Day Sixty Two

In an absolutely torrential downpour we headed up to Joann to try and finish her dress.  One of the instructors, Priscilla, was doing demos today and had agreed to help with the sleeves.  We needed a few minor touch ups and she and I worked together on the hem.  In the end the dress came out absolutely AWESOME!  We also got some tips from Marisol who showed us how to make a fabric flower as a little embellishment to the dress.  Then we headed to my moms to shows off and have dinner.  Meghan did some knitting to get ready for stitches next week and then it was time to head home after a long day of crafting.

Today's Academics:

• Getting it perfect sometimes means ripping

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• An Old Fashioned Girl, by Louisa May Alcott

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Eight Cousins, by Louisa May Alcott

Today's Images:

Day Sixty One

Up at 4am, back to sleep at 6am, up at 10am, back to sleep at 2pm, up at 5pm back to sleep at 11pm.  That pretty much sums up my day.  In between there, I drove my dad out to Calumet City, I picked up breakfast for my mom and Meghan, I rented and watched First Dog from Redbox and I picked up dinner for my mom and I from Cedar's Mediterranean Restaurant. 

Today's Academics:

• The effects of sleep deprivation

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• An Old Fashioned Girl, by Louisa May Alcott

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Eight Cousins, by Louisa May Alcott

Today's Images:
Not uploading....will try again

Day Sixty

Today was her last sewing class at Joann and she had a lot of work to complete on her dress.  She and Elizabeth worked dutifully, but hadn't finished the sleeves or the hem by the end of class.  We did decide to sign up for Sewing 301 for next week and we worked on getting the pattern and materials before heading southward.  I agreed to drive my dad to Calumet City at 4:00am on friday so we decided it was best for Meghan and I to spend thursday night with my parents.  Unfortunately when we got home to pick up our stuff CTA bus tracker said that it would be a 19 minute wait until the next number 15.  So we decided we could just about walk to my parents house in that time.  Less than two blocks from home and more than a block away from the 55th street stop we got passed by a number 15.  Apparently CTA bus tracker was off by a little bit. 

Today's Academics:

• Don't always believe everything you read on CTA bus tracker

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• An Old Fashioned Girl, by Louisa May Alcott

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• An Old Fashioned Girl, by Louisa May Alcott

Today's Images:

Uploading VERY slow...will try again later

Day Fifty Nine

Today was another trek (bus to train to bus) up to Joann this time Meghan finished her shorts and started work on a dress.  By the end of class she had completed all of the long seams as well as cut out the dress and pattern and put the interfacing on the collar pieces.  Her shorts of course had to be worn home and we had to have a brief stop at my parents house to show off the completed work thus far.  The brief stop ended up including chinese food.

Today's Academics:

• She's sewing a dress for herself, that is very academic

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnett
• An Old Fashioned Girl, by Louisa May Alcott

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• An Old Fashioned Girl, by Louisa May Alcott

Today's Images:

Not sure why this is coming out sideways

Day Fifty Eight

Back to Joann for what was supposed to be the second day of her denim skirt class.  Instead Meghan worked on her shorts for Sewing 202 and finished everything except the hem.  Since she had made so much progress we decided to purchase another pattern and more material so that she would have a new project for the following two days.  She also took the opportunity to wear her denim skirt and show it off to the world.

Today's Academics:

• does reading pattern books count?

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• Laura Ingalls Wilder, by Willian Anderson

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Laura Ingalls Wilder, by William Anderson

Today's Images:

Day Fifty Seven

After a quick trip to get a new bus pass we were off north for Sewing 201 at Joann.  Today was part one of the Denim Skirt class.  Imagine my surprise when Meghan had completed her skirt after one day.  For the first attempt at clothing it came out awesome!  Meghan's sewing skills have far surpassed mine and she really seems to love it.

Today's Academics:

• Learning how to sew her own clothing.

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Wright 3, by Blue Balliett
• Laura Ingalls Wilder, by William Anderson

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Laura Ingalls Wilder, by William Anderson

Today's Images:

We were early so Meghan read at Starbucks with me before she went to class

Wearing her newly completed skirt

Day Fifty Six

After a normal start to our sunday morning.  Meghan and I headed to the grocery store and picked up supplies to make dinner for my parents.  We ended up having pork chops, mushrooms, broccoli and boiled potatoes.  Unless your name is Meghan in which case dinner consisted of a hot dog and boiled potatoes.  It was all quite tasty and provided plenty of left overs, which is always a plus. 

