Watch out planet Earth

Master 5 says to me this evening "Do you know what I am going to do tomorrow Mum?" "No" I respond "What are you going to do tomorrow?" "I'm going to conquer a planet!" "Do you have a planet in mind?" "I'm going to take over Earth". One must admire the confidence and fortitude of the younger generation.

Hello Blog World

Hi all, It's me - Anne - here. As if I didn't find myself stretched enough, I have undertaken to write another blog!

I am launching this with the greatest of intentions - hopefully I will be able to find a little time to update this blog from time to time. If nothing else, it should serve as a record of our move from the city of Chicago to rural Virginia.


POST NOTE May 2013: 
At this stage, I was writing two blogs. gearon.org and rum sum mum
I began gearon.org as a means of keeping family informed about our move from Brisbane Australia to Chicago USA. 
I thought I would start a new blog, rum sum mum, with a more global appeal - including updates about rum sum sum projects, items that I found of interest, food we were eating and a means to document our move to Virginia. I have slowly been updating rum sum mum to include my earlier gearon.org blog entries. There was some overlap, but all posts made before this date were made in the gearon.org blog.

Summer on the go... Part 1

Summer in Chicago has been somewhat disappointing. After a very long and brutal winter, Chicagoans were waiting... and are still waiting, for Summer to begin... preferably before it is officially over. 

To offset the lack of Summer, we have made a couple of trips away. The first trip, in June, was to San Jose in California while Paul attended the Semtech Conference. We stayed a night at the Argonaut Hotel San Francisco on our way there (great for kids with themed rooms and a gift from the ‘treasure chest’ when the kids checked in). We did the obligatory cable car ride, look around Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39, saw the seals and ate crab at the ultra-touristy Crab House - made all the more palatable with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and stunning views of the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. 

After making our way to San Jose via Caltrain, we checked into the Fairmont Hotel. This hotel has an excellent location, we received a nice big room, but we found it to be incredibly unfriendly towards families. A series of unfortunate events soured our opinions of this establishment: We had to request a crib (cot) a number of times (despite it being requested in our booking and again on check-in); we had to pay to have the mini-bar removed (took around three attempts - and then all items ended up being charged to our account); we had to request extra towels despite the booking being for 5 people; no kids menu or smaller kid-friendly portions on the room service menu; officious concierge service; convoluted process to organise a sitter; then it took three calls for someone to investigate the leaking toilet in our room; housekeeping rudely exclaiming “Oh, you’re still here” as we prepared to leave our room (well before our check-out time) but delayed a little as we didn’t wish to wake our sleeping baby.... AHHH! On the upside, the kids and I were able to have some really good outings, including seeing a live Sesame Street stage performance, visiting the Children's Museum, eating a burger at Johnny Rockets, playing in the Plaza de César Chávez fountain, the hotel pool and visiting the excellent The Tech science museum. With a little reluctance, we decided not to hire a car while we stayed in California. We were happy with this decision as it was so very easy to get around both San Francisco and San Jose without one.  It would be nice to spend a little more time in and around San Jose to explore a few more sights - such as the Winchester Mystery House and some of the theme parks including Great America, Gilroy Gardens or Raging Waters. 

While we were in San Jose, I was struck by how unfriendly the people seemed to be. Perhaps I have become too accustomed to the friendliness of the Midwest? It seemed that everyone was a little too preoccupied or reluctant to let their guard down. I gave a few mothers that ‘knowing look’ so often shared amongst caregivers when kids are running amok or just being kids. This was more than often ignored or overlooked. It made me feel very isolated and cemented the notion that I never want to live in the Silicon Valley: it seemed just too hostile.  

We checked into the San Francisco Hyatt Regency on the way out of California and couldn’t be more impressed after our bad experiences at the Fairmont: crib send straight to the room (with extra towels - no need to ask), special welcome package for the kids, kid-friendly room service menu; a concierge that called to see if everything was OK... so fantastic! ....and the people smile in San Francisco. The unfriendly attitude must be quirk of the Silicon Valley. 

Photo: Family standing on Pier 39 with Alcatraz in the background

I could see this coming a mile off

Mietta has been poorly for the last five days. She started to come down with something while we were in San Jose (California) and has had a temperature, been sleepy and irritable (not at all like her), with very little appetite. Poor darling. We arrived home very early Sunday morning, so this morning was the first opportunity to take Mietta to the doctors. Paul took the boys to the park while I went to the surgery. 

As I came home and parked the car, I saw the boys on their way home from the park - obviously returning from the local supermarket. Nic announced that they had bought grape popsicles. I raised my eyebrow and Paul explained that these were a treat for Nic, who had injured himself by doing a (poor) Superman imitation and flying off the swing at its highest arc. Paul was amazed that Nic had not broken anything on impact with the ground, and had made the popsicle promise as a means of placating a tearful swing-victim. 

Now, all mothers out there would immediately realise the error in this promise. In fact it took only a minute for Luc to fall over his feet in the alley and demand a popsicle treatment (only he wanted coconut).  

