Yesterday Aaron lost his very first tooth. At lunch time at school.

Thanks to his lucky position in the family hierarchy, this was cause for considerable excitement and absolutely no fear. He’d been watching his brother’s collect the spoils from the tooth fairy for years.

Sam realized he will be next and in his usual cautious, thoughtful nature asked Aaron if he still felt the tooth now that it was in the little box.

For Aaron’s induction into tooth fairy hunts, a bunch of big, scary toys that he likes to play with offered him clues.

I was really worried Aaron’s first tooth fairy hunt would be ruined by his older excited, hyper brothers trying to “help” him. (Really what happens is they figure out the clues first then take over the entire hunt.)

Luckily, Jack was distracted, binge watching teeny bop shows on Netflix and Ben was still asleep (he refused to go to bed until 10pm, kept leaving his bed, and almost figured out who the real tooth fairy is!).

At first Aaron got to hunt all by himself.

Soon Sam joined, but was very amicable about letting Aaron find the next clues for himself.

Aaron was very happy to receive his 10 single bills from this Yeti, which he crumpled and stuffed into his pockets with relish. I’m sure I’ll inadvertently wash them later.

“Batman’s superpower is that he can fly.” Said Sam one morning on the way to school.

“Really? I thought he couldn’t fly. That everything was man made. I’m pretty sure the only super power Batman has is that he’s super rich.” I replied.

Then we went onto discuss which super heros have which powers.

Finally I asked, “If you could have any super power, what would it be Sam?”

“Super strong.” He answered without much deliberation.

“Aaron?” I turned around and asked my plodding son.

“To Fly.” He replied. Then later he said, “No, to Smash, like the Hulk.”

“Well, I think Aaron’s super power is that he’s super tough. He was super tough when he got bit by another student yesterday.” I said.

“And Sam, I think your super power is that your super cute. Irresistible!” I said.

“NOoooooo!” Sam said back.

But then we got to school, and into the morning line up…

“See,” I whispered in Sam’s ear as he was walking into school, “I told you, you are super cute!”

Last Sunday we headed out to our favorite orchard, Oriole Springs in Wisconsin, for a morning of apple picking.

This year we planned it a little earlier and as a result of this and the heat wave it felt like summer.

Still the boys did their part, we picked honey crisp, gala and golden delicious.

Double Fisted

One of the perks of the weather was that we weren’t swarmed by bees.

Afterwards the boys played in their picnic area.

Eeenie Meenie Miney Mo

And checked out the animals.

We also sampled the brats, hot dogs, and local donuts.

Now, what do do with all these apples?

You have been warned by the title, this blog post contains food porn…

As I mentioned before, I’ve been spending some of my free time enjoying all the diverse food this city has to offer.

Chicago is a culinary wonder. The Washington Post named it in it’s 10 Best Food Cities in America. It places higher than New York!

And with more than 73,000 restaurants in Chicago, I’ve had my choice of just about any cuisine for lunch every day.

Here are some of the places I’ve been this past month…

Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken. (Portugal)

Hakka Bakka’s Lamb Kati Roll. (India)

Traditional Vietmanese Beef Soup from Fuh.

New York Style thin crust from Cafe Luigi’s.

Quiche from Floriole. (French)

Thai Basil Chicken and Bubble Tea from Joy Yee Noodles. (Thailand)

Reuben from The Corned Beef Factory. (The Midwest?)

Lentil Soup and an “Ava” Sandwich (spinach, avocado, bacon, swiss, mozzarella, havarti, green tomato relish, kale pesto, multigrain bread) from Blue Door Farm Stand.

Patties from Caribbean American Bakery (Jamaica)

Wonder what next month will bring?

Yesterday we celebrated the Jewish New Year.

Unlike previous years, when just Jack went to temple, this year Adam wanted all the kids to participate.

So we scrounged the closets for all the years of fancy clothes that originated with Jack. Then Adam went one night after work and got Jack another set which he will definitely outgrow before he needs them again!

We took them to the children’s service. It was an hour long service full of song, stories and the blowing of the shofar. At one point they invited kids with their own shofars to go up and blow them. It was really cute.

Most of the kids did surprisingly well.

