Life is good. Thursday, we joined
Nicole and darling baby Peter for an outing to the Shedd Aquarium. Elijah enjoyed watching the turtle puppet show and climbing the stairs in the oceanarium. My favorite parts were the sea mammal (aka dolphin) show and the otter exhibit. On our way to the car, there was a mini-down pour of rain and that made the whole experience that much more fun. After arriving home, we switched to dry clothes, had some tea and then had a visit from Elijah's best friend, Jacob.
Jacob drives and Elijah rides shotgun
Is that rain?? I dunno, I think someone left the bath running.
On Friday, we hit a free kids concert in the morning and spent the rest of the day preparing for Shabbat dinner (sake drenched salmon, gingery asparagus, old-school rice casserole and braided challah). I was happy with the food, but the evening's vocal performances were truly memorable. Prior to his bedtime, Elijah started rolling his hands around, prompting a family rendition of
Wheels on the Bus. After dinner, the sing-a-long included such favorites as
There's a Hole in the Bucket, This Land is Your Land and
Leaving on a Jet Plane. I haven't seen my Dad hold a guitar in years and it was quite special.
I should have let the challah bake for a few more minutes, but it still looked pretty.
If you've actually read this far, you deserve a special treat! Here is a video of Elijah, Nicole and Peter at the Oceanarium. As for today... We all went to Shabbat Shalom (adorable) and had breakfast at the city's best IHOP (Grace and Broadway). "An IHOP is an IHOP is an IHOP. Or is it? It seems like everyone who works here went to some special IHOP Academy for customer service." I just love that place.
