M&S Wedding

We went to OKC for the weekend and the fantastic wedding of our nephew, MK.

Nana's cousins came in from CA and we had a fun time.

SOL Live at The Bay

GP's band played at a place called The Bay. It's an incredible non-profit skateboard park / coffee house / concert venue east of downtown close to where CP works. It's a great place for the local kids to hang out and be safe.

Summer Firepit

KA (our dog sitter and surrogate daughter) brought some smores parts and one of her dogs over for a firepit. What a perfect night!

The Cities

I had to go to Minnesota for work, so JP came along and we took an extra day to explore the city. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner outside at some tasty places.

4th of July 2019

We enjoyed a beautiful day for the 4th at the G's pool and later on our street as the neighborhood erupted. The guy down the street probably had $3,000 worth of fireworks, which made for quite a show.

Sherman Tank Battle

One of my favorite things about NE is the Fourth of July - fireworks are legal and abundant. CP & L from next door constructed an epic tank battle with 48 tanks, firecrackers, crackle bombs, saturn missles, and lots of fuse and zip ties.

Still Flooded

We flew into Omaha and over the Missouri River - It's still out of its banks. It has been a wet year.

Shopping & Dining

After devoting a day to the Cubs, we devoted a day to eating and shopping. We stumbled across a nice place (Smith & Wollensky) right on the river and enjoyed an amazing lunch on a perfect day. I had something new: a crab (instead of shrimp) cocktail. It was awesome!

For shopping, we hit Macy's, where I scored a sweet new green velvet sportcoat, and DN picked up a three piece suit. After that we went to Neiman Marcus and realized that even if we win the lottery, we still would not have enough money to shop there. 

We were here at Daley Plaza two years ago for our anniversary. I think we have a new summer tradition.

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For dinner, we hit Catch 35 - an amazing seafood place. CG ordered scallops. The menu said it came with spare rib hash. It did not mention that it came with two pounds of it, and that it was so incredible! Wow - new favorite side dish!! 

Cubs!!

DN got us some nice tickets to a Cubs game. We dedicated an entire day to the event. 

In the 13 years that we lived in Chicagoland, I never made it to a Cubs game. This was an exciting event for me!

Before the game we wandered around Wrigley - what a cool place!

JP & the girls discovered that you can get wine at the stadium. We now have a Cubbies wine carafe.

JP is a Chicago style hotdog fiend. 

The Bean by Night

We all remember when The Bean was first revealed - WTF!?! It took a while, but now it's everyone's favorite Chicago landmark.

There's One in Every Crowd

CG always has a great pose, no matter the situation.

Chicago Day 1

We did a long weekend in Chicago with our old neighbors from IL and our old neighbors from Lincoln. We took the blue line from O'Hare and stayed downtown at the Palmer House. What a beautiful hotel!

The first night, we ate at Miller's Pub and then wandered around. Along the way, we found the Monadnock building from 1891. It's the tallest load-bearing brick building ever built. After that we found the Dearborn, M's favorite pub in the theatre district, and then we wandered over to the Bean.

Looking Up in Chicago

Macy's has a HUGE seven story flag hanging in the tall space in the Field's building.

The ceiling at the Palmer House is spectacular.

And of course, we cannot forget the Tiffany mosaic ceiling in the old Marshall Field's building.

Turbine Hubs

Usually when I get stopped by a train on my way home, it's either a coal or ethanol. Not this time - it was wind turbine hubs. We see the blades all the time on I-80, but I've never seen these parts.

New Student

It's official! GP (and we) made it through a long day of new student enrollment.

On the way out, GP spotted a record (yes, a vinyl LP) of his favorite album from his favorite band (the band he saw in Boston). He was fired up, to say the least. Afterwards, we celebrated at our favorite downtown haunt, Leadbelly.

SOL Live at Duffy's

SOL Played at Duffy's again. What a fun place!

More Animal Pics

The cat keeps all the stray dogs out of S's cage.

K brought over a female sheeba that she was babysitting. S has a new girlfriend! They played and played and got along well. 

Learning Legos

CP is working at the Malone Center and running the robotics program there. He just got several new Lego robotics kits and brought one home to learn it. 

Brass Improv

The clutch pedal in the Toyota has some bushings that last all of 2 months. Then the pedal squeaks, and then eventually it won't return all the way back up. I got some new bushings from the dealer, but didn't realize there's another that supports the middle of the spring. Once I had the pedal out (and the driver's seat), it was too late; I couldn't let it sit for a week for a new part to arrive. I found a piece of brass and made my own. Hopefully it lasts longer than the original plastic one.

Furry Father's Day

We babysat the neighbors' two dogs and then one of S's friends came over. They were all interested in my chips & dip.