White Sand Beach!

I grew up on the west coast of Florida, where the sand is white, the water is green, and the sunsets are always amazing. Our boys have never been to a real beach, so we took them.

Between frequent flyer miles, a voucher for giving up my seat, and a few $$, we all flew down to Clearwater Beach last week. Four days in the sun was a ton of fun. I think the boys even had a good time.

Our hotel was directly on the beach just north of the pier. Every day we got some chairs and an umbrella and enjoyed the sun and sand. The whole time, the boys kept asking if they could hang out at the pool. Every weekend we ask if they want to go with us to the G's pool. Nope. Unless there's a perfect beach - then they want the pool.

We all tried paddleboarding. None of us are much good at it. CP bought a skimboard and had a blast skimming on the flat high-tide sandbars. He kept at it until both knees were oozing blood.

One of the nice things with having teenage boys is that we can leave them on their own for more than two minutes. We took advantage of their exhaustion and took a stroll on the beach one night.

The beauty of the Gulf coast is that you get breathtaking sunsets every night. We had beautiful weather every day and managed to leave three days before hurricane Hermine hit land.

Greeneville

This week I spent a few days in eastern Tennessee: Knoxville and Greeneville. What a beautiful little town! We stayed in a charming 1880's hotel that is across the street from a church that was founded in the 1700's. I would love to have a free day to check out the antique shops...

Cat Eye Candy

When we were in Galena, we bought a finch feeder. We have two pairs of yellow goldfinches in the backyard that are JP's nemeses - they pluck the petals from her shasta daisies one at a time. Now, with the feeder on the deck railing, the bright yellow birds (and the red heads from the front yard) all have their own snack bar. The cat likes to watch them, but she gets frustrated and has to stop watching. 

Mother's Little Helper

JP had a helper when she cleaned the sofa.

Bass Fingers

GP usually plays bass for an hour each day (and he's getting quite good!). While in Illinois, his fingers got soft. His first day back on the strings was brutal.

Crash! Goes the Hard Drive

Last weekend while I was updating the Blog, the hard drive that houses our photos went south. Not a good feeling at all.

Fortunately, we were able to rescue everything but a few photos, like the one above. All is well now with a new drive and everything is backed up onto our server drive, too. 

Lanark & Galena

After Woodstock, we headed west to Nana's house in Lanark. We were greeted by W, the attack/watch cat. He tried his best to cover us with fuzz.

We had a beautiful time in Galena, where we had lunch at our favorite Italian restaurant. The boys both love Italian food and finished their plates.

GP scored a cool hat in Galena. CP found a cane sword. JP found a new hat, too. You'll have to wait til winter to see it.

I took CP to a new Army surplus store in Savanna where he found a cool old trenchcoat for $5. If ends up not wearing it, I will. It's sweet.

It doesn't get any more relaxing than sitting on Nana's front porch watching the cars go by.

Chicago 2002

In November 2002, we took the kids downtown Chicago with Gramma & Grampa, C & Uncle P, and Uncle H. The boys don't remember it at all.

This was the boys' first visit to Bandera on Michigan Ave.

The rest of the trip photos are on Google Photos. Click Here

Lake Geneva

No trip to Woodstock in the summer is complete without a jaunt up to Lake Geneva and Fontana Beach. Gordy's Boat House has dock-side tables and amazing Bloody Marys.

...and Spotted Cow (an incredible beer that's only available in Wisconsin).

JN & CP have been coming here since they were little kids.

Everyone is growing up.

This is our standard photo op at the lake.

Mag Mile

After Gino's, we hit the Mag Mile. We were a bit underdressed, but it's the summer and that's the way it is.

We hit our all-time favorite restaurant on the strip: Bandera. JP got an honest to goodness real martini with gourmet olives and no sloshing. Drinks like this simply don't exist in Nebraska.

In the North Face store in the Hancock center, we found a perfect backpack for CP's last year in high school.

Gino's East

From Navy Pier, we headed up Lake Shore Drive to the Northwestern Medical Campus and then west to Gino's East. 

Gino's East added a 3rd floor dining room (and balcony) that still has some blank space on its walls. The kids all added their own contribution to the mass of graffiti.

Nothing like real Chicago deep dish pizza and a cold beer!

Being left-handed has it's advantages. There's no way a rightie could write in this corner.

Navy Pier

We wandered around on Navy Pier for a while until we started getting tired and Hangry. It was a perfect day for seeing the city.

Chicago

Our summer road trip this year was to Illinois. 1st stop: Woodstock to hang with the N's. Saturday AM we hopped aboard the Metra and went into the city. We didn't realize that Lolapalooza was going on downtown as well as a Cubbies game. The train was PACKED by the time the Cubs fans got off. Lots of variety in the clothing choices of the Lolapalooza crowd.

We spent the day walking around the city. We couldn't pass up Daly Plaza. The boys were really engaged with the architecture and connection to all the movies they've seen that were filmed here. Most notably, The Blues Brothers.

The Bean had just been completed before we moved to Nebraska. This was the first time we have seen it. Wow!! It's Awesome!

Millennium Park was packed with the normal crowds plus all the Lolapalooza folks on their way to Grant Park for the concert.

From Millennium Park, we wandered north and east thru some beautiful condos on our way to Navy Pier.

New Bass!

Guitar center put the bass I've been dreaming of on sale and I couldn't pass it up. JP has a mandate that there can be no net increase in the number of instruments we have, so I traded in an amp and the guitar that I recently refinished. My refinishing efforts paid off - I got more for it as a trade-in than I paid for it. Not only did the new bass come with a nice hard-sided case, but also a $100 gift card that I can apply to a new bass amp.

The new bass attracts the cats and shakes the house. 

¡Terminado!

He comprado este libro para leer en la playa en México. Me di cuenta de que Dan Brown es una lectura fácil y sería capaz de seguir, incluso en español. Tomó mucho más de lo planeado, pero me dio a través de los cien capítulos y la terminó. En el camino, mi vocabulario y la velocidad aumenta gradualmente, pero todavía se leen como un niño de cuatro años .

I bought this book to read on the beach in Mexico. I figured that Dan Brown is easy reading and would be able to follow, even in Spanish. It took a lot longer than I planned, but I got thru the hundred chapters and finished it. Along the way, my vocabulary and speed gradually increased, but I still read like a four year old.

Cool Cats

The cats have a new kitty bed. At all hours of the day, one or the other can be found there.

It's hard staying cool when you're covered with ice age mammoth fur.

The N's Visit Nebraska

The N's drove out the weekend after the 4th for a fun weekend in the sun. The girls are the same ages as our boys.

The Lincoln Railyard is always a fun place to hang out.

No visit to Nebraska would be complete without a dip in the G's pool.

Independence Day 2016

This year's Independence Day celebration was much more subdued than in years past. Since everyone already had plans for the 4th (and the 4th is on a Monday), we had our party on the 2nd. It rained all day, so we moved the deck into the garage and cooked out there. 

The boys were bored enough that they actually played the old 80s arcade games. 

Our friends recently adopted an energetic 4 year old from Uganda. (They actually went there for a month for the adoption process.) Everything in the states is a new experience for him. It's fun seeing him try completely new things, like pounding away on the drums.

Lunch in the City

I had Friday off, so we all went downtown for lunch. We made the mistake of going at noon - everywhere was packed. We ended up eating at Brewskies on their outdoor patio. On the way back to the car, we checked out some new apartments that are going up as well as some old buildings being rehabbed. This one is from 1895.

Payday

CP has been saving his money from his job at Val's. All those late nights of making pasta, pizza, and wings finally paid off. He was able to buy his own PS4 and a game! He drove us to Game Stop in my car and I was so proud to watch him make the purchase with his own debit card.