Today's Academics:

• Yea...well it was sunday.

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Secret Garden, Frances Hodges Burnett
• The Wright 3, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett

Today's Images:

Big Honkin' Pork Chop

Day Fifity Five

Today was part two of the Back to School shopping.  Most supplies have now been purchased as have the rest of the uniforms and many many pairs of shoes.  (Not all of the shoes purchased belonged to Meghan, both me and my dad found some new shoes while we were out.)  Our actual destination was Batavia to check on the garden.  We have been bad gardeners this summer and not devoted nearly enough time to it and it shows.  But hopefully we'll do better in the future.  We still picked a number of tomatoes and the basil is growing like crazy.  It was a long day and we arrived home long after dark but with many accomplishments under our belt.

Today's Academics:

• Not all size 6.5 shoes are equal.

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Wright Three, by Blue Balliett
• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnett

Today's Images:

uploading VERY slowly...check back later

Day Fifity Four

Today Meghan and I mom headed out to the McDonald's Headquarters to work on Project Linus and other Community Projects with them and I stayed back for an interview and to do some Mystery Shopping.  We've been working with the McDonald's Working Mother's Council for a long time in various Project Linus blanket projects and this was the first time Meghan has ever gotten to be there for one of their project days.  From what I've heard it was a lot of fun. 

Today's Academics:

• Community Service

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnett
• The Wright Three, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnett

Today's Images:

• Sadly there are no images from this day

Day Fifity Three

Today was Meghan's second quilting class at Joann Fabrics and we did our usual bus to train to bus trek up the store and then I headed off to starbucks.  Her class today was a totebag class, they had to make a quilt block, add a small applique design and then sew the quilt block onto a premade totebag.  Meghan seems to really love quilting so we decided to sign up for more classes for next week. After she'd completed the class we headed home via the Herald Washington Library.  We stopped to check on a book she had on hold and we also checked out a couple more books and I FINALLY finished and returned one of my books.

Today's Academics:

• Finishing this week's assigned school paragraph whose topic was "if I was invisible"

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnett
• The Wright Three, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R.J. Knecht

Today's Images:

Day Fifty Two

After nearly two months in Michigan my dad came home today, to much fanfare.  Well actually no one was there when he arrived.  Meghan and I headed out early taking first a bus to downtown and then jumping on the Green Line to Oak Park.  We headed over to the Lake Theater and caught their Wednesday Morning $1 movie, which was Rio.  We enjoyed that so much that we refilled our popcorn and and stayed to watch The Smurfs.  (Not to worry we didn't sneak in, we bought tickets for the second movie.)  Being a Smurfs fan from way back, I was leary about the movie, but I have to say it was well done and I enjoyed how they integrated the little blues guys into NYC and made Gargamel human.  My mom was in the area when we got done so she gave us a lift back to her house so we could hear all about my dad's summer and have dinner with them.

Today's Academics:

• How much popcorn can one person eat without getting sick?

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnett
• The Wright Three, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R. J. Knecht

Today's Images:

Day Fifty One

We stayed close to home for the first part of the day and took care of tasks on our own, then headed back to my parents house to help my mom in preparing for my dad's arrival.  The weather is now beautiful (at least for August) and we walked from our house to my parents house without becoming a sweaty mess.  Not as much hard work today and we even snuck in a nap in the afternoon.

Today's Academics:

• Uh...

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnett
• The Wright Three, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R.J. Knecht

Today's Images:

Meghan and I love this sign.  We're not sure which live it is or how either definition applies to traffic.  Notice the fact that she's outside wearing long sleeves in August.

Day Fifty

We spent a lazy morning at home and then headed to my parents house.  My dad comes home this week and as a surprise Meghan and I cleaned and reorganized their kitchen.  This was no small task, they have a big kitchen.  But we were pleased with ourselves when we had completed the task.  I can't say that cleaning a kitchen is a lot of fun, but there is a certain amount of satisfaction gleaned from tackling it.  We also discovered this week that Homemade Pizza has $3 salads Monday-Wednesday so we stopped by Homemade Pizza and picked up a couple of salads and a cutie pie pizza for Meghan.  Our reward for our effort was a smoothie on the way home.

