Starved Rock State Park

Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.

We had been steadily and successfully churning through the long days of summer but the girls were really taking their squabbling to a whole new level. They needed a reset. Time to be together but also not so intently focused on each other and the injustices of family life. I could think of no better moment to check off that trip to Starved Rock State Park from the Summer Bucket List. 

Even during the drive I wanted to pull over and toss one or several of them out of the car but we made it, all intact. We stopped off at the Visitor Center first to pick up Jr Ranger packets and use the restrooms. This beauty was right there just inside the door.

See the bullet they found when cutting the cross-section of the tree?

Call me cheesy, but that bullet really spoke to me. It seems like the trunk initially curved in a bit from the damage, but over the years of development and growth you'd never know the tree had that history of violence. The layers and layers that formed over it smoothed things over until the only way you'd even know it was there is to dissect it.

I'm hoping this bullet will be like my misery of summer. Over the years as my girls grow and mature, perhaps things won't be so hard. Perhaps they will learn to love harder and forgive more readily until rough places are made smooth again. I'd love to think that eventually they will only remember the massive amounts of bickering if they completely dissect each and every moment. Perhaps I'll forget as well? Ha, chance would be a fine thing, but it's a nice thought nonetheless. That bullet fortified me to move on and try to create more positive layers on our summer until the good outweighed the bad.

Starved Rock is full of long trails and steep cliffs so I was happy to see the girls were getting plenty of exercise. Brigitta cautiously hung on to the rails while Sydney went straight for the middle. Ironically, Brigitta had a nasty fall on a relatively level piece of ground.

Those views from the cliffs over the Illinois River were really beautiful.

I'm a big fan of the Jr Ranger program and their packets had the girls looking for all kinds of things but it's the surprises like this- a perfectly round hole that had been formed by centuries of running water- that were the real treat. 

It wasn't horribly hot, but the shade down in the gorges was just lovely nonetheless.

I have to hand it to my girls, they are pretty much always up for a photo op. An excuse to scramble around on the rocks? They're all for it.

I love how proper Sydney is, even on a hike!

Even though none of the falls were running due to the dry weather, they were stunning to see. I made a mental note to bring the girls back in the spring, along with Brent who was greatly missed on this trip.

I'm a sucker for photos that play on posted signs. The girls almost always complain when I make them look hungry at Starved Rock:

 Or look out at Eagle Cliff Overlook:

 Or take a jump at Lover's Leap Overlook:

But honestly, Liesel nailed this one, didn't she?

The other girls had some pretty good jumps too like Ireland's mid-air running man:

For a jump like this, you absolutely have to stick your tongue out.

I love it when the pigtails go flying!

It's only when I've gotten the shot I was hoping for, and as we leave another group immediately crowds in to copy what we've done that the girls appreciate my sense of humor.
"Mom, did you see they're doing the same thing WE did!" Believe me, this happens a lot. Almost every single time actually.

The bickering subsided as the girls immersed themselves in nature and took in the beauty around them.

I particularly treasured the moments along the trail with Liesel. She's at such a pivotal point in her life and she has occupied my thoughts a lot this summer.

 It was nice to wrap things up back at the air conditioned Visitor's Center where the girls were under a time crunch to finish up their Jr Ranger packets. Brigitta finished first and I love this picture of her peeking over the counter to see if she indeed earned that badge. The rangers were pretty intense about checking those packets!

In the end, they all earned their badges and are pretty excited to add this to the one from the Redwoods. The little bag of goodies helped to keep them occupied on the drive home.

I can't say the summer squabble fest ended completely with this trip, but at least we all had a moment to just... reset.

Anchors Aweigh

Ever since we moved to the Chicago area, we've been aware there is a Naval base nearby. Every now and again we'd see sailors downtown and people in our ward are called to serve in the Naval branch regularly. All in all, it's not much exposure so we were pretty excited when we were invited to attend J's graduation along with Julie.

Like the amazing girlfriend she is, Julie not only traveled across half the country to be there, but she prepared well in advance. Brent and I aren't prone to being late, especially for important occasions. Even so, we were up bright and early on graduation day at Julie's urging so we would be at the very front of the line. We did get to see a pretty spectacular sunrise!

Being on base gave me all the patriotic feels!

 We actually beat Julie to check in and when they asked which division I confidently said, "The NAVY!" which got a lot of laughs. Everyone was graduating from the Navy, but which division IN the Navy? We didn't know. For that matter, we couldn't remember J's last name. And J isn't even his real name. It's John. But that wasn't much help since John is a pretty common name. Finally Julie showed up and filled in the blanks and we were on our way.

Did I mention we were early? TWO AND A HALF HOURS EARLY? With nothing better to do, we kind of got caught up with some families around us which made for some serious entertainment as a first wife and her mother chatted with the ex-husband and his new wife. I got up to stretch my legs and came upon a teenage girl and her mother when she got sick on the floor. That made for some entertainment for Brent as I urgently relayed the news to a commander who radioed medics who went flying up the stairs on my heels. Then there was the woman who tried to shove in on our new friend for a last-minute seat at the front. Brent and I practically screamed at her with a legion of angry people right behind us until she left. A military graduation is not the place to flout basic rules of human decency and we had secured those seats TWO AND A HALF HOURS EARLY!!!

