Today’s plan was to go check out some sights in Hyde Park that are mentioned in the book that Miles and I are reading: The Wright Three. We nearly bailed on the plan several times because it was raining so much this morning, but we decided to go ahead and give it a try, and we visited Powell’s Books, the Robie House as seen in the pics below, and the U of C Lab School (the school that the characters in the book attend–also known as the school the Obama girls attended until they moved to Washington.) Disadvantage to doing…

Liam’s group in his biology class is building a wind turbine. After much planning and watching instructional videos on youtube, they started the building process. Fortunately our ever-resourceful friend Chris was able to help them out over at his wood shop. On Sunday they got it assembled and built a frame–and it spins around in the wind. Better yet, it spins in the slightest breeze! Yay! You’ll see it’s made mostly of recycled materials: 2 bike wheels not being used in our basement, PVC pipe that was unused in Chris’s basement, and most exotic of all, some cedar that Chris…

We started off the boys’ spring break week with a visit to the amazing jellyfish exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium. [slideshow] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPONZqv7_nw?rel=0&w=480&h=390] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8XKNdy9on0?rel=0w=480h=390]

We got a new bike for me today… rather we got a used bike frame. But thanks to john’s bike building skills, a beautiful and warm sunny day and lots of parts borrowed from john winter bike it was looking more like a bike by the end of the day! Check out the before and after shots!

Looks like our street is being prepped for its springtime surgery!

Liam got his top braces off today and as suspected he looks like a movie star (to his mom anyway!) He now has a retainer. He was awarded a letter that starts off “Congratulations on your new straight teeth!” and then goes on to say “You must wear your retainer all day and all night for 6-12 months. When the doctor says so, you can start wearing it only at night…. for the rest of your life!” The rest of his life? Wow. Before and after pics:

The crocuses in our front yard emerged about a week ago but today they opened. Pretty!

Mushroom update–we did not harvest in time and the mushrooms turned really dried out as fast as they grew. We’re trying to harvest the other side of the box now–and will be prepared to harvest and eat mushrooms immediately upon ripening this time! Debbie was here about 2 weeks ago and we went to the Indiana Dunes for the day. Lovely day but a bit cold! Other pics in the slideshow include a concrete building that I really like and a very fashion-forward pink skirt I saw while waiting in a cafe for Miles and Will to finish karate. [slideshow]…

Update on the mushroom growing project: wow. Tremendous fungal activity. Check out the mushrooms now! Hmmm where to begin. Our latest farming project is growing pearl mushrooms! We got this kit from a company called back to the roots. They start mushroom roots in coffee grounds and sell the box kits. We opened ours last Friday and today I swear it was nearly growing before our eyes! 7 days to mushroom harvesting day! Then we turn the box around and grow more on the other side.

We went to the MCA a few weels ago and had a great time. This show called “without you i’m nothing” shows how the user is a part of art works. The pieces are very interactive–as you can see from this pic we could even get inside some of them!