Today's Academics:

• Elbow grease goes a long way

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnett
• The Wright Three, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R.J. Knecht

Today's Images:

Day Forty Nine

Today was mostly about starting the back to school shopping process.  Unfortunately this meant a trip to Lincolnwood since we didn't find all of the uniform pieces at the Kohl's we went to in Chicago.  But Meghan is now well on her way to be fully uniformed come fall and the back to school process has begun.  When we'd finished all of our shopping we met my mom an had Ricobene's for dinner.

Today's Academics:

• Thirfty Back-To-School shopping

Meghan's Current Book:

• The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnett
• The Wright Three, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book:

• Francis I, by R. J. Knecht

Today's Images:

After all that shopping, Meghan was feeling pretty silly come night time.

Day Forty Eight

After a somewhat lazy start to our day (we both slept until almost 10am), we got up and got going and headed downtown (via bus of course) to stop in at the Herald Washington Library Center, for the final book check-in of the Summer Reading Program.  There were a lot of people downtown because of Lollapalooza and oddly enough lots of free mentos.  After book check-in we headed out to Oak Park (this time via train instead of bus) and hung out with my mom and then had dinner with her, my uncle and Priscilla at Buona Beef.  When we got home finally it was a lovely summer evening so I had Meghan pull out her scooter and lets her go crazy in the mostly empty University Parking Lot next door. 

Today's Academics:

• Final Library Book Reports

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Wright 3, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R.J. Knecht

Today's Images:

See what I mean by the free mentos?  LOTS and we ate some already so this isn't even all of them

She really has gotten the hang of scooting now

The Last Day of the Summer Reading Program

Today was the last day of the summer reading program. So we went to the library to check in the books I had read since I had last gone to the library. Then we headed to the nearest blue line station to hop on a train heading towards forest park. Then we got off at oak park to see my grandma. Then later my uncle came and went to dinner with us at Buona Beef.  When we got home, my mom let me take out my scooter and scoot for a while. Thats how we had fun today.

Reading and Writing

Today I read a lot. After reading for a while we had sandwiches for lunch. Then I read a little and played on mommy's phone. Then I started to catch up on my book reports for the library. Then we went and saw some of the places that are important in Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3. Then while we were doing that we stopped for dinner at edwardos. We had a lot of fun today even though most of it was at home.

Day Forty Seven

Meghan is currently reading Blue Balliett's series that starts with Chasing Vermeer.  I read this books a few years ago because they take place in our neighborhood and because I vaguely knew the author.  So this afternoon after having been at home all day, we headed out for a Chasing Vermeer/Wright 3 tour of the neighborhood.  We finished up with dinner at Edwardo's, but that wasn't part of the tour.

Today's Academics:

• Book tour of the neighborhood

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Wright 3, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R.J. Knecht

Today's Images:

Powell's Books an important spot from Chasing Vermeer where Calder and Petra hang out

Harper Avenue - home to Calder and Petra

Another view of Harper Avenue, approximately where Petra's House is located

On the steps of the U of C, Laboratory School, which is in the book as the University School

Robie House - The main location of The Wright 3



Day Forty Six

We've been hanging out fairly close to home this week.  But the weather has finally changed and while it's been hot it hasn't been SUPER hot, so it's been enjoyable to stay close to home.  We did head out to buy supplies and then over to my mom's to make my awesome eggplant.  Unfortunately the eggplant was a little bitter, but what can I say, I didn't grow the eggplant.  We also watered the plants at my mom's and watched The Parent Trap, which then caused us to watch the original version of The Parent Trap on youtube, because you can't see the Lindsey Lohan version without watching the Haley Mills version.

Today's Academics:

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Wright 3, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R.J. Knecht

Today's Images:

Mmm...bitter eggplant

I have no idea how she ended up this way, she was calling for me to help her so I took a picture

Having Pasta for the First Time in a Long Time

Today mom made pasta. I liked the pasta and mom hasn't been doing as much cooking and baking because it's been so hot. My mom also made eggplant for her and my grandma to put in to their pasta. We stayed there all day long. I really like it when we go to my grandmas house to cook. Sometimes when we go there I read. I also like how quiet it is there.  We walked to my grandma's house and back because the weather is so much cooler and it was so nice outside. Thats how we had fun at my grandmas house.

