Category: Family

Nature Weekend

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Our weekend centered around nature activities which is always right up my alley.

Saturday we visited the Chicago Botanic Garden and saw the famous Corpse Flower that’s been in the news lately. It wasn’t our reason for visiting, actually, but still pretty cool to see. Our favorite sighting, however, was a ruby-throated hummingbird hanging out in the gardens when you first enter. There were two hanging out when we first arrived and we spotted another one two hours later when we were leaving. I wish I had remembered my 250mm lens but the picture I got wasn’t too bad considering I only had the 135mm.

Some of my favorite photos from our visit:

Butterfly

Windswept

Sunlit

Saturday evening we visited my parents and played our newest game – Exploding Kittens. It was quite fun! We also played Cards Against Humanity with Joe’s homemade cards. Brother # 1 ended up staying up until the wee hours of the morning coming up with more ideas for all the blank cards we still have. I got an email at 3:18 am with a huge list. He’s funny.

Sunday we did some grocery shopping in the morning since it was overcast and rainy. That cleared up around noon so we headed to Morton Arboretum and drove around. I remembered my 250mm lens this time and captured what I believe is a white-breasted nuthatch.

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Monday I met up with a friend at Cosley Zoo so I could give her some LEGOs and playdoh stuff for her kids. I figured why not give it to someone who will make use of it. It’s not like we’re going to play with it anymore. I held onto the playdoh too long as it was and the majority of it dried up but there were a few cans that were still good, plus a ton of accessories to shape the playdoh. It was hard parting with it because I have such fond playdoh memories but we haven’t played with it for over five years so there was no sense in letting it continue to take up space in the closet. Plus it freed up a plastic storage tote that I can re-purpose.

Anyway, I met her two children who are super adorable and pretty well-behaved for being a year and a half and four years old. The four year old, C, was NOT happy when we were ready to leave, however. He cried all the way back to the car. Poor guy. It was nice to catch up with her and meet her kids. I wish we could hang out more often but she’s so busy with family stuff, plus she lives about an hour away so the timing never seems to line up. I’m hoping she and her husband can make another game night. I’d like to have one sometime in October I think. Gotta unleash Exploding Kittens on more people!

Too Much Death

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An aunt passed away this week and her wake/funeral was on Friday. In case anyone is keeping track, that’s four deaths in less than a year – uncle, aunt, friend, aunt. Is this what I have to look forward to as I grow older – more and more people I know shuffling off this mortal coil? It’s depressing.

The wake was held at a funeral home in Frankfort and my aunt was buried in Chicago, so that made for an hour long funeral procession. I’ve never been in such a time-consuming procession before and it made me nervous, especially since some of the public weren’t paying attention and almost hit a few cars that were continuing through the red lights as one typically does in a funeral procession.

There were more than few bizarre things that happened during this event:

1) The more I reflect on the pastor’s eulogy, the more I dislike the guy. He spoke about how everyone is going to die some day (thanks, bud, I already have a massive fear of dying and do not need any further reminders) but that our spirits will live on in heaven. He also made a big to do about how we shouldn’t forget about my uncle since he has many lonely nights ahead of him, which is true, but insensitive. In addition, the pastor said he just couldn’t imagine losing his wife of 45 years. Uh, rubbing it in much?!?! Nothing this man said was any solace to me, but maybe it helped others. I just don’t buy the whole concept that our spirits live on forever, and I was raised Catholic! All of it rings false to me. Trust me, I would love it if I could get on board with the idea because it would certainly ease my mind about not existing one day. Unfortunately, I think once you die that’s it; you go back to nothing, spiritually and physically. It will be great if it turns out I’m wrong and God doesn’t hold a grudge against me for not believing, though.

2) At the grave site, while the pastor was saying some final words, my uncle was casually leaning against my aunt’s casket with one hand.

3) After the service, as we were leaving the cemetery, I saw my uncle standing by his limo drinking a beer.

4) The place where the luncheon was held had a dove aviary in the front of the building. It was so odd. But what was funny is that I was one of the few, if not only, people who even noticed it immediately as we walked toward the banquet room. Most people didn’t notice it until leaving the restaurant.