Finally, it started and oh my how I love men in uniform and straight lines! 

 Julie was positively glowing and loving her seat right there on the front row. 

Apparently they no longer throw their hats in the air. Not gonna lie, I was super bummed about that. They do however give a rousing Hip Hip Hooray!

They should go back to throwing hats.

I was able to capture Julie finding J in the sea of sailors (pun intended).

They were both so happy and relieved to see each other!

Long-distance is not for the faint of heart.

I was also a bit bummed there wasn't a more passionate reunion (I've watched Pearl Harbor wayyy too many times, apparently), but J said they were given strict instructions-- nothing more than a peck was allowed. They aren't even allowed to pick up their girlfriends off their feet.

Once they were outside, they found a discreet place to really say hello:

While Julie and J headed to Chicago to enjoy the city, we headed home for a nap. Passing these guys in fatigues and kevlar, I asked Ireland if she and her sisters would take me more seriously if I dressed like this:

Roll of the eyes was my answer but she perked up quite a bit when we treated her to pancakes for breakfast. She was a really good sport at graduation. J only had a limited number of tickets and we shuffled through so many different possibilities for babysitting. Ireland is extremely allergic to dogs so if we took one child, it had to be her. She was perfectly well behaved!

We had a great weekend getting to know J more and seeing him and Julie interact. They really enjoyed their time in the city with lots of people treating them to (non-alcoholic) drinks and discounts wherever they went. J sure made a sharp addition to our bench at church!

My parents have asked us to store their Mustang for the summer so they have extra garage space for the Model A they are sprucing up for antique car tours. I haven't been as good as I should about getting this beauty out and dusting it off. Sunday afternoon seemed like the perfect time.

They're so cute together but even better is the fact they were wearing matching shirts. My parents often wear matching shirts but especially so when they are out with one of the old cars.

 One of J's favorite homemade meals is a shepherd's pie so Brent hunted down a good recipe. It was really good and J had three large helpings so I'm guessing he liked it!

 We had a great weekend with these two and I feel so lucky I've been to a Navy graduation. Now I know what all the fuss is about!

Hamilton: The Exhibit

Confession: I have not yet seen Hamilton. But pretty much everyone I know has! It seemed like every family that moved from our ward over the summer made sure to see Hamilton before they left. Originally I wanted to take all the girls to see the exhibit. Even though it's cheaper than seeing the show, it was still pricey, so in the end I just took Liesel. It was nice to get some one on one time with her. The exhibit was fantastic- incredibly well done. When we walked out I wanted to see the Broadway production even more, if that's possible.

Because of the dim lighting, I couldn't take too many decent pictures but one of the things that impressed me the most was how Hamilton's writing abilities really opened up doors for him.

The display on 32,000 troops in New York harbor was stunning. Hearing it sung in lyrics is a lot different from seeing it on display like this.

The way the battle of Yorktown was shown was just incredible. Liesel and I were truly blown away. There was a table and the objects on top moved in and out as the battle unfolded in front of us. We wanted to go through again just to see it again. 

Here's the room showing the Hamilton-Burr duel. It was truly chilling the way it brought the whole even to life. 

As you can see, Hamilton did indeed have his glasses on.

 One of the final rooms was based on the song, "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story."

One wall was full of Post-Its where we could write our dream for America. 

You gotta expect some weirdos in an open forum, right?

Just before the very end of the exhibit, there was a room with nothing but quotes about Hamilton.

 Here's Liesel pondering the possibilities within herself while we waited in line.

We were handed 3-D glasses as we walked into a little theater at the very end and were ecstatic to find out we were watching the opening scene of the Broadway production with the original cast. Since there's absolutely no possible way we could ever see that now, it was a pretty sweet surprise. I guess now I can say I've seen a part of Hamilton, at least?

I'm so glad we went and took in the exhibit. Of course the best part was having time to connect with my sweet girl!

Lou Mitchell's and Lincoln Park Zoo

 Julie flew in early just to spend some time with us and we loved every minute of it. Trying out a new restaurant downtown was on our summer bucket list so we gave Julie some options we had our eye on and let her choose. She selected Lou Mitchell's, and we are so glad she did!


They not only brought fresh orange slices, they threw tiny boxes of Milk Duds on the table for the girls to nosh on.

After that, the girls were so happy we almost didn't have to order! 

But order we did. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to have a Thanksgiving meal in the middle of the summer! The girls kept sneaking bites of those heavenly mashed potatoes.

Turns out Brent was free for the afternoon so we picked him up before heading to the Lincoln Park Zoo- another bucket list item. He was dressed to the nines and the girls were particularly thrilled to have him along on one of our summer adventures.

Everyone's energy waned pretty quickly in the heat and humidity so we just checked out the highlights before heading home. I even power walked to the car and drove back to pick everyone up because they were too tired to walk.

We sure love having Aunt Jules around!