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Saturday morning Chris had a race in Moon Valley. This in itself isn't unusual. It was how he was going to run it that made this story so unique.

It all started a few weeks ago with an email asking for people to apply to run as the Nesquik Bunny at a race in Phoenix. Yes, you read that right, the Nesquik Bunny. There was an incentive to run as a rabbit though.....money. The person chosen would get compensated for their time and if they placed in their age group they would get a bonus. This seemed right up Chris's alley since he was the MCC mascot in college, he likes to run and he's pretty fast. Well low and behold he was selected.

The week of the race Nestle sent him his bunny suit and what a suit it was!! He put this gigantic rabbit head on and came in the house looking a lot like a Nesquik Bunny bobble head. I couldn't even imagine him running in that thing. Too bad I couldn't go to the race. It would have been great to see this in person.

The day of the race dawned sunny and hot. Unfortunately even at 7:00am it is really hot when you are wearing a costume made of felt! It probably wouldn't have been so bad if he just had to wear it but he had to still run the race in it. Things started out okay but by the first mile Chris was so hot he wanted to quit right there. The associate runner, Julio, kept his spirits up making it possible to continue. However miserable he was feeling that big silly smile never left his face. Thanks to the bunny suit people never had a clue how hot and uncomfortable he really was. Actually, I've never seen Chris look better at race if I do say so!!

There was no post-race cool down for the poor Nesquik Bunny. Instead there was pictures to be taken and children to scare. You never know how kids are going to react to someone in a costume but all-in-all it wasn't too bad since only 4 kids cried. The teenage girls that were there volunteering all wanted their picture with the bunny but hands off girls, that bunny belongs to me!

Mingling and pictures after the race made the race itself worth while. Chris said it was a great experiecne and would definately do it again. Maybe he could get some part-time work at Disneyland next summer!!!

It's a Hummer Limo

Seth got the surprise of his life on Saturday afternoon when a stretch Hummer limo pulled up in front of our house. Grandpa, knowing how much Seth loves limos and Hummers, gave Seth the ultimate gift of 4 hours in a stretch Hummer. When it pulled up and we got Seth outside he was truly speechless!!! He could hardly believe that he would actually get to ride in it. I had arranged for three of his friends to go with us and Isaiah was actually here when it arrived. The boys were so excited and kept talking about how much fun it would be if their friend Jake could join them. Not knowing that I had called and set that up I told Seth that we could go pick him up after stopping by Aunties and getting Ryan. He didn't think it could get any better until we got to Vanessa's house and saw his other friend Jake waiting there with Ryan. Lynette, Cass, Alicia and Jillian were also waiting to go with us. In all we had 16 people (seems to be the magic number for party guests this year) riding with us.

Our first stop was Vanessa's followed by Jake Reeb's house. After that we went to the Sugar Bowl in downtown Scottsdale. I had never been there before but it turned out to be the perfect place to go. Not only is it a good old fashioned ice cream parlor but they had a few games to keep the kids occupied while they waited for their food. After eating we piled back into the limo and headed for The Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak where we would be dropping Seth, Chris, Matt and Ryan off. Vanessa and I would return later to spend the night but first we had to get the rest of the kids back and pick up our cars.

The kids all had so much fun!!! They thought it was cool to watch the people passing watch us. We are always wondering who's inside a limo when we pass so it was fun to be on the other end, or should I say on the inside looking out. The driver had decorated the inside with a birthday banner and balloons, which the kids liked batting back and forth between them. It was something they won't soon forget! I've never seen Seth so excited about something. Lynette noticed it too and commented on it. The next morning Seth said that Saturday had been the best day of his life.

Thank you Grandpa for making a 10 year old's dream come true!!!!!

Seth's 10th Birthday

Seth decided to have a pool party again this year for his birthday. He had wanted a Harry Potter theme again but I talked him into waiting for Halloween for that so he went with Pokemon instead.

