The Chateau Dusseau

First Post of 2012!

2012-01-11T09:48:00.005-06:00

I usually tried to get a post in on January 1st of the new year. Not so this year. We are still continuing to move into our new house bit by bit. We have to be out of the first house by Jan. 31st so that should provide us some motivation.

Liam and Owen got their first haircuts not by dad yesterday. I guess my Buzz-Only style wasn't working for Liam. He wanted to be able to spike it up on the top. Owen still thinks I'm the best though. Here is a cool picture of them and why I thought it would be great to have two boys. They look like such brothers here.

This photo was one I caught this morning. Liam told me to wait to go to school. Why? To fix his hair. I wonder how things will be when he likes girls.

2011 Year in Review

2011-12-27T12:27:00.000-06:00

Since we aren't very proficient at ever getting out Christmas letters or cards. I think the last one was the 1998 travel brochure. We (I) have gone to creating some picture slideshow. Last year, I created the video and here is one for 2011. Enjoy and a Merry Christmas!

More Christmas Fun

2011-12-26T07:51:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple pictures from Christmas day's activities. We opened presents and sat around and ate. We capped the night off with a rousing Packer victory over the Bears. All in all, a good day.

Merry Christmas...

2011-12-25T11:16:00.003-06:00

...from Florida! I know what you're saying, "HOLY COW, there is a blog post at the Chateau!" I may have had my longest hiatus from blogging in the past five years. I was on pace to have a good number of posts and then I faded. Well, things have been happening that I can hopefully update my faithful readers (if there are any left) on in the next year. Mainly, the Chateau has moved officially to Menomonee Falls. I hope to get pictures uploaded when we return from our vacation in Florida.

We arrived yesterday at about noon. We had to get up at 3:30 AM to catch the bus to O'hare and then our flight to Orlando. The rest of the day just consisted of doing, well, nothing. Today we went to Christmas church and now will just probably sit around. Here are a couple pictures of Liam and Owen today. Merry Christmas to all!

Too Long

2011-11-08T13:20:00.000-06:00

I know it is a theme that I don't get a lot posted lately. I haven't forgotten about my lonely little blog. If nothing else, here is Liam's 3rd grade school picture. I'll have to scan Owen's in and post it later.

NLDS

2011-10-04T08:33:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I posted (that seems to be a common opening sentence lately.) I'll bust out some other photos one of these days, but here is one from Sunday at Miller Park for game 2 of the National League Divisional Series between the Brewers and Diamondbacks.

Misc. Stuff

2011-09-11T17:36:00.000-05:00

Posting regularly has been difficult. I am taking two classes this fall, Cathy is working full-time, and life is just a little busy. Here are some random pics from the past 4 to 6 weeks.

Liam working on his soccer skills.

Legos are a big activity... here is a lego roller coaster.

Not sure how good Owen will be, but he sure will be tough.

This is Liam's speed boat.

Liam and I went golfing a few weeks ago. He out drove me on the first hole.

Liam driving.

Liam's First day of 3rd Grade

2011-08-25T14:37:00.000-05:00

Again, hard to believe that they are growing up so fast. Liam started school yesterday but I didn't have the card in my camera so this is really a "second" day of 3rd grade picture. Although, I suppose I could say it was his first FULL day of 3rd grade today. Anyway...

Owen's First Day of K4

2011-08-23T17:55:00.002-05:00

Summer has grinded to a screeching halt all of the sudden. Liam, Owen, and Cathy did get to the Dells waterparks with Grandma yesterday, but today was my first day of school as well as Cathy and Owen's. Liam starts tomorrow and he's not real excited. Below are a few pics of Owen in his spiffy new uniform.

Betik & Stuff

2011-07-20T17:52:00.000-05:00

I took a few pictures of the guys in their new betik shirts from our trip to Indonesia... Liam also got his first hit in baseball the other day... Here are a few photos.

Owen in his new Indo jersey

Day 11 - Jakarta

2011-07-04T23:39:00.006-05:00

We spent today driving into Jakarta and seeing some sights and shopping. We first visited the old Dutch part of town in what was originally Batavia. We had some coffee at the beautiful Cafe Batavia and visited the national museum, etc... The cafe is said to have one of the top ten bars in the world. Strangely enough it is covered in cow hide.

Old Dutch Government building

Old City Square

Cafe Batavia... duh.

Supposedly a top 10 bar in the world (according to Newsweek)

Just to try and show the sheer amount of traffic

We had lunch at a German restaurant which may sound weird but was delicious... Filling enough that dinner tonight was optional. We then did some shopping at one of the large malls in Jakarta and headed home in the crazy traffic. Arif drove today which is quite an adventure with all the cars and millions of little motorcycles.

Tomorrow morning we begin our trip for home. It will be nice to see Liam and Owen and sleep in our own bed.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 9-10 - Travlin' & Chillin'

2011-07-04T23:39:00.005-05:00

Not much to report for these days as we traveled from Bali to Jakarta. We didn't have the fun of missing our flight like we did from Jakarta to Bali... But that was easy to live without. We did get to spend a short time in the ocean in the morning playing in the water and boogie boarding. The waves were huge!

Surfing in the ocean

It was nice to get to see where Amy (and Arif now) lives as well as their school. We had gotten the Skype tour previously but this was much better. The girls went and got some massages and shopped on Saturday and the guys just hung out. We had some great fresh seafood again on Saturday night. Enjoy the few pictures I have.

Amy's School

Amy's House (and Arif's now too)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 8 - Rafting

2011-07-01T22:32:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went into the center of Bali again to go white water rafting. The girls were all excited because this was supposed to be some Eat, Pray, Love location tour where they filmed the movie... Whatever.

Rafting was very, very fun (except having to walk all the way back up to the top.

Gettin' Ready

Trudging through the jungle

A Motley Crew (No the band)

Amy is buyount

Arif is hanging out on the outside?

I'm told this is Eat, Pray, Loveish...

After rafting and lunch we came back to the hotel and then went out to watch the sunset on the beach.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 7 - Snorkeling

2011-06-29T19:55:00.002-05:00

Today we took a van for about an hour drive to the other side of Bali to go snorkeling. We ended up at Bloo Lagoon beach which may sound corny but was wonderful. We hired two small boats to take us for about a five minute dried and then snorkeled for about three hours... I wish I could have taken pictures of the beautiful sea life and corals... It makes me want to fire up my aquarium again. We then had lunch of some calamari, barracuda, marlin, and prawns as well as the surprisingly nice Bintang beer.

On our way out...

Prawns afterwards...

Bintang!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 5-6 - Bali Sightseeing

2011-06-29T19:50:00.002-05:00

On Monday we did some local sightseeing while we waited for Amy and Arif to arrive. It was a rainy day but we went up and down the beach and through some of the side streets and did some shopping. We got Liam and Owen their traditional local soccer jersey from where we go.

On Tuesday we hired a car for the day and went into central Bali for a little different flavor. We did some shopping in the market and had lunch at a local place. The food was excellent. Roasted pork, pork skin, fried intestine, and blood sausage.

Shopping... and an angry lady afterwards.

Babi Guli (pig)

The world isn't made for me to sit on the ground.

We did some sightseeing of inner Bali which was nice also...

We Then finished off the day with a sunset meal of fresh snapper, prawns, and crab.

