Since my last post, much has happened in the world despite the fact that the kids & I are bored and ready to go back to school.
August 2nd we went to the Northern Illinois Conservation Club Youth Day. It was a cool day where the kids were able to shoot bow & arrow, pellet guns at targets & shot guns at clay targets. Both kids did quite well. We did not take a camera but Ashley had her picture taken by a New Sun photographer. People have said they saw her picture in the paper but we missed it and I am still trying to get a copy.
August 3rd Drew turned another year older.
He, Alex, Dad, Kyle (his little brother), Geoff (his brother inlaw) & Steve (Kyle's father inlaw) went on a
Lake Michigan fishing charter. They were supposed to go on Father's Day but the weather did not cooperate so it was post poned. Drew has known Captain Tim Carpentier of
Sea Mates III, from girls softball.
The day was beautiful but not many fish wanted to play. At least 2 wanted to play...
We still think it is cool but are still surprised that this was Geoff's
first fishing experience! What a way to begin. Geoff reeled in a nice brown trout. It is unforunate but the video is too long - Drew will have to figure out how to edit it - it is too long. At the end of the video, Geoff asked Captain Tim if this was catch & release. Tim replied "hell no, where did you get this guy"?! Dad said "he's from the east coast". Either way it is cool that Geoff was able to enjoy a new experience.
It seems like all of the guys enjoyed the experience and will continue this activity as a group.
After fishing, the guys joined us at dinner for Drew's B-day. Drew chose Uno's Pizzeria. Good choice Drew & thank you mom & dad!
Speaking of moms... Look at the picture below - it is clearly a picture of the back of one of our nieces heads - this is Logan.
My mom is the story these days. Generally my mom is one of the most passive agressive people I know. She put up an amazing front when my dad was diagnosed with cancer and was pretty amazing through his last days. Since that time, she has been miserable. She has stayed in her own little disconnected world. I have dreaded her calls because she would just call and be a crab and cry. The day before we left for Kansas City she spilled some beans to me that she had recently been in contact with a guy she dated when she was in high school - a DeMolay no less - a DeMolay that instituted the very chapter that Drew & Kyle were big parts of and the same chapter that Alex looks forward to joining next year when he turns 12. They have not seen each other in over 50 years but they have made contact with each other in the last month. This gentleman's name - Warren D. Fritzinger (my sister inlaw, Sarah, & I decided his name has come straight out of a Junie B. Jones book but he is for real. He has been an active Mason, Shriner and Scottish Rite. Years ago he asked about my mom - talking to a senior DeMolay from when Drew was active. Tom Hill filled him in on everything. When I worked for the Grand Master, my mom would ask me to look "Fritz" up and I didn't take her seriously. Mr Fritz will be coming up for my mom's birthday next month then my mom is going to where he lives near Springfield, Missouri. My mom asked me what I think and I told her I didn't know - I married the guy I dated in high school and who asked me to DeMolay dances. Being my daddy's little girl, I wasn't too sure about it all at first but I've got my mom back. She is cool again. She giggles, she smiles, she eats, she calls and you can feel the smile on her face. Mom says he will not replace my dad and Tom Hill says Fritz is like Santa Claus. I'm anxious for Christmas in September to meet him for myself. Who ever he is, he has made my mom happy again and for that, I am all for it.
Beijing Olympic Games 2008The link on this page is a page we directed students to in the spring when they were doing research projects on the Olympics. With approval, they could research just about any aspect of the Olympics that they wanted. Voula (the teacher I work with) is Greek so this topic was perfect for her to share some of her culture and heritage with the kids. We learned many interesting things along the way. My favorite fact is that the water cube will be "recycled" into a shopping center after the Olympics are over.
I am glad London will host the next summer Olympics and I also think it will be really cool if Chicago is chosen for
2016.
To kick off the Olympics, I tried to make dinner interesting. Days before, we had American food - hamburgers, hotdogs. Wednesday before Opening Ceremonies we had chicken quesadillas. I marinated chicken breasts with jalepeno peppers grown on our deck. For some reason I have always made extra effort to have Italian or Mexican food on Wednesday.???
