Mother's Day 2010, and more.....

peek.

Mike and Ella checking out a model.

Ella wanting to leave the Science Fair.

Behind Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

My turn to take YOUR picture mom!
Ella with Grandma Liss on Mother's Day
Storm brewing over Chicago- Ella's first storm she watched come in over the lake at sunset.


This first week of May we submerged Ella in academia. She attended the Science Fair at Elston Middle School where she helped "judge" science projects. It was rumored she would have won first place for cutest baby if they had a category for "cute baby". For those of you who may not know, Elston is the school where Mike teaches. Ella absorbed the projects with intensity, wanting to touch everything she saw. She was a hit among the students of course--especially the teenage girls! And her kitty pants were all the rage. As always, the school administration loved seeing Ella too.
Later that same evening,she moved up the academic ladder a few rungs when she attended the annual architecture exhibition at IIT, (the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago) with Mike and I. Mike and I have been attending this exhibition for years so I couldn't wait to subject Ella to this environment. An array of impressive projects were on display to the public in the world renowned Crown Hall on campus. The College of Architecture at IIT is rated in the top three architecture programs in the United States. Students from around the world dream of attending IIT. This is one serious exhibition with some of the most ambitious projects. Ella seemed more intrigued with all the small models of conceptual buildings more so than the digital art pieces. Crown Hall is one of (the late) Mies Van der Rohe's famous buildings he designed. [Side note here: Mies is one of my favorite architects if you didn't know. Our house in Beverly Shores was designed by a Mies protege (Swiss architect Otto Kolb), so my enthusiasm for Mies is boundless]
My department head from Purdue, Dr. Evans, met Ella for the first time at IIT. Dr. Evans and I teach the same classes at Purdue Calumet. The last time I saw him was less than 48 hours before E was born. Ella also met some of notable architects of Chicago at IIT. She met George Schipporeit, the architect of Lake Point Tower (one of my faves) in Chicago. He is an instructor at IIT and was present at the exhibition. I had met him before when I was involved with IIT "back in the day" but it was exciting for me to have an opportunity to introduce him to Ella. Lake Point Tower is a very highly world recognized structure and its design logic is truly incredible. Its foundation (consisting of three caissons) are as deep in the ground as it is high! Again I digress. Sorry Ella!
I had a nice first Mother's Day. We visited both of Ella's grandmas. Lunch at my parent's house and dinner at Mike's parents. It was low key so it was nice and relaxing.