More Camping

Smores.

New Bed . . . New Buzz Sleeping Bag. (Thanks Aunt Linda & Uncle Dan)

Campfire Sittin'

Now we can sleep.

Janesville/Camping

After our Watertown Visit, we trekked on down to Janesville to see the Dan & Linda & clan. Part of this trip was to pick up a camper we purchased from them. I grew up camping . . . Angie didn't. In fact, we have only camped one other time together - we had a tent, a wet dog, and a soaking rain that didn't let up for two days. Combine that with a campground without facilities - Angie swore never to camp again.

That is where Angie's longtime friend Linda comes in. You see - three years ago, I secretly told Linda's husband that he should give us the first call if they ever decided to sell their pop-up camper. That call came early this year. I said yes right away but Angie wasn't quite that easy. Linda made several calls and sent several emails to Angie convincing her that she would enjoy camping if she gave it a second chance and used a camper instead of a tent. Angie finally gave in and we purchased the camper and spent one night with Dan & Linda's family learning how to use it. We set up camp, started a fire, had sandwiches cooked over the fire and s'mores. The kids played together and had a good time. After her most recent camping experience, Angie's comment was -- "That wasn't that bad." I will take what I can get. We look forward to many years of camping in this new camper. Here in AZ, we are in a days drive of several national parks and great camp sites so there will be many weekends. I am also already planning some of the trips I took as a kid to places like Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain National park.

Thanks Dan & Linda.

REO Speedwagon

Angie and I went to see REO Speedwagon last night. Don't get me wrong we had a really great time and it was a good concert but I had to make some observations that just made me laugh. You see, I saw REO 17 years ago at the Dodge County Fair in Wisconsin here are some of the differences and similarities between that concert and this one:

(a) In 1989 there were at least 80% of crowd with a stone wash denim jacket. I can honestly say that I didn't see any last night.

(b) Last nights crowd had 2% in attendance who were sporting a mullet hair cut - in 1989, 90% of us had them. (Yes - I admit I had one just see my cousin's site if you really want to see it, she keeps posting the same picture of by mullet. Everyone had them back them.)

(c) In 1989 - I was upset because no-one would sell me a beer. Last night I was upset because no-one would sell me more than 2 at a time.

(d) REO must have made a comeback sometime after 1989 - the sound system was better now but the voices have faded a little.

(e) Didn't all of REO's members used to have black hair? Now they are all blonde . . . I can't explain.

(f) Even though the 80's throw back crowd may have lost their stone wash jackets, they appearantly kept some of their other 80's clothes. Examples are (1) tight T-shirts with the gold cross worn on the outside; (2) camouflage pants with black belt sporting silver studs (female); (3) tight fitting black levi denim jeans; (4) tight fitting black levi's with holes up and down the sides of the legs; and (5) tight leather pants (worn by lead singer - made me wonder is there any age that putting on those leather pants just becomes too much to bother, 55? . . . 60?, . . . 65?).

(g) another cloting similarity - can someone explain why middle age people wear Hawaiian shirts to concerts, even when its not Jimmy Buffet? (No I wasn't wearing one but I am curious about the connection between REO and Hawaiian shirts)

(h) people are still smoking green cigarettes but the people smoking it are just a little older.

REO did put on a good show though. It was good people watching.

Watertown Visit

After a couple of nights in BD - we went to Angie's hometown of Watertown. We picked up Angie's grandma and had lunch at Ang's high school employer, Mullins Ice Cream Shop. Turns out othat one of Angie's co-workers now owns the place and gave Patrick a free T-Shirt. Then we went out to Uncle Merles spent some time outside before going to dinner with Grandma, Merle and Uncle Dick. It was a very nice visit and we even got to see a couple of big sandhill cranes.

BD Pt 2

On our second day in BD, Mike and Greg played golf while Ang & Jackie took the kids shopping. No photos available. Then after dinner, we went to see our old next door neighbors. It was a nice visit. As you can see the kids are getting big. Patrick loved playing with Brandon and Brock. Brandon dressed Patrick up in some UW Badger gear. Pretty cool, huh? Finally, we got to see Abby off on her first day of school. It was a fun visit but we had to move onto our next leg of the trip.

