Sunday, April 29, 2007

Midwest Vacation: #10

On Monday I slept in and missed going to do baggie books at Zoe's class. Zander had stayed home from school sick but was allowed to watch movies with me so we started our Harry Potter marathon. We watched the first one then made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and discussed our theories about the seventh book. We watched the second one then he had to take a nap before Zoe got home from school.

Uncle Fitz was playing in a hockey game that evening so John and the kids and I went to watch him. Zoe seemed more interested in the vending machines but we had fun cheering for Fitz. We were the only ones there for awhile until a couple other fans showed up. His team won a very high scoring game. Good job, Number 0!



The kids took off school on Tuesday so the whole family could spend the day in Chicago with me before dropping me off at O'Hare to catch my evening flight back home. We arrived in time to take their uncle Bryan out for a delicious pizza lunch near his downtown office then we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Here's a baby mongoose. They were so cute and really fast. They wouldn't stay still enough to get many good shots.



These penguins kept teasing us that they were getting in the water but they never did.



The kitties seemed to be enjoying the cool day.




Was this giraffe trying to hide behind the rock and his neck was just too long?



The pygmy hippos were highly interesting until one pooped in his own tank. We got out of there fast.



I loved this display.


John was on call and had to get back before too long so we said our sad goodbyes at the airport with plenty of time for me to make it through security and grab some orange chicken at the food court before going to my gate. I surprisingly slept most of the flight to Oakland. We landed a little late and I was concerned I'd miss the last BART train but I needn't have worried and got home just fine.

Midwest Vacation: #9

Sunday was going to be hot. And we were going to a baseball game. I hadn't packed for hot weather so I decided to transform the older pair of jeans I had brought into shorts. They needed patched where my legs rub togther anyway so it was a good solution. I could use what I cut off the bottoms to patch the holes. Joanna got out her sewing machine and I spent the morning cutting, pinning and sewing while everyone else was at church.

My folks were going to be in the area attending church nearby so we invited them to join us at the game. Zoe was spending the day with friends so it was Zander's day out at the ballpark. Even though he was feeling rather ill he went anyway and even got to go down onto the field to get his hat autographed and to play a bit of catch with his dad.





We had chosen our seats so my dad wouldn't have to navigate too many stairs and lucky for us they ended up being in the shade the entire game. I had forgotten to apply sunscreen on Saturday so I needed to stay out of the sun. There was a nice breeze so we weren't too hot either. It was just a beautiful day for being at the yard.

This matching pair of ladies must've thought so as well. Though something tells me they're die-hard fans and would be there no matter what. Joanna and I thought they were rather cute.

Midwest Vacation: #8



I love tulips. They are my favorite flower by far. I like their simplicity. They're not too busy. Not a lot is going on in each bloom. I think yellow tulips are my favorites but, really, I love them all. The area John and Joanna live in was settled by the Dutch and there's even a town called Holland. They grow lots of tulips and celebrate a tulip festival in May. I thought I'd take advantage of being there in the spring and go in search of tulips so on Saturday we headed over to Holland.



It was a gorgeous sunny day but the town wasn't crowded with tourists. It was a bit early in the year for tulip season. We found a parking place downtown and settled on the Windmill Restaurant for lunch. I was in the mood for a burger so got the $2.85 quarter pounder with a side of onion rings instead of fries. I was so glad I got the rings. They were the best onion rings I've had in a long long time. I'd go back there just for those.

After lunch we walked around the downtown area. The street banners are reproductions of famous paintings with tulips inserted in them in funny, creative ways. We stopped in a shop that had a "Pickle Tasting Today" sign in the window. I mean, really, who could resist that? They not only had pickles to taste but all kinds of other things including some hickory potato chips that were awesome so we bought some but then forgot to eat them while I was there. I hope you enjoy them, John.

We also saw some fun street sculptures including Ben Franklin sitting on a park bench and these musicians. Which one doesn't belong?



After stopping in a candy shop (what small tourist town is complete without one?), we were deciding what to do next when I saw a calendar of events posted on a informational board. It was Community Day out at the tulip farm so we made a note of the address and headed that way.

Not only is Veldheer's a tulip farm but they also have bison. And it was free that day. A good combo. They had an area of formal, laid-out gardens that didn't have many flowers yet but there were a few sections of blooms out in the fields.





I loved these pale yellow flowers.



I was amazed to get this shot of a bee in amongst the blooms. They were so speedy it was hard to catch them in the frame.



Can you believe how close we got to the bison? These were fairly docile but another one kept snorting at people. It was kinda funny.



We stopped for ice cream on the way home. A perfect end to a perfect day.

