I. cannot. believe. its Labor Day weekend. I had HIGH expectations for this summer, my friends, and I am happy to report that the summer of ’17 exceeded those lofty expectations. As is true of pretty much everything now when compared to the BH era, it was totally different than other summers in recent memory. I don’t think I ended up reading down at our pool even ONCE, which now that I mention it, I should remedy this weekend. And there was of course, way less patio drinking—a Chicago summer institution!—though I’m totally satisfied with our level of fun this summer.
I thought it would be fun to look back at some of my favorite memories… a hard list to compile because there were just so many good memories this summer. And also, because Chicagoans are obsessed with talking about weather, I have to note that we had the BEST weather this summer. So few cloudy or rainy days, and also barely any days that were suffocatingly hot. Thank you, Chicago. You really delivered!
So in no particular order, here was our summer:
Although it was short-lived, our family trip down to the beach was so much fun. While I’d taken Hudson to the beach a few times to play in the sand, we never actually went in the water until the three of us went together. I wasn’t sure what he’d make of the choppier water since he’s only been in pools so far, but he. was. obsessed. I think the memory of him sitting in the shallow water, happy screaming and giggling over the waves will always be the #1 thing I think of when I remember this summer. Pure baby joy.
Our trip to Lake Geneva with my best friend and her family was nothing short of awesome. Technically, we didn’t do a ton, but it was perfect for where our babies are right now. We got some pool time in, went for walks around the beautiful resort, and were asleep every night by 10PM. So like I said… perfect 😃 I love seeing our babies together, and I hope this was the first of many family trips that we take together!
Hudson’s first birthday! I love that Hudson has a summer birthday like Jason and I do! Most of summer just feels like one big party to me. Our small family get-together to celebrate Hudson turning one was everything I was hoping for—mostly in that Hudson had a huge smile on his face all day long.
Staycation #1: Moms Night Out and Sue Ellen and Patrick’s Wedding at the Wyndham. My friend Sue Ellen got married here in the city this summer, and we made it a staycation weekend sans-baby. The whole weekend was so much fun: on Friday, we spent some time at our pool and then went out to dinner and to see a show with my best friend and her husband. Because this should be on record, the show was Moms Night Out by the I Mom So Hard Comedians. Jason and Erik were two of like… five men and a few thousand women. They were champs about it but as Jason put it, people were pointing at him like he was Bigfoot. So, so funny (both the show and the situation :))
And then Saturday was the wedding, which was as beautiful as I’d imagined! The church service at Old St. Pat’s was stunning and then we headed over to the Wyndham on the river for the reception. The terrace had the most incredible views (we were looking down on London House, so I now feel less sad about not having been there, ha) and the whole night was just a blast with a live band and hanging out with friends taking pictures in the photo booth.
Staycation #2: Air and Water Show Weekend. (Yes, we enjoyed not one but TWO Hudson free weekends this summer–thanks, Grandma and Papa! I always miss him when we’re not with him but these weekends with J were SO much fun.) The Air & Water show is one of my husband’s favorite things, and while I like it too, I think what I really look forward to most about the whole thing is seeing him as excited as a little kid all weekend, checking out the planes diving around Chicago. We headed to Cafe Oliva at Ohio Street Beach on Friday afternoon to watch the planes practice, then followed that up with an awesome dinner at Il Porcellino, where we happened to be seated next to all of the players for the Blue Jays… which was doubly awesome because we saw them play our Cubs the next day. Being in Wrigley while the planes did flyovers was incredible. A perfect late-summer weekend.
Pool time. When I was a little kid, having a pool was the height of my dreams. On vacations, my sister and I would wander through the museums and parks and restaurants that our family would bring us to in order to expose us to all of the great big world out there and ask: “but when can we go swimming?” (We were charming.) So now that we have a pool, I am so happy that Hudson seems to love the water as much as we do. And even though swimming lessons earlier this year weren’t exactly a raging success, he did pick up some things: he kicks his feet when I say “kick kick kick” and has no fear of the water. Taking a baby swimming is an unholy amount of work, but it’s worth it to see how excited he gets at the sight of the water. Thinking of heading down to the pool as a family on Sunday afternoons or just Hudson and I when it was nice out during the week will always be some of my favorite memories of his first summer.
Baby Singalongs by the Wiggleworms at Navy Pier. Navy Pier hosted the Wiggleworms from the Old Town School of Folk Music twice a week this summer, and Hudson and I went every Friday that we could. He started out cautiously curious about the whole thing at the beginning of summer… and by the last week, ended up at the front of the mat, shaking all of the shakers and doing his little bounce-dance to the beat.
My birthday! I shamelessly love my birthday (life is for celebrating!) and this year was one of my favorite celebrations ever. On the morning of the Saturday that we celebrated my birthday, I texted my sister, brother-in-law, and husband that I was pretty sure it was going to be the best day of my life (apart from major life milestones like marriage/baby, of course :)) The line-up of activities was just my DREAM come true: brunch at Hampton Social, a bubbles tasting class at Eataly, and then meeting friends for a going away party at J Parker, one of my favorite Chicago summer rooftops. By the end of the day I’d checked the frose box, my cheeks hurt from laughing at making boomerangs, and I’d gotten to relive my nerdy student days and embarrassed my sister by asking the instructor a ton of dumb questions in bubbles class. It was the best.
The Streeterville Farmers Market. Every Tuesday, Streeterville’s neighborhood association hosts a Farmers Market on the plaza of the Museum of Contemporary Art. While Streeterville has a lot to offer in the way of activities, lakefront access, and architecture, I wouldn’t exactly describe it as very… neighborhoody. The Farmers Market made it feel like just that, and I loved taking Hudson to pick out strawberries and look at the flowers every week. We’d take the strawberries to eat them in the park next door, and I remember looking up at the trees and the skyline and just thinking, Hudson, you have the life! And I do too 😃
Weekend evenings on the balcony. This spring, I became OBSESSED with redoing our small slice of outdoor space. I was getting the idea that maaaaaybe Hudson wouldn’t be as into just coming to a bunch of rooftops and patios with us as I’d imagined 😃 Well, I am patting myself on the back for that stroke of genius because Jason and I enjoyed MANY a sunset cocktail out there, watching the boats on the water.
Morning walks to the fountain. There’s a huge fountain on the south end of Streeterville along the river called the Centennial Fountain. This spring, I realized that Hudson was terrified of the fountain—he does not like loud noises (public bathrooms are his personal hell with loud industrial toilets flushing and super-powered hand dryers) so noise of the rushing water scared him. But little by little, he got used to it and actually came to love it! As he got sturdier on his feet we discovered that the long ledges along the fountain were perfect for him to hold on to to cruise along and practice walking. We spent many early mornings doing this short walk to see doggies and check out Hudson’s fountain.
I feel like the fountain walks were a marker of how much Hudson has grown and changed in just a few glorious, Chicago months: at the beginning of the summer, he wouldn’t go near it, and before I knew it I looked up and he had cautiously walked himself away from me, hanging on to the ledge. But he’s always looking back to make sure I’m still there! I imagine that by next summer, he’ll probably be jumping off that ledge and I’ll be keeping him from diving into the fountain.
As a quick history lesson, the fountain is (mostly) a celebration of Chicago’s monumental achievement in reversing the Chicago river. So my sappy self finds it totally poetic that Hudson is growing up tottering around this fountain, making his own, baby-sized monumental achievements.
Whew. After this weekend, that’s a wrap on the summer of ’17. Hudson’s first summer ever! One for the books, for sure.