T. I. A. G. T. M. A. T., Part IV: Walking Group

When I first moved to Toledo in the fall of 2004 (you know, I swear it wasn't that long ago), walking was my sanity. I would put Olivia in the stroller and push my pregnant self over to the Morse Center on MCO (it was that long ago, and I'll call it MCO until I die) campus, and walk a mile or two on the track. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays were the days for the Cardiac Rehab patients to do their therapy, and so I would be there with a whole bunch of old men and a few old women, and gradually, they became my friends. A man who introduced himself as "Coach Quinn" got everyone there to sign an Adult XL "Cardiac Rehab Unit" t-shirt to give to Olivia since "she was the rehab mascot". They were delighted when I came back to walk after having Mimi, and I never got tired of hearing how I was getting so thin so quickly. (That's a fantastic ego-booster when you are looking at your poor post-baby body.)
The next year, Candace Slater started walking with me up there in the Morse Center (Thank you, Candace!!). It was so lovely to have someone that would actually talk to me the whole time. We would meet at 11:00, walk until 11:50, and then meet our husbands for lunch.
Then, just as it was becoming a chore to keep my kids in the stroller the whole time, struggling to keep them off the exercise equipment and counting jumps on the mini-trampoline every 5 laps, I got another lovely break. A group from church decided to walk together. At Swan Creek Park during the warm weather and at Southwyck Mall during the winter. Every Tuesday and Thursday, with dire circumstances my only excuse, I have been there. Walking. Staying sane. Occasionally pushing a small child who is crying hysterically in the stroller or on a bike. I love walking group.
And now I'm sad. I think I've only got two or three of these left, and I'm sad to go. Here is our group last Tuesday. It was quite chilly and breezy, and we still had a good turnout. It's nice to see there are moms as anxious to get out of the house as I am.The kids play in the park afterward. This is Mimi with Rachel.
I've been bringing Zachery lately, and this chain/ladder is his highlight of the park.
The moms talk and laugh.
And Mimi started learning how to ride Olivia's bike. (I love this picture.)
My birthday has fallen on walking group day for the past two years, and this year, as a delightful surprise, Katie and Shelly planned a little party. Cupcakes and ice cream and so much kindness. (I stole these pictures from Shelly's blog).
These girls are the cutest friends.
And I couldn't pass up the picture of the kids (Jordan, Caden, and Sarah) trying to dig out the last of the cupcake sprinkles.
I need there to be a walking group in South Bend.

Things I will miss about Toledo, Part III: Black Swamp Art Festival

Every September (usually the first weekend) there is a big art festival in Bowling Green. They block off part of Main Street and set up booths for artists down the middle of the road for about 2 blocks. Another entire block is devoted to art projects (mostly free) for kids. It is a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, because we are ill-prepared, we have yet to make it to the festival with our camera, although we've gone every year. So these pictures are all of the products our children have made, but not of the process itself.
They usually make some sort of large paper hat. These brown paper versions are especially nice to steal from the children when it is hot and sunny during the festival. I wore a feather- and glitter-bedecked version the entire day in 2006. And doesn't Olivia's expression in the top picture remind you of Matthew Lau? Those round-headed babies are sober kids, I guess.

This watercolor/coffee-filter version of the hat is from last year. Much more colorful, but not nearly as functional. Especially because you can't wear them while they are drying.
And these tribal masks are from last year too.

Besides craftiness, the Black Swamp festival also boasts a delicious kettle-corn stand with samples galore, a woman who is there every year selling clothes for those crazy front-yard geese (sorry, Ohio, but I just can't get on this trend), and a book sale at the Bowling Green library where the Wells family has picked up more treasures than our bookcases can hold over the past four years.

I'm going to miss you, Black Swamp.

Things I Am Going to Miss About Toledo, Part II: Free Internet

In posting this, I feel somewhat embarrassed. For the past three-and-a-half years, this is how we have connected to the internet. The little cable is a wireless antenna. It helps us pick up the public wireless signal from the medical school. I don't feel guilty, since John is a medical student, and the signal is for the use of students, but I feel a little (all right--WAY) on the cheap side to admit our willingness to work this hard to get free internet. It's fast, when it works at all, and it is quite susceptible to the vagaries of the weather, but it's free. And now I'm going to have to start paying an internet bill. So very, very sad.

