Suburbs

Living in the suburbs is a new experience for me. I have heard of the suburbs and figured it couldn't be much different than living in a small town, which is what I have done most of my life. I will say that it is much like that and also different. I have posted on Facebook a lot of pictures of the pond that is basically part of our yard, the geese who come into our front yard to eat the leftovers from the mulberry tree, and the abundance of trees (and weeds) that are in our backyard. These glimpses make the city or anything associated with the city seem so far away. Yet, we are reminded of the city because every few minutes we see and hear airplanes (though you do get used to the sound, so you eventually tune it out, am I right UofL folks?) Often we will even see two overhead going in opposite directions. We live near O'Hare.

A new sound to me is that of a regular train whistle. I have lived in towns where there are railroad tracks and you get the occasional train, but here the Metra comes and goes on schedule all day. We hear the whistle while playing in our backyard, and to go most anywhere in town you drive by train. Thomas was very excited because one day there were a few John Deere cars being pulled. We also drive Pete to the train station and pick him up daily. He has stories about life on the train: conductors, tickets being punched, drinking being allowed, missing the train, taking the wrong train and ending up in places you never meant to be, Blackhawk fans, and enjoying not being stuck in traffic while being able to reliably get where you need to go. Right now, Jack's biggest wish is to ride the train.

Jack also has seen a new form of advertising floating above our backyard- the blimp. This was a blue DirectTv blimp that was right overhead but had already gone quite far by the time I could get a picture.

While driving in the suburbs you drive 10 minutes in any direction and you have driven into a new suburb but continue on or turn down a different road and you might find yourself back in your suburb. The names all jumble together Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Elmhurst, Villa Park, Lombard, Downer's Grove, and Oak Brook. All the same and yet different. I have only been to a few of these, and currently my favorite is Glen Ellyn- it just looks so quaint and picturesque. In Downer's Grove and Villa Park we have eaten at Portillos, which is now Pete's favorite food place outdoing Skyline and Qdoba. In Glen Ellyn we tried malts and ice cream at Oberweis- the best malt I have ever had. I heard they delivered milk still and they totally do- see Glen Ellyn is so Mayberry. We had pizza from a couple places, no deep dish pizza, but still delicious, but too expensive to be something that we do regularly. We went to the Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn, and Jack loves it there. He loves animals anyway, and wants to work in some capacity as a scientist with wildlife animals. There was a young man volunteering, and Jack has decided when he is old enough he will volunteer there as well.

Jack, Pete, and Uncle Danny went to a Cubs v Cardinals game at Wrigley Field.

Jack and company rooted for the Cardinals, and the Cubs fans jested and joked, but welcomed the new and young baseball fan. I heard it was an awesome experience for all 3, and I am glad they got to share it with one another.

When leaving the suburbs you get to drive into the city, and the city looks like this. We were very excited that we received our I-Pass and did not have to get all the way over and scrounge around for change.

Since we just moved and didn't want to overwhelm the kids with moving and lots of summer activities we have just been slowly driving around checking things out when we get the urge, and eating popsicles on the patio.

So far we like it here, and we haven't even made friends yet. I take that as a good sign. There are only a couple things we don't like: Mosquitos and allergies!!!  The mosquitos are HORRIBLE!!! They are everywhere. Poor Luke and Pete - all over their face, neck, ears, arms, legs, and back!! Allergies are bad for all of us, but Jack tends to get bloody noses, and since we have been here he has had one bloody nose episode almost daily. Luke says, despite this, he loves this town and wants to raise his own kids here. Jack says, he loves it but doesn't want to raise his kids here because there are too many bloody noses involved. Thomas says, once we have all the adventures there are to have here it will be time to move someplace new with new adventures.