Our Trip to the Windy City

So I might have been a little negative yesterday -- I tend toward the melodramatic, especially when I'm writing on a rainy afternoon. Tonight I downloaded our trip photos and it made me realize how much fun we did have for most of the trip. So here are some of my favorite photos -- heavy on Mazy because, well, I do love him so and he is in a tie for coolest kid on the planet with his little brother Bo.

Wednesday, July 28 at 9 a.m.
Megabus Stop -- Walnut and 4th downtown DSM.

When you're on a double decker bus, the best seats (according to Mazy and Kael) are on the top deck, front row where there's a great view of the white lines and traffic.

Cousin Andy serving up some of Chicago's finest deep dish pizza. Isn't he handsome? And oh so personable and smart. And he works for public radio. We love you Andy!

Me and Mom at Millennium Park posing by "the bean" sculpture.

ROARRRRRRR!
The world's most intact tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur fossil, Sue, named after the archaeologist who discovered her. Sue was the most anticipated attraction of the trip. She did not let us down.

Kael and Katy posing on the north patio of the Field Museum with downtown and the harbor behind them. We were on our way to the aquarium just down the campus.

Chicago dawgs from a street vendor. Yum!

Cosmos at Friends Sushi -- beautiful little outdoor patio not far from the hotel. Delicious!

A couple of the rolls we ordered. This was the time when Kael said, "No way!" Even with all of us cajoling him, he wouldn't even try one bite!

Mazy, on the other hand, dug right in. Now this boy knows how to eat sushi!

Can he do it in one bite?

Of course he can! Oh Mazy, you are the best! (Note: the name tag you see in the picture had my cell phone and mom's cell phone number in case he got lost. You just need a page of labels and a printer and you're in business. I made him wear them every day! I offered to let him hide them inside the shirt like Kael, but he liked them to show.)

Sword fighting lessons on The Windy sailing ship at the Navy Pier.

Children's Museum botanical garden
Is it just me, or does Kael ooze orneriness? :)

The long, long and disappointing wait for Saturday morning's Megabus. If you didn't read yesterday's post, it never showed.... Stupid Megabus. But we took the 5 p.m. bus that same day and all was well.

Devo, Chicago and Summer Thunderstorms

We're in another rainy season here in Iowa. Gigantic storms blew through Saturday night and pretty big storms last night and the forecast shows thunder and lightning clouds through at least Thursday. Luckily, we have no outdoor plans until Saturday so rain away, Mother Nature. And then you better clear off for Saturday. I would like sunny skies, nice breeze and 78 degrees, please.

Saturday is DEVO at the Simon Estes Amphitheater downtown. Yahooooo! Oh I am soo excited for Mazy to attend his first ever rock concert. We spared no expense for this memorable event -- VIP tickets for a meet and greet with the band! I'm encouraging Mazy to draw a picture based on his favorite Devo song and then take it for the band to sign. Shawn is excited as well. He loves Devo and though he is not keen on the idea of an outdoor concert by the DSM River on a late July night, he's still very excited to see them. I am just excited to go to a concert! I've never really been to a big concert before. A few small concerts in Ames at bars, but that's about it. I worked backstage security for an Elton John/Billy Joel concert and had an AWESOME place on the stage to watch it, but that's been it. So it will be an exciting evening for all! Bo is going to the farm for a four-wheeler drive and he will be in hog heaven. Ha, literally. The farm is a very nice place for hogs to live -- they are raised in open air shelters so they breathe fresh air and feel the sunshine on their pointy little snouts every day.

Also in the works this week are final plans for Chicago next week! Cousin Andy emailed me tonight and had an awesome idea for our first night in town -- a free concert at Millennium Park. Mazy and Kael can run around and stretch their legs after the long bus ride and we can enjoy some free music, "Piano Romanticism and the Fairy's Kiss." Ha, I might keep the name from Kael. Something tells me an 8-year-old boy is not going think that sounds very exciting. But he needs some culturing up so this trip will be great.

