When The Banana and I saw beluga whales at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, I was inspired to learn more about these pale, majestic and oddly lumpy mammals.  They are the most common whale kept in captivity, and are highly social with one another. I learned NOT to schedule a camping…

I’m still a week behind on Sunday Night at the Beach pictures.  Soon I will catch up.  I know it. It’s been a bit of a challenge getting to the beach with Sunday night soccer practice for Mr. TOF and The Banana.  They get done with practice just after the…

From time to time we need a name change on this blog.  For example, long ago the First Kidlet was referred to here as Ms. Crazy Preschooler.  But then she started kindergarten, and the name didn’t fit anymore.  The Banana was just learning to talk at the time and called…

I’m loving water infused with lemon slices and a bit of mint from the container garden on my deck.  Some people around here distastefully call it “weed water.” It’s peach season!  I love peaches.  We ordered a few boxes of amazing peaches from a local ministry organization that was having…

Our trip to the beach was delayed because we couldn’t head out until The Banana and Mr. TOF were done with soccer practice.  Then, to complicate things, there were some wardrobe malfunctions and other issues with necessitated a quick trip home before actually heading to the water.  I almost turned…

Finding and visiting “The Bean” was high on our list of things to do in Chicago.  I knew it was somewhere around the Art Institute, and truth be told, we had no problem finding it.  Actually, it was way more awesome than I anticipated.  Because it was a beautiful sunny Sunday…

Our host child departed from O’Hare airport in Chicago this past weekend, which was of course, sad and hard.  The Banana flew to Chicago with us, and after the goodbye that is always difficult, we stayed in Chicago for a few extra days. To distract ourselves from feeling gloomy, we became…

Last week I loaded up three kids and we headed to pick raspberries.  Our tried and true raspberry farm close to our house closed a few years ago, so now we have to drive a bit in the other direction to get raspberries.  I was prepared for a few hours…

When you complain that everyone else has a headband, and you don’t, your aunt just might let you borrow one of hers.