Ccchhannnges...

We decided that the new house wasn't a big enough change, so we went ahead and threw a whole bunch of other changes into the fray as well. The more, the merrier, right? So in addition to a new house and a new city, we now have a brand-new kindergartner and a brand-new preschooler and some brand-new friends to go along with both. We also threw caution to the wind and took the training wheels off Ella's bike. Something tells me we probably should have done this at the beginning of summer because it literally took the child ten minutes to master this new skill.

The girls have brand-new friends (who happen to be sisters almost exactly the same ages as my girls) a block away from us and have been having a great time alternately fighting with each other and playing with each other. In truth, Sadie and Evie (the younger of the other sister pair) do fine together. But Ella and Maggie are both used to being Queen Bee, and there have been some issues. Wine (for the grown-ups) seems to help. I guess we're full-fledged members of our new neighborhood now. Here's my proof:

• We attended the neighborhood block party.
• We've got one neighbor continually giving us tomatoes from her garden (LOVE her!).
• Our next-door neighbor told the girls they could ride their bikes and scooters in her generous driveway.
• I've babysat for the neighbor children twice now.
• I've been invited for coffee with the moms twice, and Dean was invited to poker night.

I guess it's official. We're in the suburbs now! It's kind of hard to tell, though, because I'm closer to everything here: the grocery store, the library, a bazillion parks, the Y, the Trader Joes, the movie theater, restaurants. Nothing feels more like city living to me than being able to walk to dinner and a movie. Plus, did you hear? La Grange was voted "Best Suburban Downtown" by Chicago magazine! You heard it here first. Here's the blurb:

Miscellaneous
BEST DOWNTOWN: LA GRANGE: Lots of little suburban downtowns have
filled up with appealing restaurants and stylish boutiques. But in La Grange,
something unusual has happened: While many hot newcomers have sprouted in the
six-square-block village center, some tried-and-true old-timers like the
hardware store, the art league, and the camera shops have stuck around, too. The
6th Avenue parking deck on Thursdays is the site of a good farmers’ market. It
all feels like a Mayberry for the 21st century—and here, the police officers
patrol the streets on Segways.