Park, Park, Park & Park

At the Park Family Reunion back in America, I collected snippets of family memories from various aunts and uncles.  I then pulled these all together into a 30 minute long video. I'm going to send the link out in the Park-Wigan Family Newsletter later in the week, but here it is for the loyal readers.

C taps in at 42.6 pounds. D at 24.6 pounds. Here they are in the recent past .

A visit with Uncle Nate out to Cantigny . D atop a tractor at the Museum of Science & Industry. The kids in front of Grand-Dad's homemade blueberry pie. C as astronaut.

Earlier this spring, C discovered busythings.co.uk - a site with simple games for kids his age. Just before we left for America, I downloaded Angry Birds - a simple game where you slingshot birds at pigs to get points- to my phone, thinking it would be good entertainment of the flight.  It was. But now it's grown.  And there is an increasing amount of questioning about when C can play Angry Birds next, again, etc...

I'm at the arrivals area at terminal 3. the flight has landed. the house is ready. its a rainy morning in London- not perfect for a return from a month long holiday.

While we travelled around the Midwest, the kids immersed themselves in American food culture. Early in the trip, we ate at a restaurant called Redamaks - famous in southwest Michigan.  It has all kinds of American stuff hanging on the walls- old neon signs, sports memorabilia, and old pictures of the local area.  We ate hot dogs and cheeseburgers and drank lots of lemonade. On our trip north, we got the American diner experience here in Port Washington. While in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we had lunch at Donckers , which has been in Marquette since 1896.  The big draw for the kids was the full candy counter!  All kinds- some from when I was a kid, fudge, hard candies, gum, everything! On the way back, we stopped for gas in a small town in northern Wisconsin.  While inside paying, the girl behind the counter was taken in by C’s accent.  So, we had to hold up the guys behind us buying bait for fishing and explain where we were from and the differen...

While I'm stuck here in rainy, cold London, Bella and the kids are still in Chicago.  In the warm and sunny weather. Today, they went into Chicago for the Air & Water Show- a fantastic event along the lakefront where all kinds of jets fly past.  Here's a great taste . They apparently had a exciting time- C loved the jets and fire boats.  D found it a bit noisy, but still enjoyed the planes flying right overhead. Here's a link to video of the US Army parachutists that landed on the beach nearby. A secondary highlight was a stop at McDonalds on the way home. Updated:  Here's a picture from Navy Pier where they watched the jets fly over.

Grand-Dad made Dorothy a leafy crown today with ivy from the flower beds.   Here she is reciting Caesars' Gallic Wars .   "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres..."

We journeyed a few miles south of Hinsdale this afternoon to Waterfall Glen .  It's a really good forest preserve, but today it was swarmed with mosquitoes. There's a small waterfall which the kids are standing at the top of- video to follow. I fly back tomorrow, so I'm getting some quality time in with the lovely kids.

In no particular order- Catching frogs and crayfish and seeing a bald eagle at Lake Beaufort. Learning to go over their heads in the various lakes. Finding bear poo in the woods. Picking up American vocabulary like "ahsum" and "no duh". Jumping off the big rock at Great Grandma's house.

...was spent eating pizza at the famous Congress Restaurant and reading. Across the street from the pizza joint is the statue of Old Ish the Indian which we're all in front of. Then it was off home to the cabin for reading books on the end of the dock at sunset. Bruce, Andi, Erik, Aleya, Ali, C, D, Bells, me, Danny

We toured part of the UP looking at waterfalls that my Uncle John has scouted out for years.  Here we are at the Silver River Falls: And here we are at the Quartzite Falls: C, Uncle John, D

Here she is: And at The Big Rock in the back yard.  Kids in this family (going back to my Mom) have been jumping off this rock for generations.

Back in 2009, we journeyed to the UP and climbed up Sugarloaf Mountain- see here . On this trip, we did it again- always a good experience.  Here's a collection of the pictures.

Little Presque Isle is a secluded beach on Lake Superior- a fantastic place.  We all went out there on a sunny afternoon and the water which is usually freezing, was really warm. About 50 yards off shore is an island we waded out to and hiked around- D on my shoulders; C bravely wading waist deep. Here's all the kids half buried in the sand and D in the background. A map and description .

We got to Ishpeming in the middle of the afternoon, and then were led out to the camp/cottage/cabin where we would stay for the next 4 days by Bonnie. All the cousins and their kids came out, along with Aunts and Uncles, for a big dinner of pasty's on the deck. Some of the cousins played a bit of american football- here's D trying to to get in on the action. The cottage was right on Lake Beaufort - the kids splashing right up to til the sun went down at 9:15pm!

Last Thursday, we all piled in the car and drove north from Chicago to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  As we journeyed through Wisconsin, we stopped for breakfast in Port Washington.  So the kids could experience an American diner, we ate at Harrys - a place we stumbled upon.  C and D had pancakes with lots of maple syrup. right at the counter. After breakfast, we then skipped across the street to Bernies - the local butcher and picked up some provisions like Polish sausage and local beer.

There is a word that has developed around our house- nudikins.  Which means nude, no clothes, usually coupled with running around, yelling the fact that you have no clothes on. D refused to put her swim suit back on after a late evening dip (attempted bath); hence the pictures of her toasting marshmallows in the buff.

In Michigan, we stayed right on the beach.  Just down the steps from the house.  So we spent lots of time there- early swims in the morning, chunks of the day, and then bonfires at night.  C really tanned and his hair got blonde. He learned how to dive through waves, swim under water, and had a riot with this green float.  Video to follow at some point.

While at the family reunion, we traveled a mile down the beach to see an old high school friend Michelle Ryan and her family.  They now live in LA, but come back to their cottage every summer.  It happened, like with Greg and Mark on Friday , that our global paths crossed at the right time. L to R: Max, Russ, Sophie, Ronan, Me, C, Bella, D, Michelle, Lily

On Saturday morning, we all hopped in the car and drove around the bottom of Lake Michigan to Lakeside, Michigan.  Friends of my parents have a cottage there, and we gathered my Dad's two-of-three brothers, plus spouses and cousins, for a family reunion. L to R: Pat Keegan, Joel Park, Uncle Nate with C, John Park, Dad with D, Me,  Greg Park. I'll post more on some of the other adventures we got up to over the next few days.