Hanging Out With My Mom

Today I did a lot of stuff with my mom. First we went to joann to go and get more embroidery floss. Then we went to kohls to spend moms kohls cash. Then mom was looking for the target around where we were but she missed it so instead we went to the Little Red School House Nature Center. We took a little hike on the black oak trail and looked around a little but we had to leave because they were closing soon. Then we back headed to chicago for the night.

Day Forty Five

Sometimes I have a big plan for our day and sometimes the plan for the day just sort of develops as it happens.  We headed out today for an important errand to buy an important patch for Meghan's brownie vest from with her campsite from Girl Scout Camp on it that we could only buy in Joliet.  Then we made a couple of other errandy stops before I realized we were very close to the Little Red School House Nature Center and veered off course and headed there.  I also got slightly lost while veering off course and apparently when numbered streets go in both directions it can totally screw up GPS too, because my phone sent me in more than one direction at the same time, lucky for everyone I can read a map better than my GPS.  Unfortunately the Little Red School House closes earlier than I realized so we only got to have a brief visit and speed hike.  The speed hike was almost two miles long though so I guess we can't really complain now can we?  We both agreed a return visit with more time to spend is in order.  I went to the Little Red School House fairly often as a child, but it's been several years since I had been there and I was shocked by the huge new nature center.  The rest of the place was a lot like I remember.

Today's Academics:

• I had an assignment prepared and then Meghan fell asleep super early so it will have to wait

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• J.K. Rowling, by Mark Shapiro

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R.J. Knecht

Today's Images:

The little red school house

That's the back of the new nature center

Check out the cool yellow mushrooms

We really liked these berries

A Day Full of Homework

Today I got a lot of homework done. I needed to do four paragraphs. The first paragraph I did was about fireflies. The second paragraph I did was about my favorite food. The third paragraph I did was about my scariest moment. The last paragraph I did was about camp Pokanoka. My mom also let me watch a bunch of Smurfs episodes on youtube.  I love the Smurfs! I did a lot of paragraphs while I still had a little fun.

Day Forty Four

Not every day in the summer of fun can be action packed.  Sometimes we just lay low and try to stay as cool as possible and catch up on summer homework.  Sometimes the homework isn't even made up by me, it's the kind Meghan has to hand in when school starts in a month.  So this is exactly what we did today, plus some watching of old Smurf episodes on youtube and playing games on my phone.  Not action packed in any way, but just perfect on a day when the temperature is over 90 and the humidity it horrendous.

Today's Academics:

• Four of the weekly school paragraphs.  Two choose your own topics which used to write about fireflies and girl scout camp, one paragraph on her favorite food and one paragraph on her scariest moment.

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Wright 3, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R. J. Knecht

Today's Images:

Crafting

Today I made another friendship bracelet. This time it was for my mommy. Then we went to my grandma's house and worked on finishing my hat swaps. I also decorated the masks which we the second project for the Brazil Passport to Fun activity that they didn't do in the store. Now I have finished all of the projects for my hat and I just need to do the sand art sometime. Today it was really really HOT outside and we walked all the way from home to my grandma's house. That's how I had fun and did lots of crafting today!

Day Forty Three

For a HOT Monday in August, Meghan and I decided to lay and low as possible and do lots of crafts.  We started off with friendship bracelets again and finished our day by catching up on the last of the Passport to Fun, activities that she either missed or we decided to do over in foam in order to add them to her hat in a more permanent manner.  We're definitely going to miss having the regularity of the Passport to Fun activities for the rest of the summer.