I was not expecting the water.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 4 - The Wedding

2011-06-28T19:49:00.002-05:00

The main reason we came to Indonesia was for Amy and Arif's wedding. Not much detail to report as I am a guy and all of the intimate details probably escaped me. It was a very nice affair with may be about 75 or so people at the ceremony but may be 400 at the reception. Cathy and my reading part went off without a hitch. I've got a few pictures below.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Days 2-3 - Bogar, Indonesia

2011-06-25T08:37:00.002-05:00

We arrived in Jakarta via Singapore at about 11:30 AM on Thursday night. After taking a few hours in the visa line and trying to be ripped off by all the local porters in the baggage claim area we got out and Amy and Arif were there waiting for us. It was about an hour and a half to the resort where we were staying. Of course, we couldn't fall asleep. After finding the in room mini bar we went to bed at about 2:30 AM.

The resort is very nice. (Picture is out our window)

We had breakfast and then got a little tour of Bogar from Amy and Arif. We visited the Botanical Gardens and drove past the summer Presidential Palace. The president has a pension for deer so there are thousands of tame deer on his lawn. It was really interesting. We went and found some Betik shirts for the wedding for the guys and then ate at a local restaurant.

Presidential Summer Palace

We came back and hit the ice cold pool. Brrrr. We then went to the rehearsal dinner and the wedding rehearsal where Cathy and I have a reading to do. The wedding is at 9 AM tomorrow. We then went to bed and tried to get our body clocks on track. More pictures and things hopeful,y tomorrow. The Internet is a little sketchy in our room.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 1 - Helsinki, Finland

2011-06-22T09:56:00.002-05:00

Well, we are off! I am writing this on the iPad as we sit in the Helsinki airport after a day of sightseeing here. We left Milwaukee at about 11 AM on Tuesday and took off from O'Hare at about 3:30 PM. Our plane was pretty nice but ahh, the smell of international travel.

We landed in Helsinki at 8:30 AM local time (which was 12:30 AM CST). We set off on a bus for the short drive to the city center. It was a very nice day in Helsinki and was about 60-65 degrees and sunny.

Pretty Building

We went down to the Oceanside market and visited the Upsalanskin Cathedral, the largest Orthodox cathedral in western Europe. Ironically, we lived blocks from Aleksandr Nevski Cathedral is Sofia, which was the largest Orthodox cathedral in Eastern Europe. I guess we can check big orthodox cathedrals off of our list.

Orthodox Cathedral

We spent some time in the market and had lunch. We had a traditional Finnish summer dish of fried fish (sardine-like sized), potatoes, and salad. Of course I had to get a Fanta because they are better in Europe (trust me, it's a different recipe.). Cathy bought a funky hand knitted stocking hat too. There were lots of fruits like blueberries, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and root or bulb vegetables of all kinds. The cold weather has to make everything ultra-sweet.

Seaside Market

Lunch

We then went to the largest Lutheran cathedral in the world. It was quite The contrast from the gaudy orthodox one.

Largest Lutheran Church in the world.

Have to have an organ.

Marty

We spent some more time walking around and looking at some of the must see sights but seeing as we were kind of running on no sleep we were starting to feel it. We headed back to the airport where we are currently waiting for our flight to Singapore. We get in there at about 4 PM local time on Thursday which will be like 4 AM I think. We en catch a pretty quick flight to Jakarta. At least we get in late Thursday night so we can go to bed.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

We Are Off!

2011-06-21T09:25:00.000-05:00

Holy cow, the more I look at that test iPad picture the more repulsed I am by it... so if this post only pushes that one farther down it will be a good one.

Today we are off to Jakarta, Indonesia for the wedding of our friend Amy. It will take us only 44 hours to get there. I've included a nice little map for all my faithful followers of our trip from Chicago to Helsinki to Singapore to Jakarta... We will have five days in Bali also. Hopefully I will get to post some pictures along the way so stay tuned.

It will be interesting to be without Liam and Owen for two weeks... we will see how we do without them!

Liam's Baseball

2011-06-17T09:59:00.000-05:00

I have a few new pictures of Liam playing baseball lately. We are doing a little better job of paying attention but he still hasn't hit the ball in play yet. Hopefully we get one by the end of the season.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Test Post From the iPad

2011-06-12T21:53:00.001-05:00

I'm just testing the capability of posting from the iPad for our upcoming trip to Indonesia (via Helsinki and Singapore). Cathy thinks I should take the laptop along but I think the new iPad will work fine. Let's see how this post turns out.

Holy cow... I look stupid.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Soccer

2011-06-08T20:32:00.001-05:00

Liam finally seems to be getting soccer lately. He is moving nicely in space and seems to understand what is going on out there and is hustling. I don't think he's ready for the English Premier League yet, but at least we are getting a little physical in there. I can't say that for baseball where we have struck out every at bat this season. Hopefully that comes too. Here are a few pictures from this last weekend's soccer game.

Owen's Graduation

2011-06-07T17:44:00.000-05:00

Things have been pretty busy, but not a lot of pictures to post. It has been way too cold and rainy to warrant pictures at Liam's baseball or soccer. School is almost over so hopefully we get some action there.

We are a few years away from any meaningful graduation, but Owen had his K4 graduation last night. It was quite the event as of course, Owen was the valedicatorian of his class with a 3.95 GPA. Here are some pictures.

Getting his hat.

A little crooked

Playing the maracas.

Getting our diploma.

Spring Soccer

2011-04-30T16:21:00.000-05:00

Liam is playing on the same soccer team this year... here are couple pictures from his game. He still is way too timid. He needs to stick his nose in there.

Fartin' around.

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T20:13:00.000-05:00

So not much verbage to report on Easter 2011... a few pictures from our day. We spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa Dusseau after church.

Yes, this was how the day started out.

Pine Car Derby

2011-04-09T14:07:00.000-05:00

This year Liam was in Pioneers so we had our first opportunity to compete in the Pine Car Derby. He did a good amount of the work but alas, dad had to butt in and help out. Owen, not officially being in the derby got a few nice coats of red. Liam's got some nice hand done flames on the side. At the practice night, our first run down the track didn't even get us a third of the way down. We made some modifications and we were running pretty well. At the actual derby, Liam won his first round and never finished lower than third, but was one second off the top spot overall and finished in 14th place. He didn't quite get the whole overall time thing, so we had some tears. Such is life I guess. There is always next year.

Owen looks a little angry...

Ready to go.

We won the first round... lane 2.

Cooking

2011-03-30T08:27:00.001-05:00

For some reason, Owen really likes to help Cathy cook. He especially likes to make pancakes. It isn't always the cleanest operation but he has a good time. Some pictures I snapped recently are below. By the way, yes, his shirt is on backwards.

Owie's Blanket

2011-03-29T10:26:00.000-05:00

Day #2 of my Spring Break... today I've got some pictures of Owen and his beloved blanket. I'm not sure when he is going to be done with it or how we are going to take it away from him, but he really does love his blanket. As you can see, it might die before he is ready.

Ta Da!!!

Hammin' it up

Happy Spring Holiday

2011-03-28T08:04:00.000-05:00

I know, I know... you're saying, "Holy Cow!" There's a post at the Chateau! Well, today starts day one of my Spring Holiday break and I thought I'd post a little and make up for the last few weeks. Today we have some pictures of Owen and his K4 class. Enjoy!

