Hard Workout

Reid and I just got back from the gym. The ladies in the daycare told me that Reid may be tired because he was a jumping fool today! He LOVES the jumper! Just this past week he has really started to enjoy it and Andy and I just laugh at him, which of course makes him jump more. Here he is still asleep in his car seat.

Reid getting ready to eat.

Sleepy little boy!

Reid went to sleep last night @ 8:00pm and it is now 9:30am and he is still snoozing away. I just went in to check on him and he was talking in his sleep, so I started to talk back then he started snoring loudly! So cute. He must be going through a growth spurt.

Back in Chicago

Reid and I had a wonderful time in Spokane, Washington visiting my childhood friend Jamie, and her husband Chris, and their 21 month old, Wilson. It took a day for Reid to get to know his surroundings, but quickly made friends with his big buddy Wilson. It was so cute watching them play together. Wilson was a very big help at entertaining Reid while us mommies caught up.

It says a lot about a city when it rains the whole weekend, and you would still move there in a heart beat because it is such a beautiful area! I will leave you with a couple of pictures of the boys!

Thanks again for having us!

Solo Weekend Hiking Northwest Illinois

Kari and Reid were in Spokane, WA this past weekend visiting our good friends Chris, Jamie, and Wilson. I thought I would take this free time to head to northwest Illinois. I knew very little about this area, as most people do. I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful it is. The plan was to head to a few state parks in this region. I first headed up to Apple River Canyon State Park to start the adventure. I think the prospect of freezing rain and snow dissuaded just about everyone from heading out for a hike. I had the forest practically to myself... and the 20 or so deer. Obie enjoyed sniffing them out.

Of course, I always want to push the adventures. The Primrose Nature Trail at this park was a lot of fun. I hit all the trails and tied this one towards the end of my hikes at the Apple River Canyon SP. The one part of this trail requires you to cross a shallow river.

This would be an easy and or refreshing task in the summer time. Maybe I had watched a few too many Man vs Wild or Survivor man shows, but thought I would experience crossing the frigid waters while it was starting to snow. What I did learn is to keep your hiking shoes and sock dry if at all possible, so off with the shoes...

It wasn't so much the cold, but the small rocks on bare feet that hurt the most. The water didn't seem to phase Obie.

I headed back to the trail parking lot with a few hours of daylight left. My original plan was to camp at this State Park. Since it is winter season, there was only the youth camp that was open and although it was quaint, I thought I would see what other options I could come across.

I pulled out the GPS and searched for another State Park close by. 25min down the road there was Lake Le-Aqua-Na SP. It was at least worth a drive to check it out.

When I pulled into the State Park, it exceeded my expectation. This park looked like a perfect place to spend the night.

I checked with the Park Ranger and while he advised that most of the trails would be closed early in the morning for Bow hunting season, he pointed to a "closed" trail that would be worth a hike.

With about 90 min of daylight, I thought I would hit a trail or two. I started out on the nature trail he recommended and then hopped onto a horse trail. There is something surreal and peaceful about hiking in a pine forest. I found myself frozen in my tracks watching deer peer out at me on the trail.

With the day light just about gone, it was time to retire to the camp site. What I love about my Honda Element is the great shelter it provides.

It was a cold and blustery night, but my sleeping bag and Element kept me warm. Even the park ranger came to check on me early in the morning. I think he thought I was a little crazy!

I made some coffee in the morning and I was off to the next state park.

I drove over to Mississippi Palisades State Park. My ulterior motive to head to this park is that there is supposed to be some good rock for climbing. I will admit on my reconnaissance mission, there does appear to be some decent climbing routes. Nothing like the Red River Gorge in Kentucky but much closer to Chicago.

I ventured on all the trails on the south side of the park. It offers some great trails, views, solitude, and a moderate amount of challenge.

This is the great Mississippi River in the background of this rock scramble.

I was ready to call it a day and start heading back home. I plugged in "home" in the GPS and started back, enjoying what a great weekend I had, I caught a glimpse of bright green on the screen of the GPS and thought to myself. I wonder what State Park that was. It was early in the afternoon so what the heck, Let's check it out. Yes at this point, I was talking to Obie...

White Pines State Park was the name of the park in the midst of Black Hawk country. If you couldn't tell, there is a lot of Native American influence in the region. This park was so cute and tell me, what other state park has a road where you have to drive through two river crossings to get to the back trails.

Of course this was not a problem for the Element.

It probably is not an issue for 99% of the cars on the road either, but don't burst my bubble. It was my adventure this weekend. The hiking here was fun but a bit muddy.

What a fun weekend. About 12 miles of hiking and 4 state parks in two days!!!! I can't wait to see Kari and Reid when they come back tomorrow.

The first day of a New Beginning!

WOW!!!! I am so proud to say I am an American! I remember saying to my boss back in Atlanta about 2 years ago that I thought there was no way that this country was ready for a woman, (Hillary Clinton), and certainly not an African American man. I am so glad that America has PROVED ME WRONG!!!!! This is an amazing moment in history that we will remember for the rest of our lives! Now is the time for the world to come together to promote equality and make the future great for many generations to come. Seeing reports of celebration all across the world gives me hope that this dream of peace will come true!
Both Senator John McCain and President-elect Barack Obama gave inspirational speeches that made the foundation for what this country is all about, FREEDOM, freedom for ALL!
For those of you that didn't vote for Obama, I hope he will be able to change your mind in the months to come to make you a believer as much as I am.

Godspeed

My two favorite little boys!

Reid loves his big brother!

Sorry, its been busy around here.....

This past week we decided to start Reid on solid foods. We had made several attempts in the past couple of weeks with rice and oatmeal, but he wanted nothing to do with it. So I decided that he needed his mamma's cooking and boy did he love it!! I roasted several sweet potatoes and acorn squash from the garden then pureed and froze them. It is pretty handy and not to troublesome. I have enough stored in the freezer to last for at least a month. I plan on making Sunday evening baby chef time.
Reid is pretty independent when it comes to eating, as you can see below. He wants to hold the spoon and gets very upset when he is not in control. Hmmmm I wonder where he gets that from???

Andy, Reid, Obie and I all sat out in our driveway to pass out candy for the trick-or-treaters. Although we didn't get many kids we enjoyed having an awesome evening talking with the neighbors and loving the great weather. Obie in his superdog costume, (the great thing about dogs, they don't change year after year so you can dress them in the same thing every Halloween).

Our old college friend, Sean came into town this past weekend to work/visit. We took the train to downtown Chicago to see some more sights. Here are some of the pictures. The city is getting ready for the Obama Celebratory Party in Grant Park, so we were not able to get to show Sean that much of the area, but it was pretty cool none the less.