Fantastic Five

All five of the Reelitz grandkids gathered at the Circle R Ranch for Cal and Matt's 4/34 Birthday Extravaganza!
Four young lads, one lovely little lady!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Jay!

Grandpa Jay's birthday was yesterday, and we attempted to get a picture taken of Alex holding a sign...it didn't quite work out the way mom wanted it to...

Sigh...

Mr. Ornery!

Furry fun!

Alex had some fun playing with Mom's furry hat on the way home from Chicago!

Tricks with sticks

I finally finished the triple rib knit blanket for my new niece! It was sized for a crib blanket - about 24x36. Well, I doubled the yarn because I didn't have a heavier weight to use and it ended up being closer to 36x36....ah well. Funny, it didn't look that wide on the needles!

Closer look at the rib pattern.

I also had some leftover Velvetspun yarn from a bunny blanket I made a year ago, so I whipped up a little hat for my new nephew as well. Belden wasn't a very cooperative model, though.

On the subway!

In honor of the Metra post, a classic from Sesame Street. One of my favorites as a kid! Sesame Street nailed the subway riding experience of NYC in the 70s - dirty, crime-infested, cramped. The best line is where the old lady muppet sings "You could lose your purse or you might lose something worse!" Elmo would be toast on this subway!

Metra Mayhem

Alex got to take his first train ride on New Years Day - the Metra out to Itasca to see Grandma and Grandpa Hennig. Much to our delight, he also got a "true" urban experience a la public transportation characters:

1. The Drunks --- several inebriated Blackhawks (and Red Wings) fans from the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field earlier that day. These being gentle suburban dwellers, they kept to mostly friendly ribbing about each other's teams (Hawks fans are just thrilled to even BE on TV).

2. The Crazy --- gentleman muttering and talking to himself about the noise level on the train. Also had a conversation on his cell phone in which he became enraged and yelled at whomever (himself) he was talking to (himself).

3. The Cat Lady --- the quiet older woman with a kitty cat holiday sweater sitting across from us reading a book. She also had the requisite gigantic reusable bag crammed with stuff. If I had to guess I'd say she had about three-four cats.

4. The Space Invader --- very large man sitting next to me who took up a seat and a half. Very nice, said "hi" to Alex as I tried to maneuver for more room.

'09 will be mighty fine...

This was taken in the car on the way home from Chicago last week. We've got more photos that we'll be posting in the next few days.