Abundant Sunshine

Erin warming up after a swim while Ben enjoys playing with the buckles on the life jacket
Erin and Claire (who recently lost both of her front teeth)

Ben feeling groovy in my cool shades

Today Jerry and I planned a trip with the kids to Millennium Park. I had never been there although Jerry took the girls last summer. For it being such a huge park, I really couldn't tell you where it's located or how to get there and even Jerry with his Blackberry in hand had to turn around a few times. We arrived at 10:30 and headed straight for the beach area. There were only a couple of families there, and we found a spot close by the water. Ben enjoyed the sand and walking ankle deep in the water but didn't care to go in any farther, which was more than fine with me. The girls swam, built sandcastles, and then we went up to the splash pad water park. That lasted about 2 minutes because the sprinkler water was freezing. We then had lunch, (sandwiches, fresh fruit, and zucchini bread from today's farmers' market...yum!) played a little longer, and left at around 1:15. It was definitely a fun experience, and we will for sure go back. At Millennium you get the beach experience with less crowds and warmer water temperatures. Next time we'll bring beach chairs and an umbrella. I thought the only downfall was that the playground area was too far from the beach....and Ben continually walked back and forth across my beach towel with wet sandy feet.