An Outing

My mom has this friend who she has known since high school that is an intricate part of our lives. She was a big part of my childhood, and I have developed a great relationship with her in my adult life. She loves my girls and is constantly spoiling them with beautiful handmade dresses, sweaters, hats, etc. She is someone who is rather hard to explain, and sometimes I prefer not to. She is just Judy, and that is wonderful.
Because Judy's dogs were at "the spa" getting their "dos done" she had a day free from responsibility and we were able to finally get to the Peggy Noterbart Nature Museum to check out the butterflies. Now this is an event that has been a year in the making. It has seemed that everytime we have planned to go something has come up, or my mom has meddled into the plans and everything gets muddled (my new favorite word thank you to Abby's obsession with Fox in Socks). So today the stars aligned and we were off.
It was fun driving through Wilmette and Evanston with my mom and Judy as they kept pointing out houses and telling the girls and I who used to live there when they were kids. It was funny to listen to them talk about how Muffy Someone or another had a plack in Gilson Park because she had done the football team there. Judy waved to her friends at the Kellogg Cancer center and amazed Abby by telling her that they had been born in the same hospital. They pointed out the Totem pole, and joked about Mayor Daly's mishaps. It was amazing, my mom was tolerable.
The butterflies were lovely...

And also entertaining...

Yes, those are butterflies enjoying the company of one another. I know it is odd and somewhat immature to photograph this, but it was funny. What was funnier was that once they separated Judy offered one of them a cigarette.
Going places with Judy is always an adventure. She literally knows something about everything, and she talks to EVERYONE. The baby with the red hair was named Emily, after her grandmother. The teacher from St. Damian's was getting married next weekend, and having her reception at the Michigan Shores Club. The zookeeper by the polar bears was waiting for his wife to call him and let him know if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl (he was gone when we went back to check). The woman outside of the conservatory was not going to meet her daughter at Nordstrom because Michigan Ave was too far to walk and she doesn't take cabs. The little boy was afraid of the petting zoo, that was why he was crying. This is one of Judy's best (and most irritating) quirks, it did make the day more interesting.
She taught Abby about all the birds in the bird house that I am too afraid to go in. She told Eleanor that she would bring her back to the zoo and let her pick out her favorite animal. She drove me by the house her mother grew up in, as well as her old house in Kenilworth. And, most importantly, she kept my mother sane for the afternoon which is a huge feat.

Everyone should have a Judy.