I was folding washing in the laundry after the boys had gone to bed this evening. Nic, not wishing to stay in bed, asked for a glass of water. I gave him some water. A few moments later he returned, complaining about a sore back. My immediate thought was that he had a toy in his bed and had laid on it. No. His back was sore. He was uncomfortable. I started with the sympathies when his face brightened and he said “I’ll go and get a popsicle...” ahhhhhh!  

Photo: Kids hanging out in downtown San Jose

So... where did May go?

Where has this year gone so far?!?! We are already half-way through 2009 and it seems as if it only just began. We seem to have been really busy... I’ll try and recap a little. 

In early May we had a shock when Luc had a surprise attack of croup. This saw him waking at around midnight, not being able to breath, and panicking. We had no idea what was happening - we thought perhaps an asthma attack - so Paul called 911. Within a matter of minutes, the fire brigade had arrived with attending paramedics. They brought Luc oxygen and made a rapid diagnosis. When an ambulance arrived, Luc and Paul went to hospital.

Of course, the rest of us were running on adrenalin and could not sleep. The whole neighbourhood was aware of some event with a fire truck and ambulance outside our building, blocking the narrow one-way street. Thankfully Luc was given the all-clear and he and Paul could return home within a few hours. 

We had a visit from Rowan and Shirley over the Memorial Day weekend - a certain deja vu as they had spent this weekend with us three years ago - just after we had arrived in Chicago. To mark the event, Paul bought us all tickets to the ‘Bike the Drive’ bike ride along Lakeshore Drive. This made a couple of exhausted guests really happy to get up at 4 in the morning and have to ride bikes some 20 miles! This was the first year that I had done the ride and I started off with Mietta in the baby seat. Nic was in the bike trailer behind Paul, and Rowan towed Luc on a ‘tagalong’ bike. It was a sensational ride to the Museum of Science and Industry, shared with thousands of other riders. We had a bite to eat at the Museum before heading north.... and finding a rather strong headwind. This made the ride tough. Poor Paul was now towing Nic and Mietta with gusty winds catching the trailer and pulling him south while he was attempting to go north. Thankfully Paul (with bike-ready legs) was doing the hard work! 

Nic has a penchant for mayonnaise. He also loves pickles, capers and cornichons. I was a little surprised when he recently requested a peanut butter, mayonnaise and caper sandwich, with cornichons on the side. I made a small sandwich for him, and was astounded when he finished it and requested a second! 

Luc has added another couple of prongs to his future occupation as an artist: a daddy, and a doctor. Just yesterday he added a ‘store-owner’ selling ‘treats’ (namely mango icecream). Luc’s artistic skills are amazing. He draws everyday and his drawings are becoming more and more detailed. He likes writing stories and will illustrate pages and pages, making up elaborate tales. He has asked us to write the commentary in some of these. I bought Luc a stapler so he was able to bind his stories. I was a little shocked when he requested more staples a day later... only to find he had used about 50 staples to bind one story! I explained that perhaps, three staples were enough per book. I love the exclamation he uses in his stories: “What the holey moley heck!” Luc recently used his drawing to express his emotions: He asked me what my ‘unfavourite’ things were. I racked my brain and came up with several items including: dirty nappies, slimy worms [based upon Luc’s suggestion], burnt dinner ..... a couple of minutes I was presented with a drawing of all these - as a sign of Luc’s unhappiness with me - and obviously designed to make me ‘suffer’ ;-)

Luc was discussing numbers and mentioned the number ‘hot dog’. I told him “There is no such number as hot dog!” He replied “But pi[e] is a number.” 

Mietta is 9 months old today. She continues to be such an endearing and charming little girl with a lovely smile and cheeky disposition. People continually offer to take her off our hands to cuddle her. Mietta has 6 teeth with another couple almost ready to come through. Despite getting around very quickly and efficiently crawling, Mietta is very keen to be on her feet and pulls herself up against furniture, family members, anything she can. It wont be very long until she stands without any support - she is almost there. Mietta is also happy to ‘walk’ on her feet while holding our hands. Mietta’s favourite foods include: melon, raspberries, blueberries, asparagus, mushroom, rhubarb, corn on the cob... she has enjoyed chicken tikka, ribs, lentils, steak... basically anything we eat. 

Luc has finished school for the year and Nicolas finishes on Wednesday. Now we face a loooong summer vacation - until the boys start back at school in September. We have a couple of trips planned. First we will be visiting San Francisco and San Jose while Paul attends a conference. A road trip to Virginia is also slated for later summer. 

We are sad as our good friends are moving away - this Saturday! We will be saying goodbye to James and William and Gabrielle and Craig as they move to Vienna, Virginia after their vacations in South Carolina and upstate New York. The ‘girls’ got together over brunch on Sunday to wish Gabrielle goodbye - at the favourite North Pond restaurant. We will really miss our Australian connection / school buddies / maternal confidant. We are trying to get in as many playdates as possible before they leave - but the weather is hampering our efforts to go on picnics and play in the local parks. We visited the Chicago Institute of Art yesterday, the Nature Museum and Lily Pond today

Photo: Mietta plays with William. These two adore each other and are sure to miss one another. 