Feb. Stuff

2011-02-28T21:39:00.000-06:00

Well, not only is this mildly interesting post my 200th of my blogging career, it is one that will help me reach my goal of posting more than once per month. Anyway, on with the post. As you may or may not know, Cathy and I will be taking a trip to Indonesia this summer to visit our friend Amy (Hi Amy!) and her soon to be husband Arif. Soooo, that trip gave me an excuse to do something I had been wanting to do for a while, buy a new and nice DSLR camera. I finally did and bought a new Canon EOS T2i. The pictures below represent my first few shots with the new camera. Enjoy.

My first shot... my office computer.

The newest addition to my office... two new newspapers.

Liam showing me his picture.

Owen doing the same.

Blizzard of the Decade

2011-02-02T18:08:00.000-06:00

The weathermen/people said that this was the biggest snowstorm in 10 years... I'm not sure I believed them and even though everyone canceled school the day before I wasn't sure we were going to get enough to justify a day off. Normally, the weather people overestimate greatly the amount of snow. That is nice, though, as it usually leads to a day or two off of school every year. Even when I got up this morning it was done snowing and I wondered if that was a right call. Well, there was a LOT of snow. Even with a snow blower it took me 3 hours! here are a couple pics from the day.

PS - I want to live where it's warm.

New Year's Eve

2011-01-31T12:55:00.000-06:00

I rarely post pictures of myself for obvious reasons... like I'm usually taking the picture, etc... Here is a nice one, though, from New Year's Eve at Wuf's house.

SUPER BOWL!!!!

2011-01-26T20:47:00.001-06:00

So I'm sure my faithful fans are wondering what the world's most faithful Packer fan is thinking right now. I turned my phone off during the game to ignore all of my Detroit Lion fan friends texts... but it was a great to turn my phone on to the barrage of "We're going to the Super Bowl" texts.

I'll get to the game in a minute but these two weeks of hype in Milwaukee are wonderful. The radio has been littered with talk of the 12 (soon to be 13) time World Champions. This morning on the radio they were talking about whether or not you would take Aaron Rodgers or Big Ben if you had to start a new franchise. Foolish commentators saying they would take Rothleisberger over Rodgers... morons. On the way home tonight the host was asking whether or not the Packers made the right decision three years ago freezing Favre out in favor of Rodgers. OF COURSE IT WAS. Favre would have thrown 7 interceptions in the playoffs and we definitely would have lost. I admit, I was wrong. It has turned out to the be the right decision. As one host says, the time to cut someone loose is often before we think. My bad.

As for the game. I think this hinges on two things. Can Rodgers not turn the ball over or get killed by Polumalu and whether or not we can get some pressure on Big Ben and not allow him to shake 5 tackles and make a big play. We can't get pressure and then let him loose, then we're in some big trouble. I am 2 for 2 in predicting the Packers Super Bowl games in my lifetime. I absolutely KNEW we would win Super Bowl 31 and I was nervous from the get go to play Denver in Super Bowl 32 and was right.

Rob's Prediction: Packers 45 - Steelers 27. Blow OUUUUTTTT!

Christmas

2011-01-17T10:15:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple of pictures of our Christmas break. I am committed to more blogging this year! We will see.

Owen at Betty Brinn Children's Museum

Future job? May be he can get me into major sporting events then.

Dusseau Family Christmas Tree 2010 - White Pine

New Year's Eve at Wuf's.

Sledding

2010 Year in Review

2010-12-30T16:02:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't been the best blogger this year. I could probably blame it on a lot of things like we were living in a rental house, we moved, work was busy, I am going to graduate school, etc... but none of them would be good ones. I just didn't cut it this year I'm afraid. One of the nice things about Christmas break is that I get to do some little housekeeping jobs on my computer. I hadn't been good, either, at keeping this year's pictures nicely filed away so I had to spend some time today doing that. In doing that I also created a nice little year end video versus the traditional (ok, 2 years worth) slide show I normally post - so here goes. So much has happened this past year that it is easy to forget how blessed we are. Here's to a better blogging 2011!

The Frozen Tundra

2010-12-06T21:45:00.001-06:00

No, I'm not talking about the general state of Wisconsin weather, but recently I've had a chance to go to two Packer games since the beginning of November. Cathy and I went to the Dallas v. Green Bay Sunday night game early in December with her dad and sister. It was her first Packer game and a nice night for it, not really too cold. The Packers won pretty easily. This past Sunday I went to the Green Bay v. San Francisco game. The throwback jerseys were an interesting touch, I'm not sure if I liked them or not. This game was a bit colder, but still not as some I've been to.

Green Bay vs. San Francisco... wearing the 1929 throwbacks.

Green Bay vs. Dallas Sunday night game...

Fall Fun

2010-11-01T20:47:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple of fall fun pictures. Grandma and Grandpa took Liam and Owen to the pumpkin farm. This seems to be an annual trip for them. I have the obligitory halloween pictures also. Liam was a clone trooper after a failed dracula attempt. He just couldn't get his collar right so he scrapped that idea. Owen has been wanting to be Batman for months... I even got him to say in the whispered tone, "I'm Batman..."

The Obligitory "How Tall Are You Picture..."

Pile 'o Pumpkins

The crew...

Attacking the house?

Goodbye B-town.

2010-10-29T17:42:00.002-05:00

As you may know, we have sold the Chateau in Burlington. Some of you may think that I say "Goodbye B-town" with an air of celebration, but I don't think that would be accurate. It is always kind of sad to sell a house and while moving to Burlington wasn't exactly what we wanted to do and buying our house in Burlington was kind of a disappointment after our house in Florida, I think it is safe to say that Burlington really grew on us. I think "Goodbye B-town" is actually said with some sadness. Some of our best friends still live there and we are going to miss them and the ability to just stop by at a moment's notice.

We moved out last weekend and closed today on 549 Briody. We are no longer home owners. Here is one final picture of the Chateau with Cathy, Liam, and Owen. We moved in as a family of 3 and Sofie and leave a family of 4 without her. Lots of great times and many, many memories.

Cathy, Liam, & Owen one last time at 549 Briody

Birthdays

2010-10-02T11:19:00.000-05:00

September is birthday month at the Chateau. Liam's is on the 18th, mine on the 25th, and Owen's on the 29th. Frankly, I get jipped out of my birthday. I did, though, get permission to finally buy a PS3 for my birthday. I still have to pay for it, but I'll take it. Here are a couple pictures of the week.

Yes, this is AM and this is when Liam got us out of bed on his birthday.

Wide Awake

Opening our first gift...

8 years old

Opening gifts at Grandma's house

We had twinkie airplanes instead of a cake.

Helicopter!

First Trip to the Holy Land

2010-09-12T21:11:00.001-05:00

No... we did not go to Jerusalem, but the other holy land - Lambeau Field. For those who have never been, well, words cannot describe and I will not attempt to. But for the familia Dusseau we made our first trip for Cathy, Liam, and Owen for the Packer Family Night. It was a fun day, we tailgated, went in for the warm ups and scrimmage, and then some really, really cool fireworks launched from the roof of the stadium in a 360 degree spectacle. It was a good time had by all and only having to drive back to Milwaukee was very nice. Here are some pictures of the night.

Cheesehead Owen

To the game...

View from our seats.

Not sure what Owen is doing?

Acting silly...

Summer Fun

2010-09-12T15:23:00.002-05:00

I know, you checked back and surprise! Rob has updated the blog. I had this post ready about a month ago and then Liam hopped on the computer and closed out my window in the middle of a picture upload. I guess that is a curse of a child who is old enough to surf the net. Anyway, I hope to "get back on the proverbial horse" and keep things updated again and hopefully my faithful fans will return.