Dove Aviary

I don’t know what any of my uncle’s behavior means, or if it even means anything; people grieve in strange ways. He was married to my aunt for 35+ years (his third marriage) but I have no idea what their relationship was like. I rarely spoke to her because we usually saw my uncle at my grandparents’ or parents’ house and he never brought her along. Her heart belonged to animals, not people, from what I knew of her – she worked at a humane society and they had the equivalent of a zoo in their homes. It only grew larger once they moved to their most recent home which had a ton of acreage and a barn. I’ve heard stories about the number of animals living on their property but the last time we were invited over was literally a decade ago, so I don’t know much other than what my cousin has mentioned. Maybe my uncle is one of those people who has a hard time expressing his true feelings. He has always been known as the one who cracks jokes so who knows.

Anyway, it was just a weird day. It was nice to see certain family members but I wish it was under better circumstances.

Staycation Day 7 – Indiana Beach

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Staycation Day 7 (Thursday July 23)

E felt better so we stuck with our plan to visit Indiana Beach Amusement Park. We were up very bright and early (5 am) so we could leave at 6 am as we had multiple stops to make – gas station for fuel, ice (for the cooler) and a Coke product (for discounted admission to the park), E’s house so he could grab a few things, E’s girlfriend’s house as she was coming with us, and Brother #1’s house since he was also coming with us.

We arrived at the park at 10:30 am their time which was perfect since we got free parking close to the entrance and by the time we purchased our tickets and walked across the suspension bridge, the rides were just starting since they technically open at 11 am (not 10 am like I mistakenly thought).

Unlike previous years, there’s only one wristband they sell for $31.95 which includes nearly all the rides and the water park. I had checked their site ahead of time and learned Thursday was BOGO if you mentioned you liked them on Facebook (which is funny because they don’t even have an official Facebook presence). In addition, you could get $10 off each ticket with a Coke product. Since there were five of us that meant two free admissions and one discounted by $10. So instead of paying $159.75 the total was $85.85 (or $17.17 per person); and technically it was $63.90 out of pocket since my brother paid his own way. We ended up spending more than that on food even though we did make a trip back to the car for a meal later in the day. But who can resist tacos, corn dogs, and Dippin Dots, the last of which was $25 for four people (I opted out due to lactose intolerance)?

I went on a record 8 different rides this time around (not including the water ones) –

Paratrooper (aka Umbrellas) – I hate this ride but Brother #1 insisted and threatened to drag me on the Sea Dragon otherwise.

Scrambler – I think is my fave and I’m not sure why I was too nervous to ride it last year.

Den of Lost Thieves – I “won” this point-gathering ride by 10 points, woot!

Dodgem (aka Bumper Cars) – We went on this twice, in fact, since they’re way too much fun. And the first time we had an extra long session since there wasn’t anyone waiting.

Music Express – Minus the music as it was broken; oh well, at least it was operating unlike last year.

Rocky’s Rapids Log Flume – Poor E lost his beloved Deadpool hat on this ride and they wouldn’t send someone to get it. We tried to convince him he wouldn’t have wanted it back anyway since by that point it was water-logged and had been run over by subsequent riders and likely torn up.

Antique Autos – Ugh, this ride is just dumb so I made Brother #1 “drive” while Joe and I sat in back. The line is always so long too because they have two cars in operation even though they used to have three times as many.

Train – I had to end our visit taking the train from Kiddieland back to the suspension bridge because it’s a classic.

Rides I used to go on but now avoid –

Sky Ride – You can thank Joe for scaring me into not wanting to ride this one ever again. He has me convinced it’s a death trap.

Falling Star – My stomach cannot handle this one anymore.

Hooiser Hurricane – According to Joe and E, who rode this roller coaster, it’s really bumpy. I don’t recall since it’s been a log time since I last rode it.

The Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain was not running all day which was fine because that thing throws you around like there’s no tomorrow. I think we all ended up bruised the last time we rode it. I was bummed their Grand Carousel wasn’t running either. Then again, I’ve yet to see that ride in operation.