He had 16 kids over for swimming, pizza and cake. I let the kids decorate their own cupcakes, which they really liked. Most of them tried to create a Pokemon or Poke ball. I should have had a contest but maybe we'll do something like that next year. We also played a couple of rounds of Pokemon bingo and then when Chris got home and it got dark all the kids wanted to play monster. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves and Seth thought it was a great way to spend his 10th birthday. If he only knew what was yet to come...

A Weekend Without kids in Chicago

Chris and I went to Chicago the first weekend in September and we left the kids at home. It is the first vacation we've ever taken without the boys. It was great!!! Not that I didn't miss them but we had blast. On this trip we not only got to see my Dad but John and Missy drove up from Ohio and met us there for the weekend.

The trip started with delays because the weather was bad in Chicago, which was not a big surprise after my last trip there. By the time we got to Chicago, rented our car and drove to the hotel it was 1:00AM.

Our car this time was straight out of the Chicago gangster era. It was some kind of Chevy that looked like Al Capone should be inside. Friday, while my dad was at work we went into Chicago to do some sightseeing. We started at Navy Pier then walked from there down Michigan Ave to the John Hancock Center. We got some great pictures from the viewing deck 94 floors up. It's not quite as high as Sears Tower but pretty darn close. That night we went out to dinner with my dad to a local steakhouse. The next day we walked to Six Flags. Poor Missy doesn't like roller coasters so she was our designated photographer. Since my dad got us a Flash Pass we didn't have to wait in line so at least she didn't have long to wait at each ride. We actually did so many rides that my stomach couldn't take anymore rides and I had to sit the last one out. We did get Missy to go on two rides, the Roarin' Rapids and the log ride. The rapids ride she loved and the log ride she hated. It was too much like a roller coaster for her. She sat in the back behind Chris (I was the lucky front passenger who got all the water) and screamed. I thought she was going to kill us for making her go. All in all we had a great day at Six Flags and ended the evening at TGI Friday's. Sunday we headed back into Chicago to the Field Museum. This was the best museum I've been too, not counting the Smithonian, and it reminded me of the movie "Night at the Museum". We saw Sue, the huge dinosauer they have on display there, and a really cool exhibit on the evolution of the Earth. John and Missy had to drive back to Ohio that afternoon and didn't get to stay long at the museum. I was sad to see them go but they had to get back to their family. After the museum we went to the Alder Planitarium. Luckily we didn't have to pay to get because it wasn't worth the asking price of $23/person. We got some really great pictures of Chicago from the shoreline there between the museum and the planitarium and then we headed back up to Gurnee.

Like most trips the weekend went by way to fast. Monday morning it was time to pack up and head back to O'hare for our trip home.

Storm of the Century

Well maybe not quite the storm of the century but last night we had a pretty spectacular monsoon storm. We knew it was going to be big because the radar showed two storm cells merging and both of them were full of red (red means a severe storm). It started with a lighting show. It was non-stop lighting for 2-3 hours with a constant rumbling of thunder. Then while out talking to Marie, it got really still and quiet. Then I was concerned because I knew that something big was about to hit. I truly thought a tornado might be on its way. It wasn't five minutes later when it hit full force. The storm lasted for hours with two more big storms hitting after the first.

This morning the paper said that there were winds up to 101 mph in parts of Tempe and Central Phoenix. Chris said that the neighborhoods near his work looked like they had been hit by a hurricane. There was a condominium complex that had glass blown out and Arcadia doors shattered from the storm and ASU just opened a new $8.4 million practice facility which was destroyed. Palm trees were snapped in half and big trees were uprooted on peoples houses. It was a pretty intense storm. It also brought 2" of much needed rain.

The video is of the constant lighting we had. Everyone kept saying that this is the type of storm they get in the mid-west, not here. I hadn't seen anything like it here before.

Well I seem to be experiencing technical difficulties with uploading the video. I will try and get it uploaded in the morning. Also keep in mind this actually happened on Aug. 28th. I couldn't get the post published until today. Sorry.