We have had some summer fun. Liam was especially busy with golf and baseball. We also took a tour of Miller Park the this summer.

Owen in the dugout.

Hopefully I can take this picture when they are older.

Owie in the golf cart.

Liam on the putting green at golf lessons.

Liam got to play a round from the forward tees.

With his new hat.

Batter Up!

Running to first base...

Everybody has to get a trophy...

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2010-07-23T14:39:00.002-05:00

It was an interesting night last evening as the earth began to open, and the seas... err, wait, that was the OTHER flood.

Anyway, you may have seen Milwaukee on the national news today as we got a whole lot of rain in a little bit of time. It was quite the spectacle. The Chateau Dusseau, Milwaukee location, got about a foot of water in the basement and when the busses drove by the breakers (not an exageration) hit the second step of the front door.

Cathy has been busy cleaning up today as I went to school to see how the 4 ft. of water in the elevator shaft was doing. Fun times and more rain tonight they say. Here are a couple of pictures.

The Chateau... flooded.

Looking toward the backyard.

The basement, early on.

Sherman Blvd.

The neighbors van...

Looking south on Sherman Blvd.

Lots of stalled cars, the breakers came from the busses.

Looking south again on Sherman Blvd.

Yes, that is the Fire Dept. with a boat behind their truck.

All Is Good

2010-07-14T07:37:00.000-05:00

Well, I made the jump to the new iPhone 4 this past week. I'm happy to report that I haven't had any problems with the "death grip" or anything else. The major good thing was that when I synced it with my old one, all the icons for apps that weren't standard went away. When I resynced them I hadn't lost any data from games I had played in the past. You can not imagine the anger if I would have lost that high Yahtzee score or my Sailboat Pro score... some heads would have rolled. BUT, all is good.

Videos of Owen

2010-07-12T08:27:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple videos of Owen from TX. He actually did eat the pancake.

TX 2010

2010-07-08T20:51:00.000-05:00

I thought tonight that it would be a good night for a post... I know its been a while, but I have been a little busy. Next week finishes up a class that puts me at 1/4 of the way finished with my PhD course work. No need for congratulations (not that anyone was going to do that), but that still puts me at t-minus 5 years.

We spent a week in TX visiting Cathy's dad a few weeks ago. Here are a few pictures from the trip which was highlighted by some fishing, tubing, and a jet ski.

Liam caught one!

Playing DS

Swimming

A big, ugly catfish.

The yearly cowboy picture.

On the boat...

With Grandpa

What?

2010-06-21T17:19:00.003-05:00

So my blog might have read "deleted" recently... I don't know what the deal was, but I tried to log in from TX and it asked me for a special password. May be it didn't like me logging in from the middle of nowhere, but now I have things going. Sorry about that.

Randomness

2010-06-11T23:31:00.000-05:00

I know I've slowed down on the posts... life has been busy. Next week we leave for TX for a week so hopefully I can post some vacation picks then. Today was a big day at the Chateau, it was the opening games of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. As some of my faithful readers may remember, we went to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. That was pre-blog, but fun nonetheless. We watched the first game at home, and then we went to the Nomad for the first half of France v. Uruguay. It was a good time. Here are some other pics of the past month.

Owen as Spiderman

Down by the lake

Owen's K3 Graduation

Liam's Baseball

7 Years

2010-05-26T06:07:00.002-05:00

I know, I know... it has been over a month since a post. Sorry about that, life has gotten really busy with only 3.5 days of school left. This living in two houses thing isn't the best either. But I digress...

Cathy and I have never been real good at celebrating all the days that the adoption people "say" you are supposed to celebrate. May be that is because I don't remember celebrating my "homecoming" day or may be because we are too busy with life. Today hasn't been much different except for reminding Liam that today was the day seven years ago that we picked him up at JFK International Airport and began the wild ride as parents. I've looked through some photos and reminisced a little bit about what seems to be just yesterday.

First pictures of the little guy... he looks so harmless

The most famous picture of the crazy haired Liam

Liam in April 2003. Cathy was upset his hair had fallen down

May 26, 2003 - D-day at JFK

Baptism

Gpas

3rd Birthday

The first sign we were in trouble, a little ingenious guy... ignore the wine bottles in the sink

First day meeting Owen

First day of kindergarten... he looks a little confused

First round of golf last summer

Spelling Bee this spring... 6th place!

Easter Break

2010-04-11T15:56:00.000-05:00

Today is the last day of Easter break for us. The only thing that doesn't make this day a poor one is the great weather AND the final round of the Masters (which long time readers will recognize is Rob's greatest day of the year).

It has been a fun break with weather somewhere between 80 degrees and snowing and back to 75 degrees today. Here is a little photo expose on what we've been up to.

Sports
On Easter Sunday we went to the Milwauke Wave's MISL Championship soccer game. We had great seats and despite going up 6-0 the Wave lost 12-6.

On Wednesday we also went to our long awaited Milwaukee Bucks game. Owen had been talking about the Bucks for some time and wore his jersey religiously. Unfortunately, the two jerseys we have are of two players who were injured and didn't play (Michael Redd & Andrew Bogut). The Bucks won, we got on the jumbotron, our section won free Quarter Pounders with Cheese, and free Bango bobble heads).

In our seats, we were there a little early.

National Anthem

Owen intent on watching.

Game action.

Hanging Out

Home Improvement

We also spent some time at the B-town house working on things we should have improved while we lived there. I had some basement wall work to complete and it turned out really nice (see, should have done it when we lived there). I had put shutters on a while ago but I had some outside work to do also.

Basement wall (White was the previous days work)

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T13:13:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter everyone! It is kind of a strange Easter as no family are around. We went to church this morning and this afternoon we are going to the Milwaukee Wave MISL championship game. Should be a fun time. Here are a couple pictures of the Liam and Owen.

I'm Back!

2010-04-02T17:07:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I missed the ENTIRE month of March. That is the first time in three years of blogging that I've missed an entire month. Things got real hectic as the Chateau MOVED!!! Well, sort of. Being sick of driving, etc... we moved into a rental house in Milwaukee. The strangest thing about the whole deal is probably that it is the house I grew up in! Very weird, but only about 10-15 minutes from Risen Savior.

The Old Abode

I also wanted to keep everyone updated on Owen's progress. He has gotten through all of his Dr. appointments and they seem to say everything is OK. He does have a little white discoloration on the right side of his face, but nowhere near how bad it looked at first. We are having a little difficulty not letting it get burned by the sun. It seems to be a little red right now but the long term prognosis is an all clear with no scarring or discloration in the long term. Amazing how the body heals.

Click for a larger image

Lookin' Good

Spelling Bee Success

2010-02-27T16:44:00.000-06:00

Liam was selected to participate in the WELS Area Primary Grade Spelling Bee from Risen Savior. He got 35 of 50 correct on the initial in class spelling test. We have had a really tough time getting him to practice and were basically forcing him to participate today. I was worried he would go out in the first round. Well, he did wonderful. He was in the top 3 of his room's 16 students and made it to the finals with the top 6. He was the first one out in the finals misspelling WHERE as W-E-R-E. Oh well, he had a great time. Below is a picture of him and his certificate/ribbon as well as a little video of him spelling NAME.

6th Place Ribbon & Certificate

In the finals!

Happy Guy!

