Category Archives: Melissa

An Evening in Da Moonlight

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There was a time when I used to attempt to go to at least one cultural event a year. This typically took the form of going to see a play or a musical. However, in recent years, due to to time and money constraints I have not been able to continue this desire. Tonight Melissa and I have taken our first steps to rectifying that situation. We ventured out to Chelsea for an evening of dinner and theater.

We started the evening with dinner at The Common Grill and found it to be very delicious. Seeing as neither of us had ever been there before we decided to try the Seared Rare Ahi Tuna for an appetizer, and we both enjoyed that very much. This was a little shocking to both of us because I am not a fan of most cooked fish (though I do enjoy a bit of sushi now and again) but we quickly discovered why many people consider Ahi Tuna the Filet Mignon of seafood. For our entrees Melissa had the Goat Cheese Ravioli which was excellent and we highly recommend it. Additionally her meal came with a side salad and she choose (or rather I choose because she wasn’t interested in a salad) the Tuscan Pear and Gorgonzola Salad with Herb-Balsamic Vinaigrette. This salad was very delicious and, in fact, I thought it was better than the salad I had chosen for my entree. The salad I had for my entree was the Grilled Chicken Salad and it came with a Honey-Bacon Vinaigrette dressing that sounded awesome but in reality was really very bland and disappointing. For dessert we decided to try their Caramelized Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee with fresh berries. Crème Brulee is something we have recently discovered and it has rapidly become one of our favorite desserts. While the Crème Brulee at The Common Grill was very good we wished they had crisped the sugar topping just a little more, but seeing as they prepared the entire dish in the kitchen (other places we have been prepare it table side so you can specify the crispness) we couldn’t have them heat it further. When all was said and done dinner was very enjoyable.

Afterwards we walked across the street to The Purple Rose theater to watch Escanaba In Da Moonlight (click the image to the left to see more pictures from the show on The Purple Rose’s website). For those who have never been to The Purple Rose theater we encourage you to go and see something, anything, sometime. This is the second play I have had the opportunity to see there and it is a wonderful place. the theater itself is small with seating for about 170 people with the stage in the very center, so every seat in the house is literal a good one. Having seen the movie version of Escanaba In Da Moonlight on several occasions I was really looking forward to seeing this performance and I am very happy to say that it was all that I had hoped it would be and more! Their ability to portray the situational comedy, and display the visual effects that make that comedy work, on stage was incredible. Even having seen the movie version of this play a number of times, and knowing what was coming, I still found myself laughing out loud with the rest of the audience. Melissa and I think the actors did a marvelous job with this production and are looking forward to seeing other performances here in the future. This was by far one of the best Wednesday nights we have had in a very long time, and because Chelsea is so close to home it is one that we can repeat with a future show.

Go Blue!

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Today was the annual tailgate party that one of my storage vendors throw at the University of Michigan football game. This year it is for the U of M v Minnesota game, and once again I was lucky enough to get tickets for Melissa and I to go in to the Big House and watch the game. The tailgate was a blast, and being in the stadium to see the game is always fun. Michigan winning the game (58-0) was also a huge bonus. This year was the first year that we tried parking at work and walking to the stadium though. I think this worked out well for a number of reasons: 1. we didn’t have to ay for parking 2. there was plenty of parking to choose from 3. we didn’t have to deal with all the traffic going in to the game or leaving the game. The only real downside was that it was almost a two mile walk from work to the stadium. Now that’s not a lot and going to the stadium was easy because it was all down hill, but coming back after a long day of partying was a little rough. Also, the wind was very strong today and made for a long cold walk. We still had a blast though and as you can see from the picture, Melissa and i had a great day!

