On a Plane!

Earlier this year, a fifth grader in my class (who's family has done rather well for themselves) made reference to attending a Sunday night Packers vs. Vikings game in Green Bay. He was in school on Monday so I asked him how this was possible. He replied, "We fly my dad and uncle's plane to all the Vikings games." As if I was an idiot. This is the same child who gave me a Tom Brady football jersey for Christmas!

I wondered what that kind of lifestyle would be like. This boy responded the way he did because he didn't know any better. He was used to attending Vikings football games, regardless of what city they played in (usually) and returning home that same day. How many Twins games would I go to if I only needed to fly 45-60 minutes north instead of driving 3 and a half hours?

Last Thursday my buddy Chris sent me a text message asking me if I wanted to come along with him and his brother to a White Sox game. His brother is a White Sox fan (ugh) and Chris's favorite team, the Dodgers, were in town for an Interleague matchup. Chris's boss owns a small plane so Chris said we'd take that to the game and return just a few hours after the game ended. I love rooting against the White Sox almost as much as rooting for the rotting Twins right now, so the chance to travel this way, was just too cool to pass up.

The plane was like a sportscar with wings. Silver and sleek, seats four comfortably. We flew out of Waterloo at 10 am for a 1 pm game. We made it to Chicago in 80 minutes! Compare that to a six-hour drive! We rented a car (should've taken the train) and got to US Cellular Field in plenty of time to grab a Dos Equis and roam around the stadium.

New Comiskey was built in 1991. In 2003 it was renamed US Cellular Field. A wave of new ballparks swept through the MLB in the years to come, so whereas US Cellular Field was ahead of its time for a bit, it now seems to be lacking in special personal touches that other newer ballparks have worked hard to create. It was a great atmosphere inside the stadium though, sitting in row 2 behind first base, and the open concourse stretching the entire length of the outfield was a neat feature. Overall, the building felt a bit generic, but that's a pretty weak complaint given that a beautiful day spent watching baseball outdoors is about as good as it gets.

The Atlantic airport we flew into is the same airport MLB players use when coming into Chicago. It's also the airport the White Sox players fly out of for road trips. It was pretty cool being shoulder to shoulder with guys like Mark Buehrle (who's truck could pass for a Transformer, or a tank), Alex Rios, Jake Peavy, and Paul Konerko. I resisted the urge to punch Hawk Harrelson in the face and key A.J. Pierzynski's Chevy Tahoe.

We had to wait for some sketchy weather to pass through Chicago, the same weather that forced Kelli and Charly to spend a little quality time in our basement while I was away, so the idea of returning home shortly after the game ended was shot. But it was still a lot of fun and a great experience. If only I could travel this way more often!

Ashley Schrage Photoshoot

A few weeks ago Ashely Schrage photographed Charly. This was supposed to be a "one-year" shoot but because of weather, we pushed it back and then pushed it back and then pushed it back again!

Finally, the weather cooperated, Charly was able to wear a dress, and we got them done. Charly's not incredibly fond of cameras right now, and as Ashely says on her blog, she was a little "feisty" that day. She needed to be near Kelli at nearly all times and she hated her "jellies" on her feet. She eventually warmed up and Ashely was confident she got plenty of good shots. She was particularly excited about a small patch of bluebells (which only stay bloomed for a month or two) and a rundown house that she'd been itching to photograph for sometime. You can spot both in her blog preview of Charly's pics.

If Charly's blog post on Ashley's site receives 25 comments, we get a free gift thrown in. We need the comments in one week. So if you read this, please follow the link, scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the "Post a Comment" link. You can makeup a name and leave a comment easy. It would be greatly appreciated!

http://ashleyschrage.blogspot.com/2011/05/charly-is-one.html

Vote for Haley!

Kelli and I have been American Idol junkies for some time now. Our favorite Idol ever was Kris Allen, who defeated the judges' heavy favorite Adam Lambert in Season 8. We usually like underdogs, especially on a show where the judges often have a difficult time hiding their bias.

