Oops, did I just miss that step?

Hello again, everybody! It was Tuesday today, but it was still HOT! I'm so tired of this humidity! When will it go away?

Grace slept in today until 9 am. That was very welcome. We didn't really do anything today but we were sure busy the two of us. Playing here, playing there, making a mess here, etc. I did officially get the bookcases completed today. The caulking is done and painted. Now it's just those pesky shelves. I just need to put one more coat on one side of the six shelves I'm working on and then I'll only have 6 more shelves to paint and the whole project will be officially done! YEA! This is definitely a project that just hasn't gone away.

My uncle has offered to help me put recessed lighting in our family room downstairs here. So I need to determine how many we want and which ones we want and then buy them. After that he can help me put them in. That is our next step down here. We need to do that, then paint the walls and then put the wallpaper on the ceiling and paint it. After that we can start buying things like drapes and carpet and furniture. I can't wait! I think this room is really going to look great when we're done with it.

Remember that Coors Light mirror I mentioned yesterday? Well I got it today from my SIL's house and here is a picture. It does fit right above my desk between a cabinet and the new bookcase.



I also went to the Hainesville Village Board meeting tonight after dinner. The Mayor started the meeting by mentioning that on this day in 1945 Japan announced that it would accept full surrender and end the war. He believes they signed the documents and made it official the next day.

Anyway, Trustee Stilz III was in attendance tonight as was Russ Kraly the building official. Also Officer Burch from the police department attended. The Mayor in his statement said that SWALCO has a new director; Walter Willis. The Mayor and Trustee Bonds met with Veolia about our waste removal contract. The final contract will probably see higher prices for waste removal, but they're trying to negotiate to keep yardwaste sticker prices the same as they are now. Veolia is asking to have their requirement in the current contract to have to take recyclables to the Waste Management Recycle Center right here in Grayslake removed so that they can take the recyclables to a transfer center and ultimately to other recycle centers in Wisconsin. Personally I'd like to see it stay the way it is because that recycle center is incredible and highly state-of-the-art.

Well house #3 is back online and it was down for a total of 2 weeks. The hole they dug outside was 14 ft. deep and the two holes that were dug inside were 12 ft. deep. The Deer Point Professional Buildings that are to be built by the entrance to our subdivision at the Rte. 120 entrance is moving forward quickly. There will be two professional office buildings built there. The developer has applied for permits already and the Deer Point sign will be changing to include these buildings for signage.

The Mayor wants to ensure we are applying for and receiving as many grants that the city possibly could and so is taking a class at CLC about doing just that. If a Trustee wants to step up and take the class, that would be a great idea, but he does understand that most everyone else works during the day, whereas he's retired and has more time for that.

I didn't hear perfectly, but I believe they are waiting for an article to finish and mail out the village newsletter. As a result they are going to mail out a postcard to all residents reminding us that they still need volunteers for HainesvilleFest and just to remind us when it is, etc.

The village posted their job opening in two different papers and received 81 resume's for it and are working on sorting through them all. Village officials are monitoring the water levels in the wetlands all across the village. Obviously water levels are up, but I don't think they are at a dangerous level. National Night Out was a great success and Officer Mark Burch (present at the meeting) was thanked personally for his work on this event above and beyond what was required of him by his job.

HainesvilleFest is moving along nicely; more donations are still coming in, Round Lake High School's homecoming does not interfere with our event and so Honor students from the school will be available to help out. Next meeting will be Monday, August 20 at 7 pm.

New ordinances were passed regarding connection fees for both water and sewer. Apparently our sewage goes to the Fox Lake Treatment plant; that I didn't know. Also a resolution was passed that mirrors Mayor Daley's Greenest Region Resolution. This will allow the residents of Hainesville to receive free compact fluorescent bulbs. Also the bid for street resurfacing was accepted and should begin in maybe a month which I believe will be mostly East Big Horn Dr.