History and Home

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What an incredibly long day! We woke up this morning at about 8am local time and after getting dressed we went down to the lobby and had breakfast at Starbucks, Kylie was happy they had a very nice sized chocolate doughnut that she choose to have. After we finished eating I went and asked the valet to pull the Envoy around, knowing it would take them about 10 minutes to do so, and we all went back up to the room to verify everything was packed. We then proceeded to check out and head over to the Field Museum. We made it over to the Museum Campus fairly easily and when we came out of the parking structure we realized that we were right next to Soldier Field which was pretty cool, but unfortunately our schedule didn’t allow us time to look around there, maybe next time; then it was on to the museum. Oddly enough it turned out to be cheaper to become members of the museum (which will also get us passes to a few places back in MI as well) than it was to simply get day passes, so that’s what we did. Then it was exploring time! Currently the museum is running special exhibits on whales and horses in addition to all of their normal exhibits. Their traveling exhibit of SUE, “the largest, most complete and best preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex ever discovered,” was found in the dusty bad lands of South Dakota! A fact sheet on SUE can be found here (pdf). All the exhibits were awesome as far as I am concerned, but then again natural history has always been interesting to me. The whales were incredible and seeing the skeleton of one of these large creatures was almost overwhelming. We left the Field Museum, and Chicago as a whole, right about 4pm local time and headed back home, by the time we made it here it was about 11pm. Over the course of this trip we took somewhere around 900 pictures, so in the coming days I will need to find time to prepare them and get them in to the gallery. But now, it’s time to sleep.

A Day with Fish and Dolls

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Today we got up early and had breakfast in the lobby of the hotel at the State Street Bread Company, which I personally feel was very over priced and for that price the food was just ok. After eating we grabbed another taxi (which, again, Kylie loved. I am starting to think the taxi rides are going to be her favorite part of this trip) and headed over to Shedd Aquarium. We got there shortly after they opened and got our Total Experience passes which let us explore the entire aquarium, attend one of the 4-D shows, and attend the live aquatic show. The live show was pretty cool and consisted of a four Pacific White-Sided dolphins. Additionally the also showed two different Red Tailed Hawks that also live at the aquarium. We all like a lot of different parts of the aquarium but some of the highlights were the dolphins, the beluga whales (both of which we could see swimming in there tanks below the water through some very large windows). The wild reef exhibit was also really cool and Kylie was really happy to be able to see her saw nosed shark swimming around. The last thing we saw was the Caribbean Reef exhibit, and we got there just in time to see the daily dive show where one of the staff actually was swimming in the tank and feeding the fish while answering questions from the audience and telling us about the fish. The large sea turtle named Nickle that was rescued after getting hit by a boat and the 7 foot moray eel that actually came out of his hole during the presentation and swam around the diver. After we decided we were done at the aquarium (which we feel we completely explored in the almost 7 hours we were there) we went picked up another taxi (and again Kylie was thrilled) and headed back over to the Magnificent Mile, specifically to the American Girl store. We were there specifically for Kylie because she wanted to get Alissa (her doll) her very own school backpack set which we found after asking two different associates (the first told us to look upstairs, after looking for a while the second showed us where it was). Additionally Kylie also got a little surprise from Daddy and Melissa when we decided to also get Alissa a new pet, Sugar, that Kylie had showed interest in. After leaving the store we walked back down Michigan Ave, both because that was the direction of our hotel and because we wanted to see more of what the Magnificent Mile had to offer. Finding dinner tonight proved difficult for multiple reasons; the restaurants along the mile were either on the expensive side or their menus didn’t seem to offer something that all of us could eat. In the end we walked all the way back to the hotel and decided to put everything from the day away and then just eat in the lobby again, this time at their River North lounge. The food there was ok as well, but nothing spectacular, however the prices I felt were more on par with the food and its quality. The one thing I did not like was that the waiter simply stood by our table and kept engaging us in conversation as if he had nothing else to do and we weren’t trying to eat. I guess this may be because for a good portion of the time we were the only ones there, but still at least let us eat. After dinner we went back up to the room to start packing things up so we will be ready to leave in the morning. We will be going from the hotel to the Field Museum and then home from there, so we have to have everything packed and ready to check out in the morning.

