Bye to B

FullSizeRender-1Makai’s best friend, who he’s spent every work day with since he was 4 months old, is moving to the suburbs on Wednesday. ??? I’m more upset than him, since he doesn’t really understand what it means yet. On Sunday we got the boys together at the park to play. We’ve never done this before and it worked out so nicely, I’m regretful that we weren’t doing it for the last 2 years!

Both these boys will say each other are their best friend, when asked. They love each other, hug, and play and talk all day. I’d love to hear their conversations. Like brothers, who have grown up together, they also have their spats! We’re going to miss B like crazy! I hope we can stay in touch.

Weekend With Grandma, Papa and Jessica

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Dallas returned from Ireland last night after more than a week away. Before he left I was kind of anxious. I don’t think we’ve been apart that long in 11 years, let alone being on my own with Makai. I arranged to call in the reinforcements for the second weekend of the trip. But in actuality, the week was not bad. I had to make some adjustments (taking a shower at night, quick meals and not Dallas’s home cooked dinners), but we did alright. It was not nearly as hard as when Makai was a baby and I was on my own for a few trips.

My parents still came to visit, just because they always want to see Makai and he always wants to see them. Jess came with them because she had nothing better to do! Actually, Makai talks about Jessica a lot! I think her visit earlier this year had quite an impact on him. His daycare teachers even had to ask “Who is this Jessica? Makai keeps talking about her and saying ‘I love you, Jessica!'”.

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My mom works half days on Fridays and my dad is retired, so they drove down on Friday afternoon, stopping in Oak Creek to pick up Jess. I prepared a picnic while they were on the way. After I got my work done and they arrived, we went to pick up Makai from daycare and then headed to Haas Park. Makai played around on the equipment, we ate snacks and dinner, and played in the water. It was a fun night. When we got home, my mom gave Makai his bath while Jess and I make a chocolate chip skillet cookie! I had this Mrs. Field’s gift set from Christmas and never made it, so we gave it a go. Turned out great, with ice cream and whipped cream!

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For lunch on Saturday we went to Parson’s Chicken & Fish. My dad had passed by here many times on his runs and walks and always wondered about it. I hadn’t been there since last summer, so it was time to go. Plus, it’s pretty kid friendly and it was a hot, but not scorching day, to sit outside on the patio. We ordered family style: hush puppies, fried fish, grilled chicken, slaw, mac salad and a slice of Bang Bang‘s key lime pie for dessert. Oh, and let’s not forget the dark and stormy slushy. It was so delicious. My mom had a margarita and said it was the smallest and strongest she ever had. Then ordered another. Fun lunch! 🙂 Makai loved the hush puppies and the fish, specifically dipping the fish in the tarter sauce.

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After Makai’s afternoon nap, we headed over to Jen and Chad’s house for their annual Retro on Roscoe party. We stayed and visited for a while with Jen, Chad, Ed, Jill, Brian, Kristin, Jeremiah and Joy, who turned out to be a master bubble blower. All of the kids were jumping around trying to pop her bubbles!

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We headed over to the Retro on Roscoe festival where we walked around a lot, sampled some polish food and some amazing bacon sausage. There were so many people there and so many kids and dogs too. Makai pet several dogs. And we ran into his friend from daycare, Avery, and his parents. Makai and Jess had fun with a lot of free giveaways like sunglasses, frisbees, a ball, bracelets, tons of stuff. We considered going into the kid area, but realized Jess was probably too big and Makai was probably too small.

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On Sunday morning we went out for breakfast at Cozy Corner and then walked to Palmer Square. Makai had to pick up every stick along the way. Eventually we were all holding sticks. We had planned originally to go to the farmers market, but the forecast showed rain. Of course, since we stuck close to home, it didn’t rain at all. We spent a long time at the park and then my parents and Jess took off when Makai went downstairs for his afternoon nap. Great weekend, grandma and papa and Jess! See you soon!

A Walk on Fullerton

I found these photos buried in my archives that were never published. They’re from a walk I took back in May of 2011 on Fullerton Avenue.


Fullerton Restaurant


U-Spy Store. This place cracks me up.


Logan Hardware. This is actually a music store.


La Cocina Boricua de la Familia Galarza


Tile Outlet


I’ve had Domino’s before, but not very often and not from this location.


Wm. Huber Cabinet Works


S@kura is in this strip of buildings. I’ve had their sushi a few times. It’s good, not amazing, though.


No idea what this is.


Rock Hard Gym


Hector’s Barber Shop


Papa Ray’s Pizza. We’ve gotten pizza here and it’s really good.


I’ve gone to this Dunkin Donuts location before and it’s fine. Just like any other Dunkin’ Donuts.


Champion Taekwondo Institute


Bob Inn


Botanica Senora Lulu


Boricua Amvets 37


Fireside Bowl


Caballeros de San Juan (bank/credit union)


Haas Park is building a new field house.


Haas Park playground


Haas Park soccer field


Love El Nandu. Been there many times.

Kelly, Jessica and Tessa Visit Chicago

Over the weekend, Jessica, Tessa and Kelly came to Chicago for a visit. They arrived late Friday night. On Saturday after a bit of visiting over breakfast, we headed to the Shedd Aquarium.

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On the walk over to the aquarium from the parking garage, we passed by the Field Museum. I told Jess and Tessa about the dinosaur inside is named Sue. Tessa thought that her grandma Sue is probably older than the dinosaur named Sue!

Having flashbacks to when I went to the aquarium with Stephanie and the line just to get in the door was an hour long, I suggested we visit in the morning. I guess we didn’t get there early enough, because we had to wait the same amount of time. To pass the time we checked out the skyline and the boats on the lake and Tessa talked to her sisters on the phone.

By the time we got inside the aquarium it was about lunch time, so we went to the cafe and planned our day. Each of the girls told us what their top animals to see were and we made sure to go to those exhibits first. Their picks were:


Dolphins,


(Beluga) Whales,

and Penguins. Also, sharks, but I don’t have a photo.

We also saw:


Sea Lion,


Stingrays,


Leafy Seadragon,


Coral Reef,


Pufferfish,


and many other fish.

Jess and Tessa got to reach in and touch some real, live starfish and sea urchins.

Oh, and I can’t forget the jellyfish.

At the end of our trip to the Shedd, we hit up the store. Tessa picked out a couple gifts for her two sisters at home and Jess had a bit of spending money so she got some super fluffy and cute penguin slippers and a glass dolphin figurine. And then we were done. So tired!

That night we just took it easy. We had dinner and then played Wii. Kelly and I liked the classic Super Mario game, but Jess and Tessa sure didn’t! We also watched a lot of Summer Olympic swimming and gymnastic events. Jess and Tessa were really getting into it and “playing Olympics” during commercial. Tessa can actually do the splits and cartwheels, but Jess, not so much. Though, she did try, I will give her that.

In the morning Jess and Tessa and I ate a TON of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries and watched a little bit of Nickelodeon on Netflix while we tried to let Kelly sleep in. When she got up and we got motivated, we packed a picnic and headed to Haas Park, nearby our house.

All too soon, it was time for Kelly to drop Jessica back in Milwaukee and then make the drive back to Green Bay. Jess and Tessa hadn’t seen each other for quite some time but they fell right into it and it was so nice to see them having fun together. I had a great weekend, ladies! Thanks so much for coming to visit me!