that toddling town

hard to believe its been over a year since we visited one of chicago's best summer attractions-- millennium park.   it simply got overlooked with baby harry and busy challenging life at home.  so glad we made the trip this week. it was lovely.

this time mom came prepared with swimsuits and a towel for the boys.  jude didn't remember his previous trips to crown fountain.  but he giggled as i explained at home that we would see giant people faces with funny lips in an 'o' shape. and that when the 'o' appears, water shoots out.

Crown fountain - Millennium Park - outdoor water playground

in typical jude fashion, he surveyed the park, carefully walked around at first and then took off running, splashing some bigger kids but not getting into the big downpours at the glass towers.  harry spent the first part enjoying a snack lunch.

harry's first visit to crown fountain

after snack it was playtime for baby.  when i first sat him on the wet stone surface harry cried. but then he realized he could smack the ground...and it made a splash!  harry soon took off in a high speed crawl around the busy fountain.  

i wish i had a picture of harry's water adventure.  tourists were actually taking pictures of my little man moving so fast among big kids.  but i am learning it is much harder to get good photos of your second kid.  i walked over harry at times, even holding out my arms to protect him from excited running children. but then i also needed to track and engage jude. which meant no time to pull out camera!  

lest you think it was all about water, we also enjoyed the great Target family fun tent.  if you visit chicago, you have to check out this free activity zone. the fans make it feel air conditioned. the rubber surface was great for harry to explore. jude enjoyed story time with a guy sitting in a cartoonish oversized chair. reminded me of the old lily tomlin as edith ann sketch on sesame street. 

target family fun tent - stories, big blocks!

we then hit the hoola hoops and the giant blocks.  jude is still not really into crafts so we skipped those. i remember jude's first preschool teacher saying with emphasis that she 'tries' with him and crafts.  i wonder if harry will be the same?

so now to mom's favorite moment of the day.  the grant park symphony open rehearsal in pritzker pavilion. they sounded amazing. jude actually asked if we could stop and listen for awhile.  

music break

listening to live classical music somehow clears my head and makes my heart happy at the same time. what a great treat in the middle of our day! thanks grant park symphony.

checkin out the rehearsal at pritzker pavilion in millennium park. great sound great seats

after a quick change to dry clothes, we made it to the car by 1pm.. jude crashed before we got back to oak park.

sleepy boy

harry turns one

our youngest oak park baby is one!  

we celebrated on a lovely friday afternoon...seriously the weather was 82 degrees after days in the hundreds.

how many fingers old am I?

Harry loves music and always stops to listen to new tunes.  So we decided to shake, rattle and roll with an ice cream social for his birthday party. 

harry took two good naps and was ready to party when friends, family and neighbors arrived.

ready for my first birthday

friends and family arrived at 3:30 for the backyard bash.

grandpa chuck and grandma carole

Here are a few highlights if you missed it:  we created a shoe free baby zone in the shade.  it was cute how many big kids wanted to sit and play with the simple toys we brought outside.

in the baby zone

The ice cream lines were short thanks to the excellent service of greg and andy.  

jude and annabelle enjoy their cones.  notice all the blue waters

This fabulous kids water turned out to be the hit of the party.  the crayola water is blue and berry flavored.  but the grown-ups like that it was sugar free. another bonus- it costs less than $2 for eight bottles at aldi.

We had a busy day preparing for the party.  Thanks to Greg for taking several hours off in the morning to help the setup.  We managed to pause for a second during the festivities and get a picture.

proud mom and dad

for three years i stored the candle from jude's first birthday cake in our dining room drawer. jude was thrilled to have a chance to put it on his little brother's cake.

birthday brothers share a candle

but harry was not very interested in the whole cake and candles routine.

After a few finger licks with frosting he got down to business.

You can see the sugar rush setting in, or perhaps its birthday joy? nah...sugar rush for sure. but very cute either way!

first birthday first cake consumed all by myself

after the friends and neighbors said their goodbyes, we had a nice time opening gifts with grandma carole and grandpa chuck, uncle todd, grandpa scott, aunt jan and uncle burt.  i say we, but harry was pretty uninterested in the gifts.

birthday presents

grandma carole got the same card for harry that she gave jude 3 years ago. fun!

thanks to all the friends, family and neighbors who sent well wishes or came by for harry's festivities. he did great and this was the happy one year old at the end of his day.

older and wiser?