This tenth season of the show has been rather interesting, from Kelli and I's perspective. Early on we singled out Haley Reinhart as our favorite, a twenty year-old smoky-sounding songstress. Her big voice has lots of range, lots of edge, and lots of growl.

Throughout the top 12 performances, Haley has been somewhat of a punching bag for the judges, which only fueled our admiration for her. It's not that she's always the best performer and it's not that she's above criticism, it's that the criticism she gets seems to always be the harshest while other performers are given free passes on mistakes made. The judges have essentially written her off on a number of occasions.

Yet for two weeks in a row, she's bounced back from ridiculously off-base critiques to belt out a number that brings the judges to their feet. With performances of "Bennie and the Jets", "Rolling in the Deep", "You and I", "House of the Rising Sun", and "I Who Have Nothing" she's been responsible for some of the more memorable performances this season and it was hard imagining a top 3 without her.

And thankfully last night she sailed through to the top 3, as America sent overrated rocker James Durbin home. Kelli and I were going to be happy enough just to see Haley make it to the top 5. But now that she's in the top 3, we want her to win it all!

So if you're reading this, tune into Idol on Wednesday evening and then call in a few votes for Haley so she can take down the two country kids.

The Mothers in My Life

A lot of mothers have played important roles in my life. My dad's mother gave birth to the hardest working man I know, raised him with four other rambunctious children, ran her own business until she was well into her 80s, opened her kitchen (and her griddle) every Sunday morning (still does) to hoards of family members young and old, and filled her house to the brim (literally) with her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren on holidays creating cramped, but loving memories.

My mother's mother is one of the most kind, honest, and genuine people I know. She loves her children and grandchildren and now great-grandchildren more than anything. She wears the pride they give her and the joy they bring her on her sleeve. She drops everything to play an active role in their lives (and continues to do so), supporting each and every step and misstep they choose to make. She may even very well be my daughter's most favorite person on the planet (besides Kelli and I of course).

My wife's mother is incredibly understanding of people and proudly protective of her own children. She is intelligent and worldly wise and has instilled in her children a drive to succeed and make the most of their life. She's a bit of a free spirit and embraces the company of other people. She's not afraid to strike up a conversation with anyone, usually even random strangers. In fact, she often proves how small our world is by discovering some previously unbeknown connection between them and her! Her children share this likable social trait.

I don't quite think I can adequately describe all that my mother means to me within a mere paragraph of words. She's humble, she's selfless, and she loves her family to pieces. There's not a thing she wouldn't do to support her children and she pours herself wholeheartedly into all of their endeavors. Her children are her world and when we succeed, she succeeds because we are imprints of her magnanimous self. Now she showers our children with love and kindness (and clothes) and we are so undeniably grateful.

And then there's my daughter's mother, who blows me away, more and more each day. Ironically, I see in her a bit of all these women. She shares my grandmothers' hard work ethic and willingness to please. She's determined yet open minded like her own mother and unselfishly generous like mine.

She's always positive and patient, and enjoys every moment she can spend with Charly and me. She's devoted to giving Charly the best childhood she can provide, especially when she's choosing to share herself with a classroom full of 4th graders. No matter how busy of a day she's had, she's never too tired to play blocks with Charly, or fill our driveway with sidewalk chalk artwork, or read her her favorite books over and over and over each night. The most exciting part about our family someday growing, is getting to see this woman shine as a mother.

Hands down, best moms.

The Egg Hunter

This year, we kicked off Easter by dying eggs at Ashley and Beau's house last weekend. Charly loved climbing their stairs and spilling green egg dye all over their kitchen, but she wasn't too interested in coloring eggs. Kelli and Ashley and my mom did all the work while she slept on Beau.

Saturday before Easter we took Charly to our church's annual Easter Egg hunt. While we waited for the hunt to begin, she colored some pictures, pinned a tail on a donkey, and tossed an egg into a bucket. The night before, Taylor stopped over to pick up the Minnesota Twins tickets for Saturday's game that Kelli and I couldn't use, and he predicted that Charly would timidly hunt for eggs and hand over all her findings to other kids.