All Clear

2010-02-25T06:40:00.000-06:00

Owen went to the doctor yesterday and go the "All Clear" diagnosis. He took the bandages off and the one on his face fell off. He gave him permission to take a bath which was nice and get rid of the slime. The Dr. was Japanese which made it nice to hear about how this might effect his skin. He said there was probably little chance that there will be discoloration permanently.

Owen smiling... you can see one of the burns on his shoulder. (2.25.10)

Lookin' Good

2010-02-23T18:19:00.000-06:00

Owen is being a spazoid tonight. I had to threaten him to get him to stand still for my daily pictures. He is looking much better I think tonight. The biological membrane is beginning to come off a bit and we are trimming it with a scissors. The pink skin is going away a little bit and I'm more confident there won't be any issues with permanent marks, but we will see. Owen does go to the burn clinic tomorrow for a check up and we will find out more then on what they think.

A little side note, the boy that was burned in that car crash in Milwaukee last year was back at Children's Hospital the same time Owen was. Cathy didn't see him, but spoke to a few of his relatives.

Tuesday night (2.23.10)

First Day Back at 'School'

2010-02-22T19:17:00.000-06:00

I think Owen looks much better today and today was his first day back at "school". I still have a few concerns about whether or not he will have any discoloration or scarring on his face, but I'm hoping not. Pictures definitely accentuate the burns, they are much harder to see in person. The more distant picture even makes them harder to see. It seems to have healed nicely around his eye too.

Monday morning (not woken up all the way. 2.22.10)

Monday night (2.22.10)

Monday night farther away (2.22.10)

Looking Better

2010-02-21T08:02:00.000-06:00

Owen looks much better this morning. Another big chunk of his forehead peeled off and the lines around his eye are disappearing. Hopefully in a couple of days he will be good as new. Unfortunately he is going to have to miss this coming's week trip to the Country Springs water park that we were planning on. I think just Liam and I will go as of now.

Saturday night (2.20.10)

Sunday morning (2.21.10)

Owen - Continuing to Heal

2010-02-20T09:12:00.000-06:00

We are in the stage where Owen looks a lot worse but the healing process is moving along. Some of the skin on his head is beginning to peel off leaving some obvious pink spots of new skin. The hardest part is keeping Owen from realizing that he can't be running ahead full speed and rolling on his face like he normally does. Thanks to all the e-mails and obvious prayers that have been coming in. I will try to keep everyone updated here.

Owen on Friday night (2.19.10) - Still Happy

Owen on Saturday morning (2.20.10) - Always Smiling

Owen Update

2010-02-18T18:56:00.002-06:00

Owen got home from the hospital yesterday with an all clear and ready to go bill of health from the Docs. A nurse came to the house today to take a look and help Cathy change the dressing of the burns and said he looked good. One thing is for sure, Owie's spirit and energy haven't been damaged. It is almost scarey watching him run around and not have any regard for his burns.

I was kind of shocked to see him today as he looks really rough and the pictures look a little bleak. It should all heal fine though. Amazing how the body works. I've included a couple pictures below and they may not be for the squeemish. He is shiny from the lotion that he has to keep on his face. They all say he will be fine, but we are just praying that there is no scarring, especially on his face. We will see, I will keep you updated.

Owen & ER Trip #4... and More

2010-02-17T10:02:00.000-06:00

I was wondering what I was going to post in February because I've gone three years without a down month. I didn't want to break my streak. This, though, wasn't what I wanted to post although things seem to be working out OK and will be fine.

Owen the tank engine, decided yesterday at about 9 AM that it would be a good idea to pull a coffee pot of water off of the counter at Grandma's house. The problem was that this pot of water happened to be filled with boiling water. The water and the pot hit him in the left shoulder and splashed up onto the left side of his face. Cathy said that she had never heard him scream like that. She ripped off his shirt and put him under cold water in the bathtub and then they ran him to Children's Hospital.

He spent the morning in the ER where they gave him something for the pain and put some medicine (Silver Nitrate I think) on his shoulder, which is the worst of the burns. When I got there about noon they were just taking him up to his room to await a surgical procedure later that yesterday afternoon.

They took him into "surgery", and I use that term lightly. Other than putting him under it really wasn't surgery. The procedure involved scrubbing all of the skin off that was burnt to prevent infection and scarring and then apply a "bio brain". Basically a biological bandage or skin that will stay on the burns and allow them to heal in a sterile environment. There will be no scab because of it.

He seemed to sleep pretty well through the night I was told and will be able to come home today. It will be about two weeks before the biological bandage comes off and he is back to new, hopefully with no scars. I've included a few pictures below.

Right after he got to the emergency room...

Owen and Mommy...

Sleeping in the ER...

All bandaged up... waiting to go to his room.

After his surgical procedure, the patch on his cheek is the biological bandage...

Academic All-Star

2010-01-21T06:38:00.000-06:00

We award a weekly Academic All-Star award to students at Risen Savior. For months, Liam has been asking about it. Before Christmas we even had tears because he wasn't getting it. Well, today Liam won the lower grade Academic All-Star. He was kind of stoic about it. I thought I was going to have to peel the smile off of his face.

Winter Fun

2010-01-18T16:35:00.004-06:00

The weather has been a little bit unseasonably warm - 35+ degrees for a couple days, nothing great. So here are a couple pictures and videos from sledding between our house this past December...

Snow

2010-01-09T10:47:00.003-06:00

So... I say this every year, but it is hard to believe that I have been able to keep this blog up for what is now the start of the 4th year. It has been a little tough as of late but I think I'm going to be able to do it.

Well it has been snowing quite a bit lately and one of the bad things about leaving early and getting home late is that I don't have time to shovel. When the first storm came in December Cathy out shoveling caused our neighbor to have pity on her and snow blow everything, but this time no such luck. I got home last night and decided I shouldn't wait until Sat. morning. And that is where the story begins...

I had started up the 1974 Toro Beast back in October and got it running so I wasn't real worried. It was dark, I thought I had the key and choke ready to go so I started pulling. Thanks to the Musgrave Small Engine Repair Shop the beast usually starts up in one pull. After five minutes I was exhausted. I went and got a flashlight and realized I had the key in the 'off' position. DOH! After another minute or two she hadn't started so I looked at the choke... oops! It was in the low position. Alright, I've got 'er. Another several minutes of pulling and NOTHING! So, I thought, "I wonder how much gas is in the tank?" Well, NONE!!!! DOH! DOH! DOH!

It was amazing that with gas in the tank, the key in the 'on' position, and the choke open, guess what? One pull and I'm off.

No one said I was the brightest bulb in the box.

2009 Year In Review

2009-12-31T09:54:00.001-06:00

In what has become sort of a tradition here at the Chateau Dusseau, here is the 2009 in pictures!

Disney World!

2009-12-30T09:33:00.006-06:00

We went to Disney World yesterday. I'm not a big fan of it, but it just is one of those things you are supposed to do. Getting up at 6 AM on vacation isn't my idea of a smart thing to do, but we made it. It was FREEZING! 39 degrees when we woke up, someone remind me why I came here when I could get that at home.

We did all the normal things: Winnie the Pooh, It's a Small World, Peter Pan, Bear Jamboree... etc... The night was obviosuly highlighted with Liam being able to drive the car on the Race Car Track. Liam and Owen love the train and monorail which we rode back to the car. Fun was had by all and I did get to see the Badger game afterall.

Liam trying to become KING OF THE WORLD!

Liam driving his race car... his smile is pure bliss.