Thing I am Going to Miss About Toledo, Part I: Campus

In considering my rapidly approaching move, I have been thinking and regretting all the things that I am going to miss about Toledo. (Now, this is not to say that I am unhappy about South Bend. I am delighted about South Bend. This is also not to say that Toledo could be defined as "Heaven on Earth"--certainly not.) I would like to chronicle at least some of the wonderful things that we have enjoyed here in our almost-four years.

Favorite thing (place?) #1: UT HSC/MUO/MCO campus
Despite the many and frequent name changes of the school John attends, having it practically as my front yard has had so many advantages. The first and foremost is that John has been able to have lunch and dinner with us much more often than if we had lived farther away. During his first year, he could run home after morning lectures and grab Olivia so she could go with him to a noon conference, complete with pizza and soda. She thought those little daddy-daughter dates were heaven. (What more could a toddler ask?) Also, it was easy to complete the first two years with only one vehicle in the Wells family fleet.
The third, and most fun, advantage has been that the campus is practically our front yard. We have used it as a yard, finding all the fun spots to play hide-and-seek, pushing the handicapped door buttons, and riding tricycles and bicycles along the miles of sidewalk. Sure, we've been a spectacle. There are not very many other small girls on campus (especially when bedecked with tutus and fairy wands), but it has been lovely. If I couldn't actually have a yard, I've had the next best thing.

We've made runs to "The Big Hill" (the hill around the campus Hilton hotel) in our pajamas (this picture is from October) to roll down the grass and put handfuls of gravel into the drain at the bottom of the hill. If it's warm enough, every child I have babysat makes an expedition with us over to campus. Zachary Marks and Jack Slater have been particularly engrossed with putting whatever fits down those drains. (If there is a flood on campus sometime after I leave, I will swear that everything we sent down the drain was biodegradable and it couldn't possibly have been our fault.)
And yesterday, we did one of our regular family expeditions as a Sunday walk. The small amphitheater between the Health Education Building and the hospital is the perfect place for a dance concert, and the girls will never pass up the chance to put on a show.
As excited as I am about my own yard, I'm going to be sad to give this up.

Our Toledo Saturday

Our family recently came into a little money ($20--thanks, Mom), and so yesterday, we decided to live the high life. We traveled to. . . . . . . Venice! That's right. We found cheap roundtrip flights to Italy, there and back in one day. It was delightful.
Actually, we were trying to find things that were new and Toledoan, since we'll be leaving soon. We've already had Tony Packo's hot dogs, so we couldn't be quite that Toledo-centric (since part of the criteria for the day was new), but we'd heard great things about the pizza and gelato at Diaggio's (near Kohl's--on Airport Highway), and that's where we went. (Despite Mimi's fever. When you have a Saturday free, and the motivation to make use of it, you go. No matter what.)
The girls loved the fountain in the middle of the dining area and the murals on the walls.
We ordered calzones, the special of the day (delicious!), but consumed them so quickly we didn't have time to take a picture. (And it's a shame because they were lovely. Delicious and lovely.) Then we sampled almost every flavor of gelato before deciding on mascarpone with chocolate chips and key lime pie as our two choices. It's expensive (so worth it, but expensive), so we shared a medium among the four of us.
As we left the restaurant, Olivia said, "Man, that was a fun place. I loved that place." She repeated this mantra all the way to our next stop.

Then, on the advice of Alicia, we headed to the Toledo Firefighters' Museum. The bottom floor is so interesting with old fire trucks (even a man-powered truck that took 20 men to push) and an explanation of how fire alarms used to work. Fascinating. However, the hit of the afternoon was definitely the top floor. They have a room set up to be like a child's bedroom, and they simulate a fire, with smoke and everything. Some children pretend to be neighbors, one gets to dispatch the emergency call, and several are firefighters. Here is Olivia (or the top of her head) sliding down the firepole to the rescue.
Then she helped with the hose, to put out the fire in the wastebasket.
She's obviously very intense.
The glare on the glass wall of the bedroom makes it difficult to see inside, but the firefighters get to rescue the child's pets. (He has already been safely rescued through his window.)
Our battery ran out, so we didn't take pictures when we went back downstairs (plus, Mimi was drooping--really drooping), so you'll just have to believe me. When in Toledo, visit the firefighters' museum. (And buy some gelato.)