Smelly Minnesotans

I just talked to my sister Errin who lives in St. Paul. She just informed me that due to drought-like conditions, residents are requested to not bathe until Wednesday at 7am. Given the 103 degree forcast, I'm not sure that's the best idea. Why wouldn't they put a ban on watering lawns or doing laundry? I guess the people there aren't familiar with the smelly Bonner girls. I don't think they realize what they've done!

30 Years Young

Today's the day! I'm no longer a 20-something. Happy Birthday to me!

You might be wondering what I gifts I've received. Well, so far Elise has given me a chocolate pie (aka--a very smelly diaper). Thanks Elise! Oh, and Paul took us to Cold Stone Creamery last night for a delicious Chocolate Devotion in a waffle cup. Yum!

My First Birthday....no need to comment on the clothing choices!

P.S. Thanks for all of the Birthday Cards and phone calls!

Caption Contest

This one's a keeper....I'll let you decide the caption.

There's a Mouse in the House

A while back while cleaning up the basement, I came across some of the "feathers" from Elise's beloved Halloween Chicken costume strewn about the floor. Ugh! A furry little critter nibbled large holes in the shoulders and belly of the costume. It wasn't salvageable. But I thought I had won the battle. After cleaning everything up and moving all of Elise's baby clothes and toys into plastic containers, I did not see any new evidence of house guests....

....until this week! Unfortunately, I found mouse poo by Briscoe's food dish. And if that's not bad enough, I found nibble marks on the packaging of our Keebler Fudge Sticks. The little rodent is reaking havoc in my pantry! GROSS!

This means war!

Annual Week with Grammie

Every year for the past 26 years, my Grandma (aka Grammie) takes her grandkids up to East Jordan, MI, where Aunt Ev and Uncle Glenn have a summer cottage. Originally, only grandchildren who were potty trained and were able to be away from parents overnight were invited. No mothers allowed. The rules, however, have laxed a bit over the years. This year, Elise and I joined the gang. Three adults and four kids packed into my Aunt Kathy's van for the 3 1/2 hour trek. Elise managed to behave herself during the car rides.

The weather was picture-perfect, but a little cool for lake activities. It didn't stop us though. Elise enjoyed playing in the sand with her cousin, Lauren. And she did manage to splash around in the lake some. But mostly she enjoyed the swings (who would have thought, considering she never stays on the swing for more than 2 minutes at home).

Swimming with Ella

Elise spent the afternoon playing with her cousin Ella today in the baby pool. They did all kinds of fun things, but mostly Elise enjoyed doing everything Ella was doing, including splashing in the water and dancing on the deck. The result of this exciting day....one tired little girl.

Just Plain Cute

Hand-me-downs

Susan recently gave us a big box of clothes that were once Allie's. When I was a kid, I had my fair share of hand-me-downs courtesy of Bethie and I never thought it was much fun. But Elise is one lucky little girl. Elise is enjoying the new variety and although I didn't think she needed any more clothes, I'm learning that maybe she's not as small as I thought (okay, has she ever been small?!?). The 2Ts are fitting her quite nicely.

By the way, I don't know if you can see it, but Elise has another lovely "boo-boo" on her knee thanks to the sidewalk that came up and bit her. She cried and cried when anything came near it, including Briscoe. This was after it was quite apparent that she would survive the viscious attack. I'm sure this is just one of many more to come....

Mmmm, Mmmm, Good!

I made chocolate chip cookies today. Elise's reaction was "Mmmmm" and then "I like cookies." She's a very smart girl, don't you think?

Toronto

For Mother's Day, Errin, Beth and I decided that we would take my mom to Toronto for the weekend. After a couple of months of planning, we loaded up the Malibu (Malibu Stacy, that is) on Friday and headed to Canada, leaving husbands, children and dogs behind. We stayed at The Prince Hotel in a very nice suite. Some of the highlights of our weekend include:

• Shopping on Bloor St. Much like the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, it's mostly a slew of overpriced boutiques and department stores. Fun to window shop, not fun for the wallet.
• Delicious food. We had lunch at Sassafraz in Yorkville. Great Monte Carlo sandwich. We had dinner at the Bright Pearl Restaurant in Chinatown. Yum! My favorite was the Chicken with Black Bean Sauce.
• Mary Kay Satin Hands pampering courtesy of Mom.
• "Heavenly Bed" and "Heavenly Bath", complements of the Westin. Need I say more.

I can't forget to mention the fortunes that we received after our dinner at the Bright Pearl. It's amazing how perfect they were. See if you agree....

Mom: C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron. (Improve yourself. Practice makes perfect.)

