Thanks to having yesterday off (it was Columbus Day here in the U.S.), we enjoyed a longer-than-usual weekend. Rather than try to finish unpacking boxes from the move and clean up the general mess, we decided to try to do some fun things. Saturday we visited a Japanese market called Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights and enjoyed the sense that we were visiting that country. We picked up some red bean cakes and miso soup mix as well as some other things. It was quite stressful to shop there with four children in a very crowded store. Still, it was fascinating and worth the trip. Michele and I agreed that next time we go, we should pick a day that is less busy and preferably, sans kids. Sunday I went to church and then afterward, we drove up to Lake Geneva, just across the border in Wisconsin. Yesterday we decided to visit the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Much to their surprise, the kids really enjoyed it. The weather was nearly perfect for the trip, sunny but cool. I’ll add photos from the gardens to my Flickr account soon but in the meantime, I loaded some new photos of the kids taken over the weekend by Michele and me with our new digital camera.