Midwest Vacation: #7

I know I'm a bit behind catching you all up on the end of my vacation seeing as how I've been home since Tuesday but I will do it anyway. I think I left off on Monday the 16th after I had been to Zoe's class for baggie books and then watched Planet Earth for the the afternoon. The rest of the days of that week are now merged together in my mind though I know I left the house at least once a day. I watched some Ellen and finally saw Rosie on The View. I even got to see Jeff Probst on Live with Regis and Kelly. I kept caught up with Dancing with the Stars and American Idol and watched 24 with Joanna.

Zoe and I made fun things with homemade play-dough on Tuesday. I made some dishes and food. Can you see the bacon and egg?



I can't remember for the life of me what we did on Wednesday. I'm sure I did a few of the following: hold the baby, try really hard not to pet the cat, watch Zoe jump rope, hold the baby, have a cup or two of tea, watch baseball, eat really good food, watch the baby wave her arms in the air.

I think that was the night I stayed up really late listening to the Sharks game online. I had headed to bed and while listening to the local sports talk radio station heard about Buerle's no-no so went back out to tell John. He had the Sharks game on so I watched SportsCenter to get the White Sox highlights and stayed up to listen to San Jose go up 3-1 over Nashville in the first round.

On Thursday Joanna, Vienna and I went to Joanna's sister's house for lunch with some of their friends and their little kids. It turned out to be a little surprise baby shower. I wish Erica would've warned me; I could've brought something for Vienna as well. I had sent some fleece blankets back in the fall the first time they thought they were getting a child but I ended up not getting anything specifically for Vienna. I still can I suppose.

Here's a pic I liked of one of the kids with Erica's very adorable cat.



I think it was Friday that Joanna and I had lunch at Costco. I had a couple Polish sausages. They were good but, man, I was full. Not too full to share an ice cream bar on the way out though. I can't wait for Sallie to move out here and get her to take me to Costco for a snack. I think my favorite thing we got at Costco was the pineapple spears that John later grilled. They were amazing.

Friday was also Zander's birthday. He had received an iPod from his folks but was still using some old headphones I had discarded the last time I visited a year and a half ago. They weren't even working in one ear. I got him some new ones from Best Buy, as well as a Police CD I picked up at Costco. We had crème brûlée cheesecake from the GFS Marketplace store after school with his cousins to celebrate. I forgot to get the camera out so maybe someone else who took some pictures could send me a couple.

John took Zander and a friend out for games and supper Friday night so Zoe, Joanna and I had a girls' night in. We all love sesame and orange chicken so we tried out three different kinds of sauce: a sesame and a dark and a light orange sauce. All three were awesome. Then we watched Happy Feet. It was so cute. The Mexican penguins were hilarious. Just how many voices did Robin Williams do in that movie anyway?

Next to the Last Minute

I thought surely yesterday's Sharks/Wings game was headed for an overtime period after the Wings came back from again being two goals down in the first period to tie it up early in the third. But a next-to-the-last-minute goal at 18:36 by the crafty Pavel Datsyuk put the Wings ahead tying the series at one game apiece.

The Shark Tank will be loud and exciting tomorrow night for Game 3. I'm looking forward to watching our old crew on FSN Bay Area. I hear Drew Remenda is back from Hockey Night in Canada to do color with Randy Hahn. I feel sorry for those of you who have to watch it on VS.

My other team, New Jersey, was able to win their Game 2 in overtime to even that series with the Senators. I fear for them because Ottawa seems so very very good. Brodeur and the D will have to be better for them to come out winners in that round.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Sharks Win! Sharks Win!!

After two quick goals (within 24 seconds) halfway through the first period, the San Jose Sharks shut down the Red Wings with some good defense and even better goaltending from Nabokov (34 saves) to win the first game of the second round. The not-a-sellout crowd at the Joe didn't have much to cheer about and weren't a factor even though San Jose has rarely won in Detroit.

The Wings seemed to really miss Holmstrom in front of the net. We'll see if his injured eye will let him get on the ice next time out.

Game 2 is on Saturday. On NBC. In HD. At noon (PDT). Make your plans.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Midwest Vacation: #6

On Sunday morning I had some nice quiet alone time and made sloppy joes for the family for when they got home from church. I was feeling rather clumsy and had a couple spills so I spent a bit of my time cleaning up too. Whoops!

After lunch John and the kids and I went into Grand Rapids to Heritage Hill and the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Meyer May House. It was reconstructed about twenty years ago to its 1909 design. The house is owned by the Steelcase corporation who uses it for company events.



