Handprint: 8th Grade

It's that time again, time for the annual tradition of making a handprint on the ol' board. Each year we have Ledger put his hand in a bunch of paint and put down his latest hand size onto the board at the start of each school year. We have been doing it since his preschool year and continue the tradition now that he's going into 8th grade. He used to turn it into an opportunity to get paint all over his body and go crazy with the chosen color each year. Now a days, he gets annoyed that we want to pull him away from his friends and tablet to do the old tradition.

He can complain all he wants, but we are still going to do it! This year he chose pink as his handprint color. He dipped his hand in the plate of paint and made his latest print. It's really fun to see how much bigger his hand is now than it was back when he was 4- year little boy- it keeps getting bigger and bigger, just like him!

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The County Fair

One of the things my town is known for is the county fair. Well, we can't miss that then, right? Ledger was really interested in the fair when he was little, going on all the kid's rides and games. But he lost interest for a few years there, but now he's back and really wants to go! We invited a couple friends for him to check out the county fair with.

They walked home with Ledger after school on Friday and I brought them over to the fair soon after. We got them a bracelet for unlimited rides and I gave each of them a bit of cash to waste however they chose.

These boys are at the age where the last thing they want is a parent watching over them, so I gave them a meeting time a few hours away and let them go out on their own to have a blast. I went back to the car and cranked the air conditioning, played a few games on my phone and listened to podcasts. Finally, around 9pm, we met up. I had double checked with the other boy's parents to see if it was ok, and it was, I told them they had another hour to mess around and have fun- they were shocked and thrilled to have some more time on their own! We met up again and they had spent all the money I had given them buying dumb stuff and having an amazing time. Finally, at 10pm we gathered back in the car and we brought the other boys home. This is what memories are made of, right?

Goodbye, Uncle Rich

After a long battle with cancer and emphysema, my uncle Rich passed away. He was my dad's older brother. I didn't really know him very well. A good 10 years older than my dad, he joined the military and was out of the house before my dad formed much of a bond. Staying in the military and continuing to move around most of his life meant that I didn't get to know him much either. We would come back to Michigan and visit from time to time, which was always great to see him and his family, but it wasn't very regular or much of a chance to get to know him. About 8-10 years ago he and his wife Vicki finally came back to Michigan to live, so Papa had the chance to reconnect and really get to know his older brother. They got together once a week and went to the shooting range or golf course, building the relationship they never had earlier in life. It was really good to see all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and all the rest together again as we celebrated Rich's life together. He will be missed.

8th Grade: 1st Day

Summer has come to an end and our boy has to go back to school. Things are a little different though, this time he's the top dog! He hasn't been on top since he was a 5th grader ruling the roost in elementary school. Now he's the big guy on campus again as a big ol' eighth grader! This year we kinda gave up on trying to slowly ease him back into an early wake up and early to bed. It never works anyway, so we just figured he'll have a bleary-eyed first day and his schedule will adjust pretty quickly from here!

With me working 3rd shift, I get home from work just in time to get him up and ready in the morning. When I got home it was a bit of a struggle to rouse him out of bed, but eventually he emerged from his room and started getting ready. We are back to the daily waffle breakfast. Always dedicated to a bit, he wore the same shirt again for his first day of school. The Snoopy shirt asking 'Is It Christmas Yet?'. He wore it the last day of school last year too! On the way to school we talked a little bit about the gravity of the situation and he shared that he wasn't nervous at all this year, but felt pretty good about it all. He was mostly pumped to see his friends every day again. Oh, and how tired he was...

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Basement Flood

Every once in a while, I have a late meeting at work. It's outside of my usual shift, so I have to check in from home. I usually do so from my kitchen table, but for some reason I went down to the basement, so it didn't bother anyone else. As I was getting ready to patch into the meeting, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye- it was water pouring down the wall! It had been raining all night, but I didn't expect it to be a problem. Well, it was! Water was pouring in from the basement window into my movie sanctuary! I quickly ran to get towels to clean it up, but it just kept pouring down! I moved all my stuff away from the window so it wouldn't be ruined, but eventually I realized I needed to go outside and find out why this was happening. I went out there, sopping wet, and found out the window was blocked by dried leaves! I cleared them out, but the damage was already done.

I set up a fan and blower, moving everything out of the way, but by then it was already wet and ruined, all I had left was recovery. I did my best and saved what I could. hopefully it doesn't destroy too much. We'll see!

School Open House

Each year the school has an open house for all the students a few days before the new school year is going to start. A chance to meet any new teachers and figure out their new schedule. I took Ledger this year and we mapped out what his 8th grade was going to look like for him. We met all the new teachers, including a foreign language- French! We found his locker for this year and tried the combination, which was quite a bit easier than it was back in 6th grade, and met up with a few friends he hadn't seen since last school year. He was happy with all the changes and all the new teachers. I guess we are ready for the new year!

Chicago: Millenium Park

After a little nap back at the hotel, we were ready to check out the nightlife at Millenium Park! It took a little bit of convincing to get Diana back out into the world, but Ledge was up for more exploring and fun on our evening in Chicago.

