my random ramblingsan infrequent (and these days, mostly Mira related…) blog

day spent doing some last minute shopping and cleaning. anxiously drove out to ORD and into a bad thunderstorm to pick up Лена’s mom from her early evening flight. found her, and fortunately no issues during her multi-stop commute. was cute watching Mira quickly grasp who she is, and immediately begin to warm up to “baba”. stayed up late talking – well, mostly listening…

early afternoon walk, ended up at Meli again for a late brunch. long walk back, finding places along the way for Mira to play. one week countdown is on… 🙂

afternoon at Navy Pier, playing in the Children’s Museum. had Mira climbing a vertical cargo net by herself in one of the play areas. early dinner at some random place along the pier.

Mira got some more practice over at Federal Plaza. met the girls for a late lunch at the French restaurant in the lobby of the new Hyatt, then off for my daily beating at POW! reserved our December airline tickets for Europe.

late afternoon visit to the aquarium. always a fun time, enjoyed the otters and belugas. cold day after yesterday’s rains. put down deposits for our 2016 Thanksgiving trip.

weren’t going to let the weather keep us inside… breakfast at Meli, day spent walking around on State.

great long weekend, so nice to be back in town. breakfasts at Nora’s, poking around town, and hanging out at the house. hope to be back soon.

afternoon trip to the museum, figure it’s good to get Mira frequenting such places around town. fun walking around and showing everything to her, and pretty walk home through the park.

finally found the time to mail the huge box we prepared for Лена’s family. quick trip to Ukrainian Village and back. 80 pounds – impressive… 🙂

dropped into the new West Loop climbing gym with Лена. cool spot, good combination of bouldering and top rope routes. fun time, dinner at Butterfly before heading home.