“Mom, you’ve been using that word a lot lately,” Suzy told me. And she was right. Without even noticing how often I had been uttering that verb, I had decided to “recalibrate” holiday plans (due to extended fam illness) and “recalibrate” how and when we went about our Must Do traditions. I recalibrated how much food I really had to cook, and recalibrated how little I could get away doing before I descended into a pile of anxious lists and {Read More}
Chicagoland’s ‘All Seasons Orchard’ (& the tastiest apples ever)
September 18, 2017 By Leave a Comment
You can keep your pumpkin spice lattes; the real autumn draw in the Midwest is a superb orchard. And guess what? After years of [diligently] trying them all out, and [selflessly] downing cider and donuts, we have a new fave. All Seasons Orchard… …in Woodstock, IL, is worth its weight in Honeycrisp apples. (Which, by the way, are enjoying their peak season rightthisverysecond.) One of the largest orchards in northern Illinois, they have over 15,000 apple and pear trees, an {Read More}
Camping. A thing we totally did.
August 18, 2016 By 2 Comments
We went camping this past weekend. No, nothing in that sentence was a typo. It did not involve four star hotels- and, in fact, my accommodations were downright tiny. (There were multiple feet in multiple faces at multiples hours of the evening.) There were, however, exceptional friends on this camping trip. The kind who take this trip every year together with their families of three and four. So when they invited our family of five [crazies], I was a) honored {Read More}
Spring break (has changed)!
April 21, 2016 By 1 Comment
Quick post from the trenches of Spring Break Cousin-Land! For those just joining us, I ask you a question: What happens when two Flynn girls bring their 7 kids (ages 2, almost-3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and almost-10) together in a Chicago house (hypothetically mine) for a week of high-pitched giggling? This: And various children sleeping in various sprawled sleeping arrangements, long, mandatory marches across play lots and parks, and meal times that are more reminiscent of trough feedings than {Read More}
