Chicago in July

I realized that I had posted a story here before we made our trip to Chicago in July, but I never posted a follow up with pictures from our trip. So here goes. I made my pilgrimage to the Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha Wisconsin to get the delectable cheese curds and other assorted goodies, like sausages and preserves.

Made sure I had some of the Italian perfection from Giordano's, left Keeley in good hands with Grandma Lou, and headed downtown to show the boys a few sites before heading out to US Cellular Field to watch my beloved White Sox put a beat down on the Indians. It was a great night with Liesl and the boys and glad they got to experience a great Major League Baseball game. Paul Konerko, the Whitesox first baseman, went off and had 3 homers, one of which was a grand slam, all of them prompting the score board at "The Cell" to explode with fireworks along with the deafening cheers of the crowd. The Whitesox won 10-6.

Overall it was a successful trip.

Successful Trip

Bryce, Rece and I took a trip last weekend to Cincinnati for Rece's Birthday celebration. What a trip! It was about a four hour drive, so I'm glad the boys now each have their own Nintendo DSi. When we got to the hotel (actually in Covington, KY) we checked in quickly and started the 1.5 mile walk across the Ohio River and to Great American Ballpark. Our seats were in left field, right next to the foul (fair) pole. In the second row. Manny Ramirez was playing left field right in front of us. So at one point between innings we got up to grab a bite to eat and just as we did and I turned my back, Manny threw his warm-up ball into the crowd. I noticed a ball land at my feet and in my stupor, I just stared at it. Someone else picked it up before I could figure out what happened. Then as we were walking in the concourse, a Reds player wrapped a homer around our foul pole. Thankfully, upon watching the replay, some folks on the other side of the camera pit (right at the foul pole got the lucky bounce, so I don't think I would have been able to get that one. Anyway, we loved the game, even though the Reds lost. It was entertaining. We ended up taking a taxi back to the hotel, and getting more to eat, then we went swimming in the hotel pool. The boys were more than happy to just relax in the hot tub, but we got a little bit of "dad throwing the boys" in the big pool too. It was time to go to bed, so we all snuggled up together in the king-sized bed in our room. I set the alarm kind of early, knowing that we wanted to do some more swimming before we checked out and wanted to make sure we hit Skyline Chili before we left. So overall we had a really good time, I really cherished the time with my boys, I hope we can have more adventures like this one.

Chicagoland

Tonight we are headed up to the Chicagoland area to see some friends and family for a long weekend. It's so funny, I always tell people I'm going to "Chicago" and they always ask what we're going to do in Chicago. Then I have to explain that I'm actually going to the suburbs some of which are really no where close to Chicago (Woodstock...) Anyway, since I had an extra day off work for observance of the 4th of July, we thought we'd take advantage and make the trip. We are going to be stopping in Louisville, KY to visit our newly married friends, Brad and Rachel so that will split up the drive a little. And it'll be good to hang out with them. Then off to Chicago Suburbs on Friday morning. Although we never go into Chicago, one of the regular highlights is to get some real PIZZA. Although the southern food is great in Nashville, the pizza, for the most part, stinks. I will at some point during this trip, get Giordano's Pizza. The best pizza in all the land. We will also make a trip to Culver's, home of the Butterburger. And last, but not least will be the yearly pilgrimage to the Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha, Wisconsin for the dairy indulgence of cheddar cheese curds.

Yummmmm.

Anyway, we do look forward to seeing family and friends also. Really, we do. Somehow we have always avoided going downtown with the kids, so this year, I'm changing things up. We are going to visit US Cellular Field, the home of The 2005 World Champion Chicago Whitesox. Since they've been on a little mini- hot streak lately, it should be even better. I love the Whitesox and I am so looking forward to this great opportunity to bring my boys. At the very least we should have a few good pictures and a blog entry out of the whole thing. Hopefully Jermaine Dye can "put one on the board" for us and light up some fireworks during the game.

Salt in my wound

The Jayhawks lost. Yes, my Kansas Jayhawks college basketball team. They lost in the sweet 16 to Michigan St. Not bad considering they lost all 5 starters from last year's National Championship team. But it was still bitter for me. I thought they had another good team. Capable of making it to the final 4, perhaps. I thought they were even palying well in the game. They probably should have won. Every year, when they lose in the NCAA Tournament (except last year of course), it has been difficult for me. I have some of my identity wrapped up in this basketball team. OK, I bet you're thinking I'm pretty messed up if that's the case. Well, I won't get into that. But what happened after that is what really got to me this year. My younger son, Rece, loves watching the games with me. He'll ask about stats and follow the brackets with me. My usual thing to do to cope with Kansas losing is to not watch, talk about or listen to anything basketball for a couple of days. Liesl follows that rule in our house fairly well, and Bryce isn't as interested in Basketball. Then there's Rece. Kansas Lost last friday night and while I'm still in my own funk Saturday, Rece proceeds to get out our NCAA Basketball video game. OK, whatever, he can play I'll just ignore it. Then I hear " Tonight's matchup pits the Michigan St Spartans against the Kansas Jayhawks." The game is fairly realistic with real announcers, and even the Kansas Fight song playing while the game begins. Ughhhh!! Of all the teams he had to pick to play those two. Obviously he just doesn't get it! Why would he do that??? What's he thinking? Taking a step back, I thought, maybe he really does get it. It's just a game. His identity isn't wrapped up in a team. He doesn't shut down with a loss, he just keeps playing and enjoying life. It is really, really hard to learn from my 7 year old son, but really, really good at the same time.