This weekend we’ve had our share of fun and games. Yesterday the weather was cool and rainy but today it was perfect: sunny and in the high 60s. In addition to getting another van, which was exciting enough on its own, we made a trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden along with [...]

We certainly live in interesting times….
I’ve written a couple of times before about the weirdness of cougar (a.k.a. mountain lion) sightings where I live. Last week a cougar was cornered and killed by Chicago police on the North Side. Yesterday everyone was abuzz about the news that another cougar had been sighted early [...]

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Chicago is a beautiful city and the following photo shows it.  Yesterday we were at the lakefront to visit the Shedd Aquarium for the first time since March.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm but not too warm.  Lots of people were out and about enjoying the day, including lots of people out [...]

I was excited to read the news last night that Chicago was picked over Los Angeles as the site nominated by the U.S. for the 2016 Olympics. How cool would it be to live near the Olympics, if Chicago happens to win the international bid? I think Chicago is a great choice (prejudice [...]

February has been incredibly dull and gloomy here in the Chicago area. It always is. So it is a relief to finally experience warm temperatures and lots of sunshine the last few days. Yesterday we were able to go outside without wearing jackets for the first time in who knows how long.
Friday [...]

For the first time in our married life — in other words, in six years — Michele and I were able to spend a night away from our children. We had a wonderful weekend celebrating our sixth wedding anniversary by staying at a four star hotel near the Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago. [...]

I was quite interested to read last night that a group of three nearby public libraries (Arlington Heights Memorial Library, Skokie Public Library and Indian Trails Public Library in Wheeling) have decided to offer a new service to their users that gives them the option to check out library material via their websites and have [...]

Keegan and I are at home by ourselves this weekend because Michele and the younger kids went with her family to her uncle’s funeral. Uncle Donny died last week from an unknown form of cancer. I wish we could have gone to the funeral but Keegan had a test at school yesterday morning [...]

Here are some photos from our trip to the Chicago Botanic Gardens on Columbus Day.