Trip to Chicago (Vacation)

We spent most of this past week in Chicago.  We went for Monica's niece's first birthday party.  Her actual birthday was two weeks before, but they scheduled the party around when we could be in town.  How nice.

Usually when we go to Chicago for a family event, our trip is all spending time with family and not really a vacation.  The most touristy thing we do is "go to the mall".  But we actually managed to combine a bit of vacation with this trip.  With three young kids in the house, Monica and I wisely chose to stay in a hotel, which gave us some space but also meant we weren't tied to the family schedule.  In part because of that, we actually got to play tourist.

Sunday was about Lily's birthday party, a nice brunch buffet at a local hall, which coincidentally was a 5-minute walk from our hotel.  Then we headed to Monica's sister's house to watch the Storm-Mercury game (well, I watched) and hang out.  Monday we went to the Cubs game which was a unique experience.  Monica got tickets at Costco to sit on a rooftop across the street from the ballpark.  The provide an all-you-can eat and drink menu along with first-come, first served seating.  We were on the lower roof deck, protected from the weather and with a surprisingly good view of the field from beyond right field.  They also have TVs set up so you don't miss anything and bathrooms and what not.  Between the four of us, we had one beer, but a lot of people must have run a beer per inning.  It's come a long way from when people used to sit on the roofs with lawn chairs and a charcoal grill.  I'd certainly recommend trying it once and it's probably a great way to see the game when the Cubs make the playoffs again.  But I think I prefer to be in the ballpark, closer to the action.

We drove back after the game and since it was Labor Day, there was surprisingly little traffic.  Was actually a pleasant drive rather than a long aggravation.  Went out to dinner at Claim Jumper (Monica's favorite) and had salads, since none of us were very hungry after lunch.

Tuesday we went to Long Grove and walked around the shop with Sandra and Ariana.  Had a nice lunch and bought lots of stuff (see clothes, Monica) but it was sad to see the place basically deserted.  Spent Tuesday evening cooking brisket for Rosh Hashanah and cooking dinner (pasta, rice) for the sick bay.  Wednesday Monica and I went downtown to the Planetarium and then browsing along the Miracle Mile.  We saw social networking at its best.  After I posted on Facebook that I was in downtown Chicago, one of my poker buddies saw it and text messaged me about meeting for lunch.  We were able to meet him without any advance planning -- the way Facebook places should work.  Raced home later than we planned and got to Sandra's for a nice holiday dinner.

Thursday AM we were up before the crack of dawn to catch our plane home.

Seems like we did a lot in what was really four days in Chicago.

Dog update

Those who have met Cocoa know he scratches and chews his paws quite often. We took him to a dermatologist last Friday to get checked out.

After giving him the once over he gave Cocoa allergy tests. Cocoa failed miserably. I wish we had a picture but couldn't get him to sit still. Picture a 4 x 10 grid with a dot at every vertex and big dots and most vertices. The large dots are everything he's allergic to including cat dander, wool, and grass. Great for a dog who lives in a house with oriental rugs and a cat and likes to run around a grassy back yard. We're getting him some allergy shots to desensitize him. We're also working on clearing up some yeast infections that cause him to itch. We hope he's better soon and thankfully he's really not so bad right now.

Hunny Bear went to the vet today because he's occasionally been limping. Thankfully the diagnosis is minor. His kneecaps are both loose but it's a grade 1 or 2 on a scale of 1-5. The vet recommended doing nothing.

Geneology and Family Tree

At the end of 2007, a friend turned Monica and I on to Geni, where you can create a family tree and make all of your relatives members and then can add to the tree and add their relatives and so on and so on. Essentially it's viral* family tree.

Monica and I each had family trees that were put together from our father's sides and were able to add a lot of relative beyond what we might know off the top of our heads. Then my parents both got involved and talked to my grandmother and filled out as much of their families as they knew. And slowly we're adding some (geographically) distant cousins who are adding their families. And we're searching on the internet to see if we can find people.

One of the neatest parts of searching for information was having my mom go through her old records and searching the Ellis Island records and finding the official records where my grandmother (mom's mother) and her brother and parents came to the United States. It's also somewhat surprising to find information that conflicts.

I hope as time goes by other members add to the tree. Anyone who is married into the family has a whole tree to add. And I'm going to start searching Facebook to find many of my third cousins who I don't know at all.

If you're in my family, let me know and I can give you access to the tree. Or think about starting your own family tree.

Happy New Year

Best wishes for a terrific 2008. Maybe this will be the year Monica blogs.

I sent our New Year's letter out this AM so you know what we've been up to. If you didn't get it let me know.

I'm already off to a good start, completing a couple of small projects around the house and having a winning day in poker.

My latest project is working on our family tree on Geni. More on that later.

Crusing...

Monica and I are off on our big vacation of the year. As most of you know, we're taking a 10-day Mediterranean cruise for my parents 40th anniversary. (Yes, they're coming too :)).

First we're making a three-day stop in Chicago for Monica's mom's 60th birthday. Edith was very surprised to see us; I'd describe it as close to hysterical. I'll try to write more later.

Wednesday afternoon we fly to Rome and the cruise starts Saturday. We're on the Holland American Westerdam if you want to follow the itinerary.

Off to the Museum of Science and Industry today, I think.

Softball Season

(or our 15 minutes of fame isn't over yet)

Most of you know that Monica and I met playing softball and continue to play in the league making us busy on Sundays throughout the summer. What you may not know (or not remember) is that I'm the chair of the league softball committee which oversees the league, effectively making me the commissioner. The season started May 6th and we played and won our first game this past Sunday. When I say "we", I mean the Jay Berry's team. Monica has decided to play on a different team this year for a number of reasons.

Also the seattle Jewish newspaper has a story about the league on their new web site; I'm not sure if it will make the print edition. I was interviewed for the article and the story of how Monica and I met is the lead. Check it out!

Super Bowl

Oh well. Wait 'til next year.

In brighter news, Monica and I became an aunt and uncle for the second time* last week. Her sister delivered Arianna Aristodemo Monday night just before 9 PM central time. She was 6 lbs, 11 oz and 18 1/4 inches long. She joins big brother Jonah who is three years old as Sandra and Gio's children. Monica is headed to Chicago this weekend to visit Jonah who's feeling a little bit neglected; part of that is he has a cold and can't be near the baby.

I post some pictures, but I haven't seen any yet :(


* Yeh, I know that doesn't really make sense, but you get the idea.