First snow of winter

We had our first snowfall this morning! Harper was really excited. We made sure to get outside first thing in case it was going to melt (it did).

Harper knew just what to do and tasted it the moment he got his mittens on it. He also made campfires, looked for grasshoppers, made a snowball (it was so not snowball snow), and brushed snow off a variety of things.

Miss Wrennie took a snooze.

Happy Halloween

This Halloween we each dressed up as a character from the Hundred Acre Wood. I made Harper's whole costume and Wren's hood, and threw together a few different things for the rest. We couldn't get Wren's whole costume in the picture as it was kind of chilly on Halloween. Harper trick-or-treated at our church's "Trunk-or-Treat" event. Since he isn't much into candy (though I'm sure he would be if we let him), it was the perfect way to see a bunch of dressed up kids and people we knew. Afterwards, we went home for some chili and to pass out treats to a few people who stopped by our house.

The week before Halloween, Josh and Harper (well, more like just Josh) carved one of our pumpkins. I love the photo below of Josh pep-talking Harper into scooping out some pumpkin guts and Harper not looking too sure about it.

Josh was able to hand him some guts, and Harper held it long enough for me to snap this picture. Harper told us what shapes to carve the eyes and nose and that it should be a happy pumpkin.

Harper is proud of his pumpkin that daddy carved. If I took a picture of the jack-o-lantern now, it would look rather disgusting. Between the weather and the hungry squirrels, it's a rather pathetic sight.

Chicago

A few weekends ago, Josh and I headed to Chicago for a three day weekend trip. Since Wren and I are pretty much inseparable yet, she came with us but Harper stayed with his grandparents (and had such a blast he may not have missed us).

Day 1: Air travel. Car travel. Train travel. Ate Chicago-style hot dog and hot beef sandwich at Portillo's. Toured the Chicago Institute of Art for the last hour it was open. They have some great pieces from Renior, Van Gogh, Monet, and Seurat, as well as architectural drawings and artifacts from Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. There was also a special exhibit showcasing work by Studio Gang Architects. It was really interesting and gave us some cool info the skyscraper below.

Who knew a skyscraper could have movement. Isn't it wild?

Day 2: Spent time downtown walking through Millennium and Grant Park. Walked to the Magnificent Mile. We didn't do any shopping, but we stopped in the Apple store and grabbed a bite to eat at Heaven on Seven (Cajun!). Our friends, and Wren's Godparents, Luke and Melissa met up with us at lunch. We then went towards Navy Pier to hop on a boat for an architectural tour via the Chicago River. This was my favorite part of our trip as the docent was an architectural student and really knew his stuff and didn't water down the architectural lingo. The tour brought back much of what I learned about American Architecture from school, and it was of course neat to see the buildings first hand and learn more about the city we were in. After the tour we went to the John Hancock Tower but didn't go up to the 90-something floor since there was a long line. Bummer. Next time. For dinner we went to Gino's Pizza for some Chicago-style deep dish pizza. We each had once piece and were stuffed. I guess that's what it's all about. 

The bean at Millennium Park.

Waiting for the L. We were definitely amateurs riding the train the first day but started getting the hang of it on day 2. We rode LOTS of trains.

Luke and Melissa on the boat tour.

Heading back into downtown while on the boat tour.

Gino's Pizza!

Sleepy Wren. Wren was an extremely good traveller at 2 months old. She was in a carrier 90% of the time, slept much of that time and still slept at night. It was in the upper 40s while we were in Chicago, so the carrier helped keep her toasty warm. 

Day 3: We took the train South of downtown to the University of Chicago where the Robie House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is open for tours. We had to book it in order to make the tour. We didn't realize how long it would take to travel down there. The tour was worth it despite the cheesy guide. After the tour we booked it back to downtown, hopped on a different train that took us back towards Schaumburg where our hotel was and where one of Josh's friends from Apple lives. Josh's friend Anthony and his family had us over for a nice dinner before we headed back to the airport to head home. We rolled back into Minneapolis just before midnight.

The Robie House

It was a quick trip, but it was fun to get away and now I can say I've been to Chicago. There is a lot more to see and do there. Maybe next time we will go in the summer so we won't have to bundle up.