King Of Chicago

Last weekend we headed to South Elgin, a western suburb of Chicago to see our friends Mat & Angie. They just bought an amazing new home and welcomed all three of us for the weekend. The first day there, Topher found a plastic crown laying around (from a recent birthday party I think) and thought it was the greatest thing ever. He wore it like a gladiator helmet most of the time: But occasionally put it on correctly (some of these photos have been edited by yours truly using a combination of new iPhone apps that I'm totally in love with): We never ventured into the actual city of Chicago, but we have another friend, Al, who took the train from the city to visit us. We haven't seen him in years so it was a really great surprise. Topher, as always, relished being the center of attention:

Saturday we went to a children's museum, but Topher fell asleep on the way there. We joked that we wouldn't pay admission for him until the museum roused him from his sleep.

It did, but he was still free. I LOVE having a 2-year-old. They are old enough to have fun but young enough to do most everything for free. First Angie helped him dig up dinosaur eggs:

Then he flexed for us in front of this weird dinosaur we found in the basement (this place was pretty strange, actually.)

His favorite part of the museum was the hot air balloon that would go up and down. My favorite part was the air-cannon that Topher is standing near.

It was colorful, if nothing else. Most of the exhibits were over his head (literally and figuratively--get a step stool, museum!) but I think he had fun running wild for awhile.

That night Angie and I went to Ikea while the boys stayed home. I didn't take any pictures there. I was too mesmerized by the whole experience. It was a fantastic weekend. Angie & Mat, your home is absolutely gorgeous and we felt so happy and welcome there. Thanks for putting up with our toddler and for all the delicious food. We are so lucky to have friends as wonderful as you. And Topher, thanks for being a total rockstar in the car. It took a few suckers, a few videos, and a couple naps, but he handled the 5-hour trip (each way!) like a total champ. We are SO proud of him. He also stole my yellow hat for the ride home, but personally I think it looks better on him anyway.

--KC

Halloween 2010

Topher does not like costumes. We had to think long and hard before deciding on a "costume" that didn't feel like a costume. We finally chose this: Which helped him get all this: Because when you have a face like this: people just want to give you a lot of candy. :) He got the hang of trick-or-treating after about 2 houses and happily ran door to door for over an hour before wearing out. (It also helped that he LOVES to have his hair cut/styled so when we slicked it over and hair-sprayed it and tried to give him a forehead curl and then told him how handsome he was, he ran to the mirror in his bedroom and smiled and admired himself for awhile before grabbing his pumpkin bucket and demanding to go.) This is quite an improvement over last year's meager stash. Hope everyone had a frightfully happy Halloween. --KC