We didn't really spend time in downtown Chicago, but did get a chance to go through Shedd Aquarium. It's been a few years since we last looked at the fishies, so it was fun to go again.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Chicago's Shedd
A couple of weekends ago we took a quick trip up to the Chicago suburbs for some R & R - a couple nights in a hotel, some shopping, an interesting restaurant or two. And sleep. Mission accomplished.
We didn't really spend time in downtown Chicago, but did get a chance to go through Shedd Aquarium. It's been a few years since we last looked at the fishies, so it was fun to go again.
The dolphin and Beluga whale show was the highlight of the visit.
Anya had no interest whatsoever in touching the starfish.
The crew.
The girls, the lake, the iconic skyline, and a beautiful blue day. Perfect.
We didn't really spend time in downtown Chicago, but did get a chance to go through Shedd Aquarium. It's been a few years since we last looked at the fishies, so it was fun to go again.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
The Price of Gas
Today I got gas for $2.88 / gal. I haven't seen the price drop below $3 in a long time,.
At the risk of sounding like an old fogey, I have to say (in a creaky, grandpa voice) that "I remember when the price of gas broke $1 for the first time!" That happened in 1980-something, although according to the all-knowing Internet, if that price was adjust for inflation it would be more like $3.50. Sorry to pop your bubble, Grandpa.
When I mentioned this momentous occasion at the dinner table, Kenrick piped up and said "I don't think I've ever seen gas below $3!" Now I really do feel old.
When I mentioned this momentous occasion at the dinner table, Kenrick piped up and said "I don't think I've ever seen gas below $3!" Now I really do feel old.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Fall Camping at Mississippi Palisades
Last weekend we met a few hearty friends for some fall camping at Mississippi Palisades State Park in northwestern Illinois. Ten families in all - Pandemonium in the Palisades!
As you might suspect, the park is bordered by the Mississippi River and is dominated by the long line of steep cliffs, or palisades that run along its eastern bank. The view from the top is quite impressive.
Our camp site. The canopy and trailers in the background are in a big common area where we all hung out for meals and marshmallows.
The kids played hard, riding bikes, playing tag, waving glow sticks, and generally running amok. The boys even managed a relatively organized game of football.
Anya on her scooter. She thought it was cold. It wasn't.
Troy, Brad, and Troy burn some chicken and taters for supper. Needless to say we ate quite well.
My two favorite girls.
The whole crew on Sunday morning. The picture is a bit blurred because the photographer somehow forgot to set his camera back to auto focus. Oh well, we'll call it a privacy feature.
Sunset over the Mighty Mississippi.
As you might suspect, the park is bordered by the Mississippi River and is dominated by the long line of steep cliffs, or palisades that run along its eastern bank. The view from the top is quite impressive.
Our camp site. The canopy and trailers in the background are in a big common area where we all hung out for meals and marshmallows.
The kids played hard, riding bikes, playing tag, waving glow sticks, and generally running amok. The boys even managed a relatively organized game of football.
Anya on her scooter. She thought it was cold. It wasn't.
Troy, Brad, and Troy burn some chicken and taters for supper. Needless to say we ate quite well.
My two favorite girls.
The whole crew on Sunday morning. The picture is a bit blurred because the photographer somehow forgot to set his camera back to auto focus. Oh well, we'll call it a privacy feature.
Sunset over the Mighty Mississippi.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Double Toothless
Last year at Thanksgiving time Paxton managed to run full speed into a doorknob. One of his front teeth has been slightly loose ever since. On Saturday it was finally time to give it the yank. Along with its neighbor. Now Paxton is double toothless.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Sixteenth Year of Pandemonium
Sixteen and one twelfth, to be precise, since we're a touch late with the official anniversary pic. Smile everyone! Kenrick, did you smile? It's not going to kill you. Seriously kid, where'd you come from anyway?
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Visitante Minera Escondida
Early in July I took a business trip to northern Chile to visit a mine site and meet with some customers. It was quite a trip.
