Go, Cubs, Go!

The whole family was supposed to go to Chicago, but my son and I ended up just going with my mom and dad. My wife and daughter stayed back so that my daughter could start feeling better (and she does). But my son and I got to go by ourselves to Wrigley on Saturday and take a Cub victory in. Unfortunately, Sunday wasn't as nice of an outcome, but my son, my dad, my mom and I had a nice time. We got down earlier on Saturday morning and had breakfast at the Salt and Pepper Diner. Then we went in and braved the brisk wind (it was windy as an October day each game) to watch the end of BP, the set-up of the field (drag, water, line, etc.), and the game itself. It was a nice weekend (even if we did miss the rest of our family back in Minnesota). Next time, we'll meet up with our Iowa family at the Lincoln Park Zoo and make sure we all enjoy being in Chicago at the same time. Nothing like listening (and singing) to "Go, Cubs, Go!" after a win AT WRIGLEY FIELD. (Wait 'til next season!)

Go Cubs!

Riding bikes :)

We actually found some happiness the other day this week. Nobody was outside to infect, and my daughter was feeling like riding her bike. Plus my son thought he'd keep riding his. So, I got the camera out to record the fact that they each had fun this week ... and they can each ride a bike. Definitely big goals achieved this summer - my daughter can pedal! and my son can ride on two wheels! :)

Rough week

So, I really wish I had some nice pictures and great stories to show-and-tell after my most-recent post about a fun weekend. Unfortunately ....

I don't.

It was an interesting ending to the weekend and start to the week ... and the hits just keep onnnn... coming. My daughter didn't sleep really well on Friday night, but was okay most of the day Saturday; then didn't sleep really well Saturday night, and she and I actually missed church because we didn't want her to go to church sick on Sunday morning. She slept horribly again Sunday night, so I took her to the doctor on Monday morning. Prolonged fever - check! Not sleeping - check! Not eating well - check! Sore throat - check! STREP - CHECK!

So, usually no problem - take the antibiotic for the strep and she'll be okay. Unfortunately ...

She wasn't.

My daughter kept complaing of a soreness in her mouth. We assumed she kept meaning her throat - and that it would go away soon. It didn't - and she kept complaining about her mouth. Bloody, swollen gums, and sores on her tongue ... ugggh! Took her in this morning. Another medicine prescribed - this time for herpes simplex 1 (mouth). FUN!

Gladly, she's taking the medicine okay. Not happy about it. Fights it. But she takes it. It hasn't exactly been fun giving her antibiotic for four days now, so I'm sure the anti-viral will be a bit easier ... seeing as it's only a 1/2 teaspoon compared to the 1 and 1/2 teaspon of antibiotic.

And ... all of this changes our fun plans for the weekend :(

My wife and I decided that she (my wife) would stay home with my daughter and that my son and I would stay the course and make the trip to Wisconsin and Chicago this weekend. Originally planned was a nice dinner with our friends in SP/Madison on Friday night; a trip to meet up with our sister and nephew at the zoo in Chicago on Saturday morning; a Cubs game Saturday afternoon, with swimming and shopping a distinct possibility; stay at a nice hotel Saturday night; breakfast and Cubs game again Sunday; with my wife getting to see her aunt (who recently moved to a Chicago suburb from out East).

Scratch some of that :*( And hope that my son and I can still have fun with Gramma and Grampa this weekend. I'll have to try to entertain our friends Friday night without Holly. No zoo. No visit to see Holly's aunt. Oh well. Hopefully my daughter gets better (Yeah!) and my son and I enjoy some Cub victories (Yeah!) and we don't get rained on (Boo!) with the moderate weather that is supposed to hit the upper Midwest.

Life is grand ... and a roller coaster. Good thing for family, good friends ... and baseball!?!

Buck up, sweet princess. Keep taking your meds. Hope you feel better soon :)

Weekend fun ... at the park ... in the backyard ... yeah! :)

Okay, so not ALL the pictures are from this weekend, but ALL weekends SHOULD be fun, and I thought that I'd sneak in some pics from when Grampa was playing with my son and daughter in the backyard. If you had the family and neighbors that I have, you'd be a happy blogger like me, too. :)

The next few pictures are from Weaver Lake Park. We biked there on Friday afternoon. It's always a hit with the kids. Nice sand (soft and clean) with playground equipment that they like (blocks, digger, slides and climbing things, swings, etc.) and the kids usually ask to swim or at least go down on the beach. It's not that far a bike ride now that my son can ride his two-wheeler.

That was an experience, by the way. He's been whining to me about not wanting to learn since we took his training wheels off last fall. Then, the grandparents come for a four days around my daughter's birthday ... and ... oila! (that's wa - la! for non-French speakers) It took all of 30 minutes, maybe :) Now, he can go up and down hills, turn around in driveways. Thanks, Mom and Dad (Gramma and Grampa)!

