I saw tomato you say tomato

So, I'm sure this would not be a big deal for many of you out there, but my tomato plant actually produced a tomato!!!!! This is the first time in my life I have ever successfully grown something I can eat. The Home Depot had an "urban" tomato plant that came potted with a trellis and already some tomatoes growing.

I've had some trouble getting them to ripen so have been moving the plan around my back and front yard to find the right amount of sun and it worked!!!! I picked it and ate it today and it was actually yummy:) Even if nothing else works, it was worth it for the satisfaction of this one tomato.
I'll try and share the experience with Owen next time. I was so excited I didn't have a chance to show him the whole process.

Animals!

And I'm not talking about children;) My friend Kristy and I took her daughter Ava (9 months) and Owen to the zoo. This is the first time Owen has been to the zoo when he really understands it and is into all the animals. We only saw about half of the zoo in two hours but had lots of fun.

Owen's favorite (of course) was the monkeys.
We also saw a zebra, a camel and some deer. In the kid's area we saw baby chicks and goats. They had cows, bees and a big tractor!!!

Next time we'll cover the other half of the animals. It was so much fun! And the weather was beautiful so it was a great excuse to get out.

Beep Beep

At the grocery store today we put Owen in the car cart for the first time. He thought it was really fun. His Daddy was freaked out by the germs. But, Owen got to enjoy it nonetheless.
Brett's mom was in town for a conference, so we hung out at Millennium park before taking her to the airport Saturday evening.

We played in the fountain. As with anything, Owen was a bit tentative at the beginning but then had a lot of fun. Unfortunately the ground was really slippery and he wiped out a few times, but nothing major.

We also had fun at the bean. Owen's memory now is so amazing. We had been there about 2 weeks prior and as soon as he saw it, he said "Bean!" without being prompted. I've noticed he has deliberate thought patterns now. I can see him looking for things and remembering where he put them. Pretty crazy.
Then we ran around in the auditorium grass for a little bit.
We'll see you at the lake on Friday Nonni!

School Picnic

Owen had a picnic at school today and it was lots of fun seeing some of the other parents. Owen of course enjoyed being silly with his buddies Jay and Alex. They have known each other since their infant room (for the last 17 months) and are such good friends. It's so funny to watch them together.
Jay and Owen really enjoyed throwing sand all over out of the sensory box.
And being silly with the blow-up palm trees.
They even had virgin strawberry daiquiris for the parents, so fun!

Feelin' Crafty

This is a NON-OWEN post. Ok, maybe some of it relates to him, but it's not an update about him.

Before I had this wonderful responsibility, I had some interests of my own which mainly involved being crafty. Whenever I get the chance, I try to do a little crafting of some sort. I've been wanting to make these cute travel tissue pack covers for some time now and finally found a few minutes. It turned out so cute!
I also painted some wood for his room with chalkboard paint on it so that he can draw with chalk. I think he's really going to like it.

My Aunt turned me on to this site that you can create digital scrapbooking calendars on. http://shabbymissjenndesigns.com/ It has lots of cute things and the calendars are free. You just need Photoshop.
So, I definitely have the crafting itch again so be on the lookout for some things in the near future:)

Happy Daddy Day!

Ellen!!!!

Ellen is in town for her show tomorrow night and was giving away some tickets. She revealed the location on twitter. You had to take Garbanzo beans to the "Bean" and the first 5 people got tickets.

Well, I went with a co-worker and we were probably in the top 10 but did not get tickets. But, we did get to see Ellen and I got a hat and Ellen boxers. It was really fun:) Here is a pic. from my vantage point.

Funnies

We wanted to share some things to brighten your day.

First is Owen sitting on the toilet reading:) It's pretty funny. He isn't actually using the toilet (his pants aren't even off) but we are trying to get him to get used to sitting on it.

This video is a game that we have been playing with him since he was a baby.

Fun in the City!

This weekend my Aunt Lulu and her husband Ed came to visit. They have never been to Chicago so we did a lot of fun touristy stuff. There is just so much going on, it's way to much to pack into a weekend but we made the most of it.

They of course came bering gifts. My Aunt Lulu made this cute Knitwit she named Zorb.
Ed brought Owen a wooden helicopter that moves across the table when you pull the string and a dump truck that revs up when you pull it back. I don't have pictures but can assure you, they were a hit.

Saturday
It rained most of the day but got nice in the afternoon so we headed downtown to take a double-decker bus tour. It's really neat if you have never done one. Lots of cities have them. It drives you all around the city and you can get on and off at the various stops. We just took the whole tour since it was so late in the day and it took about 2 1/2 hours. Ed and I took a lot of great pictures of the city, but in the interest of time, I've just included a few.

Trump Tower

Sears TowerChicago TheaterBuckingham Fountain

Owen loved riding on the bus.After that since it was late we had dinner in the city at Big Bowl (Yummy!) and headed home. Owen tried to use some chopsticks:)

Sunday
We got up and finished our tour from the day before. I bargained with the tour company to let us take the neighborhood tour on Sunday since there wasn't time on Saturday. The north tour takes you up to Wrigley, but it was closed due to a game. The south tour takes you to some of the southern museums as well as to Hyde park to see where the President lives. For those of you that know our family well, none of us were eager to see where he lives when he's not in Washington screwing up our country and future... So, we decided to take the west tour that went to Chinatown, Little Italy, Greek Town and Oprah's studio.

This time we went on a trolley which Owen really liked too.
We also spent some time at Millenium Park which is home to the "Bean." A must see for everyone that comes to Chicago.
Millenium Park has a great kids Pavillion with crafts and all kinds of fun things. Isn't the ceiling of the tent neat?!?!?!
Owen thought the turtles they had were really funny!
It was such a great weekend and of course ended too quickly. Thanks to Aunt Lulu and Ed for making our weekend so fun!