Thursday we had Greek food - beef kabobs (marinated in a yummy Greek recipe with olive oil), grilled vedgies, rice and of course pita bread.
I spent almost all day in the kitchen preparing for Friday dinner. We had homemade Chinese food. We had sweet & sour pork (home made sweet & sour), sticky rice and homemade egg rolls (with fresh ginger). The pictures are all of the food before it was cooked.
The problem with the egg rolls was that the wraps & vedgies were so cheap that I felt like I was supposed to buy a bunch so we ended up with a lot of them to freeze. Finally by mid week, Drew was like "is this the end of the Chinese food?" Fortunately it was. It was good to have a hamburger again.
We have been loyal Olympic watchers. It was exciting to see Phelps win but did you know there were other cool sports going on?
We have enjoyed watching Team USA dominate in softball (even though the games start at like 11pm our time).
Other events we thought were cool - fencing (very dramatic), volleyball (inside and beach), handball, and rowing just to name a few. Least favorite - ping pong, hands down!
During the day when the kids & I decide we are bored and need something to do, we have gone to Six Flags for just a couple hours at a time. Going for that amount of time is good. We go, ride a couple rides and come home. On the day below, it was a great reminder of the little kids I still have. Wait, they are almost eye level with Sylvester too - how can they be little? They are just great kids thats how.
It is August in our yard and annually when I make changes and spruce up our vegetation. I'm not sure what happened to the other pictures but we have green pepper plants, jalepeno peppers, tomatoes, herbs, an my favorite citronella all growing in pots on the deck. Below are some of the additions and changes.
Last Sunday we FINALLY put the boat in the water. I have felt bad for the boat. It has been sitting in the driveway with a look that it needs a drink of water or something.
The weather was gorgeous but the wind was out of the north and there were 2-4 foot waves! We finally found a spot south of the harbor that we could anchor out and the anchor would hold. We had lunch, the kids swam to shore and back to the boat and we just hung out for hours. It was great. We've got video of that too that for some reason, I can't load here.
This is the site that is only visible from the lake where the
Sugar Refinery used to be in the early 1900s. There was a fire and it was never rebuilt.
Chicago skyline from our spot near Waukegan harbor.
We had just about had enough but no one had complained or said anything until Drew got a call to see if he wanted to play softball as a sub on a co-ed team - in 45 minutes. Everyone was like yeah - lets go. Within an hour and 15 minutes we got in, boat on the trailer, boat in the driveway shoe change for Drew and to the field.
Its all fun until someone gets hurt. Drew his this great hit and ended up scoring but we think he ended up with a painful bone spur. He said we should have stayed on the lake. He hobbled to work the next day and came home with a custom crafted walking stick. A week later and his foot is still tender.
Saturday we stopped by my school to help Lake Forest Hospital Volunteers and Abbott staff repaint the school. It was much needed and very much appreciated. We found out a week ago last Thursday that Ashley will be going to Abbott so that is exciting. We volunteered as staff member/appreciative coach and player for indoor gym space for softball/supportive parents/ student with spirit and future student.
After a little painting, we went to the end of year softball picnic. A final closure to last season. As I type, Ashley is practicing pitching to keep up her game for tryouts this coming weekend.
Last Thursday Alex had his annual school shopping day with Grandma which we are all appreciative of. Ashley goes tomorrow. This means that school starts soon. Thursday for me - next Monday for the kids.
With this being the last week of the Olympics, we will soon be bombarded with politics and homework. Who will make sense?
When we first got home from the softball field, I let the dogs out then brought Logan inside. On the way in I went towards the fence and Daisy barked. It was not her usual hi there bark. It was her motherly, be careful with that baby bark. It is usually really sweet that Daisy is so protective of little kids but this time she barked so loud that Logan got scared and cried. Thanks for being concerned Daisy but shhh, she has her own secret service at her house.
