Our First Sleepover

By MAGGIE WANG

For Kristen and Mitch's anniversary in early June, Kevin's nephews Atticus and Skyler were spending the night at A-Ma and A-Gong Ding's house. We stopped by for the girls to play, and when I was picking the girls up, Skyler was begging to come spend the night at our house. It was in the middle of the NBA Finals, and Kevin wanted no part of extra distractions, so I promised Skyler that when the school year was over, we'd have them over.

It worked out perfectly. We got it planned out with Kris just a couple days before, which is quite unusual when trying to coordinate with all the kids' activities and schedules.

Atticus (left with Sedona) and Skyler (right with Maven) love their Nintendo DS gizmos, so our girls had to show them their new iPod Touches.

Then they played some Sesame Street-themed Chutes and Ladders. It was super cute. Atticus was the big winner.

The boys made it through some of Sedona and Maven's little-kid TV shows before ending the night.

Atticus and Skyler slept on the floor in the girls' room (although Sedona was so excited that she repeatedly had offered up her bed and Maven's bed to accommodate the guests). I was concerned they'd stay up late talking and playing, but within minutes all four kids were asleep! Success!

Birthday Parties

By MAGGIE WANG

The day after we got back from the Chicago trip was Riley's 4th birthday (July 8). Sedona and Riley are having a joint birthday party on Aug. 8, so to celebrate on Riley's actual birthday, we picked Riley up from school for some McDonald's before a big fun playdate that Whitney planned.

Whitney surprised Riley by having a special guest -- Snow White! -- show up. Sedona and Maven were excited yet hesitant with a stranger. When it came time for cake, Maven was playing ... and Riley being the sweetheart she is, always looking out for our girls, ran over after all the kids had their cake and said, "Maven didn't get one! Maven didn't get one!" After getting cake to give to Maven, Riley ran across the park and fed Maven the cake so Maven could continue playing. What a good friend, looking out for little Maven even on Riley's own birthday!

After a bubble-themed birthday party Saturday at a local park (Keagan from Maven's Mommy & Me class turned 2, and they had a bubble-expert lady on hand), the girls were inspired to play with bubbles at A-Ma Ding's house.

Chi-Town Day 6: Shedd Aquarium

By MAGGIE WANG

All in all, a fun trip to Chicago (starting with the flight out, when we took off from LAX and Sedona had half the plane cracking up when she shrieked from her window seat: "We are in the air!").

Our last day started with a morning at Shedd Aquarium with the Lev and Suh families. We saw some fish, turtles and octopus before watching the Fanta-sea Show with dolphins, beluga whales, penguins and a hawk. On this trip Sedona took a real liking to penguins -- asking to see them everywhere. The show was not all it was hyped up to be, but the kids enjoyed it.

After the show we had lunch at the Soundings Café within Shedd. While the girls were waiting for the food, they colored ... and played with the iPod Touches. (Note from once we got home: Kevin and I watched a documentary "A Small Act" about kids in Kenya, and they didn't even have electricity and had to do their schoolwork by oil light! I couldn't help but think what a luxury these iPod Touches are!)

Sedona was working on her Peanuts coloring book with a real-life Charlie Brown, as Kevin likes to tell Sedona and Maven that Uncle Mag resembles (and they agree).

Sedona made like a penguin in sliding down a penguin "glacier" slide.

Can you see what is between the girls (under Maven's hand)?

On the left are Maven and Parker Suh, Kev's and Bry's littlest ones ... and on the right are our girls with all the boys!

Outside Shedd, we said our goodbyes to Bryan's family. Maven kept it light, but if you've been watching her in the recent photos outside in the Chicago heat, Sedona isn't too comfy. More on that to come.

We hit the hotel pool then -- the girls love swimming now -- and later Mag and Austin came over while Sarah had a date with a friend.

The kids had a great time eating at the hotel and and dancing in the hotel room before winding down with some "Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!" DVD action.

When we got home the next day (Day 7), Sedona drew a picture of Chicago. Take note of the sun that she cannot stop talking about. Kevin has a video of Sedona, explaining her picture, that he'll put up later.

I really don't think Sedona realized how great she has it with the Southern California weather until this trip.

Example #1: 

Me: "Do you want to go to the parade?"

Sedona: "Yes! ... Do I have to be outside."

Me: "Yes."

Sedona: "No, thanks."

Example #2:

Me: "What was your favorite part of the trip to Chicago?"

Sedona: "Being inside."

Example #3:

Kevin: "Did you have fun on the trip?"

Sedona: "Yeah."

Kevin: "Did you like this week in Chicago better or last year's trip (a week in early September) to New York City?"

Sedona: "New York City. ... (pause) ... I didn't know it was going to be this hot in Chicago." 

Example #4:

Me, as the plane is about to land: "We are almost home. The weather is going to be great at home."

Sedona: "Mommy, why is it so hot in Chicago?"

