Saturday, September 27, 2008

Going to the Blackhawks game

I hope everyone is well. Carolyn and I went to the Blackhawks game last night. I haven't been to a game since I was in high school. We had some great seats courtesy of Vienna Beef. It was actually a pretty good game too. The Blackhawks were down 3-0, and they came back to win 4-3. What was really funny, was that we went with one of Carolyn's coworkers, and it turns out we both went to the same high school, although she graduated much later than I did. But I do remember her older brother (Matt Goldsberry). What a small world. Here are a couple of pictures from the game last night.












And last but not least, apparently they now have the "ice girls" who zoom around the rink to pick up loose pieces of ice.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

information on our trip to Rome

I'm getting really excited about the trip we just booked to Rome a couple of weeks ago. I've never actually been on a cruise before, so I thought this would be a unique experience. What I also like about it is that we get to go to a bunch of different places. Here's a list of the difference cities that were going to visit...

Rome, Italy
Sicily, Italy
Athens, Greece
Mykonos, Greece
Rhodes, Greece
Ephesus, Turkey
Naples, Italy
Rhodes, Greece
Rome, Italy

I've been to most of the places before, but when I was very young, so I'm sure the experience will be completely different. Once we get back to Rome at the end of the cruise, we're going to take a train to Venice and stay there for a couple of days. What's nice is that the plane ride over is only about eight hours. The last time Carolyn and I traveled overseas, we ended up flying for about 18 hours to South Africa. So 8 hours seems like a walk in the park. If anyone has any fun ideas of things to do in cities that we're visiting, feel free to send me an e-mail or leave a comment. I hope everyone is doing well. Isn't it nice that the sun is out again in Chicago? It almost feels like summer again.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Will it stop raining please!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Amanda and Aaron's wedding

This past weekend we headed up to Michigan for Amanda and Aaron's wedding. It was great because we got to see Bruce and Rachel on Friday and Sunday. Bruce is doing well and got a great review from the doctor. On Friday night, we had dinner with Mike and Kim. Later that night we went to the MGM Casino. We played some craps and blackjack, but unfortunately didn't win anything. I was impressed by the MGM, I actually felt like I was in Las Vegas.

On Saturday we had the wedding which was at the Henry Ford Estate. This was the actual place where Henry Ford lived when he was older. It was pretty impressive and the grounds were amazing. Here are a bunch of pictures from the day.

Here's a shot of Amanda and Aaron in front of the mansion.


This was the flower girl Emily, who was hilarious the entire night. I think I may try to hook her up with my nephew Joshua. He is only a couple months younger than her. Ha ha.


Amanda getting ready at the hotel. Her dress was handmade by Allie Adams, who is one of Carolyn's friends. It really was one of the nicest wedding dresses I have seen. The detail and quality of the fabric was pretty impressive.



Amanda walking down the aisle with the her dad.


Maybe it's too late for Joshua? Emily seems to have found an admirer.


Some flowers from the ceremony


Here's a picture of Aaron before the ceremony.


And lastly here's one of Amanda that was taken right before the ceremony

Monday, September 01, 2008

Mission Accomplished

We did it! Around 12:30 today I got back from what seemed like the longest bike ride in the history of my life. We started at around 7:45 this morning. As planned, we rode along the lakefront, and then jumped on Sheridan Road. We went through Evanston, and then had breakfast at a place called Clarke's. We ate outside and it was great to unwind for about 45 minutes. We then went into Borders because Carolyn wanted to buy a book, and then we heard some chatty Cathy talking about this bike trail that she really likes. The trail goes along the north branch of the Chicago River, and part of the trail included a sculpture garden for a couple of miles. So we went home that way, and it was a nice change of scenery. We stopped a couple times along the way because it was getting really hot, or maybe because we were just really out of shape?... I think all in all, we rode about 35-45 miles. It was a fun day, and we had a great time.

We made it to Evanston... now it's time to eat breakfast!

The Big Bike Ride

Tomorrow morning marks a big day in how not to be lazy on your day off. Carolyn and I decided that we're going for a bike ride up to Evanston tomorrow morning. We hopefully will leave really early in the morning, sometime around 7:30 or 8:00. We've only gone bike riding a couple times this year. And we actually went this morning for a quick ride to milk and honey to grab some breakfast. I guess you could call that our warm-up bike ride and tomorrow will be the real test.

Some of you remember that I used to do adventure racing in Chicago. And I'm actually using the same bike that I used to race in. It's really nice and light weight... it's a blend between a mountain bike and a racing bike. So, I have no excuses to not finish the ride! Once we get to Evanston, we'll probably have a late breakfast or early launch (depending how fast or slow would go). I really like going up to Evanston, because it feels like it's such an escape from downtown, even though it's only a couple of miles away. it's also fun to go through Northwestern's campus even know it makes me feel pretty old.

I actually looked at Google maps earlier today, to see which way we're going to take. And you can actually create a custom map which I've posted below. If anyone is feeling extra athletic tomorrow, feel free to call my phone and we can connect on the way up.

I hope everyone is having fun weekend. The weather has been phenomenal outside. I love it when it's in the upper 80s. I'm thinking that this may be the last hot weekend in Chicago.



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