Snowy Halloween

We were under a winter weather advisory today and ended up with record-setting snowfall for Halloween - as of 5 p.m. O'Hare reported 3.4 inches. That's a little ridiculous.

We had to keep these little kids inside all day because of the snow. The one dressed as a bat went around scaring the other kids all morning long. Really, all morning. It was a long morning. I went home, took a nap, and woke up late to pick L up from school. Then I looked outside:

Seriously? I had to find some snow boots, brush off the car and get to the school where L decided to wear just a hoodie and was waiting in the snow.

She figured with the snow, people would be willing to give her and her friends, who are way too old for trick-or-treating, lots of candy.

She was right. Only one old man asked them if they were too old for this.

Pretty fall colors and snow

This is what we woke up to this morning - over an inch of snow! Just a day after I took these pictures of the fall trees.

It seemed like it was taking forever for the trees to turn color this year. Then overnight, boom, the city is filled with color. And now the branches are breaking due to the snow. There were lines down in the alley when I went into work this morning.

Fortunately, I took a few pictures (L took these, I was driving) before the leaves all gone.

National Cat Day

August

Muffles

And Schubert, the roaming neighborhood cat.

Trump's in town

Andy had quite a show when we went out for his lunchtime walk around the Loop today. Trump was in town speaking at a convention of police chiefs and then went to his hotel (near where this picture was taken) for a fundraiser. So many protesters the police closed Wacker Drive.

L makes dinner

L was complaining the other day that I don't make anything for dinner that she likes. I told her she can make dinner for us anytime she wants. Tonight she did. She made a pepperoni pizza ring from a recipe she found online. It was tasty. She thought it was a little doughy so if she makes it again she said she'd add more sauce and pepperoni. Sounds like a plan.

Quick college trip

Andy did the first shift of the end-of-the-season chocolate donuts this morning, after being up late making the cinnamon and chocolate frostings. When he got home, we woke L and took a quick trip to U of I with the plan to bring some of E's things home so she won't have so much to bring home in December. We also wanted to see their apartments since they drove themselves down to school and August and didn't need our help moving in. This is the courtyard at B's bulding.

His apartment is very nice and pretty clean for four guys.

This huge refrigerator is actually two refrigerators placed side by side. Nice.

This is the in-unit washing machine and dryer ... and one of his roommate's shoes. L was qute impressed with the shoe collection.

Here are going to lunch. So nice to have everyone together again.

The kids picked Texas Roadhouse for lunch. I had never been there and L was skeptical but ended up loving it.

My super senior. After lunch, we took the kids to Walmart to get some necessities and Hobby Lobby where E had to pick up a few things for an art class.

This is the living room of E's apartment. Her building is right next to B's which makes it very convenient.

E's roommate has a dog and we wanted to see it. It was on her roommate's bed. L said it looked like a stuffed animal.

The rain never let up all day. I was hoping to get some nice pictures of the kids on the quad with the trees turning color, but not today. We could hardly see the cars in front of us on the interstate so we got off at Chebanse and took Route 45 (Mannheim Road) back to the burbs. It was slow going and there was a lot of water on the road but we made it.

Gram's recipe

Thought I'd try one of the recipes I had copied from Andy's grandmother's collection that we eventually passed along to his sisters. It's for Pecan Strips and I had all the ingredients so why not give it a try? The only problem I ran into was when the recipe said to put it in a "shallow buttered pan." I used a regular 9x13 dish and had to bake it a lot longer than the 25 minutes the recipe called for.

They taste good, even Andy agreed, but next time I'll use a jelly roll pan so they're thinner.

A bee?

I was in B's room searching for E's winter coat and saw a bumblebee in the bottom of his trashcan! I assume August killed it. Also assuming it came in the house by his window air-conditioning unit. Yikes.

Donut supplies

We went on a Costco run tonight to get ingredients for the frosted donuts this Saturday. Andy bought butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, milk and apple cider. Total? $106. He still needs 32 ounces of vanilla and nutmeg.

Taco Tuesday

Today our preschool snack was tacos with some of the produce the kids helped us pick out at the Farmers Market last Saturday.

This is one way to get the lettuce washed. (I passed on the lettuce).

And here's the spread - refried beans, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, salsa and sour cream. Each kid came up and chose a corn or flour tortilla and made their own taco. One boy ate three - just sour cream on a flour tortilla.

Open House Chicago - Oak Park

Allison joined us yesterday to tour a few Oak Park sites that were part of Open House Chicago. This is the baptistry at Grace Episcopal Church.

We also learned that the church is the one used in the church scenes in "Home Alone." Guess we'll have to watch the movie and check that out.

Looking toward the front of the church.

The stained glass windows were stunning.

Since it was nearby, our second stop was the new Albion apartment building on Lake Street. This fifth-floor, two-bedroom unit with balcony rents for $3,800 a month, plus another $150 for a parking space. It was nice, but that's way too much. I think they said the building is 20 percent occupied.

Nice amenities, though, if that's your thing. An outdoor seating/entertainment area with pool. I did like the big loungers.

And I saw a doggie in a window while we were checking out the pool. The pool is about 3 feet deep. Perfect for a nonswimmer like me.

The views from the apartment's balcony were pretty nice. This is looking east toward Chicago.

And this is Lake Street looking west.

Our last stop, which was actually on the tour, was One Lake Brewery. It used to be a bank building. I love this beer-bottle chandelier.

We looked around and ended up on the third-floor patio for a beer, popcorn and some wings.

Cheers!

The end to a fun day!

Open House Chicago

Andy and I went downtown this morning for three hours to see how much we could tour as part of the Open House Chicago event. Our first stop was The Rookery building.

Frank Lloyd Wright redesigned the lobby. You can see his style in the chandeliers.

We waited in line for at least 40 minutes to climb the stairs. We were a little disappointed that the whole idea of climbing the stairs was to get this "money shot," as the security guard called it. We couldn't go any higher in the building. It was neat to see but it's the same shot that's one all touristy things about The Rookery.

Stop No. 2 was the Chicago Board of Trade.

We toured the vault. It was hot and we weren't sure why we were there.

Interesting art deco details inside the building.

Stop No. 3 was the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank and Money Museum.

This is $1 million.

Stop No. 4 was one of our favorites - the Cliff Dwellers Club at 200 S. Michigan Ave.

We stepped out onto the balcony and were wowed by the view. We were 22 stories high.

The view looking south ...

... and north. You can see the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, the Bean and the Face Fountain.

Stop No. 5 was another private club - the Sky-Line Club. This is the interior of a pub from England that was dismantled and rebuilt here 100 years ago.

Another gorgeous view from the club at 307 N. Michigan Ave. There were people in the dome to the left of the picture. A man standing next to us on the balcony told us that's the bar area of a hotel. We might have to go up there sometime.

Nice view of the Wrigley Building and the Chicago River.

Stop No. 6: On the way back to the car we decided to stop in the Seventeeth Church of Christ, Scientist.

It's one of those buildings you walk past all the time so it was neat to see inside.

Stop No. 7 was the Chicago Loop Synagogue. The Ten Commandments were right at the entrance.

This beautiful stained glass was at the top of a ramp on the way into the sanctuary.

The sanctuary.

This is where they keep the Torah scrolls. The covering is sculpted metal.

The stained glass in the sanctuary was so pretty. Seven tours in three hours? Not bad! We also visited some sites in Oak Park. More on that tomorrow.

And how fun is this? We were at the Rookery the same time the WGN News crew was there. We were on the news, standing on the stairs!