We Are Still New At This

We always said that we love living in Chicago-land for the availability of things to do and things to see.  But honestly, we rarely take advantage.  Yesterday we wanted to do something special with Kinley but really weren't sure what.  On a whim, I suggested that we take her on a train ride.  So we kind of just went with it.

The Metra goes through our town several times a day going to and from the city.  It makes several stops along the way in the different suburbs.  We decided that we would take a short ride to a neighboring community, get ice cream and ride back.  She was stoked!

Because our plans were really on a whim and not planned out with a schedule in front of us, we were hustlin!  I was at Michael's during her nap and texted to see if she was up yet.  Richie said that she was, so I decided to rush home to get ready for our trip.  He informed me that the next train came through in like a half hour.  Shouldn't be a big deal, I thought, we live just minutes from the train station.

I picked them up and off we went.  Well, wouldn't you know that when we're in a hurry, there is a competition bike race going through town and every street that we need to go down is closed.  We fly into the station parking lot only to hear the train track gates dinging and coming down.  RUN!!  I was laughing hysterically and the sight we must have been....but we jumped on the train with only seconds to spare.

Finally on the train, our girl was in heaven!  She just loves train rides and insists that she's on Thomas, every time.  This is when the hustlin' was worth it.  Seeing her little face light up while watching the world go by.

After a short ride, we got off to go for ice cream, with plans to catch it on its way back through in like a half hour.  So we walked down to the Dairy Queen and then found a shady, grassy spot to hang out.  We were feeling pretty good about ourselves at this point!  (and Kinley was obviously enjoying herself!)

We had about 15 minutes left before our train was due, so we started walking back towards the pick up area.  On our way, we found some fountains for her to play in.  She succeeded in getting completely soaked but was having too much fun to tell her no.

We got back to the train platform with only minutes to spare and were ready to board the train.  Only seconds before it got to us, we realized that we were waiting on the wrong track.  Those of  you familiar with the Metra system, know what I'm talking about.  We were on the north track and we needed to be on the south track.  So, not being able to hop the tracks (for fear of safety) we had no choice but to stand there and watch our train go by.

And wait two hours for the next one.

Kinley was hysterical!  "My choo-choo left me!"  My heart broke for her.  We were standing close enough to touch it--and even asked the train worker to open our side of the door.  He just threw his hands up (and I wanted to throw him the bird). At first, Richie and I were furious...at the train, at each other, at ourselves.  How dumb could we be!?  Of course it wouldn't be on the North track!  Grrrr.  So now what?!  We're "stranded" for two hours!

Then we realized, this wasn't really the crisis that we were making it out to be.

We knew that our first order of business as stranded travelers was to find the toddler a potty.  So we walked back to the downtown area and found several little restaurants with tables set up outside.  Let's do dinner!  Eating outside is the ideal situation with a two-year-old.  She can make noise and move around and no one really notices.  On our walk to the Mexican restaurant, we saw a kids shoe store that had a cat inside....like a store pet.  That seems to be really common up here.  Kinley loves cats.  She was glued to this storefront for a long while.  And it was nice to not be in a hurry.

We ate a nice dinner, she went potty, we visited the cat again and then walked around to enjoy their downtown.  And what a beautiful downtown it was!  Dare I say that I liked it more than our downtown?  So many ice cream shops (should have visited one of those to start instead of the DQ!) and stores.  We played at the fountains again and just really enjoyed our family time.

It turns out that our crisis of being "stranded" turned into such a great evening!  I honestly wish we would have planned the longer stay to begin with.

Twenty minutes before our train was due, we started back towards the platform--again.  And this time, we went to the south track.

We sure felt the wind knocked out of our sails when we had to stand and watch our train go by without us on it.  We felt dumb and lost and just hopeless.  How would we get home?  What are we going to do?  How could we be so stupid?  And all that it took was looking at it from another angle, with a better attitude, to know that we really weren't so bad off after all, we actually had an ideal family evening handed to us, on a silver platter.  Which is just what we needed.

Makes me realize that a lot of things in life are really based on how you are looking at them and with what attitude you're using when dealing with a situation.

So, we missed a train, big deal.  We're new at this!  We've not done this before....but you can bet that on our next ice cream escapade, we'll be much wiser!

Anniversary On a Budget

If you've read the previous post from this morning, you know that today we celebrate our four year anniversary.  Four years doesn't seem long enough to have experienced all that we've done together!  I actually had to recount the years to be sure that it was only four!

I typed up that post as my digital card to my husband.  I guess we're non-sentimental this year because we both agreed that a card wasn't necessary and that we'd just celebrate our day over the weekend.  Pretty romantic, huh!?

We have "big" plans this weekend and we're pretty excited about it!  We're both kind of history buffs and really enjoy exploring.  There is a place in central Illinois that I visited as a sixth grader and that was the one and only time that I visited.  Since then, I think about it often and remember how much I enjoyed it and how fascinated I was by the story--the unsolved mystery.  So, we'll be visiting Cahokia Mounds this weekend as our "getaway" on a budget.

My mom is keeping Kage and Lucy will be going to day care.

Last night we took Lucy to make her vaccinations current {$170 worth!} and get her "day care ready" with a clean bill of health from the vet.  After having a two-year-old and a dog in one tiny office, I think that we can say that we got a small taste of what two children would be like.  It was not easy!

