The Crony Cup

In its 11th year, the Crony Cup is a Ryder Cup-like event where 12 guys get together for competitive golf. The ladies come along for the ride as well making the weekend a blast for all!

Golf during the day, dinner, drinks, and fun activities by night!

This year was particularly fun as the hosts had some great activities such as a karaoke version of American Idol and a knock off of the game show Win it in a Minute (or something like that!).

I was on the winning team - although my golf was uninspiring - so I got to drink from the Cup...literally! What fun! Already counting the days until next year's Crony Cup!

Buena Vista Social Club's New Member

For Those Of You That Think Gilbert Can Do No Wrong...

It all started a few weeks ago...the "I can't" and "I don't want to do that" or generally the dramatic production to get Little Man to do ANYTHING!

The whining, the crying. What fun! I'm convinced our neighbors think we beat Gilbert on a daily basis. He's fighting us at every juncture. What fun!

An independent kid, everything now requires our help and must be immediate. Gilbert has stricken patience from his vocabulary!

And I thought we were going to skirt the whole 'terribles' phase.

An Evening Out

On Saturday we experienced an all too rare night out. Kristen our former nanny was kind enough to babysit so Kristen and I headed out for a fun night!

Our neighbor was celebrating his 30th birthday in style with a bash on a rooftop deck offering the perfect opportunity to enjoy a fantastic summer night in Chicago.

It felt great to be out, have drinks, and just enjoy a fun evening with friends!

Bad Influence

CAUGHT YA!!!

Not quite with your hands in the cookie jar, but close enough.

Fun at the Farm

Last week Gilbert and I had an extended vacation at my brother and sisiter-in-laws house (sorry you had to work PJ). It was so fun to see G able to run around freely and I having no worries about traffic. Gilbert and his cousin Jasper had a fun time together: plenty of trains, pool fun, and sandbox play. We look forward to many trips to Uncle Ryan's house.

Emergency Home Improvement

The window drapes in the living room were hung creativity to combat particular construction obstacles. Well, that initial solution finally gave in and I had to fix the problem. Thankfully, I had my trusted assistance by my side!

Basically, there isn't much depth behind the drywall before I hit the outer wall. Well, the short screws gave way with all the pulling on the drapes being slid open and close.

The solution? Deeper screw penetration! How do I know that would work?

Funny story. Years ago in a prior life I was chasing a roommate through the apartment. He closed and locked the door. No problem. I ran right through blowing the door and hinges off the casing. It was explosive. Scared the bejesus of my roommate who thought he was safe!

Anyway, came time to fix the door and I wasn't sure how to get the screws back into the holes I had just ripped them out of. The super shows up and without a worry on his face just used longer screws to get deeper into the wood.

I applied that lesson here. Success!

Golfsmith

Today was a special day. Little Man accompanied me to Golfsmith for the first time. Titleist was conducting a seminar and giving away swag. This excuse allowed me to also buy Gilbert his first real golf club...a putter.

Not sure what to expect of him in the store, he was fantastic. All morning leading up he was anxious saying, "I want to go Golfsmith!"

In the store he was a good Little Man listening to the Titleist rep and offered him a high five at the end when I took possession of my free golf balls.

Then the real fun began! In the junior section he grabbed the first putter - a perfect size - and started swinging. We moved to the putting green and it was all I had to get him off it! He was putting and yelling quite enthusiastically, "I hit the ball!" Gilbert became fixated with removing the flag to retrieve the golf balls and then collecting all the flags, shuffling them into new holes. This went on for ten minutes!

I am proud to report that back at the homestead and he's already been putting in the hallway and running around with the club overhead (as if he was carrying the Olympic torch!) with pure exuberance!

S'mores!

Is it ever a good idea to give kids Chocolate (sugar), Marshmellows (sugar), and Graham Crackers (lower sugar) all at the same time? YES, if you are on vacation. Gilbert and his buddies enjoyed S'mores -

REALLY ENJOYED them. Everyone was up a little later that evening, but once one of them crashed they all soon followed.

One of many FIRSTS

While on vacation Gilbert and many of his young friends were introduced to Sparklers. I personally have a slight fear of Sparklers, but did my best not to project this onto Gilbert, as you can see he enjoyed the fire.

Back from the beach

We had an Awesome trip to the beach last week. Great weather, great location, and great friends. The lake water was a bit chilly, but the kids (big and little:-) enjoyed the sand and sun.

