for henry

at the beginning of the summer, henry brought us two small cosmos plants from his day camp at the chicago botanical gardens. we planted them together in the flower bed on the side of the garage and they have thrived.

henry, look at how big they are! they are even much taller than eleanor! did you plant any cosmos in your yard? if so, do they have any flowers right now? are they the same color as ours? we are enjoying the pretty pink flowers and there are still more buds that haven't bloomed yet, so we will have lovely flowers to look at for at least a few more weeks. thank you for sharing these beautiful plants with us! XO

apple pickin'

this morning we went out to wilson's orchard. despite strong summer sun and temperatures in the 80s, apple picking always makes me feel like fall is here.
my mom came with us and generously shared her delicious apple turnover ("what a hostess pie would taste like if it was good," as rob said) with eleanor. if you live in/around IC, it's worth the trip out there just for a turnover. the crust is so flaky, there must be lard involved, and the filling is sweet and a little cinnamon-y and has just the right amount of gooeyness.
honeycrisps are in season right now and we found lots of trees that were heavy with perfect apples. easy pickings.
E dug right in. we took home a big basketful. let the perfect apple recipe(s) hunt begin!

Hertzlichen Gluckwunch zum Geburtstag!

This weekend (which isn't yet over thankfully) we were lucky enough to have Will, Sandy and Anders in town to celebrate Anders' first birthday and bring in the 2009 Hawkeye Football Season. The weather was sunny and perfect, the Hawks won (barely) and Anders is already a super-awesome 1-year-old!!


Anders and Eleanor love playing together - they especially enjoyed using these new window-stickies of Eleanor's and standing on opposite sides of our TV room window. It was funny to watch them paw at the stickies regardless of what side they were on.


More window-play.


On Saturday, after the game, we had a great birthday party at City Park where Sandy set up a great afternoon. Mom made this chocolate train birthday cake which was a big hit, especially with the kids.


Look at this little Dude sporting his new Hawkeye outfit. What good taste!


He literally got "wrapped up" playing with his balloon. It was quite hilarious.


Here's a picture of the goings-on in the shelter.


This picture of Anders and his Mom is awesome. He was enjoying frosting-scrapings off of his Angelfood cake.


City Park amusement park rides were next. The train (which is pretty much the same as from my childhood - except it used to be orange and black) was a big hit. Even the adults had to be strapped in.


Eleanor and I had to take a ride on the Merry-Go-Round. She requested the Zebra. It was really topped off by the fact that Rush was blaring from the Carnie-radio.


Eleanor was a daredevil and went on the fish ride with her newest friend Zack. They got along famously. She did lots of waving and Zack did some roller-coaster-tastic both hands in the air action.


She also took a trip on the Ferris Wheel with her cousin Sam and Zack.


To finish up the afternoon, Aunt Jan pitched a couple of heaters which Eleanor promptly took deep out of the park. She especially liked how the bat went "whack" when hitting the ball.

Happy Birthday Anders!! We love you. Thanks for a great weekend and party Sandy and Will. And Grammie, thanks for the cakes and all of the good child care.