Halloween

Here's L's completed Halloween costume. She met up with some friends at Holmes School, wandered the neighborhood, did a little trick-or-treating, then brought three friends home for an hour or so. Too bad Halloween was on a school night.

B stayed home and finished a few of his college applications.

Pet me

August loves to climb on things and grab at our hands as we walk by to encourage us to pet him. Here he is making sure Andy doesn't stop petting him. Just when you pull you arm away, he reaches out to grab it.

Andy got lots of props for his chocolate- and cinnamon-frosted doughnuts today at church. They sold out and it was the biggest sale day of the season.

Doughnut day

Here were the supplies for Andy's annual frosting making for the church's doughnuts. This year he did the chocolate and a new, cinnamon frosting. He wasn't too happy with the chocolate frosting this year. He said it was too thin and I thought it was a little bitter.

They look pretty, though, and they were selling fast.

Here's the homecoming float E helped her sorority build. She rode the float in the parade last night and said the plan was to set the Minnesota gopher on fire. I thought that sounded a bit dangerous, even for college kids, to set something ablaze in a parade. Later she clarified that the torching of the gopher was to happen after the parade. She didn't stick around to see whether that actually happened.

Celebrating the little things

E sent me this photo today of her celebrating a good grade on a test by ordering a tea and some Chipotle tacos. Tonight, she said, she'll be riding on the sorority float in the school's Homecoming Parade. The Illini play Minnesota tomorrow. Notice that's she's wearing her Illinois sweatshirt. Glad to see her showing some school spirit!

Sad kitty

New TV stand

Andy has been looking for months (years?) for a new TV stand that would lift fit closer to the wall and lift the TV higher and this weekend he found on. It was quite entertaining watching him and L put it together. We were also able to get rid of the speakers that were sitting on the old TV stand. Apparently, they haven't worked in a while. I was not happy when I found that out. I've been dusting those damn speakers for how long? And they weren't working? Seriously?

The finished product. And now he's looking at new TVs. Uh oh.

And the lease is signed

E has been stressing us out with the drama regarding her apartment search for the next school year. She initially had plans to get a four-bedroom apartment, but a couple roommates were concerned about the rent and wanted to live farther from campus to get cheaper rent. E decided she couldn't live that far away (a couple of miles in the snow would not be a fun walk to school). Then they found out there were no four-bedroom units left in the building they begrudgingly all agreed on.

The search continued over the weekend and now they've decided on this building. They'll still be getting two, two-bedroom apartments, but the leasing company said the units can be next to each other. Anyway, the lease has been signed so I'm hoping the apartment drama has ended. Here are some pictures she sent me when she did a walk-through:

Just relax, B

Some of B's college applications have a Nov. 1 filing deadline and he's been working on the essays for weeks. A couple days ago, he received this mailing from the University of Chicago. Inside it has tips from current students on how to not stress out when completing applications. And if that doesn't help, maybe the cute kitten will.

Cubs win!

Andy was one excited guy last night when the Cubs won the National League championship. And when we saw the Tribune's front page today it was obvious it wasn't a dream. It's been 71 years since the Cubs have been in the World Series. Could this be the year they win the Series? That hasn't happened since 1908.

Doughnut experimentation

Andy is gearing up for the church's last doughnut day of the season. A few years ago, he started making a chocolate frosting and the church sold chocolate-frosted doughnuts on the last sale day of the Farmers Market season, the last Saturday in October. Today, he got a grand idea to try a vanilla or cinnamon frosting. The darker frosting on the doughnut in the front is the cinnamon and I think it's a winner. We'll see if this year he gets the OK to do chocolate and cinnamon.

And although I was hoping E's apartment search had come to an end, apparently it has not. Stay tuned.

E bakes a cake

E sent this photo today of a cake she baked for her sorority's "day away" event this weekend. When we were visiting her, we bought her cake pans, potholders and a very flimsy cake holder.

E's apartment

After weeks of searching and debating with her potential roommates, E has filled out an application to get a lease for an apartment for the next school year! It's a few blocks from campus. I'm a little jealous that it has an in-unit washer and dryer, air-conditioning and a dishwasher. It's nothing like my college apartments. Can't wait to see it, and I'm thrilled the search is over. At least one of her potential roommates isn't happy though. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.

Deadline looming

B has been hard at work on his college application essays. He writes them, I edit them, then he changes them. I ask him lots of questions to get him to elaborate on certain subjects. It's a long, back-and-forth process that needs to be finished by Nov. 1.

Caricature

P went to college this weekend to visit E. She sent me the picture above. Today, she sent the picture below, a drawing one of P's friends did of them. I thought it was pretty cute. E thinks it makes her look a little crazy.

