Category: News

We spent last week in Detroit welcoming the newest member of our family, Nathan! Daddy had to work quite a bit because it was the last week of the month, but we got to visit with the new parents and our little nephew as well.

Maeve spent most of her time with Nanna and Grandad, who helped us out so much! She enjoyed another trip to Greenfield Village, where they rode the steam engine train, the Model T Fords and the carousel. Maeve got to go mini golfing with her grandparents as well, and then on a boat ride to lunch and a bike ride around Wyandotte for ice cream another day! My mom and I were able to take her to a local pool, but mostly she loved playing with Duffy and Ophelia. There is a really cute video in the MobileMe Gallery of Maeve “reading” her new princess book to Ophelia!

We returned in time to stop by our block party so Maeve could go in the bouncy house and we’ve been enjoying this perfect summer weather at the local farmer’s market and pools. The Whealan pool we found today as we kicked off Altman Summer Camp this week is a perfect blend of zero depth entry, fun slides and spray toys, and the ability for Maeve to swim around with her life jacket on! We are hoping for trips to Brookfield Zoo and playdates with friends in the suburbs this week too… This weekend we are looking forward to some quality time to BBQ with our cousins!

Maeve’s newest cousin, and Chris and my first nephew arrived today! Auntie Beth and Uncle Matt welcomed a beautiful baby boy named Nathan Matthew Wagner today at 11:43 a.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. and was 20.5 in. long. We are so excited that he is here!

We spent this past week at Grandma’s in Michigan. We enjoyed some beautiful weather, trips to the beach and Ms. Lisa’s for ice cream, and Maeve even got to show off her putt putt skills again on a mini golf course! We had a fun playdate with Maeve’s friend Zachary, and Grandma and Maeve had a couple of outings on their own as well. A highlight was going blueberry picking (the first time for all of us!) and we also enjoyed a trip to the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, which was having a Curious George exhibit.

We celebrated Maeve’s friend Mia’s birthday on Saturday at a fun storytelling party and now have a day to regroup in Chicago. But the big news is that we are excited to meet Auntie Beth and Uncle Matt’s baby boy on Monday, so next we will be traveling to Detroit to be with them as they welcome him to the world!

Please see the update to the Boat trip post below, as there are tons more photos in my dad’s gallery…

Monday – Morton Arboretum where Maeve did some spider web crawling and chocolate chip cookie making

Tuesday – storytime and pool in Oak Park with Olivia, Welles Park concert with Mia

Wednesday – day trip to Janesville, pool playdate with Sierra

Thursday – Lunch with cousins, playdate with Evan at our house

Friday – Playdates with Will and Avery (school friends)

This weekend, Daddy returns from his week-long trip to DC and we are getting ready for our trip to Grandma’s. We will be at Grandma’s next week with many fun activities planned, like berry picking and a trip to the Curious George exhibit at the Children’s Museum in Grand Rapids!

UPDATE: Our photos are posted in the gallery and my dad’s pictures can be viewed here!

So, Altman Summer Camp took a road trip hiatus to Nanna and Grandad’s boat for two weeks. This trip started off with a fun surprise party for Aunt Cinda and Uncle Bill’s 40th Wedding Anniversary! We met up with the Foley family in Charlevoix, MI at the end of June. We stayed with Nanna, Grandad and Duffy on the boat and saw members of the Foley, Anderson, Fitzpatrick, Arms and Thompson families for the special occasion.

On Monday after the party, Nanna, Grandad, Duffy, Maeve and I embarked on our boating journey (Daddy had to head back to Chicago for a week of work before his vacation could begin). Our journey that day was not ideal, with waves bigger (and more side to side) than we expected. Maeve did not enjoy “going up and down!” But we arrived safely in Leland, MI and spent several days in that marina, exploring the cute surrounding town and parks. Gail and Linda came to visit for dinner one night and we found some yummy jam and cute stores while we were there.

On Thursday of that week we traveled across Lake Michigan to Sturgeon Bay, WI. We were excited to make it to Wisconsin so that Chris could join us on the weekend and we could explore Door County. We had so many fun experiences there and didn’t even see/do it all in a week! We highly recommend the area and have specific dining and outing recommendations to share, especially if you have kids.

Here are some of the highlights of our Door County leg:

iPad – Maeve discovered Nanna’s newest Mac toy and did some amazing art work in both Doodle Buddy and Brushes.

