Tay's Birthday

Who knew a few bouncy things, a field to run in and a bunch of balls to kick at me equals hours of fun for Tay and her friends?

Yes, I'm old.  I now have an 11 year old - and she is starting middle school next week...sigh.  We had a birthday party for her a few weeks ago and are firm believers in the destination birthday.  You go there, have a bunch of fun and make a mess - then leave and say thank you on the way out.  It is helpful for many reasons - 1) You don't have to set up anything.  2) You don't have to provide entertainment (it's included in the price of admission).  3) You don't have to clean up.  4) When it's over - you leave - they can't 'accidently' come late to pick up their kids because you get kicked out of the room and have to go!  Brilliant.

We have been to a few different places over Tay's lifetime - Jungle Java (twice), the zoo, and now High Velocity Sports - twice.  We love that place.  They reserve one of the indoor soccer fields and set up 3 inflatable bouncy things.  One is a huge slide (the Titanic that is sinking below) - you crawl up the long ladder in the middle and there are 2 slides - one on each side - to come down.  Then there is your classic moonwalk (big bouncy room) and the third one is a maze/fun house with things to crawl through and then a slide at the end.  It's great.  The other fun thing about this place is that if and when they get bored with bouncing for a while, there is also a soccer net, a full field to run around in, and a bunch of different things to play with.

We played soccer (which consisted of me in the net and all the kids kicking balls at me trying to get it past me), dodge ball (totally fun considering some of the balls are as big as the kids were), baseball, football - you name it.

We also get a room for food -  they provide snacks, drinks and pizza - then we had cake, opened presents and sang.  Since we were the only birthday there that day, they let us have extra time in the inflatables - it was a blast!  Technically, I'm too big to get in there - but that didn't stop me.  The kids loved having me in the moonwalk because when I was bouncing around, they were flying everywhere...good times.

Here are some pictures from the event...

Blog Template

Who knew picking the right template could be such a tough job?

For anyone that has been following this lately (which probably isn't many - like Amy said in her last post - I don't update this very often), you probably noticed that this is my third template in the last week or so. I'm not sure I'm sold on this one either - although it seems like I'm getting closer.

Please bear with me as I keep changing my mind on a regular basis...I'm kind of sick of updating my blog roll everytime I change my mind as well - so I'll get the roll back up there after I decide on a final template...

Thanks for your patience...

Softball

Who knew team sports could be fun?

So Jaimie convinced me to play on a softball team Laura put together. We are playing in a rec league and are playing for fun (which is good for me since the last time I played was never). Our team is call softserve (this is a slow pitch league) and our logo is:


That logo is on our t-shirts and everything - they are orange shirts with yellow writing (I'll see if I can get a picture of it up here eventually). We play double headers each week on Monday nights and have played 2 weeks so far (yes, that's 4 games for you math majors). The first week was a lot of fun, but you could tell we were all really nervous since we haven't played. The second week went much better and we had a lot of fun - even though we lost both games.

The highlight of the night was this amazing play by our catcher - yes, the catcher was Jaimie! One of the guys on the other team had a really great hit - he was running around the bases trying to stretch it into a homerun. In a thrilling play at home plate, J tagged out the runner ending the inning. It was awesome. It looked something like this from where I was standing.

(maybe not exactly like this - he didn't slide - and J didn't have all the gear on)

Then I was doing this in the outfield after the play (and so was Jaimie at home plate). I was so proud of her for catching the throw from first base with a runner barreling down on her, and then to have the presence of mind to tag him out - incredible.

All in all, it has been really fun. We have this week off for Labor Day so that helps. I injured my catching hand in the first week and it has a long way to go before it won't hurt anymore - although that didn't stop me from playing this week. The extra week off will be very helpful I'm sure.

Anyway, just thought I'd brag about my amazing wife a little...

Trouble

Who knew a picture could show the true definition of trouble?


Enough said.

Minnesota

Who knew a state you haven't live in for 9 years could still be home?

Ok, before I get carried away on one of my long rambling posts, let me say that it is official, I am home and will not be leaving for a while (at least a year or 2). Good news to say the least. Now, on with the more important stuff.

That is exactly how I feel about Minnesota. Everytime I go back it feels as though I'm home. Funny how that works isn't it? I guess I did spend most of my growing up years there so it does make some sense. I'm pretty excited though - always like going back.

We have a wedding we are invited to (woohoo) and are really excited to get to go. Not sure the details yet - when we are leaving, coming back, where we are staying, etc. There are a few complications we have to sort through, I'm not a fan of being an adult at times, too many decisions. One of the biggest things we have to figure out is how many days to take Taylor out of school. She will be in week 3 (or is it 4?) of middle school at the time, which leads me to my bigger problem...

