Oh, Toluca

Toluca - 1981

Labor day is the official end of summer. Not the official astronomical end, but socially and scholastically speaking, we bid farewell to the hot summer months this weekend. And although I am an enthusiastic fan of the early days of summer, usually by the end I'm jumping on the Autumn bandwagon.

My kids perhaps disagree. Bela is a fearless swimmer. She revels in the act of throwing herself into a large body of cooling water on the hottest of hot icky city days. She showed absolutely no fear this summer: she didn't dare go shallower than 4 feet in the big pool; she swam off into Lake Michigan and made me cry in public when I couldn't find her; she jumped in to Wandawega Lake and swam from the beach to the floating platform with me scrambling after her; and she threw herself off of the infamous Wandawega rope swing and into the dark watery abyss below more times than I can count. On the other hand, Mae - while she also loves a good dip - is a lover of all things fruit. From our first strawberry picking trip in June, to blueberries, blackberries, peaches, and raspberries, that girl has picked and put away more fruit this summer than I care to reflect on.

But me, I'm all about Fall. Summer has taken its toll. I'm tanner and blonder than I care to be. I've donned a bathing suit more times than I like.  I've been slow roasted to a sloppy mess in my steamy Chicago apartment with no air. And in general, I'm tired.

So Labor Day marks the beginning of an exciting time of year for me. And every year possible I mark this seasonal change by spending a weekend eating gross amounts of doughnuts, corn dogs, and fried chicken with ravioli in Toluca, IL.

So here we go, a list of the things we love about Toluca, Oh Toluca:

1. Grandma's house (Mae walked in on Sunday and said, "I love this house. This is a good house.")
2. Ravs and broth (ravs and sauce, ravs and chicken...) from Capponi's and/or Mona's.
3. Climbing the jumbo.
4. The Santa Fe Railroad that sends trains blazing through town every 5 minutes.
5. The Labor Day Carnival
6. The old red wagon that is still in Grandma's garage. (See photo above)
7. The old, grassy, cracked sidewalks.
8. Walking to The Supreme House of Cheese for doughnuts in the morning.
9. The smell of grandma's basement.
10. Hanging out with my family in a home filled with so much history.

So thank you to Rick, Holly, Matt, Amanda, Calista, Leah, Aaron, Aunt Jane, Uncle John, Jared, Eli, and Grandma B. for making yet another labor day so full of family and joy. I love you all!