Museum Photos

Outside the Field Museum!

Angie meets a pirate.


Sue the T-Rex.

Chicago in the model train exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Angie the astronaut.

Harry Potter banner (no pics inside the exhibit).


Angie with the flying Ford Anglia from the Harry Potter movies.


Model of the future tallest building...

...built out of Legos.

Why hello there!

We've been busy lately, but we've been having a fun summer. We've spent a lot of time together this month since we've both been off. We've been to the Field Museum and we saw the pirate exhibit on display, and we went to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Harry Potter exhibit and the Smart Home. We had fun at both museums and it was nice to spend time with one another. Graham got a number of good ideas for our future home after seeing the Smart Home!

Yesterday we went to the annual family picnic for "I Heart Family Picnics XXVI!" Each year (for the past 26) Graham's family has thrown a picnic for all sides of the family to get together. Graham's grandmother and her brother and all their kids and their kids' families show up, and it's usually a good time. This year's picnic was much bigger than last year's, and it was nice to get together with all the cousins. We've got big plans for next year, but more on those later.

A fun activity for the picnic is the raffle! Everyone brings a prize or two, and everyone gets a raffle ticket and the chance to win a prize. This year, my future-sister-in-law and I were both eyeing a glass pitcher and some glasses. Fortunately for me, Graham had his number called first, so we've got a brand new pitcher and wine glasses! ;-) I hear some sangria calling my name!

Look for a picture post soon. We'll update with photos from the picnic and museums soon.

Nasturtium...

Well lookie here.....it's kind of blurry, but we've got blooming nasturtium! These are some of my favorite flowers to plant. They're beautiful and delicate, and they only bloom for a few days before withering. I've planted the Peach Melba variety, and they're a gorgeous yellow color. They also smell glorious.

I love watching these flowers bloom.

MORE Gardeny Goodness!

Remember this post from a few weeks ago? Well, we've had a really cool and rainy June this year, and our plants haven't minded one bit....

My zinnias are going to take over the building soon. If you never hear from me again, assume I've been strangled to death by one of these guys!

We're also going to have flowers soon! A few of my zinnias are budding!

And Graham's pot of wildflowers and native grasses are pretty large and in charge here....

Oh, and our tomatoes are doing reeeeeeeeeeeeeally well....

We've got tomato flowers!!!! We'll have vegetables soon enough, my friends.

Graham's marigolds are finally starting to bloom! We struggled with them early on this year, and they've finally figured out that the roots go down and the stems go up. Way to be, flowers. Way to be!

My herb "garden" is doing really, really well, too. I've been able to harvest some basil, and I'll be using my sage, dill, and parsley really soon, too. The pot in the foreground has been struggling, some, but my chives and the other herbs are doing okay despite the rain and oppressive humidity.

Our garden is really taking off! I'm really impressed with all we've accomplished so far this summer. I can't wait to use some of our tomatoes.

Kim & Ken Get Married

On June 13th, Graham's cousin Kim married her boyfriend Ken. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful ceremony. It was the first wedding in the family since ours, so it was wonderful to be able to celebrate with everyone again, and I must say it was great to not be on display like before. I loved my wedding dress, but I loved just being able to sit back and enjoy the party, too.

Kim & Ken say their vows....awww....

Graham's cousin Craig pulls together a mean outfit for a wedding!

Obligatory photo of us from the day.

Overall it was a great day. I love to dance, so being able to dance at the wedding and "get down with my bad self" was really fun. Now I can't wait for Brian and Robyn's wedding later this summer!

States We've Visited

Together we're not terribly well-traveled, but on our own we've each been to a number of different states. I took this little "quiz" last night and found out I've been to 27/50 states, which is roughly 52%.

Hopefully we'll add more to our list in the next year. We're talking about a trip to a few different states next summer, especially to places neither of us have ever been. It's a great opportunity for us to travel now--no kids--and visit places and do things our future spawn won't want to visit and do. Let's face it, I love me some wineries, but I have a *feeling* a 6-year old will want to spend time in Florida with Mickey over time with me in the tasting room.

We're not big travelers, but we love traveling together. We're good traveling buddies, or "exit buddies". I can't wait to add more memories to our life together.

And, for all Graham's fans on facebook, this really just means more albums and captions to look forward to!

Worms!

Angie has given me permission to buy red worms for composting in our apartment. To the left you can see a picture of the little guys before they were put into their new home. Let me explain the process.

We got an 18 gallon Rubbermaid container, which I had to rinse out and then drill a bunch of air holes. Next I shredded approximately two newspapers (no glossy sales ads) and wet them down until they had the feel of a squeezed out sponge. Finally, I fluffed the newspaper and added the worms.

As we have gone along, I also learned to add a layer of dry paper to the top. The worms are used to having a larger cruising area (they came from a worm farm in McHenry County, so they are accustomed to more space), hence they kept crawling up the sides of the bin. By adding the dry paper, the worms are discouraged from climbing the bin.

Finally, we have also fed them a couple of times. Banana seems to be a popular dish. We have also given them coffee grounds, water chestnuts, green beans, tomato, spinach, lettuce, and bamboo shoots. We can basically feed them scraps from any fruit or vegetable product, as well as coffee and tea. We can put newspaper in there, too, as well as egg shells and breads. Big no-nos include meats, bones, fish, dairy products, glossy paper, and anything greasy or overly processed. The goal is to produce are own compost/fertilizer using the worms, and it should take about two months. We also will be producing less garbage.

Oh, it is also a really cool conversation piece, even if it means we have to get a kitty someday now.