Summer Fun

Though things are still a little less open than in pre-COVID times, we have still been able to find things to enjoy. One of my favorite things to visit is the beach. Last year, the beaches were all closed so, this summer, we've been trying to go often. And, not too long ago, we invited my folks to join us. Of course, we simply had to work in a bike ride.

So, we drove into the city and parked at the 31st Street Beach, set up our bikes and jumped on the Lakefront Trail and headed north. 

the little guy kindly agreed to ride in the trailer (even though he prefers the tandem attachment now that he's a big kid) so we could haul in all our beach stuff and picnic lunch.

It's just a couple miles to the 12th Street Beach, the museum campus and the Northerly Island Park. So much fun to be had! Seemed like a great place to play tourist in my own city. Up in that spot, is one of my favorite views of the city.

After stopping to enjoy the view, we headed to the beach. We spent a good long time, having a picnic lunch, relaxing, splish-splashing around in the lake, listening to the waves and watching as they rolled in and enjoying each other's company. 

After a lovely afternoon, we hopped back on our bikes and went to explore the nature park at the bottom of the Northerly Island Park. But first, ice cream!

This nature park was a place I'd been meaning to get to for a while. A couple of summers ago, I'd gone for a ride in the area but hadn't made it to the park, so this time I was excited to go and check it out. We had a little bike trouble, but some good Samaritans helped get things fixed up and we were back on our way exploring the peninsula. 

We saw butterflies and wildflowers, and I found a new view of the city, one that I'd not seen before.

 And while the little guy was bummed that there weren't more butterflies and that none of them wanted to be played with, I enjoyed the trip greatly. I think I'll have to go back, earlier in the season when the flowers are even more lovely and, who knows, the butterflies might even be more friendly!

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

This crazy virus, and the massive uncertainty that it brings, seems to be the defining characteristic of 2020. It touches all the elements of life - weekly grocery shopping to day-to-day work schedules. The unpredictability of things - how long will it go on? how widespread will it get? how catching is it? how careful does one need to be?? - make it difficult to make plans too far in advance. 

However!

What are humans if not creative? It's been some months since I've hung out with my family. Funny how far a neighboring state, a town just a few hundred miles away, can feel. And, as summer's end draws nearer, bringing on the cold and flu season (which one can only assume will be more intense this year, what with COVID and all), it was feeling like we ought to make hay while the sun shines; figure out a way to get together while the states were still open and restrictions relaxed. Quick before the colder weather sends everyone back inside. 

At our house, here in Chicagoland, we're being very cautious and careful about our little quarantine bubble; careful where we go, careful who we see. This makes it hard to visit family, even just a few hundred miles away. But, then it occurred to me that we should meet in the middle!

My dad has a great eye for finding fun places to ride bikes. So, I asked if he might have any ideas for a good place with a bit of a ride, plus a nice spot for the kids to play before we rode back again. And he found a great one - it had everything we were hoping to find!

It had rained the day before, but by the time we got there, the sun was shining and the flowers were blooming and everything was beautiful. The fun thing about biking with my folks is that they enjoy taking their time, and aren't afraid to stop and smell the flowers (or take pictures off bridges). The path took us past some really lovely sights, so we found lots of things to photograph. 

My two kids came along as well, thus the importance of having a playground at the end. And this playground did not disappoint! It was one of those rare, old fashioned ones with wooden equipment; the sort with multi-level areas and secret paths all throughout and in between. Plus some cool artwork in the teepee. So fun!

We brought a little picnic and let the kids go! Though the temperatures weren't too terribly high, the humidity was intense. So, the grownups spent a fair amount of time chatting in the shade, while the kids spent more of their time running around.

However, eventually, all good things must come to an end; a day trip only works if you get back home before too long. So, we mounted up the bikes and headed back the way we came... but not without another stop or two for the great scenery. 

Eventually we said our goodbyes (though, of course, not without the traditional 35min Midwestern goodbye conversation), and we took to the highways - them going north, and us heading south. 

It was a good thing we decided seize the day when we did. Chicago, and the surrounding suburbs, have a travel ban in place; an on-your-honor quarantine-for-14-days-when-you-get-back-if-you-travel-to-certain-states sort of deal (which I'm trying to avoid, what with school and stuff starting up again soon). The list was slowly growing, and - on the day we met up - Wisconsin had only been given a warning that they were next if their COVID numbers didn't improve. Not a week later, they got added to the ever-growing list of restricted states. 

I feel very blessed! 

The Last on Our List

Early in the summer, we made our list of fun. Now, August is coming to a close and we had just one last thing on our list: Find a rollercoaster for Townshend to ride.

I'd done some research to find a place within reasonable distance with different levels of rides for Townshend to ease into .. and I came upon, Wisconsin Dells! I lived in Wisconsin for some time, and had passed through the Dells from time to time, but I'd never really explored it. So, this was a new adventure for all of us.

My folks live not too far from the Dells, so they drove down and we had lunch together and hung out for a while. It was a good visit!

The Dells is a funny place.. Hubby likes to call it the Potemkin Reno, I just say it's the kitsch capital of the Midwest... but, since we were there, we leaned into it... all the way in. It seemed that every restaurant had a hat and a statue, and we embraced them all.

While my folks were there, we ventured into the Top Secret Upside-down White House. We'd visited last summer, and the boys remembered it fondly, so it was the first place we went!

We stayed in the hotel connected to the park and, though our room was very. very basic, it allowed us to come and go from the park with ease and ride bunches of rides.

And of course, we went on the kid-sized coaster that brought us to the Dells. Both boys were tall enough to ride it, but grown-ups were too big, so they rode it just the two of them. As Hubby and I watched them go around the first time, it was a little hard to tell if they were actually having fun.

However, once they got off the ride, they both said it was good and, over the few days we were there they rode this one the most. So much that we tried the next level up beyond this one.. a less-crazy, adult-sized one. However, Townshend was less than excited and he said, maybe he'll try again in another year or two.

There was also a water park, but we were too busy splashing and having fun to take any pictures. It was a little chilly that day, so we didn't play in the outside pool too long before retreating to the indoor place.

Our last day there, it was a bit on the rainy side. However, we went back in for a few last rides.

Finally, it was time to leave..

But not before one last walk through the Upside-down White House, before heading home:

Hubby and I may have not been perfectly impressed with the silly, kitsch visit... but the boys had a blast!