Duffy – Maeve has reached a point where she is stronger and bigger than Duffy, so she requires more supervision to ensure that she is gentle with him as he grows older. But, she loves him dearly and lays on him and “doctors” him whenever she can!

Swimming – Maeve started the week by trying out her life jacket in the pool and found by the end of the week that she could float, jump in by herself and swim all the way to the ladder at the other end of the pool.

Dinghy – Maeve only had one outing in the dinghy this trip, and did so with Daddy and Grandad. She enjoyed touring around the marina and under the big bridge nearby, and visiting the tugboats in the area. She got to drive in circles and practice her skills for a bit as well.

Sturgeon Bay, WI – we stayed in Centerpointe Marina with its great heated pool and nice families. There were stores, restaurants and parks to walk to from here and it’s a cute little town to explore.

Door County – We had really good restaurant and excursion recommendations from family and friends who had been there. We took a day trip on the ferry to Washington Island and visited a neat rock beach. We also went to mini golf at Pirate’s Cove (Maeve loved it and went twice!) and a fish boil at the White Gull Inn. Two of Maeve’s favorite meals were at a bakery with a play area and a restaurant that delivers its food on a choo choo train! Of course, we all loved the old fashioned ice cream parlor in Ephraim with its chocolate malts.

Week 1

Monday – Maeve and I took the el train and a bus to the Field Museum on a rainy day in Chicago. We spent our time there with Sarah, Olivia and Tessa!

Tuesday – Another rainy day took us to the Y, bowling (which Maeve loved!) and the Laura Doherty concert at the Old Town School of folk music. We have listened to “the concert CD” in the car nonstop since!

Wednesday – We spent the morning at the Green City market and had a picnic lunch with Georgia and Evan at the Lincoln Park Zoo. We saw animals, got ice cream and enjoyed the sunshine. Then, we went to the park with Avery for another fun playdate!

Thursday – Maeve and I spent the morning at the Dempster Aquatic Center, our favorite pool in Skokie, and then had lunch with Megan and Lucy in Lincoln Square.

Friday – We went downtown to visit Mommy’s old office and have lunch with Daddy on Chris and my 5th wedding anniversary. We went to visit Daddy’s office, and then went over to Will’s house for a playdate during a storm that took out our power! Will is a friend from Black Bear.

Saturday – The Altman family took the el downtown to Millennium Park to play in the fountains and have a picnic while listening to the Midwest Young Artists perform in the Pritzker Pavilion. A perfect Chicago day.

Sunday – We took Daddy to lunch at Rockwell’s for Father’s Day.

Week 2

Monday – Maeve and I went to the library this morning and then went to Oak Park for lunch with Sarah and the girls on Tessa’s 1st birthday!

Tuesday – We had a fun playdate with Sisi at the Nature Museum this morning. Sisi is a friend from Black Bear and Little Gym.

Wednesday – Today Altman Summer Camp took a roadtrip to Rockford for a playdate with my college friends’ kids Sierra, Felicity and Ryan at the Children’s Museum. The kids enjoyed many different exhibits and the outdoor playscape once the rain stopped.

Thursday – We did an art project at home – a fun T-Shirt to color on that my friend Tammy sent – and then went to Maeve’s dentist appointment. She got a great report and was very brave during the cleaning!

Friday – Today held another fun playdate with Evan at Centennial Pool and then lunch and a visit to his new home.

Saturday – The Altman Family headed up north to Charlevoix, MI to embark on our two-week boat journey with Nanna and Grandad!

Sunday – Our family celebrated Aunt Cinda and Uncle Bill with a surprise party today on their 40th wedding anniversary.

I love my dad and my baby girl’s daddy! Maeve and I are so lucky to have them.

After a busy, fun weekend of World Cup and birthday parties and a Justin Roberts’ concert, Altman summer camp began on Monday. I have created index cards for all the possible things we can do in and around Chicago, and laminated our schedule. Maeve really got into her visual schedule this year at school and I thought having one for summer would help us plan and do lots of fun things! I intend to post a diary of sorts each week to catalog what we do around town.

We got to see Maeve’s teachers to say goodbye today…and Maeve got to play with a few of her school friends in a bouncy house!

One of the moms put together a book for Ms. Bailey and we were able to purchase a copy. Maeve loves the pictures of her first school friends – it’s her first yearbook!

We also had our last day of Little Gym class today and I realized that it is the last time mommy will be invited into class. Maeve is such a big girl now that she will be going to classes by herself, not the parent/tot classes I have enjoyed the past three years.