Jack played the all knowing, Hebrew school going, big brother. He pointed out the intricate architecture of the temple to the twins. “Don’t worry,” he told Ben, “We don’t read this whole book, we just skip through it.”

The twins stood and sat when asked. And they fidgeted quietly in their own seats. Or appropriately whispered.

Ben had a tougher time. He left the room at one point. Then he came back, but when he did he laid in front of us on the ground instead of sitting. The room was filled with people with kids so no one blinked an eye when they had to step over him to bring a smaller bladdered person to the bathroom.

Then, after that it was back home for homework and lunch.

In the afternoon we took advantage of the scorching heat and headed to the beach.

There was a lot of burying and sand play.

And ice cream.

And fun in the water, including a few races.

Afterwards, we showered up and headed out for a nice dinner.

Shine Restaurant

Wishing all who celebrate a very happy new year!

Last Tuesday, half of the lives of the people in this house changed forever.

The twins started kindergarten.

My mother could barely contain her excitement! She restrained herself from calling me to find out how it went.

A day later, I finally called and told her.

Sam was so nervous that he woke up at 2am the night before and never went back to bed.

Aaron slept well, woke early and had his clothes, shoes and backpack on my 7am and was asking when we were leaving. (School doesn’t start until 9!)

Afterschool I asked Camila to pick them up. I did tell Sam and Aaron about it but it was a lot of new experiences so maybe they didn’t hear me.

At 4pm I got facetimed by Camila. When I answered, Sam was crying hysterically. He said the teacher told him I was going to pick him up and he was not leaving until I came and got him!

Finally she coaxed him into the stroller and I met him at home.

Sam couldn’t remember anything that happened that day. He also left his lunchbox at school.

Aaron, on the other hand, told me everything he learned. Don’t open the kindergarten door for any reason, even if someone knocks. If you have to go potty durning story time, they will not rewind the story. He even managed to get a free school lunch!

The next morning I spoke to Sam’s classroom aide who said he was wandering around like a zombie on the first day, eyes half closed but refusing to sleep.

The twins are in separate classes and so far it seems their schedule does not have any overlap. This is a language school and they have started a nine year study towards fluency in Mandarin.

The twins finally starting school also means a big change for me. After 10 years of not having any time by myself unless I paid for it or begged it from my husband, I get 6 glorious hours to myself every day, 5 days a week, for 10 months a year.

That morning I got emails and text from many well wishers on my new found freedom.

What will I do with all this free time? Stay tuned loyal readers, stay tuned….

This week many of the city’s museums are free for Chicago Public Schools.

Normally with Ben I avoid situations like this, as they sound overcrowded and therefore stressful for him.

But Ben is back in school so I tried it out with the three other kids.

I picked the Field Museum because chances of me buying a membership is pretty slim. 

The day I picked was all a free day to all Chicago residents.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t overcrowded. I makes me think I should check out more museum free days in Chicago!

The kids really enjoyed seeing Sue, though I hear she will soon be replaced by Titanosaur, a $16.5 million dollar gift from Ken Griffin, Illinois richest man.

First we walked the “Evolving Planet” exhibit. The kids loved all the fossils, and this time they didn’t run through it like they normally do. They actually stopped and hopefully learned a few things. 

This exhibit starts in time, 3.5 billion years ago and leads us to the present. It has some amazing fossils.

Sitting on a dinosaur bone!

I was quite alarmed to walk through and see at that 6 mass extinctions have already occurred on earth. Makes me wonder when the next apocalypse will be!

They also wanted to check out the Ancient Egyptian exhibit, to which I thank the creators of Scooby Doo for. After watching “Where is my Mummy” a thousand times, they were ripe with curiousity.

We also spent time in the Regenstein Halls of the Pacific.

Look and Find exhibit

As well as the Crown Family Play Lab.

Playing with in the Pueblo Home.

Discovering specimens

Excavating bones

Hanging out in a Dinosaur nest.

The music room.

The music room.

The kids were exhausted after just 3 hours, so we stopped for a pretzel in the lawn outside.

The Willis Tower (formerly Sears) in the background.

It was a wonderful day out. How lucky are we to have this right in our backyard?