Day 0 (Friday, May 24): The kids' last day of school. I had plans to start the Summer of Fun this day, but we were pretty low-key. Aidan went to a party, and the rest of us had "hors d'overs" dinner (leftovers and various bits from the freezer) and watched "The Circle."
Movie review: It's clear why "The Circle" didn't do great at the box office. Great cast, some good ideas, but seriously leaves the ending hanging.
Day 1 (Saturday): In the morning, we (except Aidan) biked to the farmer's market. Still not much produce, but the girls got their croissants.
Later, the kids did some very nice synchronized archery:
And we had the Shakers over for grilled pizza and mojitos.
Day 2 (Sunday): Canoeing on the Kankakee!
A very broad, slow river. The last section went through Kankakee State Park; this was particularly interesting, as we had visited here a few months before, when the Kankakee was flooding.
Afterwards we had lunch and ice cream at a local Mexican joint in Kankakee. (Pretty sure we were the only gringos in the place.)
Day 3 (Monday): Escape room
It was Memorial Day, and we did the Lost Temple escape from C U Adventures in Time and Space. Alex came with us. It felt very padlock intensive to me, and the rooms were really too small for our number, so it was hard to fully coordinate (they're moving to a larger space at the end of summer). Very fun, though, and we beat it with like 8 minutes to spare.
Day 4 (Tuesday): Shopping with the girls
They needed a lot of summer essentials. Swimsuits turned out to be the biggest problem: they've been buying girls' styles, but they no longer fit girl sizes. All the adult sized suits at the stores we went to are cut for appearance - skimpy, padded, etc. Brianne lamented that there were no "modest" choices. This problem was resolved on Thursday.
Anna came over for a little while.
The girls tried out Nadiators summer swim team (it was free week). It was very crowded and chaotic. Brianne had a pretty bad time, but Cassie decided she would try it out again.
Day 5 (Wednesday): Homework
I went in to work for part of the day. Apparently the girls were bored, so Paul printed out some "homework" for them. They also took the final exam for my (college) astronomy course, and passed! (I guess they do occasionally listen to me.) Later the girls had a playdate with Anna.
Day 6 (Thursday): In the morning the girls and I biked to the library.
It's amazing how much they can complain about being "forced" to the library, and how happy they are once we get there.
In the afternoon we went to a sports apparel store, to buy the kids competition style swim suits. This is apparently the only way to get the girls a suit they're happy with.
In the evening there was an event in campustown, where the local businesses were luring the townies onto campus.
About 15 different restaurants had free samples, so we wandered and noshed, until an unexpected hurricane blew in. (Okay, not actually a hurricane, but 45 mph wind gusts and torrential rain.)
About 15 different restaurants had free samples, so we wandered and noshed, until an unexpected hurricane blew in. (Okay, not actually a hurricane, but 45 mph wind gusts and torrential rain.)
Day 7 (Friday): Picnic, 25 o'clock
Aidan's training was done at noon, so we packed some food, picked up Paul, and headed to a park for a picnic lunch.
In the afternoon I headed to a new brewery in downtown Urbana, 25 O'Clock, for my first ever visit. The city had advertised that there would be chainsaw carving at 4:00, but it hadn't started by the time I left at 5:30. Good beer, though, so the afternoon wasn't wasted. :)
Sushi dinner!