That about covers the meeting. After that I went to Target and did some shopping. Grace didn't want to go shopping today and quite honestly it isn't fun to shop with her sometimes as you know what happens...she wants to buy everything. And if she doesn't get what she wants, she starts to whine and complain, etc. So as every parent knows, it's easier to shop without her. After that I ran to my SIL's house to pick up my new mirror and the sweater that Grace left at their house on Saturday. She's really into wearing winter-type clothes lately. At one point yesterday she had her clothes on which consisted of a skirt or shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Then on top of that she had a coat, gloves, scarf and a hat. Mind you she was inside, but even outside she wants to wear too much for the current weather conditions. And you know how I feel about the current weather - it's HOT!

I'll have to write more tomorrow. And I do have more to say, but it's late.

Mowing in the dark

I HAD to mow the grass today. The back yard was a field (that's no exaggeration) and the front yard already needed mowing from just a few days ago. And it's supposed to rain, again, tonight. I don't mind the rain because then I don't have to water the grass, but when the grass is like 10 inches tall in some places, rain won't make it easier to mow.

So anyway, after dinner I ran outside and trimmed and mowed the front yard and then mowed the back but wasn't finished until well after dark. Honestly I need to go over it again in another direction to make sure it looks alright plus to make sure I have picked up all the clippings. But in the dark that isn't so easy, so it will have to wait.

Today Grace had an eye doctor appointment down in Glenview. We left around Noon and got into the waiting room at 12:45. Grace was very nervous about going. It seems that putting drops in her eyes makes her very anxious. They didn't put any in her eyes, but she knows they do sometimes and so it's all about the anxiety leading up to and during the visit.

The reason we were going was a checkup to see how her lazy eye and crossed eye (same eye) are doing. Through patching the good eye over the last year or so the lazy eye has gone away. The doctor checks that each time just to make sure. For the crossed eye, he checks how crossed it is to determine if he should still recommend surgery. Her crossed eye percentage has basically not changed over the last three months and so he is of course again recommending surgery.

As much as we initially didn't want to do the surgery, we've resolved that it is probably the best thing for her and have decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and get the surgery scheduled and get this behind us so she'll have some depth perception. Basically right now she has no depth perception and the sooner we do the surgery to correct the problem to better her long-term outlook for depth perception will be. Obviously this is the ultimate goal is to have the eye not be crossed and have her be able to have good depth perception. If somehow through all of this she doesn't need glasses in a few years (the doctor said usually around 10-12 years old they usually start to not need the glasses anymore when their muscles start to develop more as they approach adolescence) that would be great, but we aren't counting on it. Both Julie and I needed glasses as kids. I would still need them if I hadn't gotten Lasik surgery.

So while it's very scary to schedule a surgery for our 4 year old, we are both resigned to this and we know it's the right thing to do. It is outpatient surgery and it will take about an hour-and-a-half for the actual surgery. The doctor only performs them in Evanston on Wednesdays and they generally schedule about a month out. So in my mind that puts us right around her birthday in October, but we might try to schedule it a bit later around Thanksgiving or something so she doesn't miss any school because of it.

My last post was on Thursday and I've been quite busy since then. Friday was busy, but I don't remember why. Just a minute, let me look at my calendar to refresh my memory (it isn't great.) Ah yes, Grace and I went to the Chiropractor. I told him about Grace's stomach bothering her and how she didn't want to eat. He checked and adjusted her stomach (didn't know you could do that) saying it was much higher than it should have been which could have caused nausea, heartburn, gas, and a couple other things. I think she's had pretty much all of that. We'll see if or how much it helps going forward. She ate a big lunch today, but really no dinner. It's so hard to tell with her as she only likes 4 different foods and quite honestly I think she's tired of them all.

After that we went to see my cousin at his work (Ford dealer) as he had ordered me a part for my new car. You see, it's an Escape Hybrid 4WD model and when they put the badges on the back of the car, they only have so much room to work with and apparently have to decide which ones are the most important as all ours says is "Escape" on the left side and "Hybrid" on the right side. Nowhere on the car does it say "4WD" and I wanted it to say that. On the "regular" or non-hybrid Escapes the "4WD" badge goes on the right-hand side where mine says Hybrid. So anyway, long story long, I had my cousin order me the "4WD" badge that goes on the other '08 Escapes and it had come in so Grace and I went and picked it up.