We budgeted four hundred dollars to blow on ourselves for this trip and to us, that seems like plenty to have a good time!  Gas, hotel, dinner out, maybe a glass of wine or two....  Free childcare and the doggie day care will only run about $150...so this is a much more affordable vacation than say......a tropical destination.  Don't get me wrong, a beautiful white sand beach would be amazing right now, but it's just not happening.  Maybe next year.

We're leaving Friday night when Richie gets home from work and will drive to my mom's to stay the night.  Saturday morning, it's up early and on the road!  I am not too good at leaving Kinley, and we've only done it one other time....but I know that I need to nurture my alone time with my husband as well.

It will be a welcomed break to get us away from the ordinary, even if it is only one night.

Traveled Out

We both said that this traveling has got to slow down.  We even made it a New Years resolution last year.  But I guess making it a resolution made it sure to fail, right?  Having both families living a good distance away means that we are destined to travel for every holiday.  There has to be an easier way. 

Having my family a few hours closer than his allowed us to make it their way for a Thanksgiving Saturday celebration.  We are doing a double celebration next weekend at his hometown:  Thanksgiving and Kinley's birthday.  And then the following weekend we are back at my mom's house for Kinley's birthday--round 2 as well as my family holiday celebration.

We then have a weekend off and at home before gearing up for windshield time again for Christmas. 

I am exhausted just thinking about it.  And poor Kinley---she gets so frustrated with all of the traveling.  And I can't blame her.  I couldn't imagine being stuck in a 5 point harness for six hours.  Ugh.  We do make a stop for her to stretch about half way.

When we buy our home (hopefully soon!), we will be staying home and hosting.  Not every year, maybe.  But most years.  It's not fair for Kinley to be on the road so much.  There is just no room for anyone in our apartment now, so traveling is really our only option.  Our home will have plenty of room for both sides of the family.  I. can. not. wait.  I am so tired of traveling.  So very tired.

I am ready for January to come so that we can have a few weeks at home.  I really don't *love* this apartment, but I miss being home.  Cooking at home.  Grocery shopping.  Cleaning.  Living.  I just want to relax on my couch.  And sleep in my bed.

Tonight, Kinley was so very excited to be back at home and able to play with her toys.

12 Hours in the car in 2 days...and survived.

I survived.  I survived the weekend that I have been dreading for some time.  The 6 hour drive to southern IL.  I seriously had my doubts and almost stayed home.  Yes, I was having my turn with the tantrum and threatened to not go because I just knew that the ride would be hell.

We endured our usual silence in the car, as we always do...aside from the random thought or Kinley-ism.  Most couples discuss thoughts and dreams of the future or plans to make or whatever.  Not us.  Silence is how we roll!  But then we're in marriage counseling too....go figure.

She actually did amazingly well on the ride there.  We decided to leave at 5:30 in the morning so that she would have to get up extra early and then sleep part of the ride.  And she did just as we had hoped.

The visit was good.  We got to spend time with his Aunt and Uncle and cousin (and cousin's girlfriend) from Boston.  The last time we saw them was at our wedding, almost 3 years ago. 

It is relaxing there.  But it's a lot of outdoor time.... and the more that I go there, the more that I realize how much I'm not an outdoorsy type of girl.  Bugs make me scream, jump, do a stupid dance and get laughed at.  And with it being the big Cicada infestation, there was a lot of Joy screaming, jumping and dancing.  And then their reaction of laughing their butts off.  I didn't find it funny.  My daughter, on the other hand, loves it outside and can't spend enough time out there.  I've learned that I'm a great outdoorsy person, in the city (or suburbs) but not a very good out-in-the-backwoods outdoorsy person.  There is a huge difference.

She wasn't scared of the bugs or the dirt--as long as the dirt wasn't on her.  I beamed with pride when she would come running for "help" when she would get dirt on her hands or the bottoms of her feet.  She would try to walk on her heels if she had dirt on her feet.  It upset her to get dirty!  Haha  That's my girl! 

On the way home, I got the great idea that we should stop half way home and have a picnic.  We knew we'd have to stop for dinner regardless and instead of getting her out, changing her (she travels in a sleeper), fixing her hair (she ripped out her ponytail and looked a bit like La Roux), and making her sit in a highchair that she didn't want to be in--why not just run through a drive thru and find a park to go to.  Like a boy girl scout, this momma is prepared.  I have a huge blanket in my car for park excursions, so we did just that.  Talk about a great idea!  pats herself on the back  Lucy was able to get out and enjoy some time on her leash.  K was able to take a bite and run, take a bite and run, take a bite and run.....and I was able to attempt to eat while watching out for the running toddler with food in her mouth.  Okay, so maybe it wasn't a win situation for the adults involved, but we're not the ones crying and flipping out for 4 of the 6 hour car ride.  Not usually, anyway.

After she ate and ran for a bit, we all loaded back up and made the trip home in peace.  It is definitely a new part of our trip....weather permitting.

So now we're home and done traveling, for a few weeks anyway.  I have a bazillion things to unpack.  Laundry up the wazoo to do and grocery shopping that needs done.  I have no energy to do any of it.  But am ever so thankful that K is sleeping in today.  After all, she was up late "working" on the computer.  She had a lot of things to catch up on.