Sweats and the City

Friday was an interesting afternoon. We went to Michael's, a large craft store akin to Hobbycraft to buy some bits for the the kids to make ruby anniversary cards for D's parents. Around half an hour after we got back, E complained that the light wasn't working in the loo and I, rather belatedly, realised that we had no power! I once again went to find my neighbour, Jenny to check it wasn't just us and it was clearly the whole of the block which was affected and the power company weren't sure how long it would take to fix. It seems it was due to the high winds we have been having (I confess I did ask D to check there were no tornado warnings after DH!!). Rubbish timing as it was approaching tea-time for the kids and then I realised that we have a gas oven/hob, though with an electric ignition. Jenny once again came to the rescue with matches and I managed to cook some pasta. D picked up some candles on the way home and we sweltered for the rest of the evening without the air con. The power finally came on around midnight but it was certainly sticky. It reminded me of when we first moved to Australia when I was a teenager - we had a power cut after a few days and had to light our fire in sweltering heat as it was the only light source!!!

Sat morning i was dispatched to shop for some summer clothes (hardly a chore!) so Maddy and I hit Gap while D, I & E went to see 'Kung-Fu Panda' at the cinema. I really enjoyed being able to afford Gap prices but unfortunately M was less than enthusiastic so I had to bribe her with an icecream!

In the afternoon we headed downtown to one of Chicago's top tourist destinations, Navy Pier which is basically Brighton's Palace Pier on a larger and slightly less tacky scale. We took a short boat trip which was perfect timing to avoid a rain shower - a great way to see the skyscrapers from lake Michigan. The highlight for E was,however, a $2 (£1) ride on a Thomas train!!!!

This morning saw us head to the Evanston Vineyard church after pancakes for breakfast. We had a good morning and we were proud of the kids for settling so well into their Sunday school groups. It was a good morning, sound preach but somewhat lacking in contributions and demonstrations of Spiritual Gifts in the worship time (ie none!). Makes you really grateful for what we have in Newfrontiers.

We ended up heading to a restaurant for lunch and once again even the kids' portions were huge!! I had the most amazing Mexican dish which was some kind of deep-fried tortilla shell stuffed with salad and chilli, etc. The only way I can describe it is that it looked like one of those filters for old-fashioned coffee machines but crisp and much bigger (naturellement!)

Not sure what the plan is for tomorrow as heavy rain is forecast but then it's forecast to be warm and sunny for the rest of the week so maybe I will sort out a beach pass...