Laura: Quelqu'un vous respecte beaucoup. Evitez donc de le decevoir. (Someone is looking up to you. Don't let that person down.)

Errin: Vous avez le sens du theatre et tendance a frimer. (You have a sense of the dramatic and a tendency towards display.)

Beth: Ne promettez que ce que vous pouvez tenir. (Something about horse teeth. I'm not sure of the exact translation.*)

*Sorry for the humor at your expense, Bethie! Love you!

I get it

One of the reasons why I decided to start a blog, aside from the fact that everyone else has one, is that I was frustrated that my counterparts were not giving me things to read on a regular basis. Other than taking care of Elise and Briscoe, I don't really have much else to do, right?!? Well, after this week, I now understand how challenging it can be to blog interesting things in a timely fashion. Hmmm....

Gaston saves the day!

On Sunday, we loaded up Errin's Malibu and headed to Union Station to drop Rudi off (he was taking the Mega Bus back to the Twin Cities). We then hit the road back to Indiana where Errin was going to drop us off at our car. Not 10 minutes into our trip, we heard an unexpected "ding" from Errin's dashboard and noticed that the battery light had come on. Normally, this might not have been such a big deal, but we were on the Dan Ryan expressway, headed into the worst parts of Chicago and Indiana. Not ideal for pulling off on the side of the road. Errin decided to check the car manual to see what might be wrong. It mentioned something about the car's alternator and to get it checked right away because continue to drive it would result in a drained battery.

Well, as long as the car was moving, we were going to keep driving. We knew it wasn't looking very promising when all of the car's gauges began to go haywire and the windows would barely move up and down. But, good 'ol "LuLu the Malibu" made it all the way to the correct exit in Indiana (but just barely). She conked out at the top of the exit ramp, about 5 miles shy of the train station. Thank goodness Errin carried her AAA card. Gaston, the tow truck arrived about 45 minutes later to take us to his repair shop and then drop us off at our car (also a Malibu that Errin has named "Malibu Stacy"). LuLu was back on her feet by noon the next morning.

We learned a couple of things from this eventful ride:

1. Warning lights on car dashboards sometimes have significant meaning.
   
2. Never take the Dan Ryan or 80/94 until constuction is finished. The signs are terrible and you can't afford an unexpected and lengthy detour when you're running low on battery.
3. Always have AAA (or something like it) when you're not sure about the life of your car.
4. Make sure your cell phone is fully charged before taking a trip.
5. If you have to break-down, it always helps to do so in a town or city that you're somewhat familiar with.
   

Post-White Sox Win

After the amazing game, we took the train back to the hotel to freshen up (i.e take a much needed shower). Then, we headed to the Magnificent Mile for dinner. We chose the Grand Lux Cafe. Great bread, decent meals, bad Mojitos. We then headed over to Ghirardeli's for dessert. Errin and Rudi had a sundae of sorts, but Paul and I were too full to order anything. We shouldn't have eaten so much at the Grand Lux. I think a sundae would have tasted a lot better!

It was a beautiful night for a walk, so we wrapped the evening up by going to Millennium Park. Just recently built, it attracts a lot of people and has something for everyone. Paul took some pretty cool pictures of the Pritzker Pavilion, where the CSO was giving a free concert. We also watched a bunch of kids play in the Crown Fountain, which Elise would have loved. I'm not sure how it works, but it literally spits water. Check out the website if you're curious. We finished with the Cloud Gate (affectionately called "the bean" by Chicagoans) and Wrigley Square.

My Kind of Town

This weekend marked our third annual White Sox / Cubs weekend with Errin and Rudi. Grandma and Grandpa Seamon were kind enough to watch the girls (Elise and Briscoe) so that Paul and I could spend Saturday night in Chi-town. It was a much needed break for both of us!

We took the Southshore train from Dune Park (near Chesterton, IN) just before 8am on Saturday morning. It made for an early morning, but well worth missing all the construction. The train was packed with people going to either the game or the Taste of Chicago. The best part of the train ride was listening to a group of church kids discuss the sites of northern Indiana and the southern suburbs of Chicago. One of my favorite lines was "Wow, is that Wrigley Field?" The kid didn't realize that he was referring to the Gary Southshore Railcats "U.S. Steel Yard". Very funny! Obviously he doesn't get out much.

We arrived at the Hyatt Regency around 9:30a. After a leisurely breakfast at McDonald's, we boarded the Red Line Train to Wrigley field. The Cross-Town Classic is always fun because there is a ton of people and a lot of energy at the park. It was toasty in the stands, but the game was great....probably the best I have ever been to. And the final score was even better....8 to 6. Here is the game summary.

And here's Rudi's summary: "Dumb Cubs."