Hello! Realizing I have photos from before and after our vacation to Colorado to share. Way back in June, Miles came to Chicago for 2 weeks. We had a great time catching up with him, and he was also able to visit a lot of his friends. One weekend during his stay, we had already made plans to visit friends Karen and John in Union Pier, Michigan. It was great catching up with them! We kayaked along the little river shown below that feeds into Lake Michigan, had some really great food (thank you, Karen!) and rode bikes to the…

Whoa, long overdue blog post! And hopefully several in a row, since we have a lot of catching up to do since the mid-June roundup! I was inspired to write today since a news item reminded me of our vacation in July and how lucky our timing was. But first, some Colorado geography. We flew into Vail and drove west in a rental car to Glenwood Springs. At Glenwood Springs, we rented bikes and rode along the bike track in the canyon, then drove to Paonia. We stayed in Paonia for several days, then drove back to Glenwood Springs, then…

The last month has felt very much like life in fast forward – due both to the start of summer in Chicago feeling like an explosion of things to do even in a regular year, and also since the city and state are now at Level 5 = no Covid restrictions. There are a few exceptions like like health care facilities and public transportation, but restaurants are back to capacity and larger events are starting to happen. So being very fortunate from a global point of view to be double vaccinated, we have had a lot going on! A few…

This month started off with … baby geese! We were at the park checking on our favorite duck mama when two adult and two goslings came strutting across the bridge! They were spreading oohs and aahs all over and have been delighting all the people at the park. In the two weeks since we saw them, they either disappeared and were replaced by another family, or the goslings grew a lot. Sticking with themes rather than time, John and I went to a bird watching event in the Indiana Dunes yesterday. It was really interesting seeing how much more experienced…

Quick update on vaccine progress this week: Mom and Dad got their second Pfizer shots on Wednesday, and I got my second Pfizer on Friday! They didn’t have much reaction, and I had (am in the throes of) a pretty typical reaction – fever and aches about 18 hours after the shot. The fever was gone when I woke up this morning but I’ve definitely not been at 100% and therefore had to dedicate the day to the very restorative activity of daytime TV watching. Feeling better but I think I can fit a few more shows in this evening!…

It was a big week for us here, not just celebrating myself and Miles’ birthday, but also getting my second Pfizer shot! Miles had gotten his 2nd shot a few weeks ago, so was able to enjoy a birthday party at his house, with 15 or so of his fellow vaccinated friends from school in Portland. He’s enjoying life getting back to normal, a big part of which is taking the house dog, Toby, out for walks. Here’s a picture of Toby meeting some goats near Miles’ house in Portland. Liam was able to get his vaccine shot and opted…

There was really just one theme to this week: lots of vaccinations in the C & the Kennymen world! We had two seconds – Debbie and Miles both got their second shots. Mom and Dad got their first shots in Kansas City, and I got my first shot at Northwestern Memorial Hospital here in Chicago. Northwestern is really set up to administer a lot of vaccines. The operation takes up 3 floors of their Prentice Hospital downtown, with signs and staff positioned every 20 feet or so to keep people moving in the right direction to the huge vaccination room.…

It’s surprising looking at our last post from less than a month ago that everything was covered in snow! The snow all melted a few weeks ago now, and we have had some really lovely spring days – quite a bonus in Chicago in March! It’s also surprising I guess (?) that it’s been a year since we got the first stay at home request then order to prevent Covid spread. Having said that, I think you’ll find this post to be filled with quite the usual – trips to the Indiana Dunes, walks around the neighborhood, and some Liam…

After a lot of snow and bitter cold, we had some more snow and more cold. The first photo here was part of the series at the lake front on the last post. I like the Accidentally Wes Anderson quality although a much more austere version! The others below show our house after being buried by more inches of snow. Our poor solar panels were buried under all that snow on the roof but got uncovered as the snow slid off after a few days. John really did an amazing job shoveling all the snow we got! You can see…

Its been a really cold, snowy February in Chicago, with it rarely getting above freezing, and spending a lot of time in the 0f or -15c zone! But we still try to get out everyday and our finding our COVID19 facemasks to be quite the lifesaver when it comes to keeping warm! Today we decided to go downtown and check out the lake and it was really worth it. As far as the eye could see, the lake was pretty frozen! This was the view looking out towards the Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium. Here’s the view looking North! Needless…