Happy Fourth...

...Love, 

Our Little Sparklers.

(Happy birthday, America!)

Reports From The Front. (On Their Sides.)

Thankfully, everyone's feeling much better around here.

Unfortunately, this is what the aftermath looks like:

You'd think I'd appreciate the whole "staying put" and "not climbing the bookshelves" thing.

But the truth is- when they're this worn out, I kinda find myself longing for a good ol' fashioned Chair Topplin'.

Remind me of this next week, yeah?

June Date: Wait A Sec, REALLY?!

So on Friday night, P.J. had an awesome Date Night planned for us. It was a surprise n' everything. (For the newcomers, P.J.'s Christmas present to me was a year of cool date nights, highlighting and celebrating everything we say we love about living in Chicago...but somehow never find time to do.)

The date he had chosen for June was an evening at Hollywood Beach. (It's a really, really nice beach traditionally frequented by a largely gay population- meaning that it's clean and super pretty. Plus, on Pride Weekend? Can't go wrong. For real.) We were gonna picnic under the stars and watch a screening of Funny Girl.

When he revealed his big date plans, I almost cried.

Half outta regret, half out of delirium.

Because unfortunately, I had woken up on Friday morning at 4am the sickest I've ever been in the history of ever. (This includes food poisoning, various flus, c-section recoveries, and lost weekends in college.) For about 25 hours I believed I had horrific food poisoning/early onset death. I was almost admitted to the E.R. for baby-related checkups and rehydration- but thankfully the E.R. gods deemed two emergency room trips in under a week rather cruel and unusual.

So why 25 hours? Oh, because at 5am the next morning, the rest of the family fell victim to the plague as well. Imagine Florence Nightingale tending to her patients while dragging her lame leg behind her, vomiting profusely, and weeping like a Dickensian child. That's what Saturday looked like.

(PSA: The norovirus is real, terrifying, and enough to make you consider placing bleach directly into your ocular cavities.)

Long story semi-short, we cancelled our sitter, our date, and our 6th wedding anniversary.

However, by Sunday night we were feeling loads better. (Fatigued and drained, sure, but keeping our bodily fluids exactly where they oughta be, thankyouverymuch.) So Peej- my awesome, non-grossed out guy- prepared our picnic and movie screening.

On a blanket on the playroom floor.

Picnicking on the floor is not only romantic, its also safer.
'Cause if we pass out, we're already on the floor.

We watched the first half of Romance & Cigarettes- before deeming it rather Not Good- and then turned on an episode of The Twilight Zone. (Much better.)

And yeah, sure, we fell asleep ten minutes in...but at least we were holding hands.

And when I crawled up to bed, I found that my date had laundered and re-made the bed, prepping me for my first good night's sleep since Thursday.

Romance is most decidedly not dead.

Even though the norovirus sure tried.

Hyundai's Epic Playdate- Part 2!

Remember way back when I posted about super-stellar playdates as part of the Hyundai Epic Playdate contest/extravaganza? Well, a) the one in Santa Barbara, CA, happened and was a blast, and b) the fun's still going on so I was asked to blog about even more awesomesauceitude re: the perfect playdate with my miniature partygoers.

'Cause lets be honest- some people really know how to put the adept in playdate...if you're into anagrams...and you don't use all the letters...

ANYWAY. To check out what uber-blogger Dooce's epic playdate entailed, check out her post here, and her vid of her day at Arches National Park in Utah with her kiddos.

So my initial dream playdate with the girls was at the beach and involved a rather heavy emphasis on summertime treats. And while that's certainly still the most epic of epic...

...I've also been having thoughts about The Country. Specifically, letting them run amok in The Country without fear of semis and trains and pollution and excessive noise and Good Lord, put that down, I don't want that anywhere NEAR your face. (No, but, for real, I love the city. Love it. Totally in love.)

These girls are seriously ready to party. Especially in the Out of Doors.

Our epic country playdate would involve wild, rolling fields. Willow trees under which we could nap and read and picnic. A [smallish] pond for tadpole-catching, barefoot-splashing and, if you happen to be Susannah, face-snorkeling. Could there be a pony or two for riding? There should be a pony or two for riding. Heck, let's throw in some docile bunnies for patting. And just like that- we've added a free range petting zoo.

It will be potluck- and all of you will have brought amazing things, for you're all terrific and diverse cooks. Friends will also have brought bins of books and blankets and soccer balls (not to be used too close to the bunnies) and their own barefoot children.

The more the merrier.

Especially since I'm gonna need some help wrangling my kid out of the pond.

What would your epic playdate entail/Can I come?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.