The universe is playing some sorta prank on us here in Chicago.

We are in the second half of May and the highs are in the 50s this week.

Okay, what?

I put the coat away, man. It’s TIME.

Do I just sound like this every year?

THE COLD LASTS FOREVER.

But when Chicago is at it’s best, it’s like NOTHING ELSE. It’s why people put up with this.

Gah.

Anyway, we took advantage of the sunny, warm(ish) days last week.

We went down to the patio for arts & crafts & reading.

We did a picnic dinner on Thursday evening when the weather was SO GOOD.

Complete with margaritas for the grown-ups and ice cream for the kids.

We had happy, sticky, filthy kiddos by the time we were headed home.

We made a few visits to see Mr. Lonnie. Riyu’s new favorite thing to do.

It’s wild to me that Riyu is older than Ishu was when we first met Mr. Lonnie. Every time we pass his building, both kids call out his name in hopes that we get to visit with him. He’s made our neighborhood that much more special.

We also had a picnic at the lake on Friday. It was windy but warm. But really nice to catch up with a friend under the sun with Jersey Mikes sammies!

On Saturday, we kicked off the weekend with homemade waffles, courtesy of Papa.

We played Balloony Uppey with some homemade paddles (paper plates + wooden spoons + duct tape).

And we played Name, Place, Animal, Thing. All the cousins played this growing up and I knew Ishu would love it. It was so fun to watch all the different skills he had to use while playing the game.

In this one, simple game, he had to use his working memory to remember what letter was selected. We borrowed a dice from one of his board games. And then he used a key/legend to reference. (Every time he rolled #2, he’d have to say a Name. Every time he rolled the volcano, he’d have to say a Place. Every time he’d roll a #3, he’d have to say an Animal, etc.). He had to remember when it was his turn. And then he practiced his spelling/writing to write out the winning word.

ANYWAY, it was so fun to watch him enjoy this game but also watch his little brain process all the different steps. When did he even grow up?

On Sunday, Auntie Anna came over and Ankur and I escaped for a couple hours to go take care of life things and have lunch on a patio.

We are trying to figure out summer plans. We also had to do things like order groceries and answer emails. And that’s hard to do when our kids are around. Our date days are sometimes our get-shit-done days. And that’s just life right now.

I was feeling extra nostalgic for our days in Harrogate this past weekend. I love our life now but sometimes I wish I had a time machine to go back to those days when all we had to worry about were ourselves. And we LOOKED for ways to pass the time.

And now time is WHIZZING by and I can barely wash my face.

I just want to push a button and be in our Harrogate days for a day.

Just a day.

And then I’ll come back to these hooligans.

Ha.

Okay, I’m off. Have a happy Monday! I’m gonna blink and it’ll be Friday again 🙂