Beaver Dam Part 1

Our next Vacation Stop was good ole' Beaver Dam Wisconsin. We got to see lifelong friends and their families. These are some of our closest friends we have. The boys have been hanging out since high school and before. We had a BBQ like old times. We got to meet B.W. - a future middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. And the highlight of the evening - an exclusive presentation of a very hard to get ticket - the play of "The witch and the pirate battle for the hand of the beautiful young princess." I guarantee that these are the hardest to get tickets on Broadway. We really wished we could visit more friends like this but there was only a short amount of time. We love you all.

Katies Wedding

Sorry we haven't posted in a while things have been very busy (more of that to come). Anyway - we recently went on vacation. The first stop was Katy's wedding. Here are some of the photographs of that. Patrick did a very good job as the ring bearer delivering the ring to the best man. A good time was had by all. During the reception Patrick was rewarded by Aunt Katy and Uncle Kent and he transformed into the barefoot ring bearing pirate.

Yes - I am a Star Wars Geek

O.k. - Here is a post inviting comment. I was watching Star Wars again and My Geek Mind got to working - here is my question:

Was Anakin Skywalker created by Darth Sidious?

Here are the facts:

Anakin was created by midiclorians - there was no father. In Episode III, Palpatine tells the story of Sidious' Sith Mentor . . . Darth Plagueis. According to Palpatine Plageuis was such a powerful Sith Lord that he could manipulate life itself. Sidious killed Plageuis and became a Sith Lord.

Palpatine also manipulated Anakin and he never was completely honest with him, even after Anakin became Darth Vader. For example, Palpatine told Vader that Vader killed Padme. He was partially honest but always holding something back. Thus, Palpatine was only being partially honest when he said he had not learned Plageuis' powers before killing him. Is it possible he had actually learned those powers so that he manipulated life to create his ultimate apprentice - Anakin?

Go ahead - comment.

Happy Birthday Maddie

Born this morning at 8:18 and 8 lbs 14 oz and 20.75 inches. We hope to be able to meet you soon. Congratulations to mom and dad (Chris and Trish). Enjoy yourselves!

M. A. P.

Peter Piper Pizza

We met Patrick's playgroup friends at Peter Piper Pizza tonight. It was the core group of the kids and the Moms. We had a good time eating and playing the games. After the tokens were all spent we turned in our tickets and got cheezy prizes. The kids seemed to have a great time. As Moms, we didn't really get a chance to chat much. We'll have to plan a "girls night out" for that!

Patrick and Makayla

Patrick is thrilled to have Makayla around. He always wants to hold her and to help in general. They are really cute together.

Working on the Car

Patrick was Mike's helper working on the car. He would do things like gets tools and paper towels for Daddy. However, in the middle of changing the oil on the truck he took over and started asking Daddy for tools and paper towels. You will see the picture of him "fixing" the truck. He was very serious about it. It was way too cute. Although, they both were terribly DIRTY!

Dinner Club

We have been having dinner on Friday night recently with a group of people Mike has met through work. Patrick comes along too and absolutely LOVES it. In fact, we didn't go this Friday and he kept asking all day if we were going to go out with everyone. He is pictured here with Ron, who works with Mike and his friend, Eva. He always has a good time. We usually end up practically closing the restaurants we go to.

Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa

Happy Birthday Fifty - *cough cough* and still playing with toys. Here is a toy we would have liked to get you but then thought that you wouldn't want to have it in that cold IA weather. So instead we got a picture. What year is it?

Papa Gets the Scoop...

Papa spent some time questioning Patrick about school and he got the scoop. WOW! He got more out of Patrick at one shot than we were able to get all week. We found out the following: he painted, worked with beads, made a necklace, swept the floor and used the dust pan, read books in the library, ate snack, played on the playground, sang songs (Hokey Pokey must be a big hit! He thinks it's hillarious that they sing "put you bums in..."), Mr. Bob comes in (had NO clue who he was til I asked today and found out he's the janitor), transferred those craft pom pom type things from one bowl to another with tongs, and I think that's about it. That was WAY more than Mike and I got out of him. We'll have to have Papa question him weekly to find out the scoop. He wouldn't tell me much today either. Although I did get his painting. It is BEAUTIFUL and he had to have me hang it on our bedroom door! Oh, found out what they had for snack and that he doesn't like celery. Guess snack is the important thing!