Owen before the 3D show. A little gangsta

Liam posing
.
With Woody and his girl (don't know her name)

Captain Owie

Merry Christmas... from Florida

2009-12-25T11:11:00.004-06:00

Well... it has been some time since I posted. Life has been busy. We did leave on December 21st for Florida. I had hoped to post each day, but again, that didn't work.

Our plan of leaving at 8:30 AM on Monday was pushed back when we found out our flight had been postponed to 11:00 AM. Owen then proceeded to puke twice. We did go back home where he was able to take a nap and that helped. We got back to the airport at 9 AM and found out our flight was then cancelled. They put us on a direct flight leaving at 4 PM. So we had a nice first day at the airport.

We've had a good time swimming, playing putt-putt golf, hanging out, and relaxing. Liam and Owen did go with Grandma and Grandpa to a Disney character breakfast this morning. Liam and I hope to get golfing over the next few days... I hope to get more posted later.

Liam hanging out...

Owen by the pool

Liam and Owen before Christmas Eve church.

Owen opening presents

Liam and Owen doing... something.

Owen climbing a tree.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T12:45:00.007-06:00

I know... 2 posts in a week!

It was a rather quiet Thanksgiving this year as we just went to my parents' house. Recent tradition was broken as Cathy's sister and brother-in-law went to FL instead. It was good nontheless. I, again, was responsible for the pancetta covered turkey - which was delicious as usual. We watched a little football and that was about it. We are home now and not much is on the agenda for the rest of the weekend. We hope everyone else had a blessed Thanksgiving also.

Thanksgiving Football
Aaron Rodgers couldn't find his Packer helmet so he went with the Huskers...

Jalepeno Brined Pancetta covered Turkey

Before, Covered, & After

Mmmmm...

So Where Have We Been?

2009-11-23T18:43:00.006-06:00

Well, I've probably hurt my faithful reader base with the lack of November posts. Hopefully I can get them to return. Things have been very busy here at the Chateau Dusseau (For sale if your interested) as we get into the swing of school and driving and school and driving... well, you get the point. I've posted some pictures to let you know what has been going on.

Football Weekend - Cousin James came out from Huskerland and we took in some football going to both the Wisconsin v. Northwestern game and then the Packer v. 49er game at Lambeau. We also managed to squeeze in a Sprecher brewery tour.

Trick or Treat - Liam was Ben 10 and Owen was Thomas the Tank Engine.

Soccer - Liam wrapped up another soccer season. He seemed disinterested at the end but we'll see about it in the spring.

Pumpkin Farm - Grandma and Grandpa took Liam and Owen to their annual trip to the pumpkin farm.

Liam & Owen - Liam lost another of his front teeth. Owen is preparing for Mr. Universe.

Collage

2009-11-07T09:47:00.000-06:00

1st Grade

2009-10-23T18:55:00.002-05:00

Here is Liam's 1st grade school picture. It looks like we might be into some braces in the future. He still is a pretty cute little guy.

Been Busy

2009-10-18T19:58:00.001-05:00

Alright, Alright... Suki has been bugging me about my lack of posts. I know, but I've been a tad busy. I have a whole bunch of photos and stuff to get up here and hopefully this week I can get to it. I have also been working on a blog to try and help us sell our house. Take a look if you like. www.549Briody.com.

Rob's Feelings on the Favre

2009-10-05T19:31:00.004-05:00

As we near game time I feel it necessary to issue a formal statement on the Favre situation. I issued a similar press release on the Favrepocolypse two years ago an feel the need again.

I, who once was angry at Ted Thompson (and come to find out more Mike McCarthy) for pushing Favre out now wish extreme ill on Favre. I feel like I need counseling to get over my mixed feelings. I'm not even sure I can fulfill my once rock solid promise to visit Canton for his Hall of Fame induction.

It is like your girlfriend has cheated on her. You still like her but you want he to get hit by a bus.

GO PACK!

Bees

2009-09-21T08:16:00.018-05:00

This morning on my way to school I stopped to get gas. There were a lot of those slow, sluggish bees hanging around the pump. After I got into the car and pulled away I was about to get on the interstate and as I was turning the corner and accelerating I felt this searing pain on my neck. I quickly smacked the area pushing a bee off of my neck. I heard it hit the steering wheel, but mind you it is dark, and that was it. So now I'm trying to get on the interstate, change lanes, and am dealing with this pain in my neck all the while wondering if a live bee fell between my legs. It took about 15 minutes before I stopped worrying about getting stung in the inner thigh (or worse). I arrived at school, walked into the building only to find the LIVE BEE clinging to my pants leg! Ahhh!

Batman & Robin

2009-09-19T09:29:00.004-05:00

I thought this was a pretty cool drawing by Liam the other day. When you want him to sit down and do some good work he resists, but then he busts cool stuff like this out. I put the two pictures together. On the left is Bruce Wayne in his house (check out the batmobile in the cave) and on the right is Batman, the Joker, and Robin.

Liamism

2009-09-18T13:30:00.005-05:00

Today is Liam's 7th birthday... hard to believe the little crazy haired dude turns 7 years old. He has been very excited about his birthday and today we are going to Chucky Cheeze for a little party for him (torture for us).

He asked me yesterday if he would be bigger when he turned 7, and I said probably. He was up at about 5:00 AM this morning and he was in the bathroom looking in the mirror. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm checking to see if I'm bigger." Straight face, totally serious. I asked him if he was. He said, "No." and then went back to bed.

Jimmy Buffett 2009

2009-09-12T07:38:00.003-05:00

I know I haven't posted in a while about the happenings here at the Chateau. I suppose I could post a picture looking out the front of Bonnie because that is what I do several hours per day. Anyway....

If you look back in the archives you will see a regular trip to see Jimmy Buffett at Alpine Valley. Normally Jimmy comes in June or July, but this year he was here on August 29th. I'm not sure I liked it after school had started but what are you going to do. People from all over come over to WI and Alpine Valley to see Jimmy every year because it is the best party of all. Unfortunately, this year it was a high of 50 and drizzled most of the day. Not as bad as the downpour of '98 but probably more miserable because of the cold. Here are a couple pics and if you are ever interested in coming, let mek know - I had 5 extra tickets this year!

First Day of First Grade

2009-08-25T20:27:00.004-05:00

Today was Liam's (and mine for that matter) first day of school. Hard to believe that little frizzy haired Liam is now in first grade! This year was a big year as he (we) are changing schools and he didn't know anyone. The names are a little different for him too. He seemed to do well - he wasn't too sure about the uniform either. When I peeked in on him he was smiling and he was standing on the line nicely when I walked by. Hopefully we will have a great year.

Liam's First Round

2009-08-24T19:53:00.004-05:00

First round Valley Green Golf Course (pay at the bar of course), next round Augusta National. Yesterday Liam and I went golfing on a "real" course for the first time. I guess you would call a par 3, 1000 yd. course a real course. He did pretty well and we did count every stroke (I guess a lesson of golf). He shot a 67 and even out drove me on hole #2. It was a great day and hopefully many more to come.

2nd Child Syndrome

2009-08-12T21:54:00.002-05:00

I guess I can't short change the second child, I'd hate for him to get a complex that will need years of psychiatric help to get over. He already doesn't get anything of his own. So here is a short (I know, still short changed) video of Owen riding his tricycle. You may have seen him in the background of Liam's video. Anyway, I digress.

Also, I saw that my last post was post #150. Amazing I have made it that long. Enjoy!

