Around town

Since visiting my parents that very first summer (and every subsequent visit since) I've said to Jason how amazing it would be to live in Naperville. Truly the sole reason that actually brought us was to be closer to family, but I can't say that the area itself didn't have a certain lure. There is a beautiful downtown shopping area with unique restaurants and shops, a scenic Riverwalk along the West Branch of the DuPage river, one of the best library systems in the country offering plenty of children's activities, an in-demand public school system, plus the pool, Arboretum, Children's Museum, plenty of playgrounds within walking distance... all making this a very family-friendly area.

Though we haven't been out to explore these offerings as much as I would like, in between unpacking we've definitely been out and about having fun. I already shared pictures from our day at the Arboretum, but check out some of our other Naperville adventures:

The DuPage Children's Museum is about 5-10 minutes from our house. Its goal is to develop creativity, curiosity, thinking, and problem-solving in young children. Drew got a year-long membership from Grandma and Grandpa for his birthday, so we will definitely be spending plenty of time here.

Mirror maze

He spent at least an hour here watching the "contraption"

This past week the DuPage County Fair was in town. They had a little area called "Ag-venture Land" where children could learn all about different aspects of farming. We saw chicks hatching, a sheep being sheared, and yarn being spun. We used old machines to de-kernel cobs of corn and then to grind it into corn meal. We rode tractors, saw all sorts of different farm animals on display, and we even watched a pig race. Of course we rode some rides and enjoyed some oh-so-bad-for-you-but-oh-so-delicious fair food, but it was fun to explore the other side of the fair that I've always tended to ignore.

Watching chicks hatch

Petting zoo

My mom with a red-tailed hawk

Merry-go-round

On the Ferris wheel

Drew's first roller coaster. He was only slightly terrified. :P

Centennial Pool and beach, also about 5 minutes from our house, is an old rock quarry that was turned into a pool in 1932. It is a huge pool with a large deep end with diving boards, slides, and little islands you can swim to, but the part we enjoy is the sand sloping down to the zero-entry area of the pool. Though the weather has been beautifully cooler than home, we've still had some warm days, and this particular Sunday was one of them so we figured a dip in the pool would be perfect. Both Jason and I forgot our phones at home that day, so no pictures until we got home, but I had to snag one of my boys in their adorable poncho towels.

I am sure there will be plenty more adventures to come, but I do have a specific one in mind for this week that I hope to post about soon. It includes some history about our town AND our house!

Four summers at the Arboretum

Drew had just turned one when we took him for his first trip to visit my parents in Chicago. We had so many fun things planned- a day at the local quarry-turned-pool/beach, a nearby petting zoo, the Children's Museum, and so much more. All those plans quickly vanished when Drew came down with his first stomach bug that landed him in the hospital for IV fluids. Before the rest of us came down with the bug we managed only one small outing- the Morton Arboretum.

The Morton Arboretum was founded by Joy Morton in 1922 (he is more well-known as the founder of Morton Salt Company). His father, Julius Sterling Morton, was Secretary of Agriculture to President Cleveland and was the founder of the original Arbor Day and their family motto was "plant trees". The mission of the Arboretum, according to their website, is to "collect and study trees, shrubs, and other plants from around the world," and the Arboretum consists of beautiful gardens and collections of tress. My mom has been a member of the Arboretum since moving to the area, and had always wanted to explore one of its gardens- the Children's Garden- with children. 

Since our first visit in 2011, it has become a somewhat unplanned yearly tradition. Each time we went we discovered more fun things for the kids to do, and so I have always looked forward to taking the boys. This year was no exception. Once the chaos of moving settled down a bit, my mom thought it would be good for us to get out of the house, so the Arboretum was our first destination.

Among our favorites like the musical flowers and the frog pond, there are always some new things to explore each year, and since taking an adorable picture of Drew in a tiny Adirondack chair the first year, we have been tasked with seeking it out every year since. Below are some pictures from our past 4 summers of visiting the Morton Arboretum Children's Garden.