We had told Ledge about the bean, but I don't think he really understood what it was until he saw it for himself- he was impressed! We made our way through the art in park and eventually found the shiny cloud, taking our picture next to it and loving all of it! After taking it all in, we walked over to the amphitheater and realized there was a free concert going on that night. We found a spot on the grass and laid down, relaxing, enjoying the beautiful symphony while they played. As they ended their set, we chatted about the day and all the amazing things we experienced, so pleased with our great day! What fun!

As we were heading home, the realization that we kinda forgot to eat dinner set in, so we stopped at the late-night Chinese place and got ourselves something to take back to the hotel. Honestly, it was an amazing day and we had a blast!
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Chicago: Art Museum

Diana had been to the Art Institute of Chicago quite a bit as a child. I guess that comes with having an artist as a father. I had never gone as a child, but went a couple times with friends, and went every year when I was teaching in Indiana. We both deeply love it and were so excited to go back for the first time in many years. We weren't so sure how Ledger would feel about the place, this being the first time he had ever been to an art museum. Turns out, he absolutely adored the place! Granted, one of the features we were most excited about when we got there was the fact that it had air conditioning! But we soon shifted gears and really engaged with the art and artifacts on display. 

We made our way through some of the exhibits, finding the big rooms full of little doll furniture. Diana was in heaven! She dismissed us away and said that she was going to take her time and we should continue on without her. Ledger and I made our way through the museum and saw all the greatest hits, works by Hopper, Picasso, Seurat, and all the rest. Ledger was impressed and loved checking it all out and taking it in. He was really inspired by some of the pieces and impressed with others. One area that he was baffled by was the modern art wing. You and me both, kid! It was really funny, as we were walking through the modern area he said, 'why can't any of the women in the artwork put on any clothes?!?' fair question, son! Eventually we met back up with Diana, after she spend an hour or two with the little furniture, and checked out the parts we hadn't seen yet. What we expected to take an hour or two ended up taking the whole day! She and I both were delighted at how much Ledger loved the art museum and the whole experience! Exhausted, hot, and with achy feet, we made our way back to the hotel for a little late afternoon nap.

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Chicago, Baby!

We wanted to have one last hurrah before summer was over. Diana and I realized that Ledger had never been to Chicago, so we figured we would rectify that situation! I took an extra day off of work, we booked a hotel just off the Miracle Mile, and off we went to the Windy City!

We packed up and got started pretty early, stopping in South Bend to drop off the dog with Diana's dad. We pushed on to Illinois and on to our hotel. We dragged our luggage from the parking garage in the extreme summer heat, but once we got to the room, it was all worth it- the hotel was fantastic! We splurged a little bit and got a nicer room that we can usually afford, which delighted Diana!

Once we were settled in, our hunger took over and we made the trek to Gino's East for some authentic Chicago style pizza. Ledger had never had that style pizza before, so we knew he needed to try the real thing (more pics). After filling our bellies, we were ready for the main attraction: the Art Institute of Chicago! Later that night we walked around Millenium Park so we could get the full Chicago experience. Finally exhausted, we grabbed a late-night bite to eat and took it back to the hotel where we chowed down and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, we packed up and had planned to go check out the Museum of Science and Industry, but apparently there was a Bears game, which made it literally impossible to find anywhere to park within 5 miles! Instead, we called it a day and headed home, satisfied with our fantastic Chicago experience!

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South Bend Swim

Ah, now this is the life! We made our way back down to South Bend for an extended weekend. Mom and David are always excited to have us visit, so it didn't take too much to convince them! The weather was so perfect that we spent a lot of time out on the lake. To really shock everyone, I even jumped in and swam! Barbara and James stopped by for one of the days and joined us out on the boat.

The funniest part of the weekend: We took poor old Wiggins out on the boat with us, and when I jumped in, I took him with me! He was not at all prepared for that! Turns out, this dog does NOT like to swim! He was holding on to me for dear life while we were in the water! Thankfully, I put him back on the boat after a couple minutes. After we swam for a while and got back on the boat, he would not go anywhere near me for the rest of the boat ride... Poor fella!

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Work Picnic

Every year my work has a huge picnic. They invite all 5000 employees and rent out the fairgrounds and do it up! There are a bunch of rides, games, concessions, and prizes. Employees and families are invited, so I rounded up mine, and we headed over.

Most of the games and rides are for the littler kids, so Ledge wasn't really interested, but there was one thing that caught his eye- the jumper! (I don't have any idea what it's actually called, but its a bunch of bungie cords you strap to your waste and bounce super high). We waited in line for that one and he got to give it a try. It's a bit harder than he expected, but had fun with what he could do. We filled up on hot dogs, brats, and hamburgers, wandered around for a bit, and got frozen slushies. I saw a few of the people I work with and got to introduce them to my lovely wife and son, and then we succumbed to the intense summer heat and got back in our air-conditioned car! It was a really fun event and we had a great time!

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