A Day of Firsts

2009-08-10T20:20:00.003-05:00

Today was a day of first you could say. Today was my first day of meetings with my faculty at Risen Savior. Nothing earth shattering to report. Other than being a little nervous things went fine. You soon forget how much you just know after having been at a school for six years. Today was lots of learning and asking questions for me.

Probably on a bigger scale, today was Liam's first time riding a bike. Cathy has been worried for some time that he hadn't done it or wasn't interested in it. I guess today was the day. They went over to the St. John's parking lot and he rode it around (video below). I wen't over there with him tonight and other than running into a parked car he did great.

Randomitity

2009-07-25T14:50:00.005-05:00

Here are a few pictures from things that have gone on this summer. I (we, Liam and Owen too) bought Cathy a camera for Mother's Day... I would have to say that the salesman sold me on a Sony, but I am not as happy as I would have been with my normal Canon purchase. Oh well, when it takes a good picture it is nice, but many of them aren't real good. Oh well.

Amy, Owen, & Liam

Riding the train at the zoo.

Bonnie

2009-07-24T06:56:00.002-05:00

Cathy has been trying to convince my that my new Bonneville isn't an old lady car. Well.... Russ, my neighbor was out the other day and asked, "Is that your parents' car?" We'll chalk one up for it being an old lady car.

Liamism

2009-07-20T18:15:00.001-05:00

The other day we were talking about moving and our new house someday with Liam... he pondered for a bit and then asked, "Where will we go on vacation when they are building our new house?"

I guess we watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition too much.

A Smattering of Things

2009-07-18T16:45:00.012-05:00

I've got some interesting photos from the past few weeks. Things have been pretty busy with transitioning to a new job. We have managed to squeeze some fun in, though.

Liam lost his front tooth the other day. I've never seen him work harder at getting that little sucker out.

Spiderman and his little brother (a little more ripped) came to our house the other day.

We made a little trip to the Circus Parade in Milwaukee last Sunday. Grandma and Grandpa supplied us with tickets in front of the Hyatt. It was a blazing hot day, but a pretty good time. We got to ride the bus downtown which was a new experience for Liam and Owen.

Finally, I made a big decision recently. I decided to get rid of my '95 Geo Metro... also known as the "Fast Car", "Big Red", and simply "The Geo." It had become my identity here in B-town. My students seemed to love the contridiction of my size and the car's size. But... since I am now driving 43 miles one way it was time for air conditioning, cruise control, and a car where I don't die in a flaming wreck if hit on the freeway. So I introduce, "Bonnie", my new '99 Pontiac Bonneville.

15 Years

2009-07-09T20:22:00.003-05:00

I started this post a while ago but am now just finishing it. Cathy doesn't read my blog so I can write things about her. This year we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversery. Hard to believe that it has been that long. A lot has gone on in our lives and minus the normal ups and downs of life it has been wonderful. I couldn't have asked for a better partner in life. The next 15 should be just as fun. Here is a picture of July 10, 1994. I look like I'm about 14.

Texas '09 Vacation... The End of the Road

2009-07-04T09:38:00.007-05:00

Well, my mom wondered why I stopped posting. The reason is because you can only take so many pictures of bluegills and catfish, which is about all Liam wants to do. We have though, over the past few days seen some interesting Texas wildlife. Cathy and Amy found an interesting box turtle that we kept for a while and then let go. Liam didn't quite understand why we couldn't take it on the airplane... oh well.

We also had the opportunity to go out to Mt. Pleasant, TX to see the world's tallest horse. Radar (the brown one) stands 6'7" at his shoulder. It is kind of hard to see with the perspective of us standing a little bit away. We didn't want to turn our backs on him to take a picture lest he step on our feet. His hooves were the size of dinner plates so you didn't want to get stepped on. You could go right up to them and pet them and feed them; you just didn't want to get stepped on. Goliath is the black one and he is the second tallest. Although... there is a claim that there is a taller one now in another part of TX. I will have to wait for Guinness confirmation before I change my blog. Liam did swell up like a balloon after touching the horses since he is rather allergic to them. He did survive though.

Tonight we will watch fireworks on the lake and then be leaving for home tomorrow.

Texas '09 Vacation... part deux

2009-06-30T11:13:00.010-05:00

All has been going well here in TX. We actually had some rain yesterday which tremendously cooled things down and allowed Liam and I to fish for three or four hours. Liam caught a variety of about 50 or so Sunfish, Bluegills, etc... I caught the same panfish as well as about a half dozen 10 in. Channel Catfish and one MONSTER 2 ft. one! What a big slimy sucker he was. I was right under the boat dock and didn't even have to reel in. We also managed to squeeze in a Thanksgiving turkey dinner (don't ask) and a boat ride.

My big slimy catfish

Owen helping Grandpa make breakfast

Today Cathy's dad, Liam, and Owen got to go flying in a small plane. Liam got to ride in the front seat and as they aren't back yet I sure hope he didn't touch any of the buttons up there.

Texas '09 Vacation

2009-06-29T11:52:00.013-05:00

Well... we are currently on our sort of annual trip to visit Cathy's dad in TX. I'm not quite sure why we pick this first week of July since it is regularly over 100 degrees. Mainly, I think Liam looks forward to fishing and shooting his six shooters. We have eaten some very good Tex-Mex, gone tubing already, and of course fished. We'll see what the rest of the week holds in store.

Liam learned how to blow bubbles on the airplane.

Liam and Owen at the airport.

Full Texans? and Dora the Explorer?

Pulling away from Camp Schmeling.

Cathy and Liam

Liam fishing

Owen fishing

One of Liam's first fish.

A nice sized bluegill.

Tired Owen

Super-tired Owen

Laughing

2009-06-17T10:24:00.001-05:00

Just a short video of Liam making Owen laugh.

Random Dronings

2009-06-15T09:26:00.006-05:00

I know all of my faithful reader base hasn't seen much out of the blog here in the last two weeks or so... I thought I would post a couple end-of-the-school-year-pics here for you of some things that have gone on. We are leaving for TX in a couple weeks and that should provide some ammo for me to blog about.

Liam and his best friend Tyler

Angry Liam

Liam's Drawing

Owen

Owie the Toolman

2009-06-03T07:29:00.004-05:00

Just a few picks of "Owie the Toolman" from yesterday... Liam is gone with Grandma & Grandpa so Owen is an only child for a while. I'm not sure if he likes it or not.

Poop

2009-05-28T06:52:00.002-05:00

Poop was a word I used to get my mouth washed out with soap (Dial brand... eeek) for. I guess Owen doesn't. I was "supposed" to be changing his diaper at this point, but this was much funnier. Cathy didn't think so.

Just Some Little Things Going On

2009-05-25T08:11:00.011-05:00

It has been almost two weeks since I posted... nothing major, just some little things going on as school winds down. Liam participated in his first EJO Day (Eagle Junior Olympics) at school. He was on the Orange team (made up of K-8th graders) and they finished second. He did a pretty good job too. Owen even got into the fun jumping rope below.

Liam and Owen have been spending some time with Grandma too and Cathy has taught them how to fly kites at the park.

Summer vacation is just around the corner with graduation on Thursday and the last day of school on Friday. Liam and Owen have already had fun with the sprinkler.

ChocolateFest is also this weekend in Burlington and again thanks to some friends we got some VIP tickets so Liam and Owen were able to ride some carnival rides. Liam got to ride his favorite ride, the bumper cars. I think this is the last year he will be able to do that since he is getting too tall! They got to spend some time in the petting zoo too. Liam tried the dragon roller coster, which he thought he'd like, but didn't like so much.