Life goes on...

Gosh, April is almost over and so much has been happening in the interim... just haven’t found the time to write about it all. 

At the end of last month we tearfully said à bientôt to Anahera, Max, Kaia, Joanne and Philip, who departed Chicago bound for their hometown of Piha in New Zealand. The ‘girls’ had a lovely brunch to say goodbye to Joanne at North Pond Restaurant (husbands were a little concerned when we didn’t return home until around 2pm). We are going to miss our lovely friends and playmates. However, we now have a stopover on our next visit to Australia ;-) 

At the beginning of April, Mietta and I jetted off to the UK to visit my sister Jenni, her partner Sebastien and their 15 month old daughter Blanche. Paul gave me the trip as a birthday present. The visit to see my sister and her family has been well overdue. Our visits to Australia last year did not coincide so it has been two whole years since I have seen Jenni! We had a wonderful time staying in the lovely and picturesque village of Arnesby and doing some sightseeing in the British East Midlands. It was an amazing experience to see the lock system at Foxton Locks for the long boats (barges). This lock system includes a series of ten locks or ‘steps’ to move boats to higher / lower ground.  This was in complete contrast to the lock system we saw at Sault Ste Marie in Northern Michigan two summers ago that catered for ships larger than ocean liners! Blanche and Mietta were able to play together and responded really well to each other. Mietta decided she would seriously ‘eat’ after sharing mealtime with Blanche. Our week went way too fast. Now I am looking forward to Jenni and family visiting us in Chicago. 

Paul spent a few days in Ithaca New York, in meetings with his colleagues at Cornell University. This is a good form of both respite and socialising for Paul who sometimes feels really isolated working from home. 

Yesterday we all went to an ANZAC service hosted by the Australian Consulate and held at the Elks Grand Lodge. The weather was a little treacherous and rain and gusty winds saw the event hurriedly moved indoors. The boys behaviour during the sombre (but lovely) ceremony was exceptional. We were so proud of them. Mietta however, kept blowing raspberries and making noises so I had to move her away from the noise-amplifying dome. The building is beautiful and very impressive: the ideal venue for such a ceremony.  

Mietta is now 7 and a half months old, has four teeth and started crawling on her hands and knees - just yesterday in pursuit of a ball. She is delightful. Mietta’s tastes are gourmet. She will not eat baby food but is completely happy eating fish cooked in wine, capers and lemon or Guiness beef stew... but refuses anything resembling baby food. She is a definite ‘finger feeder’. We are now trying to work out what traits might be personality and what may be attributed to gender. Mietta does seem to treat things more gently than the boys. Where they would grab at and pull at mobiles and hanging items, Mietta is very gentle and touches without pulling. Magazines, on the other hand, are fair game. Mietta loves destroying these.

Luc’s new ambition is to become an ‘artist’, moving ‘astronaut’ far down the list of potential careers. His drawing is prolific and he is becoming really good. His subject matter changes constantly. Super heroes and robots feature prominently, but he also draws from his imagination and likes to copy things and pictures from books. Today Luc told me the story about the “Mantens”: a series of rock-monster-super-hero-zombie-creatures (bird, crocodile, elephant, rhinoceros, tiger) that fit together to form an invincible being. He had drawn pictures of each creature, individually and in combination, with varying amounts of detail and drama. His story went on for about half an hour. My head was reeling from all the detail he conveyed. 

Nic continues to astound us. He is such an individual and defies any pigeon holing. He has started at preschool for two days a week at the very intimate and supportive Lovebugs. He absolutely loves school and can’t wait to get there on his school days. The staff have been surprised by how fast he managed to fit into their program given he started late in the school year (he took his friend Max’s place). The school is wonderful, staff super-lovely and Nic is visibly gaining confidence and discipline. 

We have had our first taste of summer with some wonderful weather. Our playdate with James, William and Gabrielle on Friday included our first picnic of the season. Gabrielle made my day when she revealed some small bottles of Champagne for the mums! The long cold winter has seen us ill-prepared for the summer weather with all of us showing the effects of sun on white skin. Now, to dig out the shorts and sunscreen... 

Photo: hanging out with the kids, late March. 

Daughter, sister, friend

Paul and I had been musing on the possibility of another daughter / sister for Mietta.  As we both have sister/s, this seemed like a shortcoming for Mietta - given she has two big brothers. We are obviously still in the ‘absolutely smitten’ stage of Mietta’s development: after all, she has not yet learnt to say “NO!” 

I related this fantasy to friends Gabrielle and Joanne who both gave a resounding “Forget it!” and then listed numerous reasons why being an only girl growing up with two brothers (as they both had) presented some major benefits... And besides, they added, there is no guarantee that we would get a girl and we might end up with yet another boy! With such compelling persuasion, and a recent sickness from Mietta, (with continual night-waking) this fantasy has been dropped. 

Photo: My sister Jenni catches a moment between Mietta and myself.