams "Help!" just before sinking underwater. We need to stay close, but not obviously so. Thalia, meanwhile, can cling to the wall very impressively.

Then we walked down to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. The food was pricey and mediocre, but you don't go for the food -- you go for the environment. Animatronic elephants and gorillas, snakes and crocodiles, lots of aquaria, etc, etc. The girls really liked it, and ran over to hug the tree frog when he came out.



Then we were all in bed early. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The next morning we got up and went to the Shedd Aquarium. In my mind, that was really the whole reason for taking them to Chicago-- to see a big aquarium. I was a little worried, though, since it was "free admission week": my cheap side loved free admission*, but my crowd-impatient self was worried about a mob scene. But since we went at 9am, it was early enough not to be a madhouse.



The girls had many "WHOA-- MOM! DAD! LOOK AT THAT!" moments: the stingrays, the hammerhead sharks, the giant snapping turtle, the seahorses, the dolphins, the beluga whales, all really neat to see. Unfortunately, the pictures didn't come out all that great since you can't use a flash inside the aquarium. But here's a shot of the girls and Brenna looking at the komodo dragon (who is looking right back at them):



After we had seen most of the aquarium and had lunch, it was starting to get pretty crowded and so we figured it was time to head out on the road to get back to Cleveland. All told, it was about a 24 hour visit (not including my conference days), but we had a fun time. And as Abra said at the end, "Can you believe Dad took us out to a restaurant FOUR MEALS IN A ROW???"


(* I should probably point out here that "free admission" means to the regular exhibits. If you want to see the dolphins and whales and reef exhibits, you still have to pay. And you have to pay to park. And we had lunch there. And so in the end it of course still cost us about $100 to visit on a "free admission" day. But it was still worth it...)

Man Crush

OK, I'll admit it: I have a man crush on Kai Ryssdal.

If you don't know him, he's the host of American Public Media's "Marketplace" radio show. The show focuses on economic news, and Ryssdal takes what could be a highly tedious subject (except maybe to us money geeks) and turns it into a pretty entertaining half hour. (OK, yeah, his writers and producers do that, I understand, but I'm just sayin' he's a darned good host.) And he has a good radio voice. And he just seems kinda... well... you know... kinda cool.

I dig Kai. squee!

Overheard at my house #4412

Thalia (looking at my computer screen): Daddy, what's that?
Me: That's our retirement savings.
(Long pause)
Thalia: Why are there so many zeros?

sigh.

Dear My Neighbors

Often when I'm walking the dog, my neighbors will drive by and wave. This presents a bit of a dilemma to me.

You see, I'm just not very good at remembering cars. So when I see a car driving down the street, I rarely think "Oh, there's Jay" or "Hi, Jeannie!". Instead I'm usually thinking "Why doesn't that car have dents like mine?"

And it's hard to see through the glass to see who's driving, so I usually can only tell at the very last minute that it's actually someone I know, and that they have been waving at me the whole time they've been driving down the street while I've been squinting at the car like Mr. Magoo.

When I finally realize who it is, I frantically try to wave as they flash by. But I've got one hand on the dog leash, and he's pulling hard. So I have to wave with the other hand. That sounds simple, but the fact is that I usually have a plastic bag full of dog poop in that hand. So what to do? I can't be rude, so I raise the hand that has the bag of dog poop as the best wave I can do.

Sigh. It's not very neighborly, I know...

So to my dear neighbors: when you are driving down the street waving at me, and I stare suspiciously at you and then look like I'm about to throw a bag of dog**** at you, just remember that I'm being as neighborly as I can. I really *do* like you people....

Young Consumers

So cheapskate me keeps track of spending by logging receipts into Quicken so I can see how much we spend on food, gas, pets, etc. So Brenna, bless her heart, has gotten used to leaving grocery store receipts and the like on the counter for me to enter into the computer.

Recently, Abra started with an allowance -- a whopping $2/week for now. The other day she went to the grocery store with Brenna and made her first purchase with her allowance: some handisnack pudding!

Well, this was all very exciting -- when I got home that night the girls were telling me all about it: how they went to the store, and how Abra picked out the pudding, and she paid the cashier with her money, and got change, etc, etc.

And then Thalia piped up: "And she got a receipt, too!"

That's my girl.

WackJob!!

So Wacko got his summer cut down today. Here's the before and after picture:

Since Wacko's gotten back from the groomer, Healy has been all Halloween-cat around the poor dog -- arched back, bottlebrush tail, etc. I don't think Healy is convinced that it's the same dog.

Married Life Discussions #1,314,215

Driving home from Target today, Brenna and I were having an in-depth discussion of which brand of toilet paper did the best job of combining quality with price-consciousness. I was advocating the "Target Premium" brand, while the wife was extolling the virtues of buying "Charmin Basic" if and only if it went on sale.

After a few minutes of this, Abra asked from the back seat: "Are you guys talking about toilet paper?"

In a few short years, she's gonna be so embarrassed to have parents like us.

Tango's (Ex-)Teeth

Tango just had six teeth extracted. Tango is not happy.

We just paid ($550!) to have Tango's six teeth extracted. I am not happy.

Tango survived having six teeth extracted. Healy is not happy.

Sigh. Pets.....