Always a Packer ... and a Favre fan

So, when Mr. Favre took Mr. Wilf's jet to Minnesota and rode in Mr. Childress's SUV to the Vikings' practice facility, it really broke my heart. How am I, as a die-hard Packer fan living in Minnesota, supposed to deal with the fact that one of my football heros - in fact the only one who ever won MY TEAM a super bowl - is on a team that I live to hate?

My son decided to interject some of his own ideas (or questions that led to ideas, I guess) into the situation. He's been watching ESPN, and, needless to say, Brett Favre has been the top headline all week. On Tuesday, my son asked me, "Do you know that Brett is going to the Vikings?" To which, I responded, "Yes ..." And my son replied, "I hate it when that happens!" (Nice response, my boy!)

Yesterday, he was watching more film of Favre - playing for the Packers, playing for the Jets, and then in a Vikings practice jersey, going through drills. He was asking a bunch of questions, but nothing that was of much to think about, until ... "When the Jets play the Vikings, who do we root for?" - which I cut off pretty much as soon as I realized what he was asking, and said, "the JETS!!!!"

Today, he asked if he could wear something special for our trip out (probably going to see the fishees today and maybe play legos and get some pizza and Chinese for lunch). Can you guess what he's wearing? ....

Brett will ALWAYS be a PACKER! (And we will love the man ...) No matter what Ted Thompson or "the man" himself do. And we will ALWAYS be PACKER FANS! No matter where we live, or what the Packers do to make themselves look bad. Green and Gold LIVES HERE!

A Princes Party for My Princess :)

Pictures really are worth a 1000 words. We had my daughter's three closest friends over for her third birthday party (and invited their families, too). It seemed like everyone enjoyed the day - even the boys (who had to put up with a princess cake, princess decorations ... but also enjoyed running all over and playing some ball outside). Most importantly, my daughter enjoyed her day ... and didn't want ANYONE to leave when the party was over. Now, isn't that the definition of success when you're dealing with a three-year-old? (Funny to call her a three-year-old now.)

Happy Birthday Princess!

Dancing Darling :)

I couldn't help posting some more pictures of the birthday girl. She really kept enjoying her birthday. And she gets to have another party this weekend. Yeah! She loved her dancing skirts and basically every present she got. She's either been wearing or playing with every one of them since she opened them.

I hope she likes to dance ... because it really looks like she has fun when she goes. Her mom has been taking her, but one of these days it'll be my turn. I'll be able to be the proud daddy that I am ... in person. Love you, my dancing darling :)

Happy Birthday to My Darling Daughter! :)

It's finally here. She's 3! We kind of celebrated last night with some presents from Gramma and Grampa. Since they need to leave today to head to Iowa, we thought we'd open their gifts ... and Great Gramma T's, too (while all of us were there together). Did she enjoy that?! YES!


Great Gramma got her a double stroller for her babies (since she has Madison and Allison, she always needed two strollers - now she only needs the one). She started by opening that one - and loved it!

Then she also got a pink dancing skirt (that she's been wearing ever since). She loved Great Gramma's gifts :) Her mom and I got her a new backpack with her name on it for pre-school this year. Gramma made her an "art kit" that is a square-form bag that has everything bagged/boxed/velcroed inside and opens up. Nice ... :) The big puzzle with numbers and animals was a hit, too. And she kind of liked the last gifts she opened, too :) ... a lot! A karaoke "music player" - basically a small boom-box with microphone and karaoke abilities (with some CD's to go with it). It wasn't even her birthday and she was already in seventh heaven.

Now it's actually her birthday. Breakfast on the "celebrate" plate and already has the skirt on. Played with the puzzle ... and the bitty bear (another present form yesterday) ... and the music player is going as I blog. Happy Birthday Princess :)

PGA Championship - Hazeltine - 2009

... okay, so it was the practice rounds. But really, how close can you get to Tiger? or Stricker during the championship play? Today? ... CLOSE! Got to Hazeltine around 7:15 or 7:30am. Asked the guy at the first tee if anyone was out yet - and low and behold, Tiger had gone off at 6:30am. We caught up with him and watched him play a few holes. We got some free beverages at the AmEx tent (nice "port-o-potties" by the way) and also half of us got free food from another corporate "tent" - thanks Brian (and Honeywell). Have I mentioned what GREAT neighbors we have?!

Then, later we saw on the board that Steve Stricker (remember, I'm a Wisconsin guy! He's from Edgerton, WI ... not to mention #2 in FedEx points and #2 on the money list) was already out on the course as well. We caught up with him at 10 and followed him for the entire back nine. Nice guy! He signed between every green and tee asking some kids to come inside the ropes to sign for them - and even took a picture with two kids from Stoughton, WI on the 17th tee. Awesome!

Happy Birthday to ME!