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T19:32:00.004-05:00

Mother's day today... Liam sang in church this morning and my parents came down for church and brunch. We then moved to more home projects for our home showing on Tuesday. We wen't to Fred's for supper and then Adrian's for ice cream. Here are a couple pictures of Liam and Owen for you.

What a Cute Little Kid

2009-05-09T09:32:00.005-05:00

So I was asked to bring in a baby picture of myself for a bulletin board at school. Kind of a "Can You Tell Who Is Who" board with all the teachers. All of my baby pictures are in a box in our storage unit right now so Mom and Dad had to scan some in for me... What a cute little baby I was. Oh, and humble.

11.1972

7.4.1972

9.25.1972

Best Dad Ever

2009-05-02T07:49:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, as probably everyone know, your kids are a real pain. They don't listen, don't do what you ask, don't EVERYTHING... But then they do things like this: Liam wrote this for me last night. I suspect that he wanted to stay up past his bedtime, but it was nice nontheless. He didn't write it real dark, so while scanning I had to make some adjustments. I felt like I was restoring the Declaration of Independence. Anyway, I'm the best dad ever.

The Masters

2009-04-13T18:31:00.005-05:00

If you have been a regular reader of my blog you know that I have a love of the Masters golf tournament. I just find it so perfect. I love the exclusivity of the Masters, the green jacket, the history, the course, etc... Well, this past week I was able to attend the Wednesday practice round and the traditional par 3 tournament. If everything else in life was like the Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters then life would be great. Currently, you are not able to get regular round badges. They haven't had a lottery since 1972 (I was 1, actually 0 yrs. old) and the waiting list closed in 2002. But I was able to secure a practice round ticket ($41, it ain't about the money there) and travel to Augusta, GA via Charlotte, NC and Columbia, SC with friend Dave.

I don't think there are adjectives to describe the course... perfect, well manicured, cleaner than a brain surgery operating room? You could lick the fairway and I'm pretty sure it would be cleaner than your kitchen counter. I didn't see one weed and only saw one bug under a tree. The azaleas were in full bloom, in fact, they spend millions of dollars to make sure they bloom this specific weekend. TV doesn't do the course justice as far as seeing the elevation change, it is just unreal. The greens are so fast I'm sure I would putt off the green from about 6 feet anywhere. I had two sandwiches (pimento & cheese, and egg salad - traditional), a bag of chips, a bag of peanuts, and an import beer and the total was $8.50! Unreal.

We got to see a lot of golfers in the morning as on Tuesday it was cold and everybody played on Wednesday. I saw guys like Jim Furyk, Paul Casey, Geoff Oglivy, Luke Donald, Bubba Watson, Ben Crenshaw (playing in his last Masters), Bubba Watson, and of course, Tiger Woods. I was close enough to slap him in the back or grab his club in mid-swing. I thought about jumping the ropes and grabbing his tiger head cover, but I decided not to. At the par 3 tournament we saw everybody. We saw two holes-in-one. One about 15 feet from us. We saw Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player playing together. Tom Watson tee off. Phil Mickelson playing and much more.

I will hopefully go back someday and I encourage anyone who loves golf to come along. If you remember a past post, I have made Liam sign a binding legal document saying if he every gets to play I get to caddie for him. Hopefully that dream will come true.

I have so many pictures that are great that the only way to show them all is through a slideshow... enjoy!

Owen Eating Snow

2009-04-05T22:31:00.001-05:00

So all the snow from the other day's storm is gone, but Owen got a chance to play in it. Here is a little video of him eating some snow.

Willy Wonka

2009-04-05T22:27:00.002-05:00

Liam was in the school musical Willy Wonka Jr. this past weekend. You would have thought that with three performances we could have got a better video clip, but in the first one Owen was squirming and I had a bad angle for the second one. Unfortunately, the third was his worst performance as he watched the actors, made weird faces, and had an argument with his classmate on who was supposed to what at the end. Anyway, enjoy the kindergarten's rendition of Think Positive!

Uncle James

2009-04-03T20:20:00.004-05:00

This past week my Uncle James passed away into heaven. He fell outside his home while doing some work. Cathy, Liam, Owen, and I trudged up to Hutchinson, MN with my parents to attend the funeral. It is always good to see family, most of whom I don't see other than every couple years, but unfortunate it had to be at a funeral. It puts things into perspective, as funerals usually do.

James Heikes (1941 - 2009)
James “Jim” Joseph Heikes, 67

Jim Heikes, 67, of Hutchinson, died on March 28, 2009 at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn. after falling while working outside his Hutchinson home.

James “Jim” Joseph Heikes was born June 19, 1941, in Austin, the son of Joe and Rose (Goetsch) Heikes. He attended Martin Luther High School in New Ulm, Minn.

On June 21, 1961, Jim married Carole Eblen. Jim and Carole are the parents of five children: Kim, Kevin, Kandi, Kari and Keith. Jim and Carole and their family moved a number of times throughout the first 20 years of their marriage and resided in St. James, Austin and Albert Lea, Minn.; Alliance, Ohio; Webster City, Iowa and Rogers, Minn., before they settled in Hutchinson, Minn. in 1980. They shared nearly 48 years of marriage. During the majority of his life, Jim was self-employed. When the family moved to Hutchinson, Jim and Carole purchased the Hardware Hank store, previously located at 105 Washington Street. After selling the store, the two built a roller skating rink, Minnesota Fun, on Highway 7. After closing the roller rink, Jim and his son, Kevin, entered into the furniture business with the original Factory Direct Furniture going into the building. Jim retired in 1995, and rented the building out. In 2007, Jim and his two sons, Kevin and Keith, ventured into the furniture business and Factory Direct Furniture returned to Hutchinson. Jim's hobbies included farming, auction sales, and collecting tractors - primarily John Deere items. His favorite activity, however, was the time he spent with his 8 beautiful grandchildren.

Jim is survived by his wife, Carole Heikes, Hutchinson, Minn.; five children, Kim Heikes, Hutchinson, Kevin (Gloriann) Heikes, Hutchinson, Kandi Kath, Otsego, Kari (Steve) Rettig, Hutchinson, Keith Heikes (fiancée, Tess Chiotti), Hutchinson; eight grandchildren, Kyle, Alison, Katelyn, Andrew, Alexander, Peyton, Anthony and Amanda; mother, Rose Heikes, Clara City, Minn.; sisters, Myrtiss (Norm) Riediger, Willmar, Minn., Ruth (Ray) Dusseau, Milwaukee, Wis.; nieces, nephews and many other relatives and friends. Jim is preceded in death by his father, Joe Heikes; and brother-in-law, Elmer Weckwerth.

A Celebration of Life was held at 1 p.m., at Peace Lutheran Church, Hutchinson, on Thursday, April 2, 2009, with Pastor Gerhard Bode officiating. Interment was in the church cemetery. Arrangements were made with the Dobratz-Hantge Chapel in Hutchinson. Online Condolences may be directed to www.hantge.com. Memorials may be made to the Peace Lutheran Church Fill This House Fund.

Winter?

2009-03-29T07:32:00.005-05:00

So the vernal equinox was the other day... I thought that meant the START OF SPRING! I guess not. So this morning I had to get up and shovel snow just to get to the car. At least I didn't put away the snow blower yet.

Yesterday Eve... Raining...

This morning... SNOW...