We got Kylie’s kindergarten class photo today, and she looks amazing. Here it is:
You can click the picture to go to her October gallery and see all the pictures from October 2010.
Author Archives: Ed
Kindle; I still want one
I’ve wanted a Kindle for a while now, ok basically since they have come out, but one
thing more than anything else has been holding me back; you can’t share books. However, according to this article that may be changing. According to the article “Amazon will allow Kindle users to lend books to each other for 14-day periods” with the restrictions that the “lenders will not be able to access the book on loan during the 14-day period, nor will they be able to loan the book to the same user more than once.” While I am not positive that i could find the time to read most books I would borrow in 14 days, it would certainly give me more incentive to find more time to read. While not all books will be available to lend, this is dependent on publishers and right holders, but it is a big step closer to making me cave and buy one. Original Kindle Community post.
The Zoo Boo Returns
After missing last years Zoo Boo, I am very happy that tonight Melissa and I took Kylie to the Detroit Zoo Boo, this was Melissa’s first time going so she was particularly looking forward to the evening. They had it set up a little different this year compared to previous years that I have gone. I remember the trial leading off to the left when you first walk in, but this year it lead to the right. One of the first things we came to this year was the big tent where they hold the “Zoo Boo Review” show, in previous years this was one of the last things we came to and hadn’t gone because by then it was late and everyone was tired. This year though, we decided to go, and I am really glad we did. They put on a show called “Phantom of the Zoo Boo” that was fun, upbeat, and rather entertaining. I know Kylie liked it a lot, she was dancing at our seats and waving to all the characters on stage. There was Witch Hazel, Mummy Moose, Alligator-stein, Fuzzy the Werewolf, Count Batula, and Witchy Poo. Makes me wonder what we have missed in previous years under the tent. Also new this year was a section off to the side, but still on the path, where they were carving pumpkins while the children watched. There seemed to be fewer pumpkin and gourd animals and creations than I remember in previous years as well, but the reptile house was still open and that is always fun to walk through. I am not positive, but it also seemed like there were fewer candy stops for the kids too, but they could just be because the path was different so they were spaced odd different than I remember, one thing is for sure though, I don’t remember them handing out cans of Mt. Dew before, yes full cans. That was a little odd. It took us about two hours to walk through everything and sit and watch the show and we all had a great time! We took a lot of pictures, and they can be found here.
First Mean Girl Encounter
Today, as Mommy and Kylie were standing outside waiting for school to start, Kylie wanted to go stand next to a group of girls (which Mommy is not particularly fond of to begin with due to the way the act and how they are typically rude) but not wanting to influence Kylie, Mommy said she could. Mommy and Kylie walked over and all the girls said “hi” but then they started to walk away towards a bench. When Kylie started to walk with them, they turned and said, “No more people can follow” in a very rude tone. Kylie responded by saying, “It’s not nice to be a mean girl. Mean girls are not my friends. When you are mean, you are ugly on the inside and the outside.” Mommy was very proud of her and told Kylie that she handled that very well! Then Mommy and Kylie walked over to where they usually stand and waited for the doors to open and school to begin. Mommy and Daddy both hope that Kylie continues to stand up for herself and to be beautiful on the inside as well as the outside.
Go Gears!
Oh man, I haven’t played video games that long in a long time. So yesterday my brother Chris came over at about 1pm, it was a rare weekend when we were both available for a few hours and so we thought it would be cool to hang out like when we were younger and play some video games. Now, keep in mind the last time he and I played video games together is somewhere around the 15 year ago mark! So needless to say I was pretty stoked that he was going to come over for a few hours, I am even more stoked that those few hours turned into an overnight Gears of War 1 and 2 marathon! He had never played Gears 1 so we played that game all the way through so he could get most of the achievements for it and I could get a few I needed for playing as second player, and then we made it more than half way through Gears 2. Seriously, we didn’t stop playing until 3am and then were back on it at 9am. I haven’t had this much fun playing video games in a very very long time. Not to mention spending some serious quality time with my brother, that was awesome! I forgot how much fun it was to hang out with him and chill like that, like I said it has been many years since we have done that. I know there is no way this is going to happen every weekend, and really it shouldn’t, but I do hope we can arrange to hang out more often. Besides, we need to finish off Gears 2! 🙂 Epic weekend brother, thanks a million!