Just a few photos, tomorrow G and I are off to Michigan to visit my brother and his family at the farm-- should be fun time, Gilbert and Jasper (his cousin) are only months apart in age and I think they will find lots of trouble to get into together.

Hair Bands

Tomorrow we head out for a week at the beach. Everything (well everything that I haven't forgotten:-) is packed and ready to go. PJ has been busy downloading tunes and creating playlists for our listening pleasure. I am currently listening to 80's Hair Band Ballads-- and could not be happier. I LOVE 80's Hair Bands- Patrick-not so much. I guess he really loves me, because now he has 70 plus songs on his Rhapsody player hat he'll never listen to.

Thanks Babe!

WHY?

We have reached the point (the point that all parents dread at some time or another)- the seemingly endless question of "WHY?"

"WHY is it storming Mommy?"

I answer with a short explaination about the clouds filling with too much water etc.

"But WHY do the clouds fill with water?"

again a short explaination form me.

"WHY?"

after several back and forth questions and answers I finally have to say-

"WHY do you think it's raining Gilbert?"

I want to give him the answers, but at some point enough is enough.

Triathlon 2010- Completed

Only a week late in posting. I completed my 2nd Triathlon and while I improved upon my time from 4 years ago, I was hoping for a better finish. This time around I just felt better and I had hoped that my time would refelect this. I improved in my transitions the most and the run by 2+ minutes. I could not have dome it with out my greatest supporters Little Man and his Dad

We were on site by 6am so G and PJ went for bagels while I got my stuff into the transition area. As you can see Gilbert was sure to get his carbs in before the big race!!The actual order is SWIM, BIKE, RUN the photos are a bit out of order, but you get the idea.

Sunday

After a very early morning round of golf, I sat back to watch the US Open. Eyes shut quickly and I was rewarded with a nice afternoon nap. Notice the remote!

Saturday...continued

Now it was really hot in the afternoon, so we went to Pulaski Park and partook in its splash park. The water was quite refreshing (code for freakin' cold!), but G didn't seem to mind.











He is continually becoming more comfortable in the water. From the weekends in the pool at our gym to the weekly splash park outing with school, he is simpatico with H2O!

Saturday

A warm day, we headed outside early. First stop, the local farmer's market. Still early in the season, the number of booths were slim, but we still found some good food. It was just nice to be out and support our local farmers!

Father's Day...Weekend

What a great weekend! I spent time with family, was able to check out for a few hours, and all with fantastic weather.

The weekend kicked off with, well, a party! Not for me, of course, but what is becoming the weekend ritual of attending a party for one of Gilbert's classmates.

Back at our favorite hangout, Pump It Up, it was just G and me. What a blast!

This was a first to have a night party and after awhile, Gilbert was clearly done and ready for dinner and cake. He just walked over to the bench on the wall and sat quietly waiting for the play time to end and the food to begin!

Barber Shop

I take Gilbert to the same shop for his haircut. He is smitten for all the ladies that own and work at the barber shop. Lexi cuts his hair and he LOVES her!

Of course, all the ladies love him too and this time around Lexi messed with his hair. Not a fan of the fauxhawk, but he didn't seem to mind!

Stuntman or Human Rotisserie?

You be the judge!

Kristen's Big Race

Kristen is racing in a triathlon this weekend! She did her first a few years ago and on Sunday she returns into the fray. I'm extremely proud of her for getting back on the proverbial horse!

Good luck Kristen!

Cute?- Yes, but are they Practical?

Gilbert LOVES his rain boots and would prefer to wear them everyday to school. Today was no exception and because it was raining cats and dogs I let him wear them.

Here comes my question:

At what age will he be able to walk/run in them without falling?

We barely got out of the condo before he fell and then wanted to be carried the rest of the way to the car. So there I was lugging G, my bag for work , an umbrella, and my coffee. Then halfway through the garage the boots fell off his feet- it was at this point that I had to laugh and give G a big ol' kiss

I am sure we were quite a sight!

A Moment in Time

This is a photo of me and my dearest friend Mindi from the summer of 1978. Over the Memorial Day holiday we snapped this photo of our boys on a similar stoop at Mindi's home in Indiana. I hope that our boys will forge a lasting friendship with one another just like Mindi and I did so many years ago.