This week has somehow become a crazy attempt to jam-pack all the fun of summer into a single seven day period. We began on Sunday with a trip to AJ�s grandma�s for hugs and presents for no reason at all (he even got a balloon just for walking down a street, but that�s another story). Yesterday brought two separate trips to playgrounds for AJ with two different friends.

Today we left early for a drive into the city to visit our favorite zoo, which despite some recent high-profile cases of animal death and dismemberment,
has several new exhibits.

Considering we were at a zoo, though, we saw relatively few animals. We saw the lions and tigers first (there are, alas, no more elephants there) and then ran to the underwater viewing area to watch the seals swim upside down, which AJ thought was hilarious. We stopped for popcorn before heading to the new children�s zoo, where AJ was much more interested in the various tunnels and things to climb than in the actual animals, which were mostly asleep. While I appreciate the attempts to make visiting the zoo more fun for littler kids, with playground stations built into education exhibits, I think it loses something too. The focus is no longer on the animals.

Actually, the most interesting part of the trip in terms of display was the indoor portion of the children�s zoo, where there is an enormous series of netted platforms that ascend and descend, maze-like (there's a picture here, if you want to know what I mean). The result is a snarly pile of kids � some having fun, others screaming in terror � about a story and a half in the air inside a cage-like net. They were definitely the most active and interesting animals in the zoo. After a stop for lunch, we headed in search of the polar bears and the new Africa exhibit, both of which were worth the wait. We replenished AJ�s flagging strength with Dippin� Dots (�The ice cream of the future!�), a product that I simply do not understand. I guess I�m old-fashioned; I prefer the ice cream of the past.

We sat in the gardens in front of the conservatory, where AJ chased pigeons and my husband and I lingered over the memory of his wedding proposal, which took place on a bench behind George Solti�s head. We sprinted through the conservatory and headed over to the Notebaert Nature Museum. AJ spent most of his time playing with various tanks of water that allowed you to manipulate the irrigation of several small plastic farms, take boats through locks, and spin water wheels. By the time we left, we were soaked to the elbows and giggling. Alas, AJ was less captivated by the butterfly room, which always amazes me. We stayed there less than a minute, as AJ was concerned about the fans and the insects whizzing past his ears.

Tomorrow we head back to the city, this time by train, to visit his friend Z., whom we haven�t seen in quite some time. This is sure to have all the drama of a soap opera � Two four year old�s separated for months are reunited at last! The passionate meeting! The tearful discussions over the sharing of toys! The tragic hour of departure. Will they ever meet again?

Thursday we will go to see an Italian family circus performing in the parking lot of an area Italian market. The family circus, Zopp�s, has been performing since the mid-19th century in Italy. They were featured on the front page of this Sunday�s New York Times. It caught my attention because I had recently been reading about European circuses in in Adam Gopnick�s collection of essays Paris to the Moon and was remembering some of the circuses I attended as a child in England and France, and how they were much more like the circuses in storybooks that you dream of running away and joining than the more ubiqutous Ringling Brothers or Cirque de Soleil models. The Times picture caption noted that the circus was performing in the Chicago area, so after some investigation, we tracked them down and found that their last area performances this season were to be this weekend.

Friday I am having my first time ever face-to-face meeting with an online friend. Eggsaucted and I have been joking about a diaryland playgroup for at least a year now and we�re finally trying to do something about it and are taking our kids to the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Saturday I will be a sloth. I will hide in my office and refuse to admit any children unless they are bearing gifts. I may possibly start digging a secret escape tunnel out of the house in case it all gets to be too much. And it might. Because Saturday�

�we make our first ever trip to Chuck E. Cheese. For a birthday party for AJ�s friend N. AJ is very excited. I am petrified. I mentioned only half-jokingly to the mother of one of AJ�s friends who had expressed amazement that we had not yet set foot through the doors of Chuck E. Cheese, that I�m a little afraid of the place. She looked puzzled and said, �It�s okay. It�s gated and they don't let any kids out without a parent with a matching ID number.� I nodded and smiled as if I was reassured. But I was really thinking, �Not scared for him � scared for me!� Environments geared towards children at the expense of adults tend to bring out my fight or flight instinct. Plus there�s the small problem with an anthropomorphic rat (no amount of sk8ter gear can hide his true essence) representing a restaurant. I'll bring earplugs and aspirin and I'll probably survive. I was half-tempted to ask if Chuck E. Cheese has a liquor license, but thought better of it.

If I survive the week with my sanity intact, it will be a minor miracle. Only two more weeks until school starts!

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