03-02-02: 10 Years of Happy Marriage

10 years seems to be a very very long time.  And then, not so long at all.  We have done a lot with our 10 years: lived in 5 places in 2 countries, 3 states. Had 3 kids, 2 cats, 3 cars. Moved overseas with a 5 month old, moved back with a 3 month old, and bought our first house with a 5 month old. Volunteered with the homeless, teenagers, and now elderly. We have traveled to many places and eaten many great meals.  In just a few weeks we will celebrate our anniversary by renewing our vows in Las Vegas, kitsch-style!  Which means today, the actual anniversary, is pretty low key.  How low key?  No sitter, no going out, no presents.  We took our 3 boys swimming at the Y after work, put them to bed, and had a candlelit dinner just the two of us.  I bought the food from Olive Garden (Thanks gift card!! Only paid $0.02 for our dinner!) earlier today and we heated it up tonight.  Spinach/artichoke dip w/ bread appetizer, garden salad,  lasagna entree, and mini cheesecakes for dessert.

Not great pictures, but just for posterity.  Added note, I had put candles on the big windowsill, lowered the blinds, making sure they did not touch the candle.  Not low enough b/c now I have two melted & blackened spots on the bottom of my blinds. Arrgghh.

Date Night with Nana

Tonight is our regularly scheduled date-night-swap we do with the M. family.  We had planned on leaving all 3 boys with them and just take Nana out, but she decided that she'd like him along as her "date"...plus, he had a bit of a cold perhaps.  I didn't want to chance a sick baby around the M.'s baby girl.

We surprised Mom and took her to get coffee and dessert at the Drake, a famous hotel in downtown CHI.  I thought they would have live music on Th and F, but turns out just Fr and Sat.  So that took away some of the thrill for us, but Nana still loved it.

Art hanging with his little guy

Nana with her date, Yannick

The waiter nicely taking a picture of all of us

Nana giving Nick a bottle so I could enjoy my evening w/out 45min of nursing!

Our desserts - DELISH!  Mom got a little teapot of coffee, me, a teapot of hot chocolate, and Art some snooty beer

Then back home for Nana, Shayna, Nick while Art went to pick up Zach and Wy.

Happy 9th Anniversary Art & Shayna!

9 years!  What a ride it has been too!  Thanks to our friends Chipper and Kristen F. we got to go out to dinner on Tuesday night.  Art picked the place, researched the menu online, and did the prep, which in itself is enough of a gift for me!  Usually, we try to go on a little trip (at least an overnight) to celebrate our anniversary, in lieu of presents, but this year, we've decided to skip it.  Due to my advancing discomfort, it's just not that appealing.  This is the second time we've elected not to take a trip.  The first time was a last-minute issue.  I was pregnant with Wyatt, and uncomfortable of course, but we were still trying to make a go of it, and make a B&B reservation somewhere (we were living in Germany).  Unfortunately, Oma Holland passed away during that time.  Thankfully we had not made plans, as we went to Utrecht the weekend of our anniversary, to attend the funeral and support Art's parents who were there.  Our "anniversary outing" was a trip to a pub - beer for Art, hot chocolate for me - while Opa and Oma babysat Zach.

This year, though, opting for dinner out was lovely.  We went to an Italian place in Wilmette.  We each ordered an appetizer (bruchetta for me, something with bacon, ham and cheese for Art) and a small dish (salad for me, soup for Art) for dinner, then we EACH ordered a dessert too (lemon & raspberry torte for Art, a cheesecake type thing w/ chocolate syrup for me).  It was the perfect amount of food.  And so so good.  We ran into another couple there and found out they were celebrating their 14th wedding anniversary.  They had their 3 kids in tow (13, 10, 8 or so), and I wondered if that would be our future - bringing our kids to dinner with us.

Embarrassing confession.  My maternity pants are getting too small, and I had to unbutton, unzip, and pull down my pants just to get comfortable.  When it was time to go, I had to quickly put on my jacket so as not to flash the rest of the clientele.  Sad.

On our ACTUAL anniversary, tonight, it was Awana night, so the whole family went.  Zach went to Cubbies, Wyatt went into the nursery for Puggles class, and Art and I spent a lovely hour in Caribou Coffee chatting.  Felt like a double celebration.

Date Night!

Tonight's Date Night activity was a surprise for Art.  Thanks to the Streetwise magazine, I saw that one of the small comedy clubs in Chicago was doing a play called the Legend of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet.  I found some seriously discounted tickets through Goldstar, online (paid total of $8 instead of total of $24), and secretly bought them.

The boys were at the Mangrich house tonight, and had it been any other date night, I would have not thought a bit about going into the city.  Unfortunately, today Wyatt gave up his pacifier, so I was very nervous that he would not go to sleep easily and would cry.  I had my phone on my lap the whole play, and texted Steph a few times to make sure all was ok.

