Summer's Almost Over

Well, where the heck did this summer go?

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As usual, we had one heckuva time. Baseball figured prominently, as it always does. 

Full sized image. Bay has taken to wearing his cousin (and fellow southpaw) Casey's old mitt for baseball, eschewing the brand new one he got at the beginning of summer.

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A couple more pictures of Cody:

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Yes, that is a "Saint Louis" jersey he's wearing for Little League, but we still hate the MLB Cardinals in this family. 

We also hit a bunch of Kane County Cougars games this year, asalways. When we go to those, sometimes they let kids run the bases after the games, which our kids particularly enjoy. 

What else?

Well, poolside, there were some Pirate Ship sightings, The Black Dog, courtesy of The Minkers of Naples, FL. This, quite naturally, led to pirate ship attacks.

We set a new record for kids in the pool:

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Okay, the "kid" in the middle is not really a kid at all. That's my brother-in-law, who deployed to Afghanistan recently. Please send good thoughts and prayers his way, and of course to his family.

As of July 26th, we've been using a new camera - which has a much faster shutter speed, a lots of new bells and whistles that we'll likely never figure out how to use, but gives us an opportunity to do someinteresting things with pictures. 

Oh, and I had the pleasure and privilege of golfing this summer, at a charity event in Memphis, with Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr. If there was a nicer guy golfing in Memphis in May, I didn't meet him. And in his seventies, Bart still has game. Pity that the rest of our group played so poorly - we held Bart back. WAY back. 

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This picture was nicked off Facebook from one of the guys in our group:

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UPDATE: at 7:00 p.m. - The golf pictures above reminded me about one day for which we had pictures - Mother's Day, where me and the boys took Carolyn out for Mother's Day brunch at a local golf course, and hit the range afterwards.....

Carolyn and the boys on the practice green. (Notice the two hats.)

Bay's backswing.

Of course, that was a practice swing! 

Cody made contact.

Me and these handsome dudes..

End of update.

So, that's pretty much how we spent our summer. How about you?

Cody Turns Seven

Cody Ambrose turns seven years old this week.

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Because of scheduling conflicts with business travel, we decided to have his party yesterday, Saturday. When we discussed this with Cody, he decided he wanted to have a slumber party. Five friends. All seven-year-olds, just like Cody. (Except his big brother bay.)We were skeptical, but relented. It was a lot of fun for Cody and his friends. Carolyn and I needed naps today.

Below are the attendees for the festivities:

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Cody loved his pirate cake and blew out the candles. A night of childlike merriment ensued, which involved Wii games, Nintendo DS, a Harry Potter movie and popcorn, and, eventually, sleep.

Parenthetically, it is worth showing a picture of what Cody looked like as a baby. He was always smiling and happy.

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Cody is one of the nicest, most empathetic and kindest children we've ever encountered. That fact that he lives right here, with us, is merely an added blessing. He truly amazes us on almost a daily basis. 

So, Happy Birthday, Cody! May you have many, many more such parties in the years to come!

Fishing The Florida Keys

We had an AMAZING time fishing this morning. Truly amazing.

Full sized image. Cody starting things off with that relatively small snapper pictured above.

Bailey kept pace with a yellowtail of his own, and those fish are real fighters.

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Bay then added in a nice Ballyhoo, which we cut up for bait to catch some larger snappers.

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Cody then followed suit with a really nice Bluerunner, which are also fighters and Cody needed a little help getting this bad boy into the boat.

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Pictured below are the boys in front of the boat they used to land (no exaggeration, I swear) more than 70 fish. We caught and released them all, except for the Ballyhoos we used for bait. 

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I can't say enough about how much the boys enjoyed this experience - it was literally everything they hoped for, and that we hoped for them. We were referred to Captain Chris Morrison and except for that referral, we knew little about him. He was the perfect person to take us on our first Florida Keys fishing trip. He was great with the boys, took us a an amazing spot for fishing, taught the boys to cast and how to land all these fish, and then turned them loose to deliver knock-out punches to one fish after another. It is not a "tall fish tale" to say that for about an hour, we were landing roughly one fish per minute. If you count the ones we hooked but could not get into the boat, we were way over 100 fish for the day. 

We caught snappers, grunts, Jack Crevalles, Bluerunners (great fighters), catfish (dangerous spikes!), everything. We hooked two bluefish, but both chewed through the line before we could get them in the boat. They are terrific fighters, though, too. At the end, Cody hooked a nice houndfish but that sucker shook the hook free, too, after a nice fight that included a couple of airborne jumps.

Captain Chris Morrison, we came to learn, is an award winning captain and angler with more than 70 world records in several categories, including sharks. I saw a video on a colleague's cell phone with a 14-foot black tip shark that Captain Chris caught using (get this) 12 lb line and fly fishing equipment. Amazing. 

It was a spectacular experience for the boys, and for their dad too.

Somewhat sad to say, we'll be heading back to Chicago tomorrow morning early, as this vacation winds down. But Hawk's Cay is a great place for family vacations, and we'll be back. And Captain Chris is a great angler and teacher, and when we visit the Keys, we'll be back to chase more fish with him.

Greetings from the Florida Keys

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We're having a blast on our first visit to the Keys. Wish you were here, or, if not, that you get to have the great family vacation that we're having, soon.

More pictures on Facebook.

UPDATE Tuesday, April 10, 2009 @ 10:00 p.m.: Here are the boys holding hands w/ a dolphin:

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This Land Is Your Land.....

....and this land is my land. Today, we get this land back, from men with little minds, with no intellectual curiosity, from incompetent sycophants of those men. 

Congratulations to Barack Obama. And thank you, so much, to American voters who elected him.

The Broken Ankle Post

Do you see it?

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Me neither. But I'm not a doctor. I don't even play one on t.v.

But, yes, my ankle is well and truly broken. I'm in a foot cast that goes from my toes to just below my knee. And isn't this just a lovely time of year to be on crutches?

Later today, after Carolyn and the boys do the usual drawings on the cast, I'll post some pictures of those. In the meantime, here is another x-ray:

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And here is the third:

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That's all for now, more later.

2009 - Welcome to the New Year

We missed posting from Christmas, 2008, so this will have to do.

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We had a terrific Christmas, as we so often do. We had a totally white Christmas, and the boys were quite enthused about that. Enthusiastic enough, in fact, to want to throw snowballs at Dad. Including some unusually large snowballs.

We followed the snow play with a warming meal - linguine with chicken and garlic bread, always fun to eat.

Afterward, we had the traditional reading of The Night Before Christmas(also pictured above). Then the boys were off to bed, where no doubt visions of sugar plums, and presents, danced in their own heads.

Today, of course, is New Years Day, and this is the first website update for 2009. Later today we have friends coming over for our version of New Years Jambalaya and bacon and cheddar cornbread. 

Additional pictures:

1. Cody on Christmas morning.

2. Bailey and Cody with their gigantic Star Wars coloring book.

3. Bailey with his new remote controled helicopter. Yes, it really flies.

Both boys on Christmas Eve. Yes, we really are that fortunate. They aregreat friends and are a constant source of joy in our lives.

We hope that the new year brings you all much joy, great health and happiness and prosperity.

O Tannenbaum

With Thanksgiving behind us, it is time to turn our attention to the next national holiday, Christmas.

The tree went up today. These are the first two ornaments which went onto the tree today:

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This is the finished product:

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We're getting into the Christmas spirit already, and hope you are too.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving, 2008, Or How To Cook A Turkey

9:00 a.m.

A 17 pound turkey was brined overnight in a mixture of apple juice, kosher salt, and various herbs. Rinsed thoroughly to get the excess salt off, the wing tips are broken back and tucked under the bird, the turkey is rubbed extensively with butter and peppered heavily (no salt!):

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(Brining method via John Kass.)

The bird is then given a proper salute.....

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.....and popped into a 500 degree oven for thirty minutes.

(Cooking method via Alton Brown.)

After thirty minutes, the oven is turned down to 350 degrees, and the turkey is removed:

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The breast section is covered closely with a double-layer of tin foil, and the bird is placed back into the 350 degree oven....

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....until the internal temperature of the breast meat reads 161 degrees:

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So, we wait. In the meantime, the cranberry-apple-pear dish was prepared last night. So the cook will enjoy a little coffee and Baileys as he prepares the stuffing, giblet gravy and mashed potatoes.....

1:00 p.m.

When the turkey reaches 161 degrees (ours took less than two hours today, from the time we turned the oven down to 350 degrees), it will look like this:

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Let it rest for 45 minutes before you carve it. That will give you time to bake the dressing. (we had two types: John's version of the world-renowned Aunt Monica's dressing, and Carolyn's biscuit and bacon dressing.) You'll also have time to boil and mash the potatoes.

That's pretty much it - brine the turkey for 12 hours, roast it at a super high temperature for 30 minutes to crisp up the skin, then lower the temperature, cover the breast with tin foil, and roast it until the breast meat is done. By covering the breast meat, you'll ensure that the dark meat gets done at the same time as the white meat. And brining the bird in apple juice and kosher salt ensures a juicy, succulent bird every time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Something Suitable For Today.....

Congratulations to Barack Obama and to those who voted for him and supported him.

Halloween, 2008

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We're just done with Trick or Treating. The boys costumed up as their favorite Star Wars characters. Bailey, pictured above on the left, had an elaborate costume as Clone Trooper Captain Rex; Cody, meanwhile, (on the right above) was a Annakin Skywalker in his pre-Darth Vader days.

Bailey stood guard while Cody brandished his Light Saber. 

Later, a wicked Light Saber battle broke out, but ultimately nobody was injured.

At the end, Bobo Fett joined in the fun and everyone went home with buckets of candy and a tremendous time was had by all.

Halloween is over now.....on to Thanksgiving!

We're Still Here

I know, I know, I stink and maintaining the family website.

No excuses for that, just a humble apology. We've been so busy living life that there has been too little time to write about it. 

Guess who has new glasses? Cody does:

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He's also lost two teeth.

He looks adorable.

But then again, his is adorable. 

That's all for now.

We Call Her BIRD GIRL

Meet the newest addition to our home

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The picture above is of our front door. Can you see that little bird's nest above the door, on the left hand side?

That is the home of Bird Girl. The boys gave her that moniker, and she is a new mother robin.

Here she is sitting atop her nest:

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This new mother is in "full protection" mode which makes it slightly dangerous exiting our house via the front door.

Still, all things being equal, we'll let her have her space until her babies take wing. It is a small inconvenience for us; for her it is a more serious prospect, having us tromping around directly underneath her home.

I climbed up when she was out of the nest to get some pictures of the chicks:

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That picture is about ten days old. The last egg has hatched, and all three chicks are now much bigger. Perhaps later today I'll try to sneak up there when she is away and get another snapshot of the nest.

That is, if I feel like risking it....

Kane County Cougars Game

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We went to our first Kane County Cougars game yesterday. (The Cougars lost badly to the first place Clinton Lumber Kings.)

The kids really enjoy these games, and we have really excellent front row seats next to the visitors bullpen. We almost never leave the game without getting a baseball from from at least one player from the other team and yesterday was no exception to this rule. Here is a picture of our seats taken from the center field wall. (Front row, the first four seats next to the aisle shown here.)

What were we doing in center field, one might ask, to get that picture?

Well, the Cougars let fans go out on the field, through a gate in the center field wall, so that the fans can run the bases after games. Here is Cody do exactly that. Here is Baliey. And here is Carolyn running the bases. 

More pictures:

Bailey running again.

Cody again

Carolyn again.

Me and the boys.

Just the boys.

Cody Ambrose Turns Six

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Pictured above is Cody's sixth birthday party. It was a hectic affair. He wanted an "army" theme since he is into all things "army" related, which is pretty cool.

Check out the cake which was done for us as a tank. Very cool cake.

(You can see more of these types of cakes, and even order one for your next event at Sweet P Sweets.)

After Cody blew out the candles, the kids all grabbed whatever weapons were at hand, including nerf dart guns and Jedi light sabers, as well as more conventional weaponry and spent a few hours with war games.

Afterwards, we grabbed their golf clubs and headed over to a local park to loosen up their swings.

All in all, I'd say that Cody had himself a great 6th birthday.

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Soccer II (And Cold Weather Returns)

After a week of days with temperatures in the 70's, and even one day in the 80's, cold springtime weather returned for the weekend yesterday.

Still, the boys had soccer, and still wanted to play outside. Cody's team does some interesting and amusing drills, like running while carrying a ball on their shoulders, or stuffing a ball under their shirt and running back to the coach. 

More pictures of the kids:

Bailey with a hat that is too big.

Cody with a rubber baseball.

Bailey again.

Cody again.

Casserole Olympics

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We had our annual Casserole Olympics on April 19th. Pictured above are this year's medalists. From left to right are silver Medalist Sharon, Gold Medalist (and next door neighbor) Enrique, and Bronze Medalist Suzanne. 

This is an event that everyone really enjoys - we had nearly 20 casseroles entered, and the prominent winning ingredient this year seemed to be King Maize. All the winning casseroles (and many of the runners up) featured corn prominently.

That is something I should keep in mind for next years event! Congrats to all the winners.

A Message From Bailey: Another Tooth Lost!

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Hey, guess what gang? I lost my THIRD tooth this week while I was on Spring Break! The picture is above, and here are a few more:

One

Two

Three

Thanks for checking in!

- Bailey Needham

Numero Uno

A beagle won "best of show" in the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.

A beagle!

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Nobody is more surprised than our Northie. 

This was the first time a beagle has won best of show, despite the evident popularity of beagles.

The only dog consistently listed among America’s most popular breeds for nearly 100 years, a beagle had never won in the 100 times Westminster picked a winner.

The only reason I'm posting about the Westminster Dog Show is that we own two beagles, named North and South. Neither one is likely to win any title except "laziest overfed hound." But they're our dogs, and we like them. And we're really happy that a beagle was crowned Best of Show at Westminster.

Our dogs are pictured below. The pictures are old, and our hounds are now much older and, how to put this delicately, heavier. But they're good dogs, and hounds make great family pets.

North. South.

Snow Day

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Today we woke up and nine inches of new snow in the driveway greeted us. The kids got a snow day and helped shovel the driveway and sidewalk.

That is all.