Hairball

We took the kids to Omaha to see Hairball, an 80s tribute band. CP & I abandoned our seats and watched from the floor. This was the boys' first concert. CP was fired up. GP was not, but by the end of the show he was tapping his toes and singing along. The boys knew every song by heart. Kudos to JP for remembering to bring ear plugs!

The show was a solid 2 hours, complete with awesome effects and pyro fire. Hairball has two singers that alternate every two songs. They come out in full costume for each band tribute. The finale was Freddy Mercury. Bands covered were KISS, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, Queen, Motley Crue, Poison, Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Journey, Bon Jovi, and AC/DC. What a show!!

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is one of our favorite deck holidays. This year was no different; the G's came over and we gorged ourselves on fajitas, fresh guacamole, and margaritas. 

Prom 2016

For Prom, we headed back to IL so that CP could go with his childhood friend JN. They made a very cute couple.

CP with his James Bond uniform makes us both look like midgets.

The prom was held at the Bull Valley Country Club, just east of Woodstock.

I think the moms had more fun than the kids.

Spongebob Squarepants Pizza

What the heck?!? My favorite freezer food changed shape. These tasty $1.29 pizzas have always been round; now they're square. What's next - cubic tater tots?

Speakers

The boys finished up their year of LSW speech. Both earned their academic letters and "Performing Arts Scholar" awards. GP now wants to get a letterman jacket. It's awesome that they're enjoying it so much. At the awards ceremony, we finally realized that GP's team is made up of 95% girls. For some reason, all the boys in his class chose to be on the debate team. He will have his pick of partners next year for a duo.

One of the kids on the team put together a documentary as a class project. He won a college scholarship for it! Check it out here. The coaches that make the speech/debate teams happen are an amazing couple.

Sunscreen?

The years living in FL and AZ are catching up with me. The small spot I had removed from my chest turned out to need all the skin around it removed, too, so I had to go to a plastic surgeon. He cut out a patch 1-1/2 x 1" and stitched it back together. He said something about needing to use sunscreen. Something more than SPF 4.

Rainbow

We had the perfect storm for rainbows - at sunset with a clear sky to the west.

Mortar Man

CP cut down the tube that the new kitchen rug was on and built a mortar. He's ready for the 4th - thinks he will be able to launch firework mortar rounds from it. We'll see...

Fresh Eggs

We're now on the distribution list for fresh eggs again!! When we were in Mexico we really enjoyed the farm fresh eggs. The week we got back I found someone at work that deals in eggs, so now it's almost like we're back in Mexico. Except there's no beach. And no one makes the bed or does the dishes for us.

New Shower Door

CP has always struggled with the shower curtain in the basement bathroom. We found a sweet glass door @ Lowe's and spent an afternoon putting it in. Now all we need to do is chip out the old grout and apply some fresh silicone. 

Note: abrasive cutoff discs don't work well in a miter saw to cut flimsy aluminum extrusions. Next time: use a miter box and a hacksaw.

Outdoor Guitar

I picked up an old beat up guitar to have something to play outside while sitting on the deck. The armrests on the deck chairs are always in the way and would chip the finish on a nice guitar. The original paint on this one was black and it had some bad buckle rash on its backside. I sanded it down and gave it some stain and an oil finish. Now I can play outside in style without worrying about banging up a good guitar.

Swimming with Turtles

In  Mexico, JP set us up with an excursion to swim with sea turtles. She was told that it would be a small private group from our hotel and it was a short 30 minute drive to a secluded spot where we would have a very special chance to swim with the turtles. The van that picked us up was packed and it took us an hour to get to our destination. The "secluded" spot was a national park with a thousand other tourists on the beach and in the water. Nonetheless, we had a great time.

 

After swimming with the turtles, we went into the jungle and swam around in some cenotes (sinkholes). The water was crystal clear and chilly. The bottom of the cenotes dropped away to dark caves - I cannot imagine doing a cave dive.  

Valentin

This year marks our 25th anniversary. To celebrate, we went to Mexico for a week with our friends. We went back to the Valentin Imperial Maya (30 minutes south of Cancun) where we went five years ago for our 20th. It's a magical resort with something for everyone - white sand, solitude, parties, dancing, Cuban cigars, awesome food, and cold drinks.

The Gs and Ns made it more fun. I can't imagine going to someplace like this without taking friends along.

We had perfect weather every day - nothing but sun and 85°. 

Here is a link to the rest of our vacation: Vacation Photos

Nana's Birthday

Nana came out to stay for a week and celebrate her birthday in style at the Wilderness Ridge lodge. As usual, the food was excellent and very tasty. 

Last Snow?

Hopefully this was our last snow of the season: 3/19/16. It was a normal day and then out of nowhere a blizzard blew in and snowed cat & dogs for 10 minutes. Then, in true Nebraska fashion, the sun came back out and it was a nice day and the Gs came over and we made pizza.

BG has a huge basil plant that she harvests to make her own pesto sauce. It's incredibly delicious!

How to be a Dictator

CP's routine for speech this year is "How to be a Dictator." He made it to district finals - this performance was the night after finals - he was ready to change out of his suit and play video games.

G&G Visit

G&G stopped by for a few days on their latest cross-continent trek. It's hard to believe how much the boys have grown while we've been here in Nebraska.

Grampa got in an afternoon nap out on the sundeck.

Tight Fit

Now that we have three cars, we had to clean up the third garage stall so that we could get them all inside. Somehow JP did it while I was out of town.

Roadkill

L loves heat, whether it's from fresh laundry, the dishwasher, or a Nebraska sunny day. Whenever the fireplace is on, you can always find her relaxing in front of it. If she were any larger, she'd look like a swelled up raccoon taking a nap along side the road.

Neon Knights in Rocksmith

My favorite video game just got a little better. I finally created my own custom song. It's not really my own song - it's a Black Sabbath tune from 1980 - but I put together the files so that I can play/stumble along with rhythm or lead guitar and bass.