A big shout out to Uncle T., Aunt Cindy, cousin Jordy and Uncle Bob who are spending a fabulous week together on the Cape. I wish I was there! Love the pictures you've been sending. Keep them coming!! We will all live vicariously through you!

Speaking of photos, I ordered my new camera this weekend. Another Canon PowerShot. A more advanced version than our last one. But the company has never sent me an email to confirm the order, which is weird. I need that camera by Saturday to capture the Devo concert!

One last story from the weekend - I wish you all could have joined us Saturday night at the farm. What a blast! It was Kael's 8th birthday party. Dad bought a huge new pool for the kids to swim in and Troy rented a huge bouncy castle for us to play in! The castle was in the shade and with the breeze that day it was really quite an enjoyable time. Crazy with all the people, but lots and lots of fun. Nice job, Troy and Keri.

Let's see, is that all for today? I think so. Have a great week everyone!

Today's photos: Cape Cod trip 2007, oh it was a glorious two weeks. A glorious, glorious, wonderful beyond belief. I love the Cape.

Job prospect in ... DSM

Well, I told myself I was not going to lose sight of my dream and would give it 6 months to find a job in Western Iowa. Then tonight, a friend sent me a job at another ad agency that specializes in ag. They want someone with an ag background, someone who understands production agriculture, the food value chain, etc. You know, someone exactly like me...

Sigh.

I am totally qualified for this. It's not exactly what I want to do for a living, but if I shot them a dream salary and they went for it... Well, that would be pretty sweet. I sent an email to a friend who I think works there. It's another ad agency, which is kind of disheartening. But, if it meant making significantly more money for a few years so we could actually start saving some money while I continue to look for my dream job, well, it's tempting.

I'll see what my friend has to say about it. It's in Johnston. So presumably we could move there and get the boys into Johnston's ultra great school district for elementary school. They have an elementary school named after Henry Wallace -- my all-time favorite American!

I talked to Mazy today. Twice. I can't resist! He's having a fabulous time with his cousins in KC. Today he got to eat sushi at the food court, go to the library and get two books (one on dinosaurs and one on sea creatures), listen to a Cajun story teller who taught them how to do an alligator dance, get a gummy worm ice cream blizzard, AND get a new pair of flip-flops. He was bummed b/c the boy flip-flops don't come with jewels and sparkles. I don't blame him. It's not fair that only the girls get those sparkly shoes! I told Heidi to give him some glue and sequins and let him bedazzle his flip-flops! I miss you, Mazy. Enjoy your week! And Heidi, thank you for making it such a fun summer vacation for him!

Speaking of summer vacations, I booked our hotel and bus fare (yes, we're taking the bus.. I'm a bit scared) for our Chicago vacation at the end of July. Mom, Mazy and I are going. We're staying at the Wyndham Chicago on the Magnificent Mile. I can't wait!

Also, Bo is loving being an only child. It is very rare for him to be alone at the house with us. We're letting him play with almost all of Mazy's toys -- don't tell Mazy! As I suspected, he has very little interest in them when his brother is not here to yell at him for touching them. He's in such a sweet stage right now -- a total chatterbox! He loves Curious George, which he calls George Hat (George's friend is the man with the yellow hat). He is still getting into trouble every day at daycare though. His report always says: aggressive with friends. This is a very nice way of saying, "Bo kicked and scratched the hell out of everyone today throwing one of his colossal tantrums." The good ladies at the Baptist church cannot say anything bad about him. But he really is a little terror when he's mad. Oh and I love that ornery little boy!

Well, Shawn wants on the computer. Until tomorrow.

Today's left photo is from Cousin Camp 2010 that was held last Saturday at the farm. Here Kael (my nephew), Mazy and Theron (my niece in KC) were posing in front of the log cabin at the Panora Historical Village. What a great day! Today's right photo is Bo at the Blank Park Zoo last Friday. It was his first trip.