The First Years are Hard Years

Ari cried on the walk to school and also for the first 15 minutes. "Don't leave me. I'm not big." He was the only tearful kid in his class, but I did see another K student weeping somewhere. I'm sure a lot of his feelings today have to do with being up 'til midnight last night. I think he snuck out of his room 3 times. Anyway, he'll be more tired today and ready to get to bed on time tonight.

All of us walked him in, and the class was filled with parents. There seemed to be about 10 spider-man backpacks in the cubbies. I talked to a few parents this morning at the orientation. The biggest news for me was that the K grade is hiring assistants for the classrooms, entirely through parent donations and initiative. They already have enough to hire 2 assistants to float between the 3 kindergarten classrooms and will hire a third as soon as they can. So, it's good to know that most of the time the teacher:student ratio will be more like 1:14.

The student population is quite diverse, and the parents are very friendly. They seem to be eager to volunteer, too. Ari will be at recess at 11, and lunch at 11:20. We'll pick him up at 3:30. I really, really hope he enjoys something about his day today!

See more pictures here.

It Takes a Village

We are enjoying our village life. We live within a few blocks of two small grocery stores, three book stores, a cleaners, several restaurants, not to mention the boys' schools. My walk to work is all of 6 blocks and takes 12 minutes. I don't miss having a car one bit. Yesterday, we walked around the Museum of Science and Industry, stopped at the Osaka Gardens, and then we went to the beach - all a few blocks from our home. See our pictures here.

Ari starts school tomorrow.

Midwest Nice

I had two good experiences yesterday that surprised me. First, I was looking desperately for a room from which to make a phone call at the Gleacher Center. Even though it was the business school, and I was a guest at the facility, they really went out of their way to accommodate me. In fact, I was just getting settled in the conference room, when an IT guy walked in with a new (better) phone to see "how I was doing and if I needed anything." Then, when I was going home, I asked the information guy at the Metra which train I should take to Hyde Park. He looked at his screen and said "Track 2." I ran off to grab the next train. I was half-way down the steps when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turns out, he gave me the wrong info, but instead of letting me go, he left his desk and chased me down onto the platform to help me.

Anyway, these two episodes stuck me as pretty cool - something I wasn't expecting.

Movin' On Up

Well, we moved.

It was quite a lot of work. On Wednesday, we packed. On Thursday and Friday, the movers packed and loaded. On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, we drove. On Wednesday, the movers unloaded. And since then, we've been unboxing and unboxing and unboxing.

Check out all our pictures of saying goodbye, the load, the trip, and the unload.

Cape Cod

Well, we finally made it to the Cape after six years in Boston. Max's baseball coach had a party at his beach house for the Championship Dodgers and used the opportunity to also have a farewell party for Max. The drive was long, and the day was hot, but everyone had a terrific time. Ari charmed everyone with this basketball and tree-climbing skills. Max and Zach had a lot of fun playing dodge ball. Max even got down and dirty in an ice cream eating contest (no hands allowed!).

Lots of pictures here.

Next stop... Chicago.

A Day at Sea

We had a wonderful time today on Megan's houseboat. We drove down to Westport and spent the afternoon swimming, fishing, eating and enjoying a day in the sun. We keep saying good-bye to our closest friends...

Click here for pictures.

Ari Monkey

It was the weirdest thing... we were sitting around watching TV and Ari walks up to the wall... and he starts to climb it. Why should we even be surprised.

Watch here: