You can put it on the board...YES!

Well, it wasn't all a celebration. Our first White Sox game in several years didn't produce the outcome we had hoped for, but we had fun nonetheless.

A couple of home runs by Jermaine Dye (Anita's favorite player), a perfect game through 5-2/3 innings by Javier Vasquez. Then the wheels came off and the game spiraled out of reach. Bases loaded. No outs. A series of walks and hits. Suddenly 3-0 became 5-3.

But we enjoyed some tasty beers, some decent food, a great, rowdy crowd, a couple of home runs that produced exploding fireworks from the scoreboard, and a fair amount of time spent at ground level in the picnic area.

We hope to do it again soon. And better results are expected.

Note: The Sox did rebound on Sunday, with a 9th inning, come-from-behind effort that led to an eventual victory.

Go Sox!!

Some images from the game below...

First grade jitters

This past Thursday was the start of the new school season for Su. First grade. Yep, she's officially a "student" now. Full days. Lunches. More homework. But it was also the first day for Su in a new school system. Su's preschool and kindergarten time was spent in the Geneva school system. She had already developed a certain sense of comfort with her old routine. She had made a few friends along the way. And she just LOVED riding the bus. So the world was a safe and predictable place.

But with our move back to Winfield, it not only meant the start of a new school year, but also all new faces. Of course, a huge reason for trying to get this move accomplished this year was to get Su into a new school system before she really developed any lasting friendships. Our view was that kindergarten, while fun, would be forgotten soon enough. But getting into the school system that would take her from grades 1 through 8 was more important.

We also knew that, with Su's personality, she would have no difficulty at all making new friends and fitting right in. Heck, it's only first grade, right?

We were so surprised by what started to take place as the school year crept closer. Su was actually NERVOUS. And the nervousness eventually gave way to fear. And her last night of sleep before the first day was not easy for her. The look in her eyes and the fear on her face showed through. This continued through to the next morning, breakfast, and the walk to the school.

I had decided to start later at work so I could accompany Anita and Su on the walk for her first day. I tried to joke and keep her mind off of her fears as we walked the .3 mile distance to her school. But to no avail. By the time we got there, she was deathly silent (not something that happens often!). And she clung to me in line while fighting tears. It was so tough to watch. Even when her new teacher came over and introduced herself, it did nothing to ease the fear.

All we could do was wait and see how her day concluded. We had a feeling that all would be just fine once she was settled into her classroom. But the wait would be tough as we hung on to hear the verdict on Day One.

Of course, it's as we expected. She came home wired and happy. She loved the first day. And she loved the second day, too. She really likes her teacher. And she's starting to talk to a few kids. The fears are gone. Anxieties forgotten.

And now nothing left but reading, writing, and arithmetic. Hmmmm... Does it get much better than Day One? Seems to me like it would be all downhill after this! :-)

But seriously. This should be a great year. Being back in the old neighborhood, closer to work, Su in school, and everyone extremely happy.

Not quite the babe

As a follow-up to the zoo, my second day off of work really featured just one plan for the day: fishing with Su. With another great day of weather on the horizon, it seemed like a wonderful opportunity to take Su out for some fishing at nearby Blackwell Forest Preserve. Su had been pressing me to go fishing for many months now. I realized that this was something that she really wanted to try -- and not just a one-time declaration. So it was with a bit of confidence that I purchased Su her very own Princess fishing pole for her past birthday. I really wasn't sure what she'd think when opening up the gift, but was delighted that she was actually quite excited about the whole idea! In the last days of our Geneva house (pre-move), Su spent many days actually practicing her "casting" down the hallway or tossing accurate attempts from the family room into the kitchen.

So there really was only one thing left to do: get my fishing license. A few weeks ago, I picked up my license and the nearest Wal-Mart and then crossed my fingers for some good weather. As luck would have it, that day would come on Friday, my second day off. So after my morning run, I returned home, cleaned up, and announced to Su that we'd be going fishing. She was just thrilled! We gathered up our poles, gear, and mosquito repellent and made our way to the lake -- first stopping off for some bait (WORMS!? They're SQUISHY!) and some beverages.

While not exactly conjuring up any comparisons to legendary fisherman Babe Winkelman, we still managed to get a few "hits" now and then while soaking up the morning sunshine. And, as luck would have it, about 1 hour into the day, Su latched onto the big one! After watching that bobber go under the water and stay under, it was time to walk it in. After spending the first hour of the day stressing the importance of "patience," she now was seeing the fruits of her labor.

It was quite a battle. Her little Princess pole bending under the strain of the classic tug-of-war, Su managed to lure the giant shark -- err, fish -- up to the shore and, using all the might she could muster up, hauled the giant sea creature up for all to see! A triumphant moment and a testimony to the sheer will of the little 6-year old girl from Winfield.

OK. Maybe a bit over the top. But you can see for yourself what counted most: Su was just thrilled and was beaming from ear to ear.

We didn't catch a thing the last hour. We mostly just lost a lot of worms. But the experience left a great impression on Su -- and I suspect we'll be doing this again very soon.

And, yes, we threw the little guy (or gal?) back into the water.

The Babe would be proud.

Talk with the animals

I had an opportunity to take a couple of much-needed vacation days this past week. With good weather in the forecast, we thought it would be a great opportunity to work our way to Brookfield Zoo, a destination we had not visited since a bit before Su entered our lives. We had taken her to smaller zoos over the last few years, more in line with the attention span of a young one -- not to mention the greater amount of walking that would be required to take in a larger zoo like Brookfield.

As mentioned, we had beautiful weather on this particular Thursday and we headed out for a day at the zoo. All told, we spent a good 4 hours or so walking the zoo grounds, taking in a little bit of lunch, and an ice cream treat when nearing the end of our day. With over 3+ hours of walking during the day, Su was quite tired and even succumbed to the calls of the sandman while driving home.

Just a few shots below from our day.

Bowling night out

One of the perks from having a good realtor relationship is finding out that you're appreciated -- even beyond just whatever commission amount you may have helped toss over his/her way after the transaction is complete. We've used the the same realty company now for 3 different occasions: a sell in 2004, a buy in 2005, and a sell AND buy in 2008.

But what has been enjoyable is the continuing relationship in between (and after) these different moves. Our realtor Joyce Courtney (Re/Max Home Court) has made a point of continually offering up customer appreciation events over the years. Kane County Cougars baseball games, bowling events, evenings out with high-caliber food and raffles, and assorted other ways of saying "thank you."

Well, this year was a family bowling night at St. Charles Bowl, in St. Charles, IL. It was a Friday night out, where the whole alley was rented out and reserved just for Joyce's customers. And because it was a "family" night, we were able to take Su along and have a wonderful time together. It was unlimited bowling, pizza, snacks, and drinks (well, aside from alcohol -- although I didn't mind throwing a few bucks toward a couple of cold ones during the evening).

We had a really great time. Su, with the benefit of some "bumpers" along the gutters, bowled a whopping 70 by her last game -- even learning to put aside the standard 2-hand roll method and adopting the 1-handed delivery -- all plenty impressive for a 6-year old.


Anita and I, both former league bowlers, each looked like we hadn't bowled in about 6 years or so. But we still had a great time watching Su toss the ball out there and then come running back each time with arms flailing. I'm not sure whose form she adopted. I doubt it was something displayed by Pete Weber or others on the bowling circuit. But whatever the influence, it was working for her.

And for us. A wonderful night out together.