We flew into Santiago first, which is located roughly in the center of Chile, the tall, skinny country that borders the western side of South America. Santiago is nestled at the foot of the Andes mountains and the view from the airplane was spectacular.
Then we flew north for a couple of hours to the edge of the Atacama desert, to the city of Antofagasta which is squeezed between the ocean and mountains of dirt. Not so spectacular.
Antofagasta is a bustling city of over 200,000, mainly supported by mining and mine-related industry. I stayed in the Holiday Inn Express of all places and had a great view of the bay and the rocky waterfront. One of the most fascinating things to me about the area was that even though the city is right on the coast they get almost no rain. The desert literally starts at the surf line, with some places further inland not seeing measurable precipitation for over seven years. Amazing.
Here's what we went to see. The Escondida mine is one of the largest copper mines in the world and the hole in the ground is mind-boggling.
The requisite selfie.
On our last night there joined a group of our sales and marketing colleagues who happened to be in town for some other meetings and who were hosting a social event (supper) for a few mining customer higher-ups and our local dealer. I guess that means they were working. We engineers just sat back and enjoyed the food and tried to catch a few snatches of conversation, all of which was happening at full volume and in rapid-fire Spanish.
We ate at a fantastic steakhouse called Mu (pronounced Moo), which translates to "Yummy" in any language. The menu said "Solo para Expertos" (only for Experts), but I ordered the Bife Chorizo Angus anyway. Afterwards, I converted the metric weight of 750 grams to something a little more familiar: 26.5 ounces! No wonder I was stuffed.
We flew into Santiago first, which is located roughly in the center of Chile, the tall, skinny country that borders the western side of South America. Santiago is nestled at the foot of the Andes mountains and the view from the airplane was spectacular.
We ate at a fantastic steakhouse called Mu (pronounced Moo), which translates to "Yummy" in any language. The menu said "Solo para Expertos" (only for Experts), but I ordered the Bife Chorizo Angus anyway. Afterwards, I converted the metric weight of 750 grams to something a little more familiar: 26.5 ounces! No wonder I was stuffed.
What Happened to July?
Here's what happened:
- I took a business trip to Antofagasta Chile
- We tore the shingles off the roof and started putting new ones back on
- Road trip to Idaho and Oregon
- And back
- Finished the another season of swim team. Go Marlins!
- Finished putting shingles on the roof
- Tomatoes in the garden!
- And beans. And potatoes. And onions.
- Another round of swim lessons
- Lots of lawn mowing
- Blogging
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Father's Day
Someone once said "The best things in life are free."
And, "The best lessons come from your children."
If they didn't say the second one, they should have.
Children aren't exactly free, but I think some of the best lessons in my experience have come free of charge from the four little chaos makers that I call my own.
I couldn't help but think this Sunday morning about our Heavenly Father wanting to be - and having the ability to be - very close to His children. That's something every good father wants, to be there for his kids when they need him, but as they grow we face the reality that we can't always be right beside them anymore. Hopefully I've got a few more years before mine are all out on their own; I was certainly glad to be able to celebrate another Father's Day with them all today.
We didn't do anything extraordinary today and that was fine. Andrea made some excellent potato salad for lunch and I grilled up a couple of fat T-bones. It doesn't get much better than that.
And, "The best lessons come from your children."
If they didn't say the second one, they should have.
Children aren't exactly free, but I think some of the best lessons in my experience have come free of charge from the four little chaos makers that I call my own.
I couldn't help but think this Sunday morning about our Heavenly Father wanting to be - and having the ability to be - very close to His children. That's something every good father wants, to be there for his kids when they need him, but as they grow we face the reality that we can't always be right beside them anymore. Hopefully I've got a few more years before mine are all out on their own; I was certainly glad to be able to celebrate another Father's Day with them all today.
Here's the crew.
