Aw Shucks

Having a toddler who wants to learn and help with everything is fantastic.  Whit's latest lesson was on shucking corn, and his trademark attention to detail made for some perfectly clean ears.

And the payoff was sweet!

The Artiste

Whit's current passions are the culinary and visual arts.  Bear, Moose, Andy, and I have gorged ourselves on many fine plastic feasts; and when not working with the more permanent mediums of crayon and chalk, Whit can be found pensively reclined and sketching his next great work on his magnet pad.  Apparently creativity can be exhilarating and exhausting.

Just outside of Chicago is a place called Illinois

I will be the first Chicago-area baby to admit that I knew little about my great state beyond what I was required to learn in school.  Chicagoans tend to believe that there is nothing worth seeing outside of the city.  Even most of our worldly grad school friends from Kellogg thought that Chicago was the bee's knees, and spent every waking moment soaking it up and ignoring wonderful parks and trails further out in the state.  Sadly, I lump us into this group...until now.  Living in rural Illinois is forcing us to think outside of the box, and so far we like what we see.  Today we explored Starved Rock State Park, with lots of great hiking trails (and lots of stairs - I think I lost 10 pounds).  The sights and smells of nature beat the congestion of the city any day.

P.S. For those whiny pants who think I am disrespecting Chicago, please refer to my post on 10.17.11.

Nature's park benches...

...and skyscrapers