I was surprised how many people were there. There was already a group of people watching the film they show about the reconstruction when we arrived. So we sat in the conference room looking at binders of photos. Zander found this pop-up book that shows several Wright designs.



After touring the house, we drove around Heritage Hill a little bit. The next time Anne visits, she really must spend some time in this neighborhood. This was one of our favorites. Don't you love the keyhole window?



For supper, we cooked up a Chinese feast. Joanna and Zoe made homemade egg rolls. The kids and I used up the remaining wrappers for shrimp rolls. Joanna and I worked on some sesame chicken and she made some coconut shrimp. Everything was so tasty.

On Monday morning, I went with Joanna to Zoe and Zander's school to volunteer listening to the kids in Zoe's class read what they call their "baggie books." The books are just photocopies stapled together which the kid carries in their backpack in a gallon-sized ziptop bag. Every day, each kid reads a book to a volunteer parent (or other). So our job is to correct any mistakes the child makes and to pass them on to the next book in the list. If they make more than three mistakes, they have to keep working on that book. I only had one girl who was close to not passing but I thought she did a good enough job so I gave her the next book. What can I say? I'm a softie.

One girl had a book with the word "zyzomys" in it. Now who knows what those are? I sure didn't! We agreed to disagree on how to pronounce it and when she read that it meant "rock rat" she decided to read that out loud instead of zyzomys from then on. She was pretty funny. And I learned something at school that day.

That afternoon I discovered on their DVR a show called Planet Earth. Have you heard of it? It's amazing. I watched three and a half shows! The photography is amazing and one of the cool things about it is that with new technology they were able to capture footage of animals we don't normally get to see: snow leopards, wild baby giant pandas, for example. It's pretty amazing stuff. It's a Discovery Channel 11-part miniseries, so check it out.

Midwest Vacation: #5

Tuesday Sal and I drove up to my folks' in Kaleva. My dad had an appointment in Manistee so we meet them there for lunch at the newly re-opened House of Flavors. I got a brat with some deep fried cauliflower. The brat was okay but the batter on the cauliflower was too thick so they weren't so appetizing. I had to get some ice cream too so had a vanilla malt with extra malt. It was delicious.

The next few days were filled with puzzle-solving, riding in the car with Dad to his doctor's appointments, cooking, reading, watching baseball and hockey, and sleeping. Just like a vacation should be. I, of course, spent just enough time on the computer as well. I even did a little IT support for my mom when she wanted to figure out how to create PDFs on her computers. I hope that's working out for you, Mom.

Sal had to be back to work in Minnesota on Friday afternoon so she left early Thursday morning.



It was long debate whether she should go the southern route through Chicago or cross the Mackinac Bridge and go west through the Upper Peninsula. For awhile it looked like it might be better to go through all snow in the north rather than a snow/rain mix in the south, but in the end she made the correct choice to stay on the big highways through the more populated areas. She arrived safely home around 10:00pm after 13.5 hours of driving without any weather difficulties at all.

Mom went down to camp on Friday night so Dad and I had a quiet evening and then drove down Saturday morning. I had my camera out and was able to capture this family of turkeys crossing the road. It was my third sighting of turkeys that week. I was lucky to catch them with a background of snow. Otherwise they tend to blend in with the trees.



I just barely caught this fun barn as we turned south on 80th Avenue.



I spent about an hour or so looking around the camp lodge seeing all the changes since I'd been there last. It was awhile ago. John, Joanna and the kids got there around noon and Zander, Zoe and I took advantage of the ping pong table in the rec room to get some practice in. We all need it!

The people who were there for the meeting were about to sit down for their potluck lunch so we took off and headed south in search of our own lunch. We couldn't agree on being hungry or where to eat so we ended up at one of their favorite Chinese buffets near their home. It was soooo good. I had a few bites of sesame chicken, orange chicken, honey chicken and pepper chicken all on my plate at once. No wonder they call it the Jumbo Buffet.

Another fun note about the Buffet was that all the hand-written signage was in Spanish and what it said was that kids three-years-old or younger had to be accompanied by an adult. Three? So four-year-olds are allowed to go get food by themselves? I don't even think they could hold their own plate much less reach the food. The delicious, delicious food.

Saturday evening was the last home game for the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey team and was an important one for them to stay in the playoff race. I went with John, Zander, Joanna's bro-in-law (thanks for the tix, Fitz!), and his two younger kids. We had a good time. The team didn't end up winning but it was a fun game (and the onion strips were lovely). I spent a lot of my time entertaining three-year-old Elise who was sitting beside me. She obviously wasn't that interested in the game so I tried to get her to dance and play with me so she would have a good time too. The weather is supposed to be really warm on Sunday so we're planning on going to the West Michigan Whitecaps game so I'll get my hockey and baseball goals met for this trip. Woo hoo!

