Chicago Trip with Jacob

This summer we took Jacob to Chicago. He loved his first airplane, train, bus, taxi, and Uber rides, not to mention having Mama and Daddy all to himself for five days and hearing us say "yes" to all kinds of things we usually say "no" to. Ice cream at the Cubs game? Sure! Screen time before bed? OK! Pick whatever you like off the buffet at breakfast? Of course! I think he also pushed every button and pulled every lever in the whole city. My tactile learner had a blast (and Mama went through an entire bottle of hand sanitizer).

The pictures won't load in order, but here are the main things we did:
Museum of Science and Industry
"Beach" at Lake Michigan
Pizza dinner with friends
Field Museum
Adler Planetarium
Souvenir shopping
Wrigley Field for a Cubs game
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Lincoln Park Zoo
360 Obseratory
Under Armour store
Millennium Park
Navy Pier for a hotdog

Our favorites were the Museum of Science and Industry and the Cubs game. We're a baseball-loving family and it was a fun experience to share together.

Elementary Ancient Literature List

In honor of the back to school phase of life we're finding ourselves in, here's my list of ancient literature for elementary grades. We did ancient history and literature last year and we read A LOT of books. These were our favorites. Be prepared that sometimes the myths and battle stories get a bit strange or gruesome--I occasionally edit as I read aloud. ;)

1. Complete Book of Bible Stories, Jesse Hurlbut (Judaism and Christianity - long)
2. Gilgamesh the King, Ludmila Zeman (Mesopotamia)
3. The Revenge of Ishtar, Ludmila Zeman (Mesopotamia)
4. The Last Quest of Gilgamesh, Ludmila Zeman (Mesopotamia)
5. The Trojan War, Emily Little (Greece)
6. The Flying Horse, Jane Mason (Greece)
7. Book of Greek Myths, D’Aulaire (Greece - long)
8. Once a Mouse, Marcia Brown (India)
9. One Grain of Rice, Demi (India)
10. The Elephant’s Friend, Maria Williams (India)
11. Black Ships Before Troy, Rosemary Sutcliff (Greece - long)
12. Rhinos for Lunch and Elephants for Supper, Tolowa Mollel (Africa)
13. The Adventures of Spider, Joyce Cooper Arkhurst (Africa)
14. Tutankhamen’s Gift, Robert Sabuda (Egypt)
15. Exodus, Brian Wildsmith (Egypt and Judaism)
16. The Wanderings of Odysseus, Rosemary Sutcliff (Greece - long)
17. The Legend of the Persian Carpet, Tomie dePaola (Persia)
18. Forty Fortunes, Aaron Shepherd (Persia)
19. The Hero and the Minotaur, Robert Byrd (Crete)
20. King Midas and the Golden Touch, Charlotte Craft (Crete)
21. Roman Myths, Geraldine McCaughrean (Rome - long)
22. The Lost Horse, Ed Young (China)
23. The Dragon Prince, Laurence Yep (China)
24. Lord of the Cranes, Kerstin Chen (China)
25. Da Wei’s Treasure, Margaret and Raymond Chang (China)
26. Dragon Kites and Dragonflies, Demi (China)
27. In the Eyes of the Cat, Demi (Japan)
28. Miracles of Jesus, Tomie dePaola (Christianity)
29. Parables of Jesus, Tomie dePaola (Christianity)
30. Aeneas, Emily Frenkel (Rome – long)

Poptart: 4 months

Baby is growing perfectly and Nora tells me my belly is getting big! We had appointments with the specialist last week and again this week. Baby is showing no signs of anemia and the antibody-E levels in my blood are so low they can't measure them. Good news all around! We pray this precious baby boy continues to grow strong and healthy and that my pregnancy progresses with no complications.

I am past the nausea (!!!) and starting to get some energy back. Time to get out the maternity clothes. Thankful.

Poptart is a . . .

BOY!

Family Reunion!

The cousins had a great time together. Yay for fishing, canoeing, and art projects with YaYa!