So long, BOB!

(I started writing this post back in February...mostly because I was pretty surprised at how emotional I got at trading in our stoller. )

I am normally not a wistful person. I tend to look ahead at what's coming next and not spend too much time thinking about what's passing. (This is not a trait I am particularly proud of, but I wanted to throw that out there before spending an entire post writing about a stroller.)  And now you've been warned...this is a post about a stroller.  Feel free to read something more interesting and/or useful!

When we were expecting Hamilton, we decided that our stroller purchase would be one of the most important ones we would make. Living carless in the city means that anything with wheels becomes essentially as important as a car to us, so no skimping there. We test drove several models and decided on the BOB Revolution.

One of our very first pictures with our BOB. This was right before Freeman walked Hamilton home from the hospital (notice the confused looks from the hospital security/parking employees).

Hamilton on his way home...just a couple of days old.

We took so many walks that summer.  Freeman was so kind to get a mosquito net because I was so concerned about that sweet baby.

Seriously, I can't say anything bad about that stroller.  It took curbs and bumps like they weren't there, could be easily maneuvered with one hand, and had so much storage space that I could get 40 pounds of groceries (seriously!) home on it with little effort .  Even when Veronica came along, we opted to forgo a double stroller and make do.  It ended up looking something like this.

Neither of them is strapped in.  Yup, Mother of the Year Award...right here.

Actually, there is a funny story about having them sit in a single stroller together.  I was walking home from Target down a hill with bags hanging from the handle and a young man stopped me to enthusiastically thank me for purchasing a quality stroller to use in pushing my children.  He complained about how a particular other brand (which I don't remember) was so poor and parents who purchased it were risking their children's welfare...and on and on.   I didn't know what to say, but I just laughed to myself as I continued.  My 22 month-old was balanced on the footrest of a stroller...and I was the safe mom!  (And to be fair, they each only fell out once in two years ...as they tried to get off without permission.  They learned not to do that again...and weren't really hurt in the process.)


But the time had come.  They were both too big to comfortably sit together anymore and being in the stroller began to cause more and more arguments  (and they were super patient with each other most of the time).   Plus Caroline was getting bigger and the reality was coming that she'd need a part-time spot in the stroller soon.  But what were we to do?  Double jogging strollers (the two-across-take-up-the-sidewalk-kind) would never fit on a bus and inline double strollers generally had wheels made for flat, smooth surfaces--or were super expensive.  And have I mentioned we live in a city with lots of potholes and curbs? And needed to get on buses?  And had a budget that didn't involve a stroller that cost as much as a used car?

But, God had a cool plan for even this little thing in our life.  We ran into a neighbor on the bus and she witnessed the older two jockeying for space and made a comment about us getting a new stroller.  Long story made short, she knew someone who had a practically unused double inline stroller that she was willing to sell at our price point.  Twenty-four hours later, we had a new stroller and twenty-four hours after that, someone bought our beloved BOB off Craigslist.   Talk about providing!

But what took me by surprise is that I almost wanted to cry as I saw the BOB being put in someone's trunk and thinking that we'd never see it again.  I know...it's silly...who knew motherhood would make me more sentimental?   So I thought that writing this post would help to commemorate how much we appreciated our BOB.

And now I'm humming a country song...man, I think I need help! 

Good-bye, so long, farewell, via con Dios...

Abandoned?

So when catching up with a dear old friend (hi, Jayme!) last week, she began by asking if I had (at least for the time being) abandoned this blog.  And, really, given that it's been 3 months (!), that's a completely fair question.  So much so that I think I said that I suppose I have...since I don't seem to be able to compose a sentence most days while running around after the little Team Whitney-ettes.   After getting off the phone I realized that I felt like I knew what Jayme was up to from her blog, but she didn't know about any of the fun things we'd been up to.  And then I thought of all the other people I've been meaning to call who would also want to know...and I began to rethink abandoning this "baby book" of sorts. 

Plus, Caroline just woke me up and I am having a hard time going back to sleep and this is as quiet as it's been with me awake for a while (yes, I go to sleep as soon after the children as possible...I'm fun like that).


So, in no particular order (and surely not all tonight), I'll be working through whatever we've done that I remember and/or have photos of!


(April 2, 2012)

We got to spend a day with my sweet friend Valerie and her lovely three daughters at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Mueseum.  A note about Valerie:  I've only known her for a relatively short period of time, but she is one of the most sweet, sincere, want-to-know-you people I've met and is such a dear friend.  (She also took all of these pictures, otherwise you wouldn't be able to follow along on this adventure).

Ready for fun (minus Caroline)...and seriously, how darling are her sweet girls?

First we stopped in the Butterfly Haven, that houses over a thousand butterflies representing more than 75 species.  

It's hard to see due to the humidity but a Paperwhite butterfly almost instantly wanted to be friends with the ladybugs on Caroline's shirt.

Then Hamilton had a visitor, too, much to the excitement of the girls.

It made him a little nervous, though.

Hamilton's favorite butterfly was the Owl butterfly.  At first, he was convinced that it could see using the "eye" on its wing.  Once I explained that it wasn't really an eye, but that this was the way God gave to this butterfly to protect itself from animals that wanted to eat it, he was even more excited.  He wanted to explain the camouflage/mimicry to anyone who'd listen...including the employees.

photo credit: Rhett Butler

Next, we noticed a new bicycle exhibit.  Given that we both have bike-loving husbands, that sounded like a cool next stop.  We were approached as we entered to alert us to some filming that was going on, but we decided to take our "chances" about being caught on film.  As our children raced around trying out some of the cool old-school bikes, the guy with the microphone started chatting with me...and then asked me if I would mind coming up with something to say for 15 seconds for a live news clip coming up in 90 seconds.  You can "enjoy" my creativity here...but what I really want is for you to fast forward through my bit and watch as Patrick takes the camera through the exhibit and catches Hamilton trying to mount an adult-sized bicycle.  He so wants to be like his daddy!

Chicago Bicycle Exhibit Opens This Weekend at Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Petting "Fang" the albino King snake

We also checked out the Green Home (highlight: plates of real decaying food), the Waterworks (who doesn't like creating dams and locks...and getting wet?), and a forest themed play area.   We got to pet a snake and dress up like racoons.  It was a seriously good time.


And to top it off, it was such a lovely day that we were able to end with a picnic outside.  For those of you who have ever lived in the midwest, you know that April 2 is not usually picnic weather.  But, we enjoyed some food and the kids got to play in and around the Steelroots sculpture while Valerie and I got to visit.

All in all, a very good day!