Aylmer Express "MoHo" Extravaganza 2006

Happy 230th Birthday USA!

This blog update is brought to you by Coffee Cartel in Central West End St. Louis who offers FREE internet access as opposed to Starbucks accross the street who is charging for the same thing!

Frank Lloyd Wright is the mystery architect. Congratulations to John and Marianne for there correct (and prompt) replies.

The special word for yesterday was:

confluence \KON-floo-uhn(t)s\, noun: 1. A flowing or coming together; junction. 2. The place where two rivers, streams, etc. meet. 3. A flocking or assemblage of a multitude in one place; a large collection or assemblage.

After all the activities of the last few days we sort of crashed today. Probably not the best way to spend Independence Day in the US but the sleep deprivation over the last few days forced us to take it easy. Needless to say we rose in a rather tardy fashion and didn’t really get underway until about 11:00. We decided to take in the 4th of July parade right here in Skokie, Illinois. It turned out to be quite entertaining, just as many of the locals had described and it was nice to just be able to jump on our bikes and head over. André-Paul couldn’t resist such a crowd so he brought his “Kandy Kabob” business effects along with him. And while we waited for the parade to get underway, he managed to bring in close to $20 in revenues with a quick walk through the waiting throngs. That certainly put a smile on his face. Now he has some American money so he can buy things while we are in the US.

I then took advantage of the lull in our schedule to bring the family to Ben and Jerry’s for their first time. The actual location was probably the least appealing I have been to so far but the ice cream was the usual AWESOME! We will now be keeping our eyes open for Ben and Jerry locations as we swing through the different locales coming up.

We were also lucky enough to find a piano. Jim and Susan’s neighbours, Rene and Celeste, offered to let A-P pop in at their place to tickle the ivories a little. They had a pretty busy schedule that day so we really appreciate them making time to fit us in. They also provided us with some verbal highlights from the Italy-Germany semi-final match so that was a bonus.

Following that we crossed the street to another of Jim and Susan’s neighbours, Zack and Lisa, who had invited us over for a 4th of July BBQ at their place. It was a lovely evening and we had a great time. I think A-P and Morgan enjoyed an opportunity to play with toys they haven’t seen in years as Toby, Ellie and Bennet had lots of them lying around. Morgan seemed to take Toby under his wing and they ran around in the backyard, then moved to the family room to play with trucks and trains, and finished off with Morgan reading a couple of books to Toby. I think Morgan enjoyed playing the “big” brother role for a change. And I must say, he did a great job.

After that our plan was an early night for a chance but Zack warned us that there would be plenty of fireworks going off around the neighbourhood so be prepared for lots of noise. What we weren’t prepared for was the amazing fireworks display that the city of town of Skokie appeared to be providing. We were able to watch an incredible display that was not only high quality but also high quantity, all from the comfort of Jim and Susan’s front yard! Then, according to Chantal, it took my rather torpid body less than 10 seconds to fall asleep.

Jim and Susan are lucky to have so many fine neighbours and we look forward to the day where we can all get together again. Hey Jim, should you start making this an annual thing?