Good Food

In installment two of the "Mini Taste of Chicago", you will see feats of amazing eating ability. Just when you think that Mike cannot possibly eat another bite, he shocks and astounds you by making room for yet more and fattier foods.

Mike and I decided to take Rory and Sara to Gale Street Inn for ribs. They are to- die- for beautiful. He was not disappointed. Here is a feast for your eyes...

Mike ate his entire slab, all of his baked potato, Rory's fries and then ordered a slab to go.

And he keeps that fabulous physique...

But were they done? Oh no. Mike wanted to show Rory the best ice cream. So the boys stopped in at Oberweis for a little dessert. Here Mike is gobbling up triple chocolate cake a la mode and Rory has a triple chocolate shake with chocolate ice cream. So I guess that makes it a quadruple chocolate shake. I just watched and was awed by the gluttony.

Gramma Betty and Papa Rog ("Gar paj" in AJ speak) had the kids from 12:00 to about 5:30 pm. They have been having a great time together, but it ends up getting a little wild. By "a little" I mean a lot. This is what we saw when we returned to Algonquin. I was worried. It turns out Dr. Erin had it all under control.

More Random Fun Pictures

Party in Algonquin

Looking at a bug...

Ok, back to squirting.

Pool time.

"Sisters. Sisters. Never were there such devoted sisters...." I'm the cute, one.

(Insert inside joke here.)

Bundles after bath.

Cousins Laurie and Jody

Lou, You Know I Love Ya

Rory wanted Chicago Food. I felt sorry for him since the pizza in New York is so skinny. So we went to Lou Malnati's! I had two glasses of wine and it turned into "Make fun of Liz Night" so I will only post the three pics I took. Bah.

We Went To The Zoo....and so did the rest of Illinois

It has been said that there are two seasons in Chicago, winter and construction. That point was never so clear this morning as we embarked on a journey to Brookfield Zoo. It took us a. really. long. time.

Once we got there, Papa Rog "guided" us to the animal exhibits. If you know Papa Rog, you know why I put that in quotes. Moving on...

The majority of pictures I took (and that you will see here) were of the kids and grown ups. Because, face it, if you've seen one rhino, you've seen em all. However, here's a sloth bear, because it wouldn't be a blog post about a zoo trip if there were zero pics of animals.

Rory pulled the kids around all day. He has arms of steel. (Wonder if he does ChaLean Extreme?)

There is a splash pad that the little ones cooled off in. I did not take the camera because it the only one I have left that works and I didn't want to risk it.

On the way out, we rode the Carousel. Erin rode a tiger.

AJ and I sat in a chair.

Erin and AJ are getting along well and they seem to understand each other. Rory is a real nice guy- I may have mentioned that last post- but so far he hasn't done anything to alter that opinion. I hope the rest of the trip is just as fun!

After the Rain

Storms hit the area again this afternoon. This one had many tornado warnings and watches that came with it. After it passed, I noticed a strange yellow color in the sky. I was getting AJ ready for bed, so I missed the best parts I think, but after I put him in his bed, I caught the tail end of a fabulous but weird sunset. I tried to take some pictures, but they don't really do it justice.

New York State of Mind

AJ's cousin Erin, my sister Sara, and her friend Rory are in town from New York. By the way, did you hear that a magnitude 5.5 earthquake was reported to have shaken Rochester, NY today? They don't live there, but earthquakes there are a pretty heavily reported thing, apparently, like that one we had around here a few months back. But I digress...

They flew in Tuesday and have been visiting the area and enjoying family and friends. Tomorrow we hit the zoo. Here are the highlights from today:

Sara, Erin and Rory

AJ, Sara and Erin

Mother and Daughter

Virtuosos

The kiddos having a snack and a drink. Sara made fun of the fruit snacks I gave the kids. She didn't think they tasted so good due to the absence of any high fructose corn syrup, which as we know, is EVIL.

Summer Fun Day Camp- Lift off!

AJ went to Beth Tikvah Congregation for his first day of Summer Fun Day Camp. We talked about it all through breakfast and I reminded him that I was not going to be staying with him, but he would have a great time and I said what I say to him every time I leave him at Ms. Melba's-"When Mommy goes, Mommy always comes back."

He was interested in the trains on the teacher's tee shirt. This was my signal. While they investigated the train on the shirts and the trains in the play area, I made a quick exit. I took a picture of his little cubby. Hannah's cubby is right next to his. Do you see his little sneaks peeking out on the bottom?

This is his classroom. That is his teacher and her name is Ms. Elise. They were reading.
AJ was happy to see me and we picked up his mail in his cubby and headed home.
He was stinky, sweaty, and talkative. He looked kind of tired, too.
Upon our return home, he wanted juice and to "Watch the trains!" so we relaxed a little. Then he got his second wind and we went out to play.

Daddy!

Sunday was Father's Day so after church and a nap, Lolo, Papa Rog and the Grandmas came over for chocolate cake and cuteness. Mike picked up the cake and AJ took care of the cuteness. Uncle Chris came over, too and all the boys played.

I see that I did not get any pictures of the grandfathers with the grandson. Oops. Enjoy these, tho!

Choudhary Fest 2010

The Albandias traveled to Romeoville to see the folks at And Then Were Three and party down at Choudhary Fest. Lewis U was pretty quiet and that allowed all the friends, family, and neighbors to have the run of the place. AJ LOVES bubbles, so Anna got lightheaded blowing bubbles and AJ got sweaty running after them. There was a waxing gibbous moon in the afternoon sky and AJ wanted to "Git it!" He told us, "Me git up there!" and tried to jump. Mike and AJ took a walk out into the field while tracking a hawk. They are so small you cannot even see them in the picture. AJ borrowed a scooter from a new friend and worked on riding it the right way. However, he ran over his foot numerous times and today is walking with a limp.

As always, good times and great people! Can't wait to do it again!

Where Did My Day go?

I'll tell you where it went. I spent TOO MUCH TIME playing "Words With Friends" on my iPhone with Katrina, Katie, Aunt Elaine, Kitch and Jessica. And all of them beat me. Almost all of them.

I sat for too long looking for the places I can get the most points, words I could make with Q but no U, ways to steal Js, Zs and Xs, ways to make more than one word at once, (JESSICA...) and searching in vain for 2 letter words with V.

I need more games. Do you have an iPhone? I'm AJsMama. Play with me!