trains, yes. plane, no.

Mom and Dad took us to the Museum of Science and Industry last weekend. They knew to avoid the (possibly educational but definitely disturbing) Body Worlds 2 exhibit, but they thought Zak and I would enjoy the big trains and the Boeing 727 that looks like it's about to land inside the museum. Not so fast, folks. My brother quickly deemed the plane "too big and too scary" to go near. Never fear, we entertained ourselves elsewhere and had a great time. Eventually we did make it back to the room with the 727, but we were so entranced by the 3,500-square-foot model railroad exhibit that we didn't even look up! We're definitely going to need more track for our train table at home...

(Photos from top to bottom: Wyn, Zak, Zak, Wyn)

PS Click here to see photos from our last trip to the MSI...we've grown a bit since then.

daddy's proudest moment

Yesterday, without warning, Wynston drew the square root symbol you see here. Mom, being the slightly less mathematically-inclined parent in the house, thought it was the symbol for long division* and IM'ed Dad straightaway to alert him to his younger son's impromptu flash of mathematical brilliance.** Pop's response: "Wow. I was hoping to teach him logarithms before division. This isn't the traditional sequence, but it is more logical. Oh well. Learning through discovery is best, anyway." Uh, okay. And as far as the creepy monkey-like thing hovering over the square root sign goes, well, draw your own conclusions.

*It is similar, in her defense. And she's been working late every night for two weeks. And we're now getting up every morning at 7. So she's really, really sleep deprived. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, she was not wearing her glasses at the time.
** The fact that it was actually the symbol for square root, and not long division, does not diminish the level of mathematical brilliance demonstrated by my brother.

sacked out like...

bready or not...here's grandma!

We had such a great weekend! Grandma "Grandma Bready" Betty flew up to help us celebrate our 3-years-and-2-weeks birthday. Here we are lunching at Winberie's shortly after her arrival. I don't know what Zak and I are looking at here. Perhaps a very long loaf of bread passing before our table, in honor of Grandma's visit.


Grandma gave us some delightful birthday presents, including these twin dump trucks that go with our train set. Of course, it didn't take us long to find some dirt with which to load them up (click here for a more satisfying view of the dirt).


We thought Grandma would enjoy a chance to "see the fishies" with us, so a trip to the Shedd Aquarium was in order. Of course, once we got there we were more interested in the interactive buttons, touch-screens and videos than the actual animals. Fortunately, Grandma kept us on our toes with probing and thought-provoking questions like "What color are those fish?"


Okay, certain animals were definitely worth a closer look. Here's Zak coming face-to-belly with a stingray. This interaction elicited many hearty responses from my brother, along the lines of "Cool!" and "Neat!" and "Hi! I'm a stingray!"


Later we broke for lunch at the Shedd's fabulous restaurant, Soundings. It's fabulous because your waiter brings you a clear plastic clamshell bowl full of Goldfish crackers, the better to fill yourself up on before your food arrives. Oh well...Grandma, you are the clear plastic clamshell bowl full of Goldfish crackers in our life. We simply can't get enough of you when you're in front of us, and when you're gone, we are sad (but full). Thank you for visiting us! We love you, and we hope to see you again soon!

my first book jacket photo

the three tenors

Sam joined us one evening last week for a song-filled sleepover. Our trio put Aunt Katherine's birthday present to good use with magical renditions of Twinkle Twinkle, Steam Train and several other less readily identifiable numbers. Tickets for future home performances are currently sold out, but we are available for wedding and convention bookings.