Once we were there, Grace immediately went into our sales persons office and sat down and started talking to her. Considering we've completed our transaction with her, I didn't really want to bother her, but I think she likes Grace and is always really nice to her. As it turns out, I think she needed someone to talk to and actually having someone like Grace in her office helped her day be a little brighter. I had tried to call her earlier in the week as we were trying to figure out the whole paying off the money we owe them thing and they said she had an emergency and had to leave early that day.

I talked to her a couple days later and she said that her Aunt had died. So while we were in her office on Friday I said I was sorry about her Aunt. She said thanks, but that's not even the half of it. Come to find out her husband who is only 4 years older than me was diagnosed with Bile Duct Cancer on Wednesday. So her whole world has been turned upside down. As we talked I learned that they've only been married for two years. She's just the nicest person and I feel absolutely terrible that such a horrible thing has been placed upon her and her husbands shoulders. I just pray to God that everything will be fine and he can live a fairly normal life. They will be taking several organs out and it sounds very scary, but there is always hope. Please keep him in your prayers, his name is Karl.

So after that we went to Office Max because they were having a 15% off sale. I just love office supply stores. So Grace and I were going through every aisle trying to find some good stuff that we "needed." But she was just CRANKY to put it mildly. At one point a worker asked me for like the third time if I needed help with anything. I just pointed to Grace. He surprisingly said he couldn't help with that.

We spent about an hour in there and I ended up buying a web cam. We've been stalling on this for years trying to make sure we buy the "perfect" one. We want to use it to talk to my Mom who lives in Arizona since we can't afford to go out and see her as often as we'd like to, but we can also use it to talk to Grace's friend from across the street who is in France right now and will be for almost another month. --We got the post card on Friday by the way! And Grace loved it. We mailed you a letter today. Not sure how long that takes.

Then we hurried home because I needed to copy our vacation pictures onto my laptop to bring over to Julie's parents house so they could see our pictures of the Air Force Academy and of her Dad's sister having a good time with us. I think they liked them, but I think there were too many pictures. I do take a lot of pictures.

Copying the pictures took forever, and so we were late for our haircut appointments Grace and I were. Julie actually beat us from Schaumburg up to Fox Lake. Then we went over to Julie's parents for dinner.

Saturday we went to Lindenfest in Lindenhurst because Grace was dancing her dance from the recital. She didn't really practice it at all, but did really well. She pretty much did all the steps and looked great. I guess it's like riding a bike, once you know how to ride, you never forget how. After the dancing they have a "Mayor's Auction" every year. This year they had some stuff that I was interested in, but we were leaving. So I asked my BIL to bid for me on something I liked up to a certain dollar amount....and I won! It's a Coors Light Mirror that has the Chicago Skyline on it. It's very nice and it didn't cost much at all. Now if I can only figure out where it will fit on a wall somewhere... Now that I've been to the Coors Brewery, and since they're the official beer sponsor of the NFL, I'm getting into Coors Light!

After Lindenfest, we were going to lunch and couldn't decide where to go. We ended up going to Panera Bread, but the funniest thing happened. As we were pulling in the parking lot, we were actually pulling in to a spot right in front of my Sister and her family. So we all got to have lunch together. That was a surprise and it was very nice too. I should really call them more often, but I never seem to with any regularity.

Saturday night we were taking our niece and Grace to see High School Musical on Tour at the LaSalle Bank Theater in Chicago. We picked her up around 5 pm and took her downtown. We ate at Ed Debevics downtown and then had to hurry to the theater. We made it there with literally about one minute to spare; it was close. I haven't eaten at Ed Debevics in many years; probably close to 10-15 years. I have to say they used to be much ruder. I did get the classic treatment when seeing the host to put our names in: "What do you want?"

But quite honestly that was about the worst of it. I remember when I went years ago they were just horrible. If you don't know or have never been, that's their thing. They're supposed to be rude and whatnot.