We didn't do anything extraordinary today and that was fine. Andrea made some excellent potato salad for lunch and I grilled up a couple of fat T-bones. It doesn't get much better than that.
Then Anya and I read the paper and took a much-needed nap.
Later, Paxton and I went for a jog. That is, Paxton rode his bike as I shuffled along after him. I even attempted a selfie. Smile Paxton!
Finally, cinnamon rolls and smoothies for supper rounded out a wonderful day. I'm glad to be a Daddy. Now I need to go give my own dad a call...
Saturday, June 7, 2014
TriShark 2014
My buddy Don, sometime in January: "Hey Rob, I just signed up for the TriShark triathlon in May!"
Sound's fun, I'll sign up too. Should help motivate me to get some exercise this spring.
Sometime in April: I really should get some running in. Haven't done much biking either. Wonder when the last time I swam was?
Sometime in May: Ooh boy, this might be interesting.
And so it is not without a certain amount of trepidation that Don and I stand at the door of our "support tent" on an otherwise beautiful morning on the last day of May, waiting for the start of the 2014 TriShark.
I did okay, considering the amount of training I didn't do. Survived the swim - my primary concern - actually getting out of the water ahead of a few guys in my age group. I'm in the green cap, right behind the guy in the pink cap coming up the ramp in the picture below.
The only time the spectators see the race at this event is during the start, finish, and transitions, so Andrea couldn't get too many action shots (or inaction shots, in my case).
The 20K bike leg is flat and fast, and I felt pretty good but the ol' legs were definitely starting to burn as I pulled into the last transition.
Heading out for the 5K shuffle. Happy because I've got a great cheering section. And because this is the last stage. Wow.
Don ended up a few minutes ahead of me. I finished only a couple of minutes slower than the last time I ran this race so I was pretty happy about that. It was a good day.
So, I heard about this one race later in the summer...
Sound's fun, I'll sign up too. Should help motivate me to get some exercise this spring.
Sometime in April: I really should get some running in. Haven't done much biking either. Wonder when the last time I swam was?
Sometime in May: Ooh boy, this might be interesting.
And so it is not without a certain amount of trepidation that Don and I stand at the door of our "support tent" on an otherwise beautiful morning on the last day of May, waiting for the start of the 2014 TriShark.
I did okay, considering the amount of training I didn't do. Survived the swim - my primary concern - actually getting out of the water ahead of a few guys in my age group. I'm in the green cap, right behind the guy in the pink cap coming up the ramp in the picture below.
The only time the spectators see the race at this event is during the start, finish, and transitions, so Andrea couldn't get too many action shots (or inaction shots, in my case).
The 20K bike leg is flat and fast, and I felt pretty good but the ol' legs were definitely starting to burn as I pulled into the last transition.
Heading out for the 5K shuffle. Happy because I've got a great cheering section. And because this is the last stage. Wow.
Don ended up a few minutes ahead of me. I finished only a couple of minutes slower than the last time I ran this race so I was pretty happy about that. It was a good day.
So, I heard about this one race later in the summer...
Anya Pics
What a cutie! Sometimes I wonder how I ever got so lucky.
On the beach in Pensacola.
The other day Anya vacuumed our whole bedroom floor. It didn't look much better after she was done.
Did I mention how cute she is?
On the beach in Pensacola.
The other day Anya vacuumed our whole bedroom floor. It didn't look much better after she was done.
Did I mention how cute she is?
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Eleven Years of Anthony
Anthony turned eleven sometime in the middle of the busy month of April.
It was a pretty low-key affair. So much so that I can't seem to find any pictures to prove that it really happened.
Here's a semi-random shot of Anthony with is two younger siblings at a rest stop on our way down to Pensacola. He looks like he's eleven, right?
Oh wait, I do have a few pictures. I just hadn't pulled them off the camera yet. Duh! :-P
Anthony's buddy Josh came for lunch and an afternoon of general silliness.
Eleventeen candles. And no, the cake is not melting.
