Thelma, Louise, and Bobbie Jo

Having tea at the Drake

Chicago from our hotel room

Hotel Cass

This past weekend two friends and I took a trip to Chicago to visit as many tea locations as we could in 48 hours. The 4 hour drive went by quickly as we chatted and listened to S.'s ABBA CD. At one point I mentioned how it felt a little like the movie, "Thelma and Louise," leaving everything behind for a couple of days to have a good time with friends. Since we were 3, we called ourselves, Thelma, Louise and Bobbie Jo. Of course, Louise, Bobbie Jo and I managed to stay out of trouble, unlike the real Thelma and Louise.

It was an incredible weekend! It was the most fun that I've had in a long time. Our hotel was in a great location (thank you A.!), right in the middle of the famous Magnificent Mile! It's amazing how many things we were able to do in the short amount of time that we were there. Below is a list of some of the places we visited. I will write more details in future posts so please check back.

1. Afternoon Tea at the Drake
2. Afternoon Tea at Celtic Knot Public House
3. Tea Gschwendner
4. Teavana
5. Argo Tea
6. A trip to Evanston that included a tour of Northwestern
7. Julius Meinl (Austrian tea/coffee house and restaurant)
8. The Baha'i temple
9. Swirlz Cupcakes
10. Cupcakes
11. Ikea

Bradford Woods Narrative

By: M.V.
Bradford Woods Narrative
Perspective of M.’s Shoes when wading in the creek



“Ouch! Thorns!” Cried M.’s new green sketchers. “What a painful hike! There’s rocks, thorns, sticks ,and worst of all, poison ivy. Why can’t this long 6 mile hike just have nice soft moss covering the trails? I mean it really should, especially on a beautiful day like this.” The shoes complained all the way there until we finally reached the creek.

“I’m going to have to go in here and live with the fish for at least an hour? Why don’t they let you go barefoot? I can’t go in the creek! I’m brand new! I’ll get ruined!”

A second later, M. told Chris, [the instructor of the trail group] that he forgot to change into his old pair of sneakers. Chris manifestly said that M. could go get his other pair because I (the shoes) started heading back through the bushes. M. reached his backpack and pulled out his old dirty pair to use for wading in the water. He threw me to the ground. That was the end of me for a while.

“I finally get worn? After 3 whole years? Yippee!!” The old sneakers shouted with joy. “Where are we going? Please go to someplace cool like a trail made of rocks.” SLOOOSH!!! The shoes landed in the creek unexpectedly. “Ooooooh! Water! I just love water. Hey look! A fishy! Go closer! Go closer! Awww it swam away.”

The shoes “swam” with joy until it was time to keep on hiking. We walked back to the area where we left our backpacks and M. picked up the not-so-new green sketchers. He slipped them on and shoved the old shoes into his backpack. The old shoes were lucky. They didn’t have to face the long hike back to camp like the green shoes did. And so for the next 45 minutes or so, the green shoes complained until M. got in bed and went to sleep.

Bradford Woods

Here are some pictures that I took while I was at Bradford Woods. Not all of them turned out because I was using a disposable camera.











M. came home from Bradford Woods today. He wrote the following summary:


I recently returned from Bradford Woods after a 2 1/2 day adventure. Bloomington fifth-graders have been going to Bradford Woods for the past 50 years. Every fifth-grader in Monroe County has the opportunity to experience Bradford Woods. BW is owned by Indiana University outdoor education.

During our stay we spent most of our time outdoors. We studied wildlife, wetlands and nature in an outdoor classroom. We spent many hours hiking. We took a night hike without flashlights and a day long hike which lasted over five hours.

There were plenty of activites. Our counselors did skits and held a Dutch auction on our last night. One of my favorite acitivities was archery. I got two bulls-eyes and as a prize for each bulls-eye, I received a gold nugget. We also sang many, many camp songs such as:

This is a repeat after me song.
This is a repeat after me song.


Da Moose, Da Moose.
Da Moose, Da Moose.


Swimming in the wa-ter,
Swimming in the wa-ter,


Eating his sup-per.
Eating his sup-per.

Where did he go?
Where did he go?

Heeee fell asleep.
Heeee fell asleep.

(Say fell asleep really fast.)

(Repeat the above except say he's eating something else for example, ice cream.)

And now for the really really sad part.
And now for the really really sad part.

Dead Moose, Dead Moose.
Dead Moose, Dead Moose.


Floating in the wa-ter.
Floating in the wa-ter.


Not eating his sup-per.
Not eating his sup-per.


Where did he go?
Where did he go?

Heeee decomposed.
Heeee decomposed.

(Say decomposed really fast.)

Schacht Farm

This past weekend, instead of going to work I opted to stay home and spend quality time with my family. We spent a good portion of our weekend riding our bikes. On Sunday we took a 15 mile ride (round-trip) out to Schacht Farm for their open-house.

I came across the proprietors of Schacht Farm on my Saturday visit to the farmer's market. There I met Mandy and Matt at their booth, where they were selling their freshly processed chickens. As I chatted with Mandy, she explained how they raised their chickens following a holistic model. Chickens are put out on pasture where they stay until processing day. They eat grass, bugs, locally grown grains and organic kelp. They remain on pasture until they are humanely processed. Mandy and Matt also raise sheep and turkeys too.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the farm. We learned that Schacht Farm was a German Dairy farm in the early 1900's. Mandy and Matt turned the the milking barn into their home a few years back. Two of the farms best attributes are a pair of beautiful old terracotta silos. The kids enjoyed climbing in a hay bale-filled barn, visiting the chickens, turkeys and sheep, and running wild. However, E.G. was a little disappointed that he couldn't chase the chickens around and try to catch one.