in Chicago

I always eat so well when I come to this city! This visit is no different.

Of course, I relish my breakfasts here with Primrose. Or, like today, with the whole gang. We always have granola with yogurt and fruits.

But it goes way beyond that. For instance, after a morning of play, the four of us go out for brunch. Wait, did someone say morning play? Who is playing and what are the fav games?

Let's look. (Dress up!)

Well that seems lively! So, what about brunch? Where to? A family favorite: Middle Brow. It's one neighborhood over. But we are game for a brisk walk. About 45 minutes each way. Such a beautiful fall day!

The food here is so delicious -- breads, salads, eggs, all of it -- that it calls for a small beer, or in my case, a beer touched with an aperitivo. I'd never had that before! 

The girls love their pizza, the grownup girls are thrilled with their brunch dishes. Totally thrilled.

We walk back.

We nap. Well, kids do and grownups drink coffee to keep from napping.

And when everyone is awake and aware, we take out paints (again, a general "we").

And now we have another task: trying on the costumes for Halloween. Primrose very much wanted to be Maid Marian form an older Robin Hood movie she'd seen (where the characters were actually foxes, playing out the roles of the storybook characters). That called for giving Juniper the part of a foxy Robin Hood. Here they are!

And now it's getting late.  Sunday evening asks of us that we get ready for the week ahead.  Baths, a review of schedules, calm moments before bedtime. Dinner, with a plate of charcuterie and dishes of pasta.

And so ends a beautiful weekend. 

A few more hours with my daughter and then my son-in-law is home and we put aside more visiting because it's going to be a very early morning for all of us. Juniper is to have an ear procedure in predawn hours and I'm to get Primrose up and off to school. Then home to the farmhouse, to pick up another granddaughter at her school!

But all that's tomorrow. Tonight I go to sleep with that deep satisfaction of having behind me a set of beautiful, delicious days. 

With so much love...