Yearly Archives: 2012

Well, EFY is now over and I drove down to Normal IL to pick up Brittany and some other folks that went down.  That’s one of my favorite things to do.  It’s great driving back home listening to all the fun stories and such from the kids.  🙂  The only thing I don’t like is getting up and leaving at 4:30am to get down there to pick them up at 7am.  🙂

After we got home, I took a rest, cleaned a bit, and then we drove downtown for a little kayaking adventure and Cirque du Soleil entertainment.  Angela had found a Groupon for kayaking on the Chicago river for a really good deal, so 6 of us got tickets and went.

It was a lot of fun.  This was Angela’s first time in a kayak and so she and I got a tandem one.  The kayaking was actually an architecture tour while on the Chicago river.  We would paddle around the river, stop at specific places, and our guide would tell us about the buildings and such.  I had been on an architecture tour before, but not this way.  The kayaking was awesome (as long you don’t fall into the river which is really gross and dirty).  🙂

It was actually pretty good exercise!  We were out on the river for almost 4 hours!  We think we’ll do that again!  Only one person ended up swamping his kayak and that was because he thought he was really cool and was goofing around.  Some people are just not the sharpest tool in the shed.  We about gagged when he went under.  🙂

After our kayaking adventure, we drove over to Navy Pier and went to a great performance from Cirque du Soleil.  It was called Cirque Shanghai: Year of the Dragon.  It was really cool and we had a great time!  The acrobatics and balancing acts were amazing!  It was really cool and crazy at the same time.  Who would think to have 6 motorcycles going around and around a metal sphere at the same time without hitting each other.

After the performance, we walked around for awhile and tried to find something to eat for dinner.  We were all pretty hungry.  Navy Pier was totally crammed with people, so we decided to walk back toward the lots where we parked to find something.  We ended up eating in a hotel restaurant but it was really good.  Maybe it was because we were so hungry.  🙂  We got home pretty late and after getting up at 4 to get ready to leave, I was totally ready to crash!  🙂  What a great day, though!!!

Last night, the boys and I went to the annual father’s and son’s campout!  We had a GREAT time and the boys really enjoyed being with their dad.  We always go to the Blackwell Forest Preserve, and as you can tell by the pictures below, it’s quite the groomed camping area!  🙂

True to tradition, we went and got KFC to eat for dinner.  That’s real camping!  🙂  It’s funny to have grown up going to father’s and son’s and cooking over the campfire (tinfoil dinners, etc.) but here, everyone goes out to KFC, Subway, Burger King, etc.   We played frisbee and tossed around footballs for awhile and when it started getting dark and the boys were tired, we went into the tent and (also true to tradition), pulled out my laptop, broke out the junk food, and watched a DVD until the food was gone and we fell asleep!  🙂

We got up early this morning and ate breakfast.  The bishopric cooks breakfast for everyone, so the boys ran around and had fun while I helped cook sausage, eggs, pancakes, etc.  We ate until we were stuffed and then packed up the tent and left.

We got home, got cleaned up, and then Angela, the girls, and I went to the neighbor twins’ Mitzvah ceremonies at the Jewish temple in Aurora.  That was a VERY interesting experience.  Almost the whole thing was done in Hebrew and we didn’t understand a thing (at least I didn’t).  I did get to wear a skull cap, however, and I got to keep it!  🙂  The service was almost 3 hours.  I can now say I have found a church that meets as long as we do!  🙂  After the ceremony, they had a luncheon with traditional foods and it was really good.  We congratulated the kids and came back home where we relaxed for the rest of the day.  🙂