Anyway, the play was awesome! I mean even I enjoyed it. The singing was incredible, the choreography was great, the music was excellent too. The only thing was they were selling CD's where the cast of the play were singing the songs on it and I'd like to get one, but they didn't have anymore and I can't figure out how to get one online. I guess the theater is the only place to get one. Grace and I might have to drive down there and get one before they move on to another city. They're here in Chicago until September 2. I'll definitely call first so we don't waste a trip.

So that leaves yesterday, Sunday. We went to church in the morning, then we came home for a while and I worked on stuff around the house. Grace and Julie went for a bike ride to the park and then to see a friend who recently had back surgery. I changed the oil in Julie's car, fixed the bookcase shelves that were a fraction of an inch too large, and started painting the next set of shelves. Oh and I took the oil pan off the newer Mustang® so my cousin can use it on his "new" 1969 Cougar. I don't know if that engine was running when they took this car apart, but if it was I'm guessing it wasn't running well. There was lots of sludge at the bottom of the oil pan and there were a few metal chunks stuck to the oil pickup. We're pretty sure it's a 302. It sure is nasty whatever it is. My 390 looks better than this engine and it sat in a field for over 10 years.

This morning I caulked the bookcases and the caulk has to dry for 24 hours before I can paint over it. So tomorrow around lunch time I can put the last little touch ups on the bookcase and it will be done. Except for the remainder of the shelves I haven't painted yet and for puttying and touching up the trim under the ledge.

That's about all I can stay awake for. I'll add some pictures tomorrow, good night.

Happy 70th

So this is my 70th post. It's not particularly significant, just thought I'd bring it to your attention. Today was actually a pretty nice day. It was "A"s last day with Grace and I as her and her family are going on vacation tomorrow and a couple days after they come back she starts school. Her and Grace just chilled in front of the TV for most of the day so I'm guessing Grace will be raring to go tomorrow.

Since we've been back from vacation we took Rosco to the vet for his semi-annual checkup and he got all of his shots. Since he's a "senior" he's on the semi-annual visitation schedule. When we saw the vet, she had lost a lot of weight and I thought she looked really good but for some reason I didn't ask her if she was on a diet plan or anything. Good thing I didn't because I asked her assistant later and she said that she's having some health problems. That's not good; I don't want to be selfish, but I'd hate to lose her as our vet. She is the best vet we've ever had. Rosco actually likes to go to the vet now.

The next day Grace and I went to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field again. The giveaway was another Cubs Build-A-Bear. So now she has one from last year and this one too. She was pretty excited about that. Unfortunately "we" didn't get ready fast enough and so we missed the train and had to drive downtown. But we made it in plenty of time and then since it was so hot (sorry to keep kicking a dead horse here about the temperature) we were able to leave early without having to wait forever for the next train to come by.

Last Saturday my Dad took my sister and I and our spouses to a play downtown and dinner afterwards. The play is called Put the Nuns in Charge. It was hilarious; very interactive and very fun. This is the sequel to Late Night Catechism and from what I hear (I've never seen Late Night Catechism) this is exactly the same, you're just discussing different topics during the show. By the way if you plan on attending, don't be late (we weren't but this poor guy behind us was.) Also, don't talk during the show, don't cross your legs, no getting up without permission, etc. It's like being in Catholic School and it was very funny. I got to get up on stage and help The Sister sing Kum Ba Yah.

Afterwards we went to this italian restaurant just down the street called Vinci. Wow was it good. Everything from the appetizers, the wine, the food, the desserts, just excellent. I highly recommend it if you're planning a trip to the theater district downtown. But you'll probably need reservations. It was about $41/person with drinks, appetizers and desserts so it's quite reasonable. So that was a great night out and I'm quite thankful that my Dad did this for us.

Sunday was the first pre-season football game. It was pretty boring (what I saw of it anyway) as you'd expect from a pre-season game. Grace had her last gymnastics for the summer on Tuesday. She'll be back at it on the 29th as that's when the Fall session starts. Now tomorrow Grace and I go to the chiropractor and then in the evening we all get our hair cut. Thank God! I can not wait! My hair feels like extra weight on my head and is just generally driving me nuts.

