Well, that was a nice long weekend, wasn’t it?
Tim, Clara and I celebrated Independence Day with friends and each other and by spending a lot of time outdoors – it was marvelous!
A quick rundown…
On Friday we did some errands and then went to a barbecue with members of our church small group. It was so nice to see all of the kids running around and also being able to spend time with the adults in fellowship. We laughed, we prayed, we ate, we drank, we celebrated… Plus, there were s’mores.
On Saturday we rode our bikes about 5 miles to a farmers market that I had been wanting to check out. Once we got there we bought smoothies and crepes and enjoyed sitting in the grass and taking in the scene. Although, sitting on the grass and ‘relaxing’ really isn’t very relaxing at all with Clara around. I swear she was determined to put everything in her mouth. Absolutely everything. And the parks of Chicago are not very clean. Sigh. (Tangent: I swear, we spend so much extra money buying organic produce for her to eat and then I look over and she’s eating grass which has who even knows what on it. At least I try!)
Then we went to Giedre’s apartment for a barbecue, which was so nice. The weather was perfect and it was great to be able to sit and chat with friends in the sunshine. By the time we left Giedre’s patio it was 2 hours past Clara’s nap time, so we rode back home to put her into bed. A few hours later she was awake and off we went to Millennium Park to meet up with friends for a free Grant Park Orchestra concert. The music was good and the company was even better. There really isn’t a better way to spend a summer night in Chicago than by taking in free music while sipping wine in very fancy plastic cups. There was a large crowd there and the people watching was fantastic in itself.
Well, the concert ended around 9:30pm and I didn’t want Clara to miss fireworks on her very first Fourth of July, so that’s how we ended our day! We ended up going up to the 31st floor of a building to look out over the lake and watch the fireworks light up the sky. It was a beautiful end to a memorable day!
Sunday was a rest day in every sense of the word.
We drank Starbucks (black coffee for him, Chai latte with soy for me), I read a book, we watched some Food Network TV, we played outside for a bit, Tim played hockey, and we let Clara sleep as much as she wanted to.
This weekend was pretty dang close to perfection.
It’s so fun to look back at where I was two years ago to see how times have changed but have also stayed the same in many ways. I will say that although I do wish my plans didn’t need to be scheduled around Clara’s napping needs, I wouldn’t go back for even a second to my pre-child life now that I know how much more fun holidays summer days life is with her in it.
But that’s a different story for a different time.
Anything that involves s’mores sounds like a great way to spend the weekend to me 🙂 It looks like Millennium Park was packed for the concert! I was actually at a free show there on Thursday to kick off my holiday weekend, and it’s one of my favorite things to do during the summer in Chicago. Free music, the skyline, food – what more could you ask for?
Concerts at the park are just the best! That’s where Tim and I had our first date 5 years ago, actually!
What a wonderful weekend!!! We actually just bought bikes last night for our family of four! Well, my husband and I got bikes and we also got two child attachment seats for our girls. Is it hard to ride with Clara attached to your bike? We went for an 8-mile ride this am (just us, the girls were at daycare) and I’m not sure how I’m going to do it with a baby attached!!! Does Clara enjoy being in the seat or does she get fussy? Tonight we’re attaching the seats and going to cruise around our neighborhood. Hoping it goes well!! I love that you guys bike to the farmer’s mkt 🙂 So fun!!
Yay for new bikes! I actually don’t ride with Clara on my bike, I let Tim do that! He’s used to riding a motorcycle with a passenger, so I figured the shifting weight wouldn’t bother him. He said it wasn’t hard at all, though. Clara does get fussy after about 4 miles, but I think she enjoys it overall! How did the ride around your neighborhood with your girls go?!
What a perfect holiday weekend 🙂 We spent a lot of time outdoors as well and even though I got eaten alive by bugs, it was still fun!! 😉 That crepe looks so tasty too!!
I always get eaten by mosquitoes… they just love me (because I’m so sweet, obviously). I’m glad you had a good weekend and were able to spend time outside!
Did you go to the Green City market on Saturday??
I did! It was my first time and unfortunately it was closing just as we got there so we had to rush around to get crepes and smoothies! Did you go?!
We did!! We just walked around & didn’t get anything but I’m thinking its a NECESSITY to go back for crepes!! Then we went to the zoo afterwards & did some rooftop drinking! 🙂 such a perfect day in Chicago!