The Magic Attic

We have an attic above our garage where we store, like everyone else, the stuff we don't need to get to very often. A few years ago we included in that assortment of stuff some boxes of toys: things the boys no longer played with and Sydney was too young for, and some toys that I had "back when I was a girl". It was nice to scale down a little.
Last year Sydney somehow learned that there was a wooden train set in the attic and she would ask her Daddy every night if he would go up in the attic and find the trains. After a week or so of this, after the kids were in bed, Steve was able to pull out the ladder and go up to find the trains. In the morning Sydney came downstairs to find a little round train track all set up for her to play with. She was overjoyed! It was like Christmas morning!
Next down from the attic came a few little stuffed animals the kids had been missing. And then Sydney started talking about her Barbie doll in the attic. It was true that I had a box of my old Barbies sitting up in the attic, but how she knew this I am not quite sure.
If you read our previous post you will see that Sydney and I made a trip to the American Girl Store, where Sydney (of course) fell in love with the dolls and the clothes and, while never asking for one straight out, commented a few times, "Oh, I wish I could have a doll like this." To which I remarked, "You know Sydney, I used to have a doll that looked this this. Her name is Kimberly and I think she is in a box up in the attic."
Well, needless to say, down came the box of dolls from the attic! The Barbies, the Kimberly doll and all the old clothes I used to play with. Sydney and I spent an afternoon having a little "Doll Spa" of our own where the dolls received deep conditioning treatments on their hair and facials (these facials consisted of Soft Scrub and a little elbow grease).
The story of the Attic doesn't end there. It has now become a magical place where dreams come true! Last weekend I came home from running a few errands to find Steve ready to ascend the ladder up into the attic. "Sydney says she wants her pink bike with stripes down from the attic, does Sydney have a bike like that?" Well, not that I have ever seen, but, you never know...

I am lucky! Back in second grade I met a cute little redhead girl who has been one of my best friends ever since, her name is Marla. Marla loaded up her van with her husband and her four kids and drove all the way from Utah (two long days down I-80) to come and visit me (and Chicago ;)).
One of the Clisbee's destinations in Chicago was the Oh-So-Anticipated American Girl Doll store. This is a little girl's dream. Beautiful dolls with hundreds of clothing options, including a shoe store (with tiny shoeboxes), a dolly hair salon (where Emily had her cute doll coiffed), a doll hospital (for those dolls who become victim to older brothers... ahem, ahem) and a restaurant.

It was to this fine eating establishment that Marla, Emily, Megan, Sydney and I went to enjoy a lovely luncheon. Can it get any girlier? Even the waiters wore pink!
The waiters took us to our table where they seated not only the big people, but also the dolls, notice how they have their own special seats...

Here we are, from left to right: Marla, Emily, Amber, Sydney, GooGoo Baby, Me, Megan and Megan's guest (I foget her name).
Choosing from the menu...

GooGoo Baby (this is really what Sydney calls her) enjoying some lovely lemonaid from her little dolly dishes...
I can't say enough about how fun this was! The waiter was awesome, he paid just as much (or more) attention to the girls as he did the Mom's. What a fun afternoon out for the girls!

While we were in Chicago we ventured up to the top of the Hancock Tower, here is Sydney enjoying her tour with David Schwimmer...

Ever posing...
And washing a few windows...
It was such a blast to have the Clisbee's here! Who's next?

Zoo Day

Thanks to a generous friend with free passes, Sydney, Carter and I ventured out to the Brookfield Zoo a couple of weeks ago. Sad we have lived here for almost 6 years and never been. It was a pretty chilly day, but the sun was shining and the crowds were few which made it a great day to be there. Here is Sydney Bunny with her cute friend Rachel Bear...

Scotty and Carter were confined to strollers most of the time...
Sydney was all ready to show us around the zoo using her handy dandy Zoo Map...

Sydney with Gertrude the Giraffe...
And Dolphins, very cool.
After visiting the animals we played in the little "Play Zoo" where the kids made crafts and got to paint their faces. The idea was to make yourself look like an animal, Sydney opted to be a volcano instead. Apparently this is what a volcano looks like, it does certainly look like something erupted on her face...
Carter enjoyed being a bear...
Part of the play zoo was the Animal Hospital which the kids loved. It was a pretty fun setup with lots of Doctor tools and animals to care for.
Carter found these handy "balls on a stick" and hunted out every one he could find.
Then, he and Scotty put all of those cool balls in the incubator hoping they might get bigger, or perhaps multiply.
Unfortunately all they did was get stuck...
All in all a fun day out exploring new things!

Train Them Young

Carter loves balls! He likes to go downstairs with the boys and throw balls at the basketball hoop in the basement, he even bends his knees like they do trying to copy their "form". He stands at the sliding glass door at watches in envy as the boys play ball outside (when Mom isn't willing to let him go out himself). So here is a little video of Carter practicing his foul shots, courtesy of Tyler who acted as videographer and coach... Tyler did get a little excited!