I HAVE A KID IN MIDDLE SCHOOL?!?!?!?!?!?! I'm not sure I'm ready for this. Taylor is - she's ready to roll, and I think is also ready to be able to hang out with other people. We (by that I mean Jaimie) has been doing her best to have a lot of friends over for Taylor in the last few weeks so the summer ends on a crazy fun note. I'm still in shock that I'm currently the proud father of an 11 year old. I'll load some latest pictures of my little girl when I get the chance.

It has been a crazy summer - the last month has been insane. We did 5 states in 3 weeks - not bad huh? We were in Cleveland (Ohio - 1), Dallas (Texas - 2), Tuscon (Arizona - 3), Chicago (Illinois - 4), and Lowell (Indiana - 5). Phew. We were so glad to get home it wasn't even funny. We did have a blast though and between my blog and J's, we should be getting some photos of our fun month up shortly.

It is good to be home, hopefully that will mean I have time to post and update this blog...I realized today my countdown has been on zero for over 3 weeks...that's pretty sad...

Fourth of July

Who knew parades could be fun - and are even better when you go with friends, arrive an hour early to the wrong location, and then figure it out from there?

On the fourth, we went to a parade in Depot Town (Ypsi) with Ann and Adam. Laura, Jake, Lake and Tate also met up with us. It was a lot of fun and we had great seats. We thought it started at 10AM...actually it was 11AM...and we thought it was going to go down Michigan Ave - instead it went through Depot Town. After some sleuthing at 9:45AM on Michigan Ave, we finally got information that it was in Depot Town.

So, we rushed over there. When we arrived, there were only a few people there - so we set up front row seats - and then I walked to cafe Luwak for a coffee. Turns out the parade was at 11AM, not 10AM - but we were sure glad we arrived early. By the time the parade started, the whole street was packed - standing room only. It was nice to have front row seats and the kids got some candy during the parade as well as those fancy flags they are waving.

All in all, it was a fun time and I highly recommend it. Here is a picture of Tay, Adam and J at the parade (Ann stepped out of the picture to take one of her own - she's pretty crafty).

Wrigley

Who knew Cubs games could be fun?

A few weeks ago, I stayed in Chicago for the weekend and Ben (friend from Minnesota) came down to visit me. We had a great weekend (at least I did) and on Sunday we went to the Cubs game at Wrigley (incidently, they were playing the Twins). We got the tickets from some one I know at the plant - and the seats were pretty good. Below are some pictures from our seats.

My Little Girl

Who knew they could get cuter as they got older?

Tay and Lake hanging out being buddies...

Bad day huh?

Who knew something as cute as a baby seagull could cost your life (or at least clean clothes and some scrapes and cuts)?

So, it's been kind of a rough few weeks for me - work has ramped up since we are now in production. That's exciting to be at this point (the end is coming - and no, I'm not standing on the corner wearing one of those signs), but we are crazy busy.

I also had the wonderful opportunity to go camping this weekend - which was a ton of fun, but kept me from getting home to see my family. I think part of my grumpiness this week is due to the fact that I really miss J and Tay (and I guess Nadia also). Go figure.

Monday morning rolls around and some stuff hit the fan first thing - we hit the ground running. Usually on Monday, we get to ease into the day since most people are driving in from Michigan. Since I was one of the few that was here bright and early (since I was back in Chicago on Sunday night due to my camping excursion), I was one of the few people here to run around and get stuff done.

At one point, I had to go outside and move a bunch of our vehicles around. As I ran out the side door, I looked down and saw a baby gull (very similar to the picture above). What I didn't realize is that mom, dad, and some other friend of the family were on the roof waiting to defend their baby at all costs. As soon as I got outside, they started screaming at me, dive bombing me, and using me as target practice for poop bombs. Totally didn't see that one coming.

So, that's a good example of how my weeks have been. Innocently walk outside and into a trap set by some crafty gulls. Nice huh?

Good news is that they never connected on any of their bombs. If they had, I probably would have simply went home.

Jinx

Who knew blogger has a countdown gadget???

At the risk of jinxing my return, I have added a countdown to my blog. I was told (tentatively) that I will be moving out of here at the end of July. It's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel - I'm just waiting to see if it's the bright, warm sunshine, or a train. I'm holding my breath...as should we all...

On a side note, this picture has nothing to do with the post (other than having a countdown clock), but since we all know I'm a legend, I thought it was fitting to include anyway.

It's been over 7 months since I came down here - seems like forever, but time has moved pretty quickly. This week at work we are starting production on the 2010 Taurus (the project I've been working on). It's crazy to think we are already at the point where our vehicle is all we are producing - one of my favorite times in the project (maybe since it signals the end is near and I can leave). It's been a bumpy ride and a lot of hard work, but we are getting close to getting this completed...now we just need to win car of the year and our work will be done...