Despite my preoccupation with Wyatt's well-being, it was a great time!  A tiny tiny theater, seats about 50 max.  There were about 20 people there.  This was the second to last showing for this play I think.  It was a lot of fun to hear their interpretation of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet.  Accents were ridiculous, but amusing.  Some mixture of German, Dutch, and general Euro.  Many of the jokes were more German centered, but you'd have to be "in the know" to know.  Lots of stereotypical Dutch stuff though - wooden shoes, tulips, etc...even made a lot of fun of the Dutch Boy Paints.

Art was very pleased with his surprise outing.  I enjoyed it quite a bit!  And bonus, Wyatt did just fine - no crying at all!  WHEW!

The Sundial: Merry Christmas from Mom

For the past 3 years, my Mom has given Staci and I (and our husbands) outings with her for our Christmas present.  Two years ago it was a trip to the museum to see a special King Tut exhibit, then Cheesecake Factory for some yummy dessert to go.  Last year we went to Medieval Times restaurant and watched the jousting, ate w/ no utensils, etc.   This we we all went for dinner at the Sundial.  A revolving restaurant high above downtown Atlanta in the Westin hotel.  Very swanky!

All dressed up and having enjoyed a wonderful meal and outing

View 1 of downtown ATL

View 2 of downtown ATL

View 3 of downtown ATL

All of the food was quite good!  Some of us got salad as an appetizer, some got soup.  Creed and I both got the lamb chop w/ cheese grits and kale for dinner.  Everyone else got something different (that I can't remember).  We all shared a chocolate dessert that was TO DIE FOR!  I regretted being pregnant and not having enough room for all the food!

A fun evening, and a great Christmas present!  Thanks Mom!

Guatemala Trip!! Arrival Day

Wednesday.  What a lovely lovely treat: Art and I going, sans kids, to Guatemala for 6 days to visit Aunt Juicenana and Alex.  Despite the slight unease in the pit of my stomach at 1) going to such a high crime place, 2) leaving my boys, 3) getting kidnapped, 4) speaking only "food" Spanish (burrito, taco, etc), and 5) leaving my boys, I was very excited for our adventure!  Which started too too early in the morning with Joy taking us to MARTA around 6am.  Then no issues with bag check or security, us walking the entire distance (instead of taking the train) from security to the E gates, still with 1 hour to spare.

Killing time reading People (thanks Staci for supplying me w/ reading material!)

The flight was educational.  People flying to Guatemala act very differently than people flying to ATL to Dallas.  Can't explain it really, but a different mentality.  It took about an hour just to load the chaotic plane.  Art and I were sitting comfy, excited about our 3 hour flight, able to do WHATEVER WE WANT - not having to entertain kids.  It was about to get even more comfy when a flight attendant, bless his soul, came and asked if we might want to switch to the Exit row (people there had an under 15 kid w/ them).  I shoved and clawed my way there before someone changed their mind!  Now the only irk was that we had so much room that I could barely reach my purse. :)  Flight left seriously seriously late.  Gained time, and we arrived pretty close on time.  Our bags were among the last and I was getting nervous - however unlikely a lost bag is on a direct flight (though later found out a youth group got 19 of their 23 bags lost).  Bags arrive, and we walk OUTSIDE (odd) to meet Alex.  He's there grinning, and my heart swells with gratitude for being taken care of in a foreign-to-me foreign country.  Alex drives us around a bit, showing us Joanna's work, then over to a university where Joanna, surprise to us, was taking the GMAT.  So far, it's difficult for me to tell what is a good area of town, and what is sketchy.  Art keeps asking.  Joanna finishes just as we arrive, and we catch her buying a celebratory Diet Coke to celebrate her being a genius - scoring 770 out of 800.

We leave, Joanna calls Dad, informs me Wyatt has a cough.  Heart seizes.  His last 3 coughs (in Jan, Mar, and May) turned into bronchitis.  Now worried, and reminding myself that PoppiMeMa (as they boys call them) are excellent caretakers.  Off we go to LUNCH!  Why did I not take a picture...so yummy!  First little surprise - the parking lot has an armed guard.  Ok.  Different.  Lunch was a bit Congrats Joanna, and Happy Birthday Art.  Meat lovers heaven.  Plus, we were introduced to the most yummy drink ever...like an Orangeade (instead of Lemonade).  Good!  We had chorizo and steak for lunch, with fries, and yummy bread.  More driving around, showing stuff.  Then off to Alex's house - so lovely!  Love love love the open air feel to it.  Of course Auri the maid was there and super nice.  Her 6mon old daughter Genesis took a shine to Art.  We relaxed under the gazebo by the pool while Alex did a bit of work.  Art got reacquainted with the lovely internet

Art sitting in Marissa's room, using Joanna's laptop

I had to send Dad an email with pictures of Wyatt & Zachary's insurance cards.  Last year, when we left the boys with Poppi & MeMa for 10 days, I was so prepared.  I wrote a permission letter for medical treatment, left copies of their insurance and passports, etc.  This time, though in a foreign country, I made no preparations - ehh, they've got it covered. :)  Before dinner, we drive up to the local coffee shop and get some yummy coffee with Joanna while Alex does some work.  Art and I also get some $$$ out of the ATM for our visit.  Dinner time.  Still not hungry from the gorging experience of lunch.  So we decide to go out for drinks and snacks then will re-evaluate our food needs.  Alex drives the 4 of us to a swanky area near the foothills.  Of course it's pretty early, and we are the only ones there until Alex's friend Hugo shows up.  SO ODD - Hugo is about to move to Groningen, a tiny university town in Holland (we visited Baastian et family there).  He's been there before.  So odd.  So he and Art spoke of Holland a good deal.