Friday, April 13, 2007

Midwest Vacation: #4

I had decided to ride up to my folks' with Sal when she went up on Tuesday so Sunday and Monday were spent quietly at home with John's new expanded family. After a really long time waiting to adopt a baby, they finally got the good news that their four was now five. They named her Vienna Marguerite after the city in which my parents were married and after Joanna's maternal grandmother. I loved the name when I heard it and I now love the named even more. She is a cutie, sweetie, cuddlie, bundlie ... oh I can feel my teeth aching from the sweetness.

On Sunday, Zander and John began exploring the CD-ROM they got at the Frank Lloyd Wright gift shop. There are photos, movies, drawings and descriptions of all his creations. We discovered the house nearby was open on Sundays but not on Easter. We made plans to go the next weekend.

We decorated Easter Eggs in the afternoon with a speckled egg kit. It used concentrated liquid dyes applied using little sponges. Sal, Zo, Zander and I all had our unique methods and results. I forgot to take some pictures, sorry. I'm hoping John took some.

Sunday evening, Joanna, Erica and I went to see Blades of Glory. I don't think I've laughed so much in a theater for a very very long time. It was so funny. I was glad to see it with those two because everything seems funnier when I'm with Joanna. The kids wanted to watch Eragon while we were gone so Sal got to watch it again. Poor thing.

On Monday morning Sal and Joanna visited Zoe's class to test the first graders' reading skills. (I'll get to do it this next Monday. I'll describe the process then.) So that meant that I got to babysit Vienna all by myself. John left her swinging in her swing as he left for work saying she'd fall asleep soon. She didn't. She started to get fussy about 10 minutes later so I fed her some and she still didn't seem interested in napping. That was fine with me.

We met up with Erica and her two preschool kids at a local Chinese restaurant for lunch. My orange peel chicken was lovely but the egg drop soup and the egg roll were subpar. I might stick with the crab rangoons next time.

When the kids got home from school we went to the library and Target -- two of my favorite places. I actually had a headache at the library so I got a hot drink at the cafe and sat outside in the cool air while the others found their books and movies. We met up with John at Target when he was done with work. Sal and I bought Zoe some pretty ponytail holders and at the last second I found the cutest dress for her. It was supposed to be a nightgown but it will make a nice summer dress. I have to remember to take a picture of her in it. We had steaks on the grill for supper and then watched some baseball and then 24. It was a great day.

It started snowing on Monday so I thought I'd try to capture it. Harder than I thought.

Puzzled?

I've never been a big fan of jigsaw puzzles but Zoe and I did a couple easy ones together before I came up to my folks'. My dad loves puzzles and I thought this week would be a good time to scratch my incipient jigsaw itch. I found this one and thought it wouldn't be too hard. I struggled a bit but in the end was surprised I actually got it done so quickly. And I learned a lot about butterfly anatomy in the process!


Midwest Vacation: #3

We met for breakfast on Saturday in the fanciest McDonald's I've ever seen. It's the flagship restaurant near Hamburger U. It had a McCafe so I got hot chocolate. It was delicious. We sat around the center elevated oval table and decided to split into two groups for the morning activities and meet up for lunch at Ann Sather. I went with the group going to the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio while some others went to the Lincoln Zoo. We had to wait about a half hour for our guided tour so we spent some time exploring the gift shop.

The tour was fun, the tour guide was irreverent and both the house and studio were very interesting. We weren't allowed to take photos inside so I had to do with shots outside and of items in the shop.





Ann Sather specializes in Swedish food but I ordered the Southern Decadence: poached eggs, biscuits and gravy. It was superb but, when I tasted Zander's Swedish pancakes, I wished I had ordered those instead. I do love a thin, eggy pancake. I'm glad I wasn't sitting too close to the three people who ordered Reubens. I feel a little sick when I smell sauerkraut.

After a brief stop at Trader Joe's, I was off to Michigan with Joanna and the kids while Sallie and John took her car. The visit in Chicago was highly successful. I'm so glad we were able to get together even for a brief time.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Midwest Vacation: #2

The plan for Friday (my dad's birthday) was to meet at the meatball counter at IKEA at noon. The rest of the Michigan relatives were to arrive in the morning so Sal and I checked out of the Suites and caught a ride with Anne and Don while Jordan rode with his grandparents. We meandered through the lovely furniture and accessories and finally tracked down the others. It was so great to see the kids, especially the newest one: just two months old on Apr. 2. She's a real sweetie!

I picked up a couple flexible cutting sheets for Joanna's kitchen and a big, soft, fluffy hippopotamus for Sal. She loved it so much I just had to get it. I can't find it on the IKEA website so you just have to imagine it. Here's Zoe getting caught in the act of smacking her dad in the behind. Naughty girl!




With three recent birthdays in the family, we had to spread them out over the day so we celebrated Anne's before eating. She got a Car-eoke book for Christmas sing-alongs in the car. After a delicous lunch of Swedish meatballs and macaroni and cheese, I received my 40th birthday gift from my siblings. It's a new green iPod shuffle. They engraved a message on the back: "Breeze by 40 Love, your Siblings" Thank you all. I love it so much.

We were all staying in the same hotel that night so we all headed over to the Garden Inn to check in after lunch. The kids wanted to go swimming so after exploring each other's rooms, we six adults watched the three kids frolic in the pool for awhile. We agreed on a place to go for Dad's birthday dinner: the Kopper Kitchen. John ordered saganaki (flaming cheese) which was fairly exciting. Dad seemed to appreciate his new pretty dress shirts and the CD of us singing together at our last mini-reunion.

The guys headed off to help Joanna's brother with a mechanical problem at the theater he volunteers at and everyone else seemed interested in an early evening so Sal and I ended up watching Hidalgo in our room by ourselves. I really really liked it.

Here's a couple photos of what today looked like in Kaleva. Yes, it's April.



Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Midwest Vacation: #1

I've been on vacation for a week and it's been great.

I flew to Chicago last Wednesday...well, with a brief, unanticipated stop in Salt Lake City. We were about an hour into the 4-hour flight from Oakland to O'Hare when the pilot announced that because of a valve malfunction, all the onboard water had been lost overboard. Oops! They decided that we really needed water for flushing the toilets and washing the hands so we had to fill up in Salt Lake. It took about an hour to land, determine the problem, fix it, acquire more fuel and take off again. I did get to see the snow-capped Grand Teutons and the big salty lake. I wish I had gotten my camera out.

I also later wished I had borrowed my seatmate's cellphone and made a call to Sal who was picking me up. She was driving down from MN but did have her phone in the car. She didn't bother checking the status of my flight so drove around the airport for an hour before finally deciding to park and find a restroom. She was just checking the arrivals board when I found her in baggage claim. We headed out into the cold, cold Chicago night and our fancy room at the Hilton Suites.

My folks had arrived earlier in the day so we called them to arrange a shared breakfast the next morning in our suite. They arrived with some egg, Canadian bacon, muffin sandwiches which we matched with the apples and plums Sal had brought from Costco. My dad's birthday was Friday and I wanted to go shopping for a present with my mom. She suggested some new dress shirts so we left my dad at the hotel and headed for the fancy mall next door.

It was just a little too fancy for us so we set out in search of the Men's Wearhouse we were told was nearby. We didn't find it and were about to head elsewhere when I asked a woman in the car next to us in the left-turn lane. She confirmed it was just where we were headed. It wasn't. And we got caught in a railroad-crossing traffic jam. We gave up again and headed for Borders.

And, of course, right there on the side of the road was a Big & Tall Men's Clothing Store. Just the kind of store we were looking for. And they were open. And they had lots of pretty dress shirts to choose from. So we agreed on a couple, bought them and were about to leave the store when Sal sadly realized that she had locked her car keys inside her car -- along with her cellphone. Fortunately, she had her AAA card in her wallet in her jeans pocket so made a really long call and finally got someone to come out and open the car. In the meantime, Mom and I had found the short-sleeved dress shirts and decided Dad needed one of those as well. He's a lucky, lucky guy.

Anne, Don and Jordan arrived that afternoon and Anne needed to get some gift wrap for her presents for the new baby. I volunteered to go out with her while the others watched a movie on the portable DVD player Sal had borrowed from Mike and had hooked up to our hotel TV (pretty cool, huh?). Anne thought for sure she had seen a Target back the way they had come so out we went. And kept going. And going. And going. I swear we drove 20 minutes to this Target. We had fun choosing some greeting cards and she found a wine box that looked cool and was just the right size to fit all her outfits in. We got back to the suite and pretty soon the others left for Love Feast at a local church.

Sal and I started watching Eragon but about halfway through we realized we were really hungry so we went search of dinner. We had seen a restaurant next to the Borders just around the corner. So we stopped for some books first then had dinner at J. Alexander's. It was a bit pricey but the filet I got was amazing. I think the Alex salad that Sal got with her burger was almost as good. I wanted to go back there again. Maybe some day...