Adorable Adirondack chairs

Drew

James

Yes, I did it on purpose 

Frog pond. This year Drew was able to check it out on his own! And James tried it out for the first time.

 Musical flowers are always a hit.

This year as the boys are a bit older we were able to explore some areas we hadn't explored yet.

Rope climbing. Drew was a bit more terrified than he appears in the photos. But he was so brave!

The Maze Garden.

Someone's getting sleepy

Art in the garden.

I love how the gardens invite the children in to explore; they learn so much without even realizing it, and I think they grow a deeper appreciation for nature and its beauties each time we go. Looking forward to many more years of visiting the Arboretum to come.

Fun with family, friends, and neighbors

There's been a little delay between installments of my moving update because, unfortunately, it seems my camera may be broken. I was unable to retrieve photos from it until I ordered a new USB adapter. My dad currently has the camera and I'm hoping he'll be able to figure something out, but, as silly as it is to feel this way about an inanimate object, I kind of feel like a part of me has died!

In any case, the adapter arrived, so I thankfully have my pictures. And so begins Part 3: Fun with family, friends, and neighbors.

Drew's birthday snuck up on me only 4 days after moving in. He kept telling me he wanted to play with his friend Ben (from home in Georgia) for his birthday, so, knowing that wouldn't be possible, I wanted to make the day fun and distracting. So, even though I sort of swore off themed birthday parties after his 2nd birthday (until he was in school and really cared about it), I decided to make his birthday kind of fun by surprising him with a "Paw Patrol" party. Paw Patrol is a cute show he likes to watch about puppies that help "save the day" in various ways. (P.S. We did have a fun play date with Ben before we left to sort of celebrate Drew's birthday, but how quickly we forget).

Birthday present from Nonny and Poppy-
lots of work to put together!

As we settled in, we got a chance to meet a few of our neighbors. First we were surprised to find a sweet welcome gift on our doorstep from neighbors across the street.

After some of our last experiences with neighbors, it was definitely refreshing. (And please know, we actually had some awesome neighbors at home, too- they weren't all bad! But having flowers stolen definitely left a bad taste in our mouth).

Later that week we made our way over to say thank you, and Drew hit it off immediately with their 7-year-old son. Even more exciting is that they have another little boy who is only a month younger than James. Though they're not quite at the age where they can play together, I foresee many happy play dates in the future.

Drew playing with his new friend.
Photo taken from our inside our living room

During our chat, the neighbors informed us that the next morning, July 4th, there would be a neighborhood parade. We thought it might be a nice way to get to know the neighborhood, so we decided to join in the fun. We definitely enjoyed the walk around a few blocks while chatting with many other neighbors who have children Drew and James' age. My parents happened to be working at our house and snapped some photos of the parade going by...

Oh hai!

James in awe of the fire "f***"

Look how big the wheel is!

All the kids

July 4th was certainly a busy day because shortly after our parade we had our first "guests"! Friends of ours from Georgia moved to Michigan last winter, but ended up moving from there to Chicago the same weekend Jason and I arrived! Kevin and Chrissie (and their 1.5-year-old daughter) live only 30 minutes from us now, so we thought it would be nice to get together with some familiar faces. They came to check out the Naperville "RibFest" for lunch with us- an annual festival where contestants compete to serve the best ribs.

I didn't get any pics of the delicious ribs,
but here are cute kiddos waiting in line

They stayed through dinner and fireworks. We had plenty of fun in the backyard, enjoying Drew's birthday trampoline. Adults included! Fireworks weren't so much of a hit- James screamed until we hid inside, and their daughter fell asleep within the first few minutes, but being able to view them from our front yard made all of that so much easier!

Adult fun until the kids crashed our party

Though we're still working through unpacking (and missing our friends back home), having so much fun with family, friends, and neighbors has really helped us to feel at home quickly here.

Since it took me so long to get this part posted, I've built up another stash of photos to share. Next up will be our adventures exploring what Naperville has to offer.