U of M vs. MSU
Today was my annual EMC vendor tailgate party, and this year it was the U of M versus MSU game. As usual the party was a blast! Lots of food, drinks, really fun people. Again this year I was able to get a couple of tickets to the game so Melissa and I were able to go watch it live. We almost didn’t make it though because we were unaware of a new rule that the University of Michigan put in place this year, they no longer allow any bags in side the stadium, this includes purses. Melissa, of course, had her purse with her and we were unaware of this new change until right before the game. Seeing as we didn’t have many options we though we try to go and see what happens, and once we got to the gate they told Melissa she couldn’t bring her purse in. Apparently we now have the option of going to Crisler Arena and checking her purse, she wasn’t thrilled with that option so luckily we were able to lock it in the truck of one of the vendors at the party that I know and trust. I guess we will need to keep this in mind for next year. Unfortunately U of M lost, but it was still cool to be in the stadium again, and seeing the flag and game ball parachuted into the stadium by the 101st Airborne Division was pretty sweet too.
Fastening Seat Belts
Kylie and Mommy had gotten into the car to drive to school when Mommy asked her if she would like some help with fastening her seat belt. Kylie said no she can get it, so Mommy let her try to do it on her own. Kylie struggled for a bit, but eventually got the buckle to fasten on her own. Mommy was very proud and had said “Hooray” and Kylie responded by saying, “See Mom, I’m a grown woman. I can buckle up all by myself.” Mommy giggled slightly and said, “You are a big girl, but not a grown woman sweetheart.” To which Kylie replied, “Girls are women Mom.” Mommy thought it was so funny and so adorable. Sometimes Kylie’s logic is amazing and very quick too.
Family Dinner
Tonight was the big family get together over at Uncle Chris’ house for Great Uncle Gary being in town; Great Uncle Gary, Betty, Uncle Chris, Aunt Tracey, Delaney, Madelyn, Kylie, Daddy and Melissa were all there. When we first arrived at Uncle Chris’s the girls were being a little shy around Great Uncle Gary, but once they saw how open Kylie was with him, everyone warmed up real quick. The girls all had a blast playing and showing Great Uncle Gary all the things they could do, and he really enjoyed seeing all his Grand Nieces. After a bit of playing we decided it was time to go for dinner, and surprisingly the only place that could accept such a large group (6 adults and 3 kids) in a timely manner was Carrabba’s (other restaurants were telling us they wouldn’t be able to get us in for 2 hours). The majority of us had never been there, but you really can’t go wrong with Italian food, and this place was no exception. The food was delicious, and on top of that it’s all made fresh daily from scratch; the place doesn’t even have a microwave in the building! After having an incredible meal we all went back to Uncle Chris’ where we all talked and watched the girls play. Eventually it was time for us to go and we said goodnight to everyone and good bye to Great Uncle Gary, hopefully it wont be so long until the next time we see him, the girls were quit upset because they knew they were saying good bye and it would be a long time before we saw him again. It’s amazing how quickly these girls catch on and grasp things. All in all though it was a very nice couple of days with family and I truly hope I can find a way to spend more time with my brother and his family, because they live so near and yet we see each other so rarely.
Uncle Gary Visits
Tonight we had a special rare event, we got to have dinner with my Uncle (Kylie’s Great Uncle) Gary. He and his friend Betty are out here to go up and visit Mackinac Island and see the beautiful colors of fall in Michigan’s beautiful north. But first they stopped down here to see us and Uncle Chris and his family. Tomorrow we are planning on the entire family getting together and spending some time together and having dinner, but tonight it was just Kylie, Melissa and I. It was really nice to see him again and he really loved Kylie and Kylie really loved him too. After dinner we went back to there hotel for a little while so we could spend some more time catching up and because Kylie really wanted to see his “house.” It was real nice couple of hours and it will be even better tomorrow when we have the whole family together.
Lots Going On Today
Today was a fun and busy day for us. Seeing as I mainly only see Kylie on the weekends now due to her being in school and us living almost an hour apart, I generally try to make good use of the time we have. Each weekend I try to make sure we do some fun things and have a really good time together, today was no different. Today we started off the morning kind of casual, a little breakfast and some TV, then I announced that we were going to Jungle Java for lunch! Kylie loved the idea and was really excited to go again, Melissa was also really intrigued and looking forward to it as she had never been there before. The lunch was really good, and I hadn’t realized this the last time I was there because we didn’t eat anything there, but it was all pretty nutritious. Kylie had a hot dog (probably the lest nutritious thing on the menu) and Melissa and I both had wraps. Kylie couldn’t wait to run around and play with all the other kids that were there, but we had to eat lunch first, once she was done though she was gone! She had a blast running around and playing, and then it got even better because Melissa decided to go run through with her! Watching the two of them crawling through the tunnels, climbing the ladders and going down the slides really put a smile on my face. After about three hours running around and playing we decided it was time to head home, but the fun for the day didn’t end there. When we got home Melissa pulled out a surprise for Kylie and asked her if she wanted to help make some cookies. Granted they weren’t from scratch like Kylie is used to making, but it was still very fun and the cookies were yummy!