Tent Event Saturday

Today was the second day of the WWBW tent event. Alden and I went back to check out the Gibson custom shop trailer and geek out over gear in the retail show room. Alden has decided that he's determined to play drums. I think I'll try to get him some practice pads that he can take back to his Moms.

We took a break after being outside for a couple hours to watch a cartoon on my computer while I caught up on some e-mail. Oh, the perks to having many monitors.

After the event we went to JW Chens and the dollar theater. All in all, we had a pretty fantastic day.

UNO!!!!

While rummaging through a drawer trying to find some batteries I came across a pack of UNO cards. Alden glanced over at what I was doing and realized what was in my hands, yelling "UNO! Dad, I've always wanted to learn to play UNO - will you teach me?!". The result was one hilarious party of laughs and hysteria. He killed me on the first hand...

After School Special

... started with finding the right tunes - we went with, The Misfits.

Alden made us a MEAN vegan pizza. Lots of sauce, cheese, meat balls and black olives and challoua for my side.

Move time: Free Willy. Haha

So many good times.

Impromptu Kitchen Dance Parties!

I think we were listening to Pheonix... haha.

Sunday Swim & Checkers

I'm not sure why it loads some of the photos upside down. I'm currently too lazy to figure out how to fix it, sorry?

Date Night

Tonight we decided to get out of the house and eat out, something we haven't done since Alden has been in town - less Chicago Diner. I wanted to take him to this little Chinese place that reminded me of Evergreen, except for the fact it was not a Vegan Chinese place. It had a similar feel though, and also ran by a little old lady who is very sociable and nice. Turns out, they took the ENTIRE month of July off and closed the restaurant. So we found another Chinese place to go to that wasn't very good - oh well. We followed that up with some air hockey and a movie, Despicable Me, which was really good. We both enjoyed it.

Winning.

He liked the Chinese restaurant until the food came (me too).

So thug.

Learning new things!

Today marks the first day that Alden is actively able to swim without my assistance. Don't get me wrong, he's not lapping the pool or anything, but when I stand about 10-15 feet away from the side he's able to swim to me and then back. He also learned how to yell under water, he had a party under the water. THEN he decided today that he was finally going to muster up the courage to jump in the pool (as opposed to sliding in from the edge or using the stairs), shortly thereafter he was having a canon ball contest with 4 chubby kids about 6 times his size - haha. Oh boy, he's so amazing.

Game Time!

So much Legos, so much Trouble.... Star Wars edition.



So much fun.

Sesame Street

alden. "Dad, why are people different colors?"

dad." What do you mean?"

a. "Well, some kids at my school are brown and some are black and some are blue black... how come they are a different color than me?"

d. "Well, peoples colors originate from the families they come from and where their families come from. Most of the time, little boys and girls are the same color as their parents or at least one of their parents."

a. "We're all still the same people though, even if we're a different color- huh?"

d. "That is absolutely right, we're all the same - we are equal."

a. "Wanna know something funny? Anthony is brown but his Grandma is like my color, weird huh?"

d. "Haha. It happens."

a. "Goodnight, Dad."

d. "Goodnight, pip-squeek."

Monday Madness

He's too cool for his own good.

Chicago makes for the fun train

Another amazing Sunday-FUNDAY!

Today, we took a day trip to Chicago with my buddy Kevin. First we ate at the Chicago Diner, had grilled cheese sammies and the best shake of my life. Then, we picked up Steve & Haley and rolled over to the Shedd Aquarium, it was awesome!

We finished the day off with Vegan Chicago style hot dogs and an amazing view of the city.

‎"Dad, why do we have to leave Chicago already? We only did two things!"

Today was one of the best yet.

Craft Time - Mom Mail

Alden has been talking about making mail for his Mom, so today I put him to the task. I think she'll be pleasantly surprised and very happy.

So much swimming, so much summer

We've been swimming about 5-6 times since Alden has been in town. It's too easy because the pool is in my back yard basically. Alden is getting a lot better at swimming and has finally gotten really brave and goes underwater! It's awesome, he has a goal to be able to swim independently by the time he goes back to him Moms! I think we'll make it happen.

PS. Mom (Candace) - we bought him a suitable swimsuit, I know you were stressed out about the summer shorts. We aim to please.

Weekend Adventure?

Sooo... Chicago is the happiest place, ever?" This was his response after I explained to Alden the following: Wrigley Stadium, Chicago Diner, the Beach, the Aquarium, Children's Museum, Room Service & Steven Hansen. Naturally, Steve and room service go hand in hand - duh.

It doesn't get much better...

Sunday Funday

I've heard talk of amazing beaches up Lake Michigan's east coast since I first moved here but have never set the time aside to actually check it out - that is, until today when we went to Silver Beach in St. Joe. Let me just say, I was extremely surprised at what we found.

Some wiki facts about the area -

• The region is often referred to as the "third coast" of the US.
• The sand is soft and off white, known as "singing sands" because of the squeaking noise made when one walks across it.
• Beaches in the north are the only place in the world where on can find Petoskey stones, the state stone.
• The water is usually clear and cool, between 55-80