Sometime after 3 pm we decided to visit the water park section of the park which we never have done before. It was ok. The lockers are ridiculous – $10 (but they refund you $4 when you return the key) and super small. It would have cost us $24 just in locker fees so we decided Joe and I would keep watch over the stuff on the beach while the other three went on some stuff and then we could switch off. Except they disappeared for over an hour before returning. I’m not going to lie – I was a bit annoyed because the water park closes at 6 pm and I wanted to make sure we had some time to enjoy ourselves too. Brother #1 agreed to watch our stuff while E and his girlfriend took off and Joe and I went on the Big Flush (a two-person water slide with a raft) which was a lot of fun. If the line wasn’t so long I would have gone on a second time. We also rode the Action River although the water wasn’t moving very much to be deemed a river. Plus it was a bit too shallow for my taste. The beach itself was nasty and dirty which was weird to me because I swear they used to filter the water. In any case, it was fun but I think next time what we’ll do is hit the water park earlier since by the time we arrived there weren’t any chairs left (even though there was plenty of room for them). Or we’ll rent a cabana. In any case then we can just use one locker for our valuables and we can all head out together to enjoy the water.

After changing back into our street clothes Brother #1 decided he wanted to visit the haunted house. No one was really into going, plus it’s a separate $3 fee, so I went with him. Two women visiting from California were the only other people in our group and I made my brother lead the way through the twists and turns in the dark castle since it was his idea. One of the women held onto the back of my shirt the whole time. It was rather lame save for the one part where you end up in a room full of doors trying to find the one that isn’t a dead-end. Ugh! I didn’t care for that or the part where the corridor becomes extremely narrow and it’s so dark you can’t see. It hasn’t changed much from when we were kids which on one hand is lame but on another made it less scary for me since I hate haunted houses anyway.

We ended up leaving around 9 pm their time which was the longest we’ve ever spent there for a day trip. I was dreading it after reading all the negative reviews on Yelp about how run-down it has become, but it didn’t seem too bad – I could tell they spruced up some areas up with a fresh coat of paint so if anything, it looked better than last year. There were still a lot of rides with multiple broken down vehicles which made the lines longer but it wasn’t very crowded all day so it was tolerable. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by how long we stayed and how much fun I had.

4th of July

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Friday we went to a tattoo shop because Joe wanted to get a new tattoo. But the guy who would be doing it had stepped out temporarily so we left to get lunch a nearby pizza place / bar and planned to go back. Except we didn’t end up going back because I was a little freaked out about the whole thing and Joe didn’t want to proceed until I felt more comfortable. I feel bad that my anxiety stopped him from getting the tattoo since I’m sure I’ll be fine with it once it’s said and done. I’m just weird about the placement of this one (forearm). He already has a tattoo but you can’t see it easily since it’s on his upper arm. This new one would be visible pretty much all the time unless he wears long sleeves (which is very rare) and I’m worried I won’t like seeing it constantly. I have this thing where I don’t like tattoos you can see all the time. So once I get over that I’m sure he’ll be getting it.

Saturday we watched E’s band in the 4th of July parade. Then later in the day we went to my parents to play bags, badminton, and Taboo (E didn’t come along even though it was our year to have him for the holiday because he wanted to hang out with his friends). Only my mom, dad, and Brother # 1 was there. Brother # 2 was somewhere with his girlfriend.

Yesterday we went to the pool for a little while. It was only the second time this season we had gone and the first time I actually went in the water. I would have stayed in longer had it not gotten so crowded with kids jumping in and splashing. I look forward to the day we have a house and our own private pool.

Graduation Party

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My cousin’s son’s graduation party was Saturday afternoon at her home in Indiana. It was a lot of fun and good to see my cousins and my aunt M (who makes a mean taco salad; recipe borrowed from my late grandmother) and uncle B (who other than my other uncle’s funeral last year, I rarely get to see).

We were there from 2:30-8:00 which was longer than I expected, but not in a bad way. Many photos were taken, most of which ended up on Facebook. I’m sure my friends were getting annoyed by how many photos I was tagged in over the weekend, especially since I had just complained about people posting endless pictures of themselves on social media. Does that make me a hypocrite even though it was actually my cousin who posted them all?

My mom and brother # 1 stopped by for about a half hour. I could tell my brother would have liked to stay longer but my mom wasn’t up to visiting very long due to her allergies. I reminded him that we’ll be over this coming Saturday to celebrate the 4th so he didn’t feel so bad about having to leave.

Sometimes I wish I lived closer to my family so we could hang out more often, but I like the area where we live. I’m just not that fond of Indiana in general. I’m planning on hosting a dinner & game night later this summer and inviting my cousins over. I hope they’ll be able to make it.