Then on Saturday we're going to Lindenfest (it's a local fair kind of thing that each town in the area does at one point or other over the summer.) Ours (Hainesville) is on September the 15th. Anyway, we're going to Lindenfest (in Lindenhurst) on Saturday morning and Grace is performing her recital routine again.

Then in the evening Saturday, we're taking our niece and Grace downtown. I don't want to say what it is so as to not spoil her surprise. But it will be a lot of fun for all of us I think.

I got the second coat on the bookcase today and got a coat of paint on the six shelves I'm working on right now. So all I have left right now is to put a second coat on these six shelves and they'll be done. Plus I need to fill the gaps and other imperfections in the bookcases themselves and touch those areas up after the caulk dries. But of course after all that, we still have 12 more shelves to paint...I think I made too many shelves.

The rain last night was only about a 1/4 of an inch. And then today I don't think it actually rained here, but it sure did threaten and I saw on the news tonight that some places actually got a pretty heavy downpour for a few minutes tonight. I'm ready for the grass to dry out so I can mow the back yard! From our schedule I'd say that Sunday would be a good mowing day.

I heard from the loan guy at our bank today and he said that our dealership is willing to wait for the rest of our money for another week so that we can qualify for a special incentive from the bank. I was shocked. After the trouble we had with the "other" dealership, this is very refreshing. It's actually astonishing to me how different (night and day) these two dealerships are.

I got some free time tonight after dinner and I had planned to go to the library, but I ended up just running from store to store checking prices. I'm thinking I'm going to make the switch to full synthetic motor oil in our cars and so I'm checking prices at different places to see where I should buy it. Wal-Mart was the cheapest, but AutoZone has it on sale right now for cheaper than anyone else. I'm just torn between using Valvoline SynPower and Castrol Syntec. I've been a Valvoline guy for a very long time and would like to stick with it. But the Castrol is easier to find. Only one of the four stores I stopped in tonight sold the Valvoline that I needed and it was actually the cheapest if you buy it by the quart; But if you buy it by the gallon, Wal-Mart has them beat easy.

Alright, that's enough for today as I'm having a hard time staying awake. Until tomorrow...

Summer, where have you gone?

So we got home on Monday the 30th from our vacation to Denver and everything since then has just been a blur.

Funny picture from a truck we saw on the way home ncpvideo.com:


We've been very busy. With what I'm not really certain, but I know we've been busy. It's been incredibly hot. The temperatures haven't been too bad - near 90° usually, but the humidity just won't go away. Yesterday for example the high temperature was 88° and at 10 pm it was 88% humidity. It's just unbearable, the minute you walk outside you're sweating and like I said it just doesn't go away. It's like this day and night. You can't get up early to avoid the humidity, the temperature's just a little lower but it's hard to tell because the humidity is so repressive.

Now I grew up in Oklahoma and it's REALLY hot there in August. I thought I was moving away from all of that when I moved back up to Chicago here. And it's been raining like crazy lately. We got about 2½ in. over the weekend which is no big deal. I'm thinking I won't have to water the grass this week. Then I think it was Monday night we got another 3 inches which overflowed my rain gauge. Then it rained this afternoon a little (nothing really to measure) and the radar shows more rain heading right for us for overnight again.

The big problem with this is that I can't get the grass mowed because it's never dry enough to cut, plus the whole heat/humidity issue where you don't want to even be outside. So I finally gave in last night just before it got dark and mowed the front yard so we don't look like hillbillies in our neighborhood, but the back yard is worse and it's soggy. Like your shoes make squishy sounds when you're walking through the low parts. Our sump pump has been working overtime since the weekend.

Oh and speaking of the sump pump, our dog Rosco has apparently found a critter outside to stalk and try to kill. It apparently was holed up under the patio (cement slab) right next to where the sump pump puts the water it pumps out into a pipe that drains near the back of our yard. He dug this massive (ok fairly large) hole there in a desperate attempt to get the animal so there is dirt and gravel everywhere and a big hole and he doesn't want to come in because he's watching vigil over the hole waiting for any sign of life and preferably for the pesky varmint to come out so he can "play" with it. I swear he was a cat in a former life with some of the things he does.