Ring Bearer or Ring Bear???

Patrick informed us today that he would not be the ring BEARER at Katy's weddding but the ring BEAR! He said he would wear his black clothes (aka his suit) and he would growl and scare people. (Thus the BEAR instead of BEARER.)

Patrick and Makayla

I have embarked on a new adventure. Starting last Thursday I began to babysit for a 10 1/2 month old little girl named Makayla. She is such a precious little girl. She is very easy-going. She loves Patrick and Badger. Patrick is thrilled with her and is wanting to help all the time. On Friday he held her, fed her, and shared his toys with her. He's been so good! Makayla's Grandpa works with my Mom which was how this all came about. Her mom, Amelia, was hired as a part-time Kindergarten teacher. This is her fist position. So far all is well and I am excited about having her here!

Sigh Of Relief

Yesterday morning - We woke up to some good news here in Mesa. They arrested two guys in connection with the notorious "Serial Killer" investigation here in the Valley of the Sun. As the day went on, it appears that they have the right guys. These two idiots apparently kept some kind of map of their crimes in their apartment. Thank God. Their final shooting was only about one mile from our house about a week ago. We probably would have heard it but we were luckily staying in Tucson that night.

First Day of Preschool

Patrick had his first day at San Tan Montessori today. I dropped him off at 8:15 and returned to get him at 11:45. I was able to run a couple errands and do some stuff at home. He did well I guess. When we ask him about his day he tells us that he played on the playground (went down the slide and rode the bikes). He also said he had pretzels and melon for snack. When asked what else he did he would either say "I don't know" or "I don't want to tell you." Ok, then. Although he did finally tell us tonight that Mr. Sippel (principal) told him to sit down. Hmm... Although Ms. Danielle said he did awesome. So we will see. At least there were no tears from him. I had a hard time even getting a good-bye. He took off and went into the room. There were numerous children who shed a few tears. Not our son though. He went in and came out smiling. He did say he had fun at school today.

Visit to Tucson

We went down to Tucson on Sunday and spent the night at Schockmels. We took the kids to the Sidewinders baseball game Sunday night. Shanon made us an awesome dinner before we went. The kids really enjoyed the game. Monday Mike had to drive to Bisbee for a hearing and Leigh and I took the kids to Celebrate where they have those jumping castles indoors. The kids had a blast. Patrick enjoyed playing with Zander and Ethan and holding Maddelin. The picture shows Mike, Patrick, and Ethan at the game.

Patrick and Cabo

Patrick certainly enjoys spending time with his buddy Cabo at Nana and Papa's. We have been spending lots of time there recently taking care of him. They really get along well. In fact, it's when Patrick comes that Cabo eats his food. Not sure why ~ perhaps Cabo thinks Patrick is going to eat it. (Wouldn't put it past him!)

Kiddie Kickers

Patrick took a soccer class through the Gilbert Park and Rec department. Mr. Skyler taught them some of the basic skills. Patrick had a good time in there. Notice the little girl in the picture next to him. He talked about her often and her pink shoes. Her name is Ashley. Guess he was fascinated with those shoes! That class was always going to the bathroom. In fact, one day Mr. Skyler had to take the WHOLE class to the bathroom. We were able to observe at the end of the last class. Patrick has learned some skills that will be beneficial when he does soccer again.

All Star Sports

Patrick completed his Sports Class on Wednesday. He had a great time learning about and playing soccer, T-ball, and Basketball. His friend, Denton, (from playgroup) was in the class as well. He says he liked T-ball the best. He did really well with basketball though. The parents were able to go into the class and observe on the last day. Mr. Skyler did a great job with the students.

Seahorse Red

Patrick and Sofia completed another swimming class. They did really well with this group of lessons as well and both passed the class. They had a great time and will progress to Seahorse Yellow next time around.