New Faces and Places

We had a great week full of lots of new faces and places. Monday, we were disappointed to wake up to a rainy birthday, but we made the most of it by letting Molly redeem her gift card from our neighbor, Haitham, and by taking a trip to a fancy restaurant (McDonald's)! Tuesday, we made it out before the rain and tried out a new (to us) beach at the South Shore Cultural Center. We loved this beautiful little oasis... but didn't stay too long due to the rain clouds that blew in!

This week was full of lots of new zoo experiences for me. At the beginning of June I started my new master's degree program with Miami University and the Brookfield Zoo. This first class includes one week - this past week for me - at the zoo that felt more like summer camp than school. The highlight for me was a behind the scenes kangaroo/wallaby feeding and petting time! My new furry friends, Sydney and Leo ate their peanuts right out of my hands. It's fun learning some of the ins and outs of zoo life... I'm ready to lead some zoo tours for any visiting family and friends! :)

We wrapped up our week with one more fun new adventure. The University of Chicago has free carillon bell concerts and tours of the bell tower. Molly, Dave and I hiked up all the way to the top and back down again- pretty good for a 3 year old, a pregnant lady, and a giant man who had to duck most of the way. Our favorite pieces that were performed tonight were "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter. What a fun (if slightly nerdy) way to enjoy a beautiful summer evening!

Birthday Pancakes!

Molly and new baby Caroline enjoying some McBirthday nuggets!

Measuring time... no standing on tiptoes!

Squeezing Daddy's guts out!

Wild rider on her new big wheel!

Night time with Molly and Dolly Caroline!

South Shore Cultural Center Beach... you can see a foggy downtown Chicago in the distance.

The beach had a beautiful little bird sanctuary... we'll definitely be going back to this one!

Pop beads!

Molly and I created a magnificent city for Molly's new matchbox cars.

Dave and Molly by Rockefeller Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago.

We walked up, up, up the tower and found a magical little room with the carillon inside. For those of you not in the know about carillons, this nifty contraption is like a keyboard that plays all 72 of the bells in the bell tower.

The view from the top of the tower!

WOW! Check out that bell!

We think we were over the chapel in this part of the bell tower labyrinth. The beams were so low that Molly was the only one who could clear them!

The inside of Rockefeller Chapel.

Muscle girl, showing off her strength. Check out that tower that she conquered!

Good climbing calls for a good old ketchupy picnic!