For the last few years, right around the beginning of June, I've done posts apologizing in advance that I would be kind of M.I.A. with all the craziness that the first few weeks of the month delivered. This June, two full weeks into the month, I'm doing a quick post where I don't apologize for not posting for the last few weeks but instead share with you some of the magical, wonderful reasons I've been sidetracked.
I was lucky to be able to swing a quick trip to New York a couple of weekends ago with my friends Sarah and Patti. (Huge thanks to our hyper-gracious hosts, Skip & Kathy!) My favorite part was just walking around and ducking into shops and museums and postage stamp-size corner gardens. Everyone should go to visit the High Line Park, but before you do that, you should visit Russ & Daughters and score some smoked salmon (we chose Scottish) and bagels.
The surprise magical moment of the trip was taking a Sunday stroll through Central Park. I'd never seen the southern end of it. Olmstead really knew how to infuse the landscape with beauty and wonder. And having a cool glass of wine at the Loeb Boathouse really hit the spot after an impressive urban hike.
When I returned home, the very next day Ben had his "end of year" ceremony. This is a big deal for all of the children in his Ginkgo classroom but it was profoundly touching for Ted & I to see how Ben had come so far. Back in September and for many weeks Ben cried more often than not in terms of going to school. On this last day, he said he wasn't ready for it to end. And so I cried.
We then had a few days off to muck around, we had play dates, watched movies, indulged in comic books and ice cream. And then we entered the first official weekend of summer somewhat quietly and slowly. We headed down to Sherman Park on the southside -- the Fishing Guys were there with rods & bait for the kids. Sam fished for almost two hours while Ted, Ben and I just hung out in the park. It's a gorgeous park and on Saturday it was quiet and cool.
The next day I found myself in Columbus Park on the far west side. I was doing sun prints with kids as part of the "What's Out There Weekend." There weren't a ton of kids but there was a lot of dappled sunlight and urban nature to keep me happy. I even had time to sketch in my nature journal -- something I haven't done in two years! If Central Park is Olmstead's genius work, then Columbus Park is Jens Jensen's. What a gift to leave the city of Chicago. (And what a shame that so few people go and enjoy it.)
Yesterday, the boys and I spent many hours over at River Park and today we spent a good chunk of the day enjoying Bartleme Park -- a brand new park in the West Loop with a super cool playground that kept the kiddos happily kinetic.
So I am liking the emerging theme here . . . not running around like a crazy lady, spending time with family and friends and experiencing the simple joys that one can get from visiting parks. It's looking like it's going to be a really nice summer.
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