Chi-Town Day 5: Suburbs

By MAGGIE WANG

We started the day with the intention of joining Soop's family at the Glenview parade honoring July 4th but got derailed because Sedona (and Kevin) expressed disinterest in starting the day steaming in the hot weather. Despite somewhat nice days by Chicago standards, we spoiled Californians weren't buying it (and it was probably a good decision given that it was another long day).

We ended up doing a little time at the suburban Old Orchard Mall, where we stumbled upon a Frontera Fresco restaurant. That was coincidental considering yesterday I was just telling Kevin that I wanted to try Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill.

I watched Bravo's 2009 Top Chef Masters, and Rick's personality and food always appealed to me -- and well, I found out for sure on this day! The family shared a Cubana Tortas (Roast pork, Chihuahua cheese, Applewood smoked bacon, black beans, cilantro cream, chipotle mustard and avocado) with a Raspberry Prickly Pear Agua Fresca. Really great!

Soop, wife Jenn, and kids Emily and Matthew Boyd kindly offered up their Glenview home for a cookout after they got home from the parade. Their place is super cute and so clean that I am envious -- with a large backyard for plenty of fun. We were joined by Mag's and Bry's families (though Teddy and wife Nori had headed off to Montana on vacation).

Bry's eldest son Ethan led Sedona, Maven and Austin in playing in the sand. Ethan was sweet and chill, but I don't think I heard more than the word "OK" come out of his mouth.

The girls played with Soop's daughter Emily a lot. They enjoyed many games of hide-and-seek inside and outside. That was hard to capture by camera, but not to fear, Kevin got some of it on video for future posting.

To give the Soop family some rest, Bry's family of wife Kate and three kids plus two of Kate's nephews joined us at a local park and then Portillo's restaurant for some more bonding time.

Sedona was a delight all day long and still had plenty of energy for the playground, but Maven was pooped. I must say that I loved it: At home I always need to use Maven's nap time to get work done, so I really enjoyed my snuggle time with her!

Chi-Town Day 4: Northwestern

By MAGGIE WANG

It was a trip down memory lane for four Northwestern grads and their six kids. (We were missing Bry's family at this July 4 alumni reunion in Evanston.)

It started with a caravan with Teddy and Mag to Dominick's supermarket to get some snacks, followed by a bagel breakfast picnic by the Kellogg business school's building. (Not sure why we didn't go to the Medill School of Journalism -- not as much grassy area, I guess -- but I was happy I wasn't doing any of the planning! )

 

Having had some fun with Teddy's daughter Elle the previous day, Maven tried to show Elle some of those pictures on her iTouch. Elle seemed skeptical of what Maven was offering. I had uploaded all the pictures to their iTouches for their enjoyment. 

Side note: The girls both got iTouches (officially iPod touches) before this trip. This marks our family's first interactive Apple product experience besides our iPod minis purchased more than four years ago. There are many great iTouch applications that I can download for education and play. It's been a great tool to keep the girls occupied for the plane and for short periods of time when necessary. It is a treat, and they love it.

Kevin played ball (using Teddy's purple Northwestern mini-football) with the kids while we were waiting for Soop's family to join us. We then all headed over to another nice green area by the lake (called the Lakefill, where they've built new soccer and field-hockey fields recently) for some relaxation.

See all that Northwestern purple in the background?

The girls were picking flowers and pine cones while the boys were playing ball, although the girls eventually started playing ball and Frisbee, too.

Maven shared her Goldfish snacks with Matthew and Emily. Matthew was definitely a big fan to the point that Sedona said, "You cannot have any more until you finish what is in your mouth."

After leaving the Evanston campus, we hit up one of Kevin's favorite eateries since childhood, Steak 'n Shake, with Mag's and Soop's families. They are all huge fans. I thought it was fine, but again, not sure what all the hype is about.

It was a hot and long day, so we came back to our downtown hotel to rest before hitting up the hotel pool. It wore us all out. We all fell asleep even before the 9 p.m. fireworks started!

Happy Birthday, America! Sorry, we were party poopers!

Chi-Town Day 3: All about the Greensteins

By MAGGIE WANG

We woke up nice and early for a Chicago day with the Greensteins. We visited their beautiful home with fun, unique touches in Wrigleyville. Their spot is definitely a cute area of town and very much our style: They're in the city with lots of local eateries (we brunched at Uncommon Ground), shops and parks.

Maven has taken a real liking to Uncle Teddy Greenstein (sorry to Teddy Liaw!) ... mostly because this Uncle Teddy is a sucker and will carry Maven on his shoulders and throw her in the air every other minute of the day.

And well, of course Aunt Nori ain't too shabby either ... pushing Maven to the park in this super-cool stroller with their daughter Elle's trendy sunglasses. Speaking of Elle, who is only a month younger than Maven, here she is on the playground in some more photos (mostly Kevin's candid shots) ...

 

And as you can tell, they had a nice time with new pal Elle.