That was not the case. Kelli only needed to model finding two eggs and placing them in the basket for Charly to figure out what to do and take it from there. She pointed her finger, jabbered directions to Kelli telling her where to go, and danced her way through the minefield of eggs. A few former students and their mom watched her hysterically from the distance and our music director followed and filmed her while missing his own daughter hunting eggs. He told us he was having too much fun watching Charly!

When Kelli counted out the 19th egg, our limit, Charly took the basket away from Kelli, slung it over her shoulder, and strutted toward the door. She was so proud!

It's crazy to think that last year Charly fit inside her Easter basket and this year she's twice the size of it! It was fun to see her discover her basket on Easter morning this year and immediately investigate all it's contents. She liked her bouncy ball and stackable bath cups but most of all, she loved her Easter egg shaped sidewalk chalk. She wanted it opened immediately!

After church with my family, and a quick visit to Grandma Henrichs', we headed out to Kelli's family for lunch. We hadn't gotten together for the last few Easters so it was fun to have everyone under one roof, even if the beer-can chicken took 3 hours to cook! We played baseball, hunted eggs, and Charly loved roaming the open yard with her cousins. The look on her face said it all! She thought she was pretty big stuff, playing with her big cousins. We don't know how she'll navigate this family of boys as she gets older, but we know she'll definitely be loved.

After eating and resting and hunting eggs with Kelli's family, it was back in to town for us to visit my family again. Cruz was sleeping, and stuck around long enough to open presents with Charly and play with her dress, and then we scattered some eggs in my grandparents' front yard and Charly had a blast collecting them. Uncle Taylor even hid some up his sleeve, but to no avail. Charly is a pretty seasoned hunter of the eggs after just one Easter of work.

Easter is obviously about so much more than bunnies and candy. Jesus died for us, so that we may live on and raise families that get to hunt for eggs and fill baskets with goodies. Amidst all the celebration, it's important not to forget that. The price He paid for us is worth it's weight in chocolate eggs. It deserves to be celebrated the best way we know how. If that means dying eggs and hunting for candy, then so be it, as long as He is not forgotten.

Seeing our little girl's face light up as she shook each egg like a maraca, made us all the more thankful for what He sacrificed. He gave us His life. He gave us ours. He gave us Charly, and for that we thank Him.

6 Years Ago

Six years ago, Kelli and I were married on a rainy day in Cedar Falls. We chose April because we both like Spring. We love it when the brown grass turns green and we love seeing the muck from Winter wash away in April showers. Coincidentally, it rained on that day six years ago just as it rained today, on our six-year anniversary. The difference was it was warm six years ago. It was freezing today.

Kelli and I celebrated six years by eating out at The Brown Bottle with a bunch of high school prom kids. We both ordered the same thing (seafood lasagna) even though I hate doing that. Our reservations were for 6:30 and we were out of there by 7:30. We shopped a bit at Target and made it home before 9:00. After six years (about 12 years actually), we sure know how to live it up!

Here's to 60 more spent together!

April

I love April. I love that we get excited for 50 and 60 degree weather. I love seeing the snow gone and the green grass poking through. I love the smell of fresh air. I love that Joe Mauer is back in uniform. I love that this is the month Jordan and I share our anniversary. I love that Easter is only a few weeks away.

But this April I especially love experiencing the outdoors as a family. We soaked up the sun this weekend and watched Charly navigate through the grass, earn miles on her Puma shoes, ride in her Radio Flyer, chuckle while attempting to put on her sunglasses, watch Daddy do yard work, laugh it up at the park, giggle going down the slide, and eat (and spill most of) her very own chocolate baby cone from Four Queens.

Spring is here, which means summer will soon be here. I am counting down the days for summer break where we can spend each day doing these simple routine tasks together as a family. Life is great!