Chicago's Last Surprise

If there was some kind of contest for city parks -- Millennium Park in Chicago would take THE FIRST PRIZE for beauty and creativity. I cannot tell you how impressive this park is. It has so many levels or layers...it is a spectacular, interactive public work of art.

After several entertaining hours in the park -- we were on our way out. We wanted to find a cab to take us back to Union Station for our 5:50 train out of the city...

Then this happened...

These two tall pillars face each other -- with a wading pool in the middle...

One minute, you look -- and the pillar seems like plain bricks, with water cascading down...

But then -- suddenly -- there's a picture reflected on the bricks...

The water is just a few inches deep...but it looked like SO MUCH FUN -- the kids could not resist it.

And -- hey -- WHY SHOULD THEY??

THANK YOU, CHICAGO.  You exceeded every expectation.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes!!

Lilly has a new cake decorating book, and one of the ideas she loved was to make cupcakes USING ICE CREAM CONES..!! I told her we already did that -- and it was kind of a fail.

She did not believe me. BUT I HAVE THE PICTURE TO PROVE IT...

Turns out, Lilly has absolutely no memory of ALL THAT CRAP I DID WITH HER THE YEAR SHE WAS FOUR!!

I can't tell you how depressing that is.

REALLY??

NO RECOLLECTION AT ALL??

I GET ABSOLUTELY NO CREDIT FOR ALL THOSE YEARS OF ACTIVITIES AND SPECIAL EVENTS??

DOES THIS MEAN WARREN WON'T REMEMBER THE TRAIN RIDE TO CHICAGO??

Gheesh...I'm beginning to wish I'd had my boys when I was a teenager. We'd be SOO MUCH FURTHER ALONG with this Grandma thing....

So, I pushed "replay" on the cupcake in an ice cream cone idea...

An ice cream scoop seemed like the perfect way to get the cake batter into the cones...

So far, so good...

Yeah, it's all starting to come back to me...as the cake baked, it sort of melts down the side of the cone...

But, hey, who cares? At this point, Lilly is 8 years old, and she is all about the DECORATING..!! So we set her up on the porch, with some frosting, sprinkles etc.

We put a lot of our toppings in a cupcake pan.

Alexander Hamilton was on hand to supervise...

Lilly LOVES this cake decorating business.

Obviously -- a puppy face...

Warren frosted a cupcake, then ate the frosting...

He frosted the same cupcake again...and again...and again...

Here's even MORE PROOF, LILLY...you were three years old when we tried this the first time...

This time around, Lilly had so much patience. I WAS IMPRESSED...then, she was off to deliver cupcakes to Uncle Calvin and Aunt Jeanne!

She gave me the BEST cupcake, of course.

Maybe THIS TIME Lilly will remember we did it, eh?  And IT'S A GOOD THING I TOOK A PICTURE OF WARREN, RIGHT?

Mississippi Sightseeing Cruise

Okay...the summer of 2017 is over. I am sad. Grandma Camp is history. My cousin Kim has an end-of-the-summer birthday -- and she's pretty hard to buy for.

How about a sightseeing ride on a vintage PADDLEWHEEL RIVERBOAT??

HOW LUCKY AM I???

Again -- sorry for my crappy video skills. I only got a glimpse of the wonderful calliope music the riverboat plays when it moves in to or out of the dock.

The Twilight usually takes day trips up to Galena, Illinois, and the guests spend the night at a local B&B there -- once a month they do a Saturday afternoon 90 minute sightseeing cruise.  IT'S ONLY $16 per person..!!  

I invited Kim and her granddaughter Elizabeth...to go with me and Lilly.

There are three levels to this magnificent floating palace from yesteryear...

We packed a lunch, and the girls had some games. (yes, BANANAGRAMS)...

There were rocking chairs lining both sides of the boat...

It was a STUNNINGLY beautiful summer day.

The Twilight has a lot of wrought iron banisters and fancy trim...