So anyway I discover this hole Rosco has created and since it's hot and humid and I don't want to be outside, plus it's wet and muddy, I just throw some bricks into the hole and tell him to come back inside. This was Sunday night and then Monday we got all that rain. I looked out there the next morning, and it's completely submerged, bricks and all. So if the pesky varmint was in the hole and trapped by the bricks, it may have met its maker. Or it just got away and probably won't be back. Either way he's not spending as much time standing watch over the hole anymore and has rejoined the family inside.

I've been working diligently on fixing up the house too. I've gotten all the tile and the underlayment removed from the entryway. We're just waiting for the tile guy to come over and put in the new tile. I just finished painting the first coat of paint on the built-in bookcase I made down here in the office. So they need a second coat and they're done!!! Except for the shelves. I have painted six of the 24 shelves so far. I primed six more today and need to paint them next. I really only have room to do six at a time. With the high humidity I couldn't really paint them in the garage anyway - even if their weren't two Mustangs® out there.

Here is the entryway without tile:


New tile awaiting installation:


Oh and then theres the new car! We finally got it on Friday the 3rd. Now we of course are having troubles getting a check from our credit union for the financing. I tell ya it's just one thing after another with this car. I hope God isn't trying to tell us that we weren't supposed to buy it because so far I love this thing! It's really cool. After I pull off the main roads and into our subdivision it runs solely on electric power. I've wondered what it sounds like to people as I drive by because the engine isn't on. It's really quiet, especially at stop lights because the engine turns off when you don't need it. I've had it up to about 28 or 29 with the engine off but you have to really baby it or else the engine turns on thinking you need more power. It's nice to be able to listen to my iPod in the car again since I have a hookup on the lower dash like we had on the first loaner car, the Edge.

New car when I picked it up:


And the navigation has Grace thinking that if we aren't using it we don't know where we're going. She was like "Dad where's the map?" I said we don't need it. "But how will we know where we're going?" I said we're just going home and I know how to get there. "But the map isn't on - we NEED the map!" Kids sure are silly.

I have to say that the lady that reads the navigation to us is quite polite. We had our first experience in a Volvo that was from Hertz and it used their NeverLost navigation system. She was actually quite rude! She would get mad if you went off course. Then recently we've been using our cell phones as we have Verizon and since our phones have built-in GPS we can download a program (and pay a fee) and have the same features as an in-car navigation system. The lady on there isn't so nice either. She just kept saying "Make the next legal u-turn" whenever you missed a turn that she wanted you to make. It was quite annoying. So now this Ford navigation system is quite polite really and doesn't seem to get mad or "make" you take any particular route. We'll have to see how she is on a regular trip. Which was our original objective to have this car for our trip to Denver, but NO - Mayor Bloomberg had to go and order all those Escape Hybrid's for the NYC taxi fleet.

Here is my setup/assembly line for painting the shelves:



Enough of that. I'd better try and upload some pictures for this post. I'll stop for now and continue updating you tomorrow.

Vacation Continued

So Tuesday we drove down to Colorado Springs which is about an hour south of Denver. It was an easy drive and before we knew it we were at the exit for the Air Force Academy. Wow! What a beautiful place. You've got the mountains right smack next to you, the city in the distance and a beautiful campus. The Chapel is just incredible. I just wish they could provide some type of transport for the handicapped so that they would be able to enjoy the main chapel. Our Aunt (and us) had to walk from quite a distance away and then didn't want to expend the energy to get up all those steps to see the main chapel. Especially since she then had to walk all the way back to the car again. I understand that we can't drive up to the chapel, that's understandable, but I wish they could have provided some type of shuttle up to the chapel so that it wasn't so much work for her.

Here is the chapel:



Anyway, we spent a couple of hours there and took quite a few pictures. I wish I was allowed to shop in the PX as I really miss that. PX's are really nice. But since I didn't retire from the military, I don't have a military ID and can't shop there. And we didn't get out and walk around the B-52 that was there. I wanted to when we first got there, but since we had already spent so much time there, I just wanted to get going. Plus I remember seeing the B-52's all the time in Oklahoma City at Tinker Air Force Base when I was growing up. So I just stopped and took a few pictures really quick. When we got home my FIL said that I should have gotten out and walked around it just to appreciate how large it was, especially by walking under it.