Today's Academics:

• Blogging, did you read Meghan's entry on her 6 days at Girl Scout Camp?  That is definitely academic

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Wright 3, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R.J. Knecht

Today's Images:

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two

On my second full day home from girl scout camp my mom and my grandma wanted to go somewhere that we could stay cool. So we decided to go and see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two. I loved it. My mom thought I would be scared, but I wasn't scared and I didn't cry at all. Before we went to the movie we stopped at home so that we could get my Harry Potter robe from when I was Hermoine for halloween two years ago. My favorite part of the movie was when Molly Weasley said "get away from my daughter you witch!" My grandma likes that part a lot too, because her favorite character in Harry Potter is Molly Weasley. I thought Hermione was really cool in the movie too. I also liked the part when Harry broke the elder wand in two pieces and threw it after he had defeated Voldmort. I also really liked it when Harry defeated Voldemort and you saw Voldemort die and break into a lot of pieces, even if it was just a special effect. After that I also really liked it during the 19 years later part when you saw Harry and Ginny with their children walking onto platform 9 3/4s and you saw Albus Severus Potter and Rose Weasley sitting in the same compartment on the Hogwarts Express. That's how I had lots of fun seeing the last Harry Potter movie!

Day Forty Two

Both Meghan and I slept in on this lazy Sunday morning.  Today was HOT, apparently July wasn't quite done with us.  It was decided among all of us (me, Meghan and my mom) that the perfect way to spend a HOT July afternoon would be by sitting in a cold movie theater.  So we loaded up and headed off to the new theater on Roosevelt Road and went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.  All of us loved the movie, only two of us cried during any part of the movie.  I'm also quite impressed with the Icon Theater on Roosevelt.  Having spent the better part of the afternoon in the cool theater it was time to head home and get ready for the week ahead.

Today's Academics:

• Filmography 101: Harry Potter movie vs. book

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• Stink and the Great Guinea Pig Express, by Megan MacDonald
• The Wright 3, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R. J. Knecht

Today's Images:

Gotta love a fleece Harry Potter robe and flip flops on a HOT July day

 

My mom said I had to take a picture of Meghan in this dress

The Last Day of Passport to Fun

Today was the day for the last Passport to Fun activity. The country was Brazil. We made snakes for our hats with pipe cleaners and pony beads and also put on googly eyes and a sticky foam tongue. Today was also my first full day at home after girl scout camp. My mom hugged me A LOT and most of the time it felt like she was never going to let go. We also did LOTS of laundry to wash all the nasty stuff I brought home from camp. We had dinner with my grandma from Subway. In the afternoon mom taught me and my grandma how to make friendship bracelets. I finished the friendship bracelet that me and my grandma had started making earlier this year and my mom taught my grandma how to do the zig zag. That's all the fun things I did today.

Day Forty One

On the morning of Meghan's first full day home we headed to Michaels for Passport to Fun.  It was our last Passport to Fun activity of the summer and we both enjoyed it and made pipe cleaner snakes which was the hat swap from Brazil.  From there we headed to my moms for more crafting and I taught both of them how to make friendship bracelets.  It's my newest crafting skill and I'm much better at it now than I was 20+ years ago.  They both got the hang of it pretty quickly and we all had fun working on different bracelets and patterns.

Today's Academics:

• Who would let her go long enough to do anything academic?

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• The Wright 3, by Blue Balliett

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, by R.J. Knecht

Today's Images:

 

Day Forty

Let's skip to the very most important part...Meghan came home from Girl Scout Camp today!  My mom and I drove out to Ottawa to get her and waited in what my mother would refer to as almost unbearable heat at the end of the day as all the girls quietly walked out into the field by the flags.  They were all quite far away and as the girls came out my mom pointed to one and said "now that's what I expect Meg to look like, hair all down and kind of looking like she's been through the war."  I looked at the girl once more and said "I think that is Meghan."  So we waved and Meghan waved back.  Her hair was down and curly from not having all of the shampoo washed out, but she looked wonderful.  She was full of camp stories and camp songs and in general camp magic.  She even let me hug the stuffing out of her without complaining once.  After we'd gotten her all loaded up we headed to the town of Ottawa for a evening snack at McDonald's before the long drive home in the dark.  Without a doubt I asked her to tell me about every minute of her days while she was gone.

Today's academics:

• It was all about memory and retelling every detail of every day.

Meghan's Current Book(s):

• Heidi, Johanna Spyri

Rachel's Current Book(s):

• Francis I, R.J. Knecht

Today's Images:

Can you spot the girl with the long hair all down and big shirt untucked looking a little bedraggled?

Here is her whole group singing their song during the closing ceremony

I stopped hugging long enough to take a picture of her up close after her week at camp

Chowing down on Chicken McNuggets after a week of camp food