Lakes and Legos

This weekend was one of the rainiest I've seen. I'm not sure how many inches we got in our area, but nearby towns received over eight inches in the last two days. We had plans for a playdate, but our friends not only got water in their kitchen but also had several roads in their subdivision flood to the point of unusability. Luckily, our house stayed dry. I did take Alex out shopping yesterday; he got a raincoat and some new clothes for fall. Eugene's plans to do a photo get-together with some friends at a garden got washed out. Instead, we met another photography couple for lunch and went to Legoland at Woodfield Mall. Here are a few photos:

More to come later....

Strawberry Fests Aren't Forever

So you have to attend them while they last.

It's been a couple of years since we last attended the Strawberry Festival in Long Grove; in fact, I think the last time we went was before we got married. So it was high time to go.

Long Grove is a quaint little town with lots of boutiques. We arrived in the early afternoon, with the grounds already packed. We parked in the first available parking lot (which was way out there) and took a dirt path to the center of the action.

There were supposed to be strawberry foods galore at the fest; they advertised strawberry donuts, smoothies, teas, scones, daiquiris, and much more. Ironically, all we had were a chocolate-covered strawberry apiece and strawberry lemonade. We did spend more time perusing a selection of salsas, BBQ sauce, and marmalade (and no, not all of it was strawberry):














After buying a few jars, we walked around. I went into some of the boutiques, but since Eugene couldn't take the stroller into the stores, I didn't stay long. There was a store specializing in Irish things that tempted me with a few sweaters, but ultimately I didn't get anything. Meanwhile, Alex got a balloon dog. We walked over to the kids area, but Alex is still too young for the rides. Meanwhile, a few sprinkles landed on us. We decided to call it an afternoon and headed back. The rain got harder for a bit, but by the time we reached our car, it had stopped. We were tired enough to want to go home, anyway. Maybe when it's a little cooler -- and less crowded -- we can go back and enjoy Long Grove a bit more.

A Walk in Lilacia Park

Lilacs are one of my favorite flowers. I didn't get to see much of them last year since I was in my third trimester and couldn't get around very well. This year, we introduced Alex to the lilacs at Lilacia Park. The lilac season is past its peak, but there were still plenty of bushes in bloom. As you can see below, there were also lots of tulips too.

Every Breath You Take...

Yesterday was a busy day. (Actually, all of my weekends for the next month will be busier than normal. At least that should be good blog material.) I did laundry and then ran errands with Alex. We went to the bank, to the bakery to order the cake for his party, and to the grocery store. Eugene came home early from work so he could mow the lawn before it rained today. But we were rewarded for doing all of our chores, for we had tickets for the Police/Elvis Costello concert. My parents came down to watch Alex while we were gone. They arrived early so he had time to get used to them (he's got stranger anxiety) before we left.

We got to the concert about a half hour before it was supposed to start. We had seats on the second level--I wasn't going to pay more. I brought binoculars so we could get a better view of the stage. Amazingly enough, the concert started on time, with Elvis Costello opening the show. We knew only a couple of the songs he played (I never got into his music). The music was fine, but it didn't have an emotional resonance for me. Someone came out to duet with Elvis on one of the songs; Eugene identified the singer as Sting. It was hard to recognize him, since he had a hat pulled partly over his face, and his beard was scruffy.

After a break, the Police came out. I could tell from the first song that this was going to be a better show than the one we saw last year with Genesis. There was much more energy in the songs. I have to admit I didn't recognize all of them, since I have only two of their albums. But they did play the two songs I really wanted them to play, "Invisible Sun" and "King of Pain." (They did "Every Breath You Take" during the encore.) They played for less than two hours, but it didn't feel like that. Even so, I have to admit I just don't have the energy I used to. Gee, I wonder why?

Today, for Mother's Day, Eugene gave me tulips and a gift certificate to a spa. I also got a card from Alex with a partial tracing of his hand. (He doesn't sit still long enough for a full tracing.) We had both sets of parents and my grandmother over for lunch. Eugene did most of the cooking since I was busy with Alex; we had pork loin, orange and almond salad, eggrolls, rice, breadsticks, and vegetables. Eugene's mom also brought over more eggrolls and shrimp. The grandparents really enjoyed the time with their grandson. As for me, I'm looking forward to my spa trip.