Skipping Rocks

Uncle Wan spent some time teaching Hamilton how to skip rocks today. I don't know that Hamilton picked up the fine art, but he was inspired to sing "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" by the stones hitting the water and seemed to very much enjoy the attention.

Veronica was not inspired to sing, but enjoyed the trip to the park in her own special way.

Where the Whitneys Go When It's Cold

If we could harness Hamilton and Veronica's energy, we'd never have to pay ComEd again. But, we can't turn it into electicity, so the best I can do in the cold weather is take them to a place where they can crawl, climb, run, jump, and MOVE to their hearts' content.


The Children's Museum--just a bus ride away--fits the bill. And Wednesdays are great because the art studio is geared towards kids 5 and under. So, if it's Wednesday and it's cold, you can pretty much guess we are at Navy Pier enjoying the bright colors and crazy mirrors.

This mirror was cool enough to set down the stainless steel mixing bowl to check out. (Have I mentioned that Veronica is complete mobile now?)

Meanwhile, Hamilton is examining the way things work.

You may recall Hamilton's time in the garden (at about the same age as Veronica is now).



She also seems quite interested in agriculture.



Another Hamilton/Veronica moment.


She seemed genuinely surprised and pleased to see me.


Yup, little girl is pulling up to standing now.


Hamilton fishing.

Fall Outing

A couple of weeks ago, we headed to a pumpkin patch/petting zoo/working farm with Oompah, Amira, Syazwan, Mariam, and (a surprise appearance by) Sharif.

Hamilton was a little starstruck to see "Ming Ming," the duck from The Wonder Pets (shhh....don't tell him this duck's name is really Quackers). Veronica was also quite interested, but was being held firmly in place by Amira.

We did see chickens, turkeys, pigs, sheep, ponies, horses, a donkey, and rabbits, as well, but Hamilton went from fascinated to concerned when the animals were larger or faster than him.

So, onto the next bit of fun...a sandbox made of dried corn kernels. I think Hamilton could have stayed in there all day.

Syazwan played with Hamilton, even though it meant his black shirt would turn grey...what a cool uncle.

Uncle Sharif opted to stay clean and swing our motion loving little girl around.

After a quick climb on the haystacks,

We enjoyed some freshly prepared fruit from Amira.

Veronica even got in on some cantaloupe.

Hey, Uncle Sharif....where'd you put the rest of that 'lope?

But the real treat of the day (as much as we like fruit), was some homemade ice cream from the Plush Horse. Hamilton couldn't decide whether he wanted a cookie or ice cream until Mariam told him about cookie dough ice cream. He could not have been more pleased with the discovery.

Yes, the ice cream is almost as big as his head. And, yes, I did let him eat as much of it as he wanted. But, in my defense, I ordered the "Baby Size" (and he didn't finish it). My pumpkin pie ice cream, on the other hand, was all but gone and I had the normal adult size.l