This past week I’ve been spending a lot of time with Ben. While his brothers are all still in school, he had one glorious week off before his summer session begins.

It was probably for the best, as we could really tailor the time Ben had off to suit his needs.

In his pursuit of all things culinary, he wanted to try a few new foods.

We visited Antique Taco to sample the fish taco, a cod tempura with spicy tartar. We also sampled the pork carnitas and steak taco!We also took him to Greek Town, the Greek Islands, to try taramasalata, fried cheese, grilled octopus, gyros and baklava.

We had many play dates.

One day, he played soccer with a buddy by the Lakefront, then came back to the house for a nerf gun battle.

Another day, we met a friend at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Soccer was also involved that day.

We played at Maggie Daley with another friend.

That day I even managed to take Ben to a new burger place, The Shake Shack, which both kids loved. A play date and new food together! Ben went back to school Wednesday for summer session. He moved up a classroom and when he came home from school that day, I was happy to hear him say summer session is fun! There a a few new kids who love what he does – soccer and drawing. And a few old faces from classes past that he was happy to see again.