Each girl’s doll had a chair and setting for the tea. The girls all had pink lemonade, finger sandwiches, scones and lemon curd. The desserts were the big hit including a flowerpot full of chocolate mousse and an edible chocolate tea cup full of raspberry creme. The whole shop and cafe is centered around these dolls. They even have doll holders in each of the bathroom stalls.
Our agenda for the afternoon was obvious. Three little girls dressed
in their Sunday best all carrying dolls have only one place to go in
Chicago… American Girl Place.
Our favorite fountain in Chicago consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project video images from 1000 Chicago citizens sampled by the artist on LCD screens behind the block glass. The faces are a reference to the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains, where faces of mythological beings were sculpted with open mouths to allow water, a symbol of life, to flow out. Every five minutes or so the images on the screen round their lips and start to spit water out on the crowds of children waiting. It is the perfect stop on a hot Chicago day in August.
The girls were running through the sculptures of giant legs. If you
notice in the background of the picture there is a man sleeping
amongst the legs. The girls just acted like he was part of the artwork
not even glancing at him in a questioning manner. I had to remind them
to not step on sleeping people. I guess he could have been dead for
all I know.
It is easy to forget how much fun chasing pigeons can be for kids. I
started to feel sorry for these birds and then I reminded myself they
could just fly away. The pigeons only fly far enough away to just be
out of reach waiting for the next child to sprint towards them. These
birds remind me of our cat Corky in their tolerance levels. He always
looks on the miserable side with the kids handling him but he hardly
ever runs away.
If Joe had a boat he would need to have a slide off it like this boat.
Joe mourns the days of hotels having diving boards and slides in their
pools. Lawsuits, high insurance, and fear took all the fun away.
While driving home from my sisters the tornado sirens went off. My mom
called me and told me there was a tornado sighted and we should take
cover. Luckily we were a couple blocks away from my parent's house so
we headed there. We all waited the storm out in the basement. It was
reported that a tornado touched down in Elmhurst but we didn't even
lose power. Monti will have a good story to tell her friends at school.