Happy birthday buddy!
This evening we went to Anthony's band and choir concert. That doesn't really have anything to do with his birthday, but I got a picture anyway.
It was a pretty low-key affair. So much so that I can't seem to find any pictures to prove that it really happened.
Here's a semi-random shot of Anthony with is two younger siblings at a rest stop on our way down to Pensacola. He looks like he's eleven, right?
Oh wait, I do have a few pictures. I just hadn't pulled them off the camera yet. Duh! :-P
Anthony's buddy Josh came for lunch and an afternoon of general silliness.
Eleventeen candles. And no, the cake is not melting.
Happy birthday buddy!
This evening we went to Anthony's band and choir concert. That doesn't really have anything to do with his birthday, but I got a picture anyway.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Pensacola Beach Spring Break
Pack up the kids ma, we're a-goin' to the beach!
Pensacola Beach that is, for some Spring Break surf and sun.
We pulled our little camper South and set up at the Pensacola Beach Campground, located in the Gulf Islands National Seashore.
Then we hit the beach.
When momma's happy, evr'body's happy!
The weather wasn't the greatest for the beach while we were there, but was fine for some sightseeing. We rode our bikes down the island a ways to the historic Fort Pickens. Very interesting.
The fort was built before the Civil War to help defend the entrance to Pensacola Bay and was a Union fort during the war. One corner got blown up by accident at some point in it's history, but most of the rooms and passages are in pretty good shape. All brick, all laid out for a method of warfare that has long since passed.
When the fort was active, every hole in the wall had a cannon sticking out and a crew to man it. Today there are still lots of holes, but only one cannon. And kind of a motley looking crew.
The layout and construction of the fort was fascinating to me. We seem to have taken quite a few pictures while we were there, so maybe they will show up in a later post.
Paxton stands next to a massive smooth-bore cannon perched on top of one of the outer walls, pointing towards the entrance of the bay. Imagine the noise when this baby lit off!
As time passed, the brick and mortar fort turned obsolete and the Army started building concrete bunkers, or batteries, with larger and larger guns. Then cruise missiles and smart bombs made the bunkers obsolete, so they turned the whole area into a national park.
The bunkers are still there and one of them has a neat example of one of the guns that was used there. The gun sat on a frame that raised it clear of the bunker before firing, then dropped it back down out of sight again to be reloaded. We couldn't get it to work.
Back to the beach. Kenrick perfects the art of digging a hole.
Paxton works on overcoming his fear of getting his feet wet.
On Wednesday we visited the National Museum of Naval Aviation on the Pensacola Navy Base.
The museum is full of lots of displays, models, rides, an IMAX, and LOTS of airplanes. Very neat.
It's also the home of the Blue Angles.
Our friends Doug and Karena just happened to be vacationing down the Gulf a ways at the same time we were there, so we met them at the museum. It also happened to be the day that the Blue Angles were going to fly their first practice session of the season. Open to the public and free. We found a spot on the grass.
It's hard to capture the sensation in pictures. Goose bumps.
The Blue Angles fly in impossibly close formations.
Sometimes upside down.
Sometimes straight up into the sky.
Always beautifully.
The last part of the week was a bit colder and windy, so that put a bit of a damper on the beach time. Anya still enjoyed digging in the sand, but kept her distance from the water.
The wind did kick up a respectable surf though, so the older kids got a chance to roll in the waves.
We packed up on Friday morning and hit the road just before it started pouring rain.
Everyone was happily exhausted, a sure sign of a successful vacation!
Paxton stands next to a massive smooth-bore cannon perched on top of one of the outer walls, pointing towards the entrance of the bay. Imagine the noise when this baby lit off!
The bunkers are still there and one of them has a neat example of one of the guns that was used there. The gun sat on a frame that raised it clear of the bunker before firing, then dropped it back down out of sight again to be reloaded. We couldn't get it to work.
Everyone was happily exhausted, a sure sign of a successful vacation!
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