Picture of the B-52 on display:


After that, we went down to Colorado Springs proper and went to the Garden of the Gods. Wow! That is just beautiful too! We took the tour on the bus and then drove in ourselves to take pictures. I'll just let the pictures do the telling because it is just beautiful.

Photo from the Garden of the Gods:


After that we were ready to come home because it was getting late, but Julie wanted to run over to Pikes Peak really quick just to check out the gift shop. It's only about 4 miles from the Garden of the Gods, so we drove over there. It wasn't so fruitful for Julie unfortunately, but our Aunt snagged a new sweatshirt.

Wednesday we just took it easy as Julie had a class to go to and then in the evening she had a stamping session.

Thursday we went to the Denver Botanic Garden. If you've ever been to the Botanic Garden in Chicago, you might not be so impressed, as I wasn't really. Lucky for us, we're members of the Chicago Botanic Garden so we got in free in Denver, but it wasn't so exciting. Plus it was really hot and the sun just came out when we got there, so that didn't help either.

After that, we went to the Denver Children's Museum. I won't say it wasn't exciting, I just think it is geared towards kids younger than Grace. She did have a great time though, especially in the Blue Man Group exhibit.

Here is Grace on the way in:


And here she is being a "Blue Man":


On Friday we went to Boulder and the Coors Brewery Complex! That was really fun! We took the brewery tour and got our free beer. They give you quite a bit! During the tour you get a little cup of about 4-5 oz. that is fresh - like 8 minutes fresh. Then at the end, you get three full pilsner glasses full of any beer you want and they make a lot of different beers. The really cool thing is that you get free beer every day if you work for them. They have tappers in the lunch room and after your shift every day you get two free beers. I also overheard another guide saying that they get a discount on 6 cases every month (if I recall correctly.) The tour was very informative and of course they have a gift shop where you can buy a lot of stuff. Unfortunately, you can't buy any beer, darn. I bought a t-shirt and some beer glasses called shakers. They hold 12 oz. but they aren't in the shape of pilsners. We have some friends whose last name is Golden and he happens to be a police officer, so I had to take some pictures of the Golden Police cars for them.

Here are Grace and our Aunt outside the brewery:


Here are the Brewing Kettles:


Here is the Malting area:


Here is where the workers imbibe:


Here is the Golden Police car:


On Saturday we went to the Hammonds Candy Factory. I should have never set foot in that place. It was REALLY cool. They make so many different things. I have forgotten everything the guide told us of course, but more than likely you've had their candy. Most stores order their candy from them and it isn't marked Hammonds. I spent an ungodly amount in that gift shop, don't ask.

Here is a photo of how they make candy canes:


After that we went downtown Denver and rode the free trolley through the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall. It wasn't too exciting, but it was hot since the bus wasn't air conditioned - or maybe it wasn't working well. But we got to see a lot without having to walk, that was nice. There were a few stores I was interested in seeing, but we didn't have a lot of time. We had to pick up Julie from her conference that was over at 4:20 pm or so (I think.)

Then on Sunday we headed back for Omaha. The trip back to Omaha seemed longer than the trip from Omaha to Denver. In fact it took 9 hours instead of 8 (yes I'm accounting for the time change.) So we got back pretty late and had dinner late, but it was nice to be back at our Aunt's house. I was hoping to get back in time to run to the mall close to their house. Julie never really did get any souvenirs from the trip. I also wanted to go to Cabela's which is literally only a few blocks from my Aunt's house. Maybe next time...

Monday we headed for home and were originally planning to stop in Bourbonnais to see the Bears at training camp. But we didn't leave early enough to do that, so we just headed home. The drive home took longer than on the way out too, so maybe I just drive slower on the way home, I'm not sure.

That's enough for today. I'll get you caught up on other things tomorrow.