Fearsome 4 out on the town

We got tons of little snacks there, which I did not want (b/c I was still so full), but felt the need to eat anyway.  Uggh, so full!  Back to Casa Garcia, where we got to meet Alex's mom for the first time.  Such a cute, tiny, lady!  And so gracious.  She's letting us stay at her house for 4 nights in her daughter Marissa's room (she is visiting their other sister who lives in Orlando).  So generous!  We hashed out the plans for the morning - get up early-ish, and head to Antigua after breakfast.

Date Night!

Art and I switch off Thursdays w/ another family...us babysitting their daughter and putting her to bed at our place while they have a date night, and then them taking our boys the next week while we go out.  A good system!

This week we went to a free concert at James Park (they have them every Thursday in the summer) and saw Marshall Crenshaw.  A fun evening!  Then, after the concert, Art "needed" to get some McDs french fries, as is often the case during our date nights.  It was a few weeks ago after I picked the batting cages (I had to get some practice in b/f my first softball game!) for date night.

View of the park at dusk, people at the concert

Not the best picture, but proof we were there; without KIDS!

Museum of Science and Industry

Our friends, from Albuquerque, Jess &  Dave, were in town for a wedding on Saturday.  They reserved to spend the whole day Friday and Friday night with us before going to another friend's house for Saturday & the wedding.  First, special thanks to our friend Stephanie M. for keeping our boys all day so we could hang out with J&D who were kidless for the weekend!!  We had planned on doing a downtown walking tour, taking a cruise on the tall Ship Windy, and exploring Navy Pier....however, Jess had a very upset stomach and could not really handle all that.  So we headed over to the Museum of Science and Industry.  Fine with us, because we had not been yet.  SCORE, we end up there during a free day, so all we had to pay for was parking!  Then Jess & Dave splurged and paid extra for us to all see the U-boat tour.  Here's what we did, in a nutshell...

Shayna and Jess in front of the old train

Birdseye view of the train

Off to see the U-Boat

Jess & Dave in front of the massive (on the outside) U-boat.

Then we took a tour of the U-boat's insides which was very very interesting.  We listened to some recording in German of what happened on the ship, which was fun because I could understand a lot of it.  It was amazing the number of people they housed for months at a time on that sub.  And so gross that they operated on a "hot bunk" system whereas they worked/slept in shifts, and 3 or so guys shared one bed, each getting a shift.  Oh yes, and 100deg heat.  Gross.

Then off to the farm exhibit, as a preview for what we'll see in July when we visit Jess' sister's farm.

What happens when Art gets the camera unsupervised - though a very interesting exhibit

In case we wondered where the poop came from

Art keeping it real

Art and Dave by the combine

Off to see random exhibits before calling it quits for the day

WWII fighter jet

 

Scale model of Chicago

Then back home to relax, pick up the kids, eat Carmen's pizza, play Cribbage and go to bed.  Fun day w/ our good friends!

Date Night!

Art and I have an arrangement with another couple, S & B Mangrich, to alternate weekly date nights. They bring their daughter (a month older than Wy) to our house on their Thursday nights, she plays, then we put her to bed, and they pick her up later in the evening. On our Thursday nights, we take our boys to their house for playing and going to bed. It's a great system for us (we think they get the short end b/c our boys are so HYPER), ensuring we get a date night at least every other week. Both couples have been utilizing the advice given by an older married lady at a bridal shower back in the summer. Each spouse takes turns planning the entire date, doing whatever that person likes/wants to do. That way once a month, each of us gets to do exactly what we'd like to w/out worrying about the other spouse liking it or not. For example, one of Art's date nights involved grabbing a beer at a sports bar/grill and watching GT Football. We have had a lot of fun with this, plus each couple gives the other one ideas of what to do.

Art & I playing a car racing game

Here are Art and I at date night recently: Nickle City arcade, an idea given to us by S. Mangrich. It was a ton of fun. Most games are one nickle to play, but some are 3-8 nickles depending on the game. We played DDR (dance dance revolution) for 8 nickles each which was both fun and a good cardio workout. Guitar Hero was about 5 nickles each, but also fun, once you got the hang of it. They also have an area of Free Play games; mostly old school games like Track & Field, Tetris, Mortal Kombat, etc that are all just free. They have a bunch of "redemption" games where you play for tickets, like skee ball, etc. Pretty cool place. We paid $2/person to get in and then bought a $3 bag of nickles. $7 date is awesome! They closed at 9pm, and we had no idea 1) that we were the only people left in there and 2) what time it was, until they shut down the power in the middle of a game. All the games got shut down...very cool shutting down noise from all those games.