IU Campus Walk

Indiana University has one of the most beautiful campuses in the U.S. I took Kenzie on a walk through the campus... she got all excited to see the squirrels and chipmunks scurrying about looking for food.

It was a perfect fall day. I'll try to get back to the campus with her in a week or two when the leaves are in high color.

I got the biggest kick when she saw the bronze statue of Herman B. Wells - she kept stepping on his foot to check and be sure he wasn't real. When she felt comfortable, she sat beside him.

The Multicultural Festival

Our fair city has a Multicultural Festival every fall. On October 1st, we went to the complex where they were holding it. We always like going to this festival, especially to hear the different musical pieces.

Here is a demo of martial arts from China.































Here we were sitting down and resting. It was hot that day - in the 80's. Indian Summer has come and on that day, we were sweltering, except in the shade where a nice breeze would cool you off. Unfortunately, it was nothing but asphalt where all the events were taking place, so the ambient heat was increased by the radiant heat... or something like that. Gee, I almost sound smart...

Here is Kenzie playing with a Chinese yo-yo. Well, that's what I've heard them called. She was good at it - Mommy just made a mess of it every time I tried to "throw" it.




















Here she is listening to - and loving - a type of African music and dance that was imported to South America with the Portuguese slave trade. (I have forgotten what it was called - if I find the paperwork on it, I'll change this post and put the correct name for it here.) Surprise, Kenzie really LOVED this. It also incorporated a type of "dance" that involved martial arts. She began beating her balloon with the yo-yo like it was a drum, "playing" along with the musicians.




































They asked that they get volunteers to come up and form a circle. The group was to clap their hands and to sing a musical phrase after every time the one singer sang something. Then they got up and walked in a circle , stopped and watched the martial arts dancing. Kenzie just had to participate - she couldn't wait to get up and join in the group.























Of course, instead of clapping, she was making her yo-yo work. I think she might have been trying to imitate the way they have held teh musical instruments here... She has her own style, and she follows no one. I really love that about her. Probably until she is 12 and begins to think she knows it all... and then "her own style" will drive me crazy.






The last event of the day involved group dancing to Eastern European music. Again, she just had to join in. She got the biggest kick out of "dancing" with the group. The smile she has is worth a thousand hot days in the sun.


I'm looking forward to next year's event. I think Kenzie will enjoy participating in more dances as she gets older.

Fun at the hairdressers and after

Kenzie got her haircut last night. I thought it was looking a bit scraggly - so I decided to make a change. She went crazy jumping for me... and I decided to take some pics of her jumping. I am amazed at how far she can jump... and looking at the pics I can see why... she puts everything she has into it.

Afterwards, I got pics of her goofing off at home. She loves the new do... and thinks she looks like an older kid.

Pics from our trip

 



 
 
 
  

Video of Kenzie at Navy Pier

On Labor Day, we went to Navy Pier. They had a small stage set up in the front part, and Kenzie wanted to participate in a game she watched them play. When we first got there, she saw kids playing "Pass the Stinky Fish" - which was played like Hot Potato. We came back 2 hours after she had first seen it so that she might have a chance to play. She got picked to go up on the stage.

So, she is up on stage - and from one of the pics I took, she looked stage struck. But she was very competitive and had been able to pick up on the object of the game quickly. However, she got caught holding the fish after 2 rounds of music. What she did when she had to leave made everyone in the audience fall in love with her. You can't hear it very well, but there was a huge 'AAAAAWWWWW" from the entire crowd.

When she came back to her seat, she said, "I won." I didn't tell her otherwise. She sees herself as a winner... and I think everyone else did, too.

The Lincoln Park Zoo

Well... Yesterday was a hoot.

We had perfect weather, not too hot, a nice breeze blowing off of Lake Michigan. Just gorgeous.

I have some neat pics to post when I get back home. I will tell you one thing... if a rhino starts spraying piss - leave - move - get the heck outta there. We saw a female rhino that was spraying pee all over some rocks.. and it didn't take long to find out that IT STANK! Some miniscule molecules must have been blowing in the air, because all day I kept thinking I smelled like rhino piss... it had to be stuck in my olfactory. Eeeeuuw.

Lincoln Park Zoo is free... if you drive there, you only pay for the parking. And the parking isn't that expensive. But I'm here to tell you, try to get there as early as you can to get a good parking place, or you'll be walking a long distance just to get a spot to park.

I can't wait to get home so I can get the pictures up.

This morning, it's raining outside. So we are going to Navy Pier. They have a Children's Museum, and a few other things we might want to see.

We're in Chicago!!!

We decided to make last minute plans to go to Chicago! We had no idea how Kenzie would do with traveling so far and literally not much to do... but she was such a trooper! I was amazed. She slept quite a bit, but she also kept herself entertained. We stopped probably 4 times along the way so she could use the restrooms and stretch her legs... and it wouldn't seem so long a trip. Poor thing slept while we went through Chicago, so she didn't get to see the big skyscrapers as we went past.

We originally booked a room at a Days Inn in Niles, IL. It is located at 6450 Touhey Ave... and if someone took a bomb and wiped this motel off the face of the earth, that would be fine with me. We checked in and when we got in the room, none of the lights, nor the TV, nor the clock worked in the front part of the room. The water was lukewarm coming out of the faucets.

I don't need fancy to be happy... just want the water to be hot, the air conditioning (or heat) to work, and to have lights and TV. That's all. It could be the Bates motel for all I care - just give me what you say you're going to give me.

They told us that a water pipe was busted, and the water had been shut off to the whole building. (Why in the H$!! did they put us in a room where the water had been shut off and only just now turned back on... and yet the water still wasn't hot?)

They moved us to another room - about 1/2 the size, and it didn't have the amenities that I had origially paid for. I don't need to tell you... we left.

Oh, and they advertised a "Free Continental Breakfast". It was a small box of cereal and some milk. WHAT A JOKE!!!!!

Just down the street, there was a Holiday Inn. This was almost twice the price for the room per night, but at least everything worked, and it is certainly a lot nicer than the last place. The only downside is that the room entrances are all located on the inside of the hotel, and our room is RIGHT OUTSIDE AN INDOOR SWIMMING POOL THAT STAYS OPEN UNTIL 11 PM! AAAAAAAUUUUUURRRRRRGGGGHHHH! And believe me, they used it until 11 pm.

Kenzie's comment - at 10 pm - was, "Mommy, why is there so much noise outside?!?"

I hope to be able to post pics of our trip later... But so far, it has been fairly good... considering.