Susu and the Cowboy after the parade
On the Fourth of July, we participated in the "Everybody Marches Parade," aka, "The 4th on 53rd." As you may have inferred from the title, anyone and everyone is encouraged to march in this parade which treks through the heart of Hyde Park and ends at a big festival in the park (big points that day for the Hyde Park businesses). Susu and Suraya really enjoyed "marching," (although as you'll see, Susu rode her bike and Suraya, her stroller). There were several organizations we marched with: a group against the war in Iraq, The Historical Society, and finally, a group that was promoting breastfeeding. With two little girls in tow, my desire to express solidarity with these groups quickly fell by the wayside. In the end, we marched in front of the band from Kenwood Academy. They did a marvelous job, and their drumming is what made the parade.
Susu started baseball earlier this week. I had a proud parent moment during her first session. When she took her turn at bat, the Coach asked if she wanted to hit it off the tee. Keep in mind, she's never played ball before. After a few hits off the tee, she asked the Coach to pitch the ball to her. She hit it out to third on the first try! I really like the concept here--they teach the fundamentals, working on a skill set each time. For example, last Monday, they practiced catching and throwing the ball throw hula-hoops. Suraya wanted to play too, and was quite disturbed when she was ejected from the game (by me, of course).
On the third of July, some friends came over for dinner and we had a ghetto fireworks display in our backyard. This consisted mostly of the "legal" Illinois fireworks, courtesy of Walmart; let's just say smoke was a primary feature in almost all of them. The kids loved them though. Afterwards, we made our way down to Promontory Point where a large group had gathered to watch the fireworks at Navy Pier. We were disappointed with the view, but many people had brought their own Fireworks (which were as big as the fireworks that the various municipalities use).
On a more personal note, this summer is pretty wide open for me (read=I am being pretty lazy). Essentially, I have finished my coursework and I am in the process of reading for my exams. I will not be traveling to Iran, but we spoke with the coordinators of the fellowship and the program will probably be moved to Tajikistan within the next few years, so thankfully, I still have a shot at bettering my Persian. I may do some work for a Refugee organization this summer, and in the Fall, I start a part-time job at the test preparation company, Princeton Review (I specify, since recently, someone asked if I'd be teaching at Princeton, lol).
More summer shots:
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