Zombie straw

So L goes out for a walk and returns with this zombie straw - just in time for Halloween.

Another info session

This afternoon Andy and I took B to Oak Brook for an information session about the University of Chicago. We toured the campus in spring so a lot of the material was repetitive for us. We left a bit early since B had to meet some of his physics classmates at the library.

Busy Saturday

Mom and Cindy came up yesterday for a visit and today was jam-packed. We had to go to PetSmart so Cindy could buy some Halloween toys for her dog. Can't go away for the weekend and not bring him a treat, I suppose.

Here's picture time:

Mom with L and B ...

and me with Mom.

In the afternoon, Andy, Cindy and I went out to tour a few local sites that were on Chicago Architecture Foundation's Open House.

First we went to Pleasant Home. When I was reporting, I was there a lot, usually visiting the Historical Society's office. I did get to see lots of rooms I never saw on my visits to the Historical Society. Andy had never been inside. Here he is in the main hall.

One of the volunteers turned on this machine which she said was similar to what the juke box eventually became. It was quite loud and quite a crowd gathered as it played.

Andy and Cindy both took turns trying their luck on the slot machine that was on the stairwell. One of the previous owners of the house invented coin-operated machines. We parked in the garage at Vantage, a new apartment building, and toured the Nineteenth Century Club. Not too much to see there. Then we headed to Vantage where we were toured a one-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor. I think the rent was $1825 a month and parking would be another $125. (Our mortgage is less). Prices go up as you get on the higher floors.

The fifth-floor common areas were nice. Here we are on the balcony grilling and sitting area. It was nice. The funniest part of the day had to be when L, Cindy and I made a quick run to the Jewel and Cindy dropped a bag of pink tortilla chips on the floor. The closure popped open and there were chips everywhere. Wish I had a picture of that.

And then we took Mom up on her offer to take us all to dinner. We went to Forest Park for some Italian food. Here's Cindy, Mom and Andy with their salads.

Pumpkin season

It's that time of year when the stores are filled with unique pumpkin-flavored items, and Andy likes to try as many as he can. I couldn't resist picking this air freshener up when I saw it. We'll see whether he likes driving around in a pumpkin scented vehicle.

It's coming together

L has been piecing together a Halloween costume for a few weeks. She has knee-high boots and white pants that she's embellished with black electrical tape. This jacket was something we had to get off of ebay. It's one of those things she says she can wear before and after Halloween. I hope so.

I think the goal is to be a character from the Japanese manga series "Attack on Titan." Like this:

Voting: accomplished

Andy took some time from work yesterday to walk over to the county building and vote early.

Sneaky

Look who I caught hiding in the coats.

L's Tower Hill adventure

I think this is the group picture at Saturday breakfast of most of the Pilgrims who went to Tower Hill. L is wearing a sweatshirt she had to buy at a restaurant we usually go to. The family she went with met up with other church members and had dinner there Friday night.

I'm sure there's a story behind this picture. Notice she's still wearing the sweatshirt.

And here they are at Dinges' Farm on Saturday afternoon.

Here she is at a Saturday night Monopoly game. They also had a campfire which, she said, they tossed fireworks into, under adult supervision, of course. She came back home Sunday afternoon.

Visiting the first-born

Andy and I drove to U of I today to visit E. Look how happy she is to be going to Walmart!

Here we are at Papa Del's waiting for our pizza lunch to arrive.

And here she is with Andy in the arboretum. It was a beautiful day to walk around campus. Next time we see her will be on Thanksgiving break.

Touring Northwestern

Everything was purple today as we took B to tour Northwestern University. We went to a 9:30 a.m. information session that was pretty long. B nodded off, but says he's done that at every college information session he's been to. At least he was awake for the tour portion. This is the gate that all freshmen walk through as a group to start their college years, and then walk back through it at graduation. At least that's what they told us.

The campus is really pretty and compact. In this picture you can see the Chicago skyline.

The campus is literally on the beach.

That's the back of B's head as the tour continues.

And more lake views. This is just outside the student center. Kind of looks like a golf course. It made Andy happy.

This is my horrible picture of the main library. Andy's mom went to Northwestern so we figured she spent a lot of time studying here.

This is a rock that used to be part of a fountain, but the pipes froze one winter so now it's just a rock that various student groups paint with different messages. I'm sure the tour guide explained it better, but it was kind of hard to hear everything.

After the tour, we rode around Evanston a bit then decided to grab lunch at the Firehouse Grill. The ambiance is pretty neat, being in an old firehouse, but the food could have been better. B said eating there once was enough for him even though he cleaned his plate of his burger and fries.