Sorry, Part 2

Alright I'm finally blogging again. It's been a long time and I'm sorry about that. We had vacation and we're working on our house trying to make it better and I've been going to bed late and just not having time to blog. So please forgive me.

I suppose I should start with our vacation. We had a great time. The driving wasn't a big deal at all. Grace was good throughout the whole trip and honestly I don't think she minded being in the car for hours on end. I can say for sure that she really liked the Leapster as she played with it basically the entire way from here to Omaha. The first time she took a break from it was three hours after we got in the car. Big hit!

As you can see from some of my cell phone posts, the Verizon network doesn't follow you everywhere like their commercials say. I took the picture 60 miles out of Des Moines and the picture didn't post to the blog until we were in Des Moines. Nice. Getting the picture to begin with was crazy. We were flying by these signs at 85 miles an hour and with the sun in our face trying to take pictures of these signs several feet off the road with a little cell phone camera - doesn't work so well. Even if the picture looked alright, I couldn't see it on my cell phone. The dialog went something like: "I can't see the sign" (in the picture), "Oh I got part of the sign here", or "I can't even see what this picture is." So we abandoned that idea and decided to stop on the side of the interstate and take a picture - effectively lengthening our trip to Omaha. Well, keep in mind that the sun is still in my face, I still have a tiny little camera phone and the sign is still like 20 feet off the highway. Not to mention the vehicles flying by at 85 miles an hour like we just were. I couldn't see the screen on my phone to see what I was looking at through the camera's lens. Heck, I couldn't even see what I had taken a picture of after I took the picture. I was just holding the camera in the general direction of the sign and hoping for the best. So the picture didn't turn out so well, but it was a picture and we started back on our way. Then I sent the picture, but the phone kept saying "Network unavailable." Nice. And I thought that Verizon network followed you EVERYWHERE. Isn't that what YOU get from the commercials? Can you hear ME now? NO!

Anyway, it took about an hour and the reaching of a major city for the message to finally go through. We stopped in Davenport for lunch and they have free wireless internet at the rest stops in Iowa so I brought my new laptop to the picnic table to test it out.



It worked just fine. Julie made some great sandwiches and we had a good lunch. But Grace didn't want to leave. Not sure why, but we got back on the road and we made it to Omaha in about 8 hours including stops. So we did good on that portion of our trip, just wish we would have left earlier...

We stayed in Omaha that night, all day Sunday and left on Monday morning for Denver with our Aunt. Julie's two Aunts live together and the one that didn't come with us still works but we got to see her Saturday evening and Sunday. I already mentioned that we went to the Omaha Zoo on Sunday. That place is incredible! It's huge! A little pricey, especially considering that you have to pay for everything inside as well. If you want to take the train it costs extra, the carousel for the kids; extra, and even the tram ride, you guessed it; extra. I believe it's 130 acres, so even one day probably isn't enough, especially if you only get around by foot. However, I highly recommend the aquarium. If you've been to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, then you know that it will take something pretty exciting to top that. I'm not saying this tops the Shedd Aquarium, but for what it is and how you get to experience it, this is great and you really should see it!

Pictures at the Omaha Zoo
Hailey and Grace:


Grace, Hailey and Hannah (and a Goat):


The three of us at the Zoo:


A gorilla "smiling" for the camera:


We went to visit a cousin and they weren't home, so we took this picture of all of us on their back deck (we're planning to send it in our Christmas card to them):


Unfortunately we got in too late on Saturday to go to Warren Buffet's favorite restaurant in Omaha and they are closed on Sundays. And when we came back from Denver, it was a Sunday so we never got to go. Maybe the next time we visit. We are actually planning to visit again just to see our Aunts. Not sure when, but we need to visit them more often and the ride isn't all THAT long.

The trip to Denver was pretty much the same as our trip to Omaha. It took about eight hours with stops as well. We got to our condo around 4 pm MT and got settled in before heading out for dinner.

Here's a picture we took at a restaurant we stopped to eat lunch at on the way. It was really good!


I'll have to pick this up tomorrow as it's late and I have to get Grace to gymnastics early tomorrow morning.

It's here!

Just picked it up.