Even the ceilings are beautiful.

We went under the Interstate 80 bridge!

Oh, yes. A wonderful way to wrap up an incredible summer.  GOOD JOB, TWILIGHT RIVERBOAT CREW..!!

*********** MMWI: 230.00...(fingers crossed, eh?)...

So Much Chicago!!

I will always remember our day in Chicago as PERFECT.

One big reason for the success of the day was that we had no real schedule, no tickets, and no activities planned in advance. Lilly is 8 and Warren is 4 -- so the theme for the day was go with the flow...

The train ride into the city was MAGNIFICENT...well done, Amtrak!! Our visit to the Private Bank theater was exciting, and our breakfast was EXCELLENT. The kids did great walking around the city, and seeing the iconic Marshall Field/Macy's store was awe-inspiring.

Our little group was holding up...the day was GORGEOUS....so we decided to walk to Millennium Park. We had kind of a loose plan to see Lake Michigan... 

As we entered the park, the kids took a water break.

Millennium Park is amazing...at the Maggie Daily entrance, there's a huge rock climbing mountain. It's surrounded by an ice skating "ribbon" which is flooded with water and frozen in the winter. The ribbon winds and wraps around this part of the park.

The Maggie Daily park is the "children's" part of Millennium Park. There are about a dozen different playgrounds, with signage suggesting what age the equipment is suitable for.

This area had a lighthouse, lots of gadgets on the upper level, a tube slide...an incredible view of the city.

Another one of the park areas.  We went from one to another.  The kids were having a wonderful time.  I cannot tell you how well done this park is. 

AND THEN WE GOT HERE...TO THE BEAN!!  It's an iconic sculpture that is almost inter-active...

Of course, the first thing you notice is that it's a great MIRROR...

And it's shaped in such a way that you can walk under it, and through it...

Touching it is encouraged...almost irresistible, actually...

This is a picture I took of our reflection in the bean...

At the end of our Park Visit -- the kids shared a slurpee...

And Millennium Park had one last surprise for us....

Princeton Garden Tour

People are amazing. Really amazing.

I often take the kids to the Princeton library and we are usually greeted by Dawn. I've often blogged about her creative kid-friendly events. She does a storytime every Wednesday, crafting for all the holidays, pet events, reading competitions, etc. It's a small library in a small town, and Dawn knows every kid who walks in the door. Both Lilly and Warren are big fans...

Recently, the TMBC was doing back-to-back Featherweight Fridays and Dawn invited us up to see her garden. Of course, I didn't know she was an avid gardener...and I know NOTHING about that topic...but I knew my cousin Linda would enjoy a garden tour... so here we go....

Dawn and her husband Al have been working on their property for about 8 years

Their yard is stunning. There used to be a run-down garage on this piece of ground...which they removed, board by board...

Then, they landscaped, planted flower beds,

This is a hibiscus, right?

Every now and then, there's a pergola, or another structure...

Sometimes, they try a new plant that does VERY well...

The unique steps take you up to their fire pit.  There are bird feeders, and bird baths, and butterfly garden sections...

Even the ground is artistic....made out of stones they picked up on the property.

They created a lot of driftwood sculptures.

Ronda, Dawn and Linda.

THE STEPS ARE A.M.A.Z.I.N.G...

Al created each step by first cutting the boards for the edges...and adding river rock...with a random rusty tool here or there. They are shockingly comfortable, sturdy steps...

Here's the thing that hit me that day in Dawn's stunning garden....

You never know who you could be dealing with. What if that woman checking you out at Walmart is a wonderful singer with perfect pitch?  Did you ever think that the guy who fixes your car spends every spare minute creating a world class Christmas light display with music and digital timing that the whole town looks forward to every year?  Maybe your waitress at Applebee's is an award-winning quilt artist...

Well...you get what I'm saying.

People are full of surprises.  And gifts, and talents, and glitter and all things wonderful.

Yep...that's the perfect word.

Full of Wonder...