Chicago Bound

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Today Kylie, Melissa, and I all piled in the Envoy and headed for Chicago. Out of the three of us I am the only one to never have been to Chicago. Kylie has already been there at least twice with Mommy and has even been to at least one of the places we plan to visit, Shedd Aquarium. As for Melissa, she has also been there a few times for various different reasons. None the less we are all looking forward to the rest of this trip. I say rest because we are already out here. 🙂 The drive went relatively well, we played a few games in the car to help pass the time and it wasn’t until we were already in Chicago that we ran in to a snag. We missed a turn and got off the expressway at the wrong exit and had to find our way to the hotel via my phone and Google Maps with GPS. Needless to say we found our way just fine and checked in to the hotel about 3pm local time. After getting everything in to the room and taking a minute to get settled we then decided to hop in a taxi (which Kylie loved) and headed over to Navy Pier. It was really neat to see the Pier and all the little shops that lined it. Walking through the mall of shops on the inside was nice, and the Smith Museum of Stained Glass had some amazing works in it. After walking around the Pier we decided we were all hungry, so we had dinner at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, which was a fun place with lots of music playing and the food was pretty good too. After we were done we decided to walk back to the hotel and we took a route that would take us to Michigan Ave so we could walk along part of the Magnificent Mile and see some of the sights along it. Tomorrow is going to be another long busy day.

Peregrine Falcon Rescue

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Today Kylie, Melissa and I had a very strange, and probably rare, experience. We got to help rescue an injured Peregrine Falcon. We were on our way to Target to get Kylie anew bathing suit, and as we passed the car wash next to Meijer Daddy saw the Falcon standing under a tree. After turning around and going back we were realized that the Falcon was injured. There was another lady there who said she had already called the humane society and was waiting for their emergency animal pick up, so we went on to Target. While we were there Daddy made a few phone calls to track down other possible places for the falcon to go, but none were available. When we left to back home the falcon was still there and other people had gathered as well. This time when we pulled in we found out that the emergency pick-up personnel from the humane society was not going to be able to come for the falcon as they were dealing with another issue elsewhere. They suggested that if someone could get a blanket over the falcon and gently wrap it, that we could then put the raptor in a box and bring it to the humane society. Other people were currently trying to get the falcon, but all they had was a T-shirt, and that’s when Daddy remembered that we have a blanket in the truck. After getting the blanket, and working in coordination with the two other people who were trying to get the falcon, Daddy was able to get behind the falcon and drape the blanket over it and then gentle hold and wrap it, pick it up and place it in a box. We then followed some other helpers to the humane society. When we got there we gave the falcon to their emergency unit, but they came back out a few minutes later and told us they were not going to be able to save the falcon; it’s wing was badly broken and it’s one claw was badly mangled, unfortunately that had to euthanize the falcon. Even though there was a sad ending for the falcon, we all felt really good that we at least tried to help the bird. We were able to take a few pictures of the injured falcon, also a video of us catching the falcon.

Surgery Day

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This morning was a rather stressful morning because today was the day of Kylie’s surgery to have her tonsils and adenoids out. We woke up and, because Kylie could not have anything to eat, we decided that Daddy and Melissa would not eat either. We did not think it would be fair to eat breakfast in front of her while she was not able to eat herself. When we got to the hospital we went through the check-in routine where Kylie, Mommy, Daddy, and Kylie’s Baby Winnie the Pooh all got bracelets (a collar for Pooh)to make sure we were all identified as being together, and then we waited for a few minutes in the waiting room until Kylie got called in. Kylie was very brave during the whole time, you could tell she was a little nervous, but she didn’t complain or cry and was such a good trooper. When we did get called in Melissa waited out in the waiting room (they only allow two people to come back at a time) for us and Mommy and Daddy went in with Kylie. They weighed Kylie and she was 54.8lbs and all of her vitals were normal. after we got Kylie changed in to her gown we sat in her little room and waited for her turn to go in to surgery. Kylie passed the time by playing Plants vs Zombies on Daddy’s phone, and when she started to get a little more nervous the nurses gave her some medication to help her calm down. This medicine made Kylie sleepy and Mommy and Daddy thought Kylie was so cute as she started to slur her words and get lethargic from the medication. When they finally came to roll Kylie away she was practically sleeping and after she was out of sight that was when mommy started to tear up a little. But I gave her a hug and told her everything would be ok and that Kylie would done soon, and then she wouldn’t get sick so much and Mommy was ok. The surgery went by pretty quickly and it seemed like we were only out in the waiting room for thirty minutes before the doctor came out and told us that Kylie was in recovery and once she started to wake up they would come and get us. He said her tonsils “were huge, HUGE” and that it was good choice we made to have them out. A few minutes thereafter the nurse called us in and when got back to her room, Kylie was just waking up. She didn’t remember even leaving the room! She got a little sick from the anesthesia, but we think it was mainly from some small amount of blood she swallowed during surgery. She chewed on a lot of ice and liked that better than the popsicle they gave her. After monitoring her for about thirty minutes they released her and we were able to leave. Now Kylie is home with Mommy with a few pain prescriptions just in case Kylie complains, but we are not expecting her to as she rarely ever does. Mommy and Daddy are both vary glad that this procedure is over with and behind us and are hopeful that Kylie won’t have any more troubles with strep throat. The whole procedure was really fast, we were in and out of the hospital in just under three hours! That’s a big difference from when I was a kid and remember being in the hospital for a couple of days. Amazing how much the advances in technology and medicine have improved since then!

Trip to the zoo

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Today we (Kylie, Daddy and Melissa) took a trip to the Detroit Zoo, where we spent the entire day walking around and exploring. Kylie really enjoyed the Dinosauria exhibit, from the website:

It’s the largest outdoor dinosaur exhibit of its kind in the country – and it’s at the Detroit Zoo this summer, May 25 – September 5, 2011.

More than 30 life-like, animatronic dinosaurs that roar, snarl and move are providing a thrilling encounter at the Detroit Zoo’s sensational blockbuster Dinosauria exhibit. It is the most spectacular dinosaur experience this side of the Mesozoic Era.

Travel back in time as you explore a lush, three-acre DinoTrail recreating prehistoric life. The animatronic dinosaurs roar and move just like they did millions of years ago.

After we walked through the DinoTrail we went back to the car so we could have a tailgate picnic consisting of sandwiches and pop. Then, right back in to the zoo to look around at all the animals. Unfortunately the lions were not available for viewing, but we did get to see a tiger, and a polar bear laying out on the tundra. One of the things Daddy liked most though, was seeing the penguins swim in the Penguinarium and watching the leopard seals swim in the Arctic Ring of Life. Kylie got a real kick out of the “ice cave,” one of the walls in with the leopard seals which was completely frozen over and covered with ice. By the time we got all the way to the back of the zoo, where the seals are, it was getting close to 5pm (the closing time of the zoo) so we started to walk back towards the front so we could leave. That’s when we got stuck in a terenchal downpour, needless to say we got soaked on our way back to the truck but we all thought this was very funny and only added to our enjoyment of the day rather than detract from it. We will need to go back another time to see some of the things we missed, like the animals of the African Grassland or the Australian Outback. I was surprised that we spent so much time here today and still didn’t see everything. It was a very fun day and Daddy took many pictures that can be seen in the gallery.

Live Outdoor Theater

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Tonight Melissa and I went to Nichols Arboretum to watch a presentation of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. Apparently every year the U of M Residential College chooses a play to preform and it’s called Shakespeare in the Arb and this year the performed The Winter’s Tale. It was a very interesting experience. The play takes place all across the Arboretum with the audience moving with the actors from one area to the next to watch each scene. It was a very fun and entertaining time and lasted almost three hours. I think this is something that I would like to do again next year, but we would change a few things now that we know. Such as; we will dress more comfortably and bring along some quad chairs to sit in. I was able to take a few pictures towards the end with my phone, and they can be seen here.

Plymouth Ice Festival 2011

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Kylie at the festivalToday Kylie, Melissa and I ventured out to Plymouth to take in the ice show. The annual ice festival seemed smaller this year compared to memories of past years, but it was still neat to go and see. Despite it being very cold this year we all enjoyed it. It was Kylie’s first time going so she was very impressed with all the ice sculptures and enjoyed seeing them being carved out as we watched. Hopefully we can go again next year and it won’t be so cold. Here is a picture of Kylie all bundled up at the event (the rest of her from this day are in her album here) and as you can see she was really enjoying herself. All the pictures of the ice sculptures can be found in the gallery here.