We went to a free blues concert downtown tonight. We had so much fun. The weather was perfect, it wasn’t too crowded, and the music was good too. I don’t know who the first artist was, but the second was Ronnie Baker Brooks. Good stuff. Luke had a blast running around, jumping with the music. He was a big fan of the drums. Luke had so much fun at the concert, he cried the whole way home. He DID NOT want to leave. Seriously, he just kept pointing in the direction of the concert, begging to go back. I mean, I’m glad he had a good time, but I didn’t expect him to throw such a long fit at the end. When he has his mind set on something, it’s stuck! Makes me hesitate to do more fun stuff with him, for fear of the aftermath. Is that wrong of me?

This was the first year we actually took Luke to see fireworks for the Fourth of July. Last year we tried to go with my mom and stepdad but Kensington Park was packed. We weren’t up for the crowds so we headed home and caught the tail end of some fireworks in some small town just off the freeway. Last year wasn’t a total drag though, because we had a fabulous time at my mom’s; we played in the yard, ate some delicious barbecue ribs… it was good times. The year before that Luke was just an itty-bitty newborn so we didn’t even attempt making it out for fireworks.

But this year, this year he got to see fireworks. My father-in-law invited us to spend the evening with his friends up in Morrice, MI. They have a second home on a small lake where they do fireworks every year. A fireworks show without the parking hassle? I’m all in. We had such a great time. Luke had a blast playing bean bag toss and baseball and driving around with the golf cart. The food was delicious and plentiful (including the cookies I baked that day, my best batch in at least two years. I had really been off my game but I think I may have my mojo back).
 

Luke was fascinated at the fireworks display at first, saying “Wow!” and “More? More?” at each pause in the action. Then about halfway through the display he was saying “All done?” and “Night night.” He was done with watching fireworks and just wanted to lay down anywhere he could get comfortable. As it was two hours past his normal bedtime he was super tired, but surprisingly not cranky. He was just telling us matter-of-factly that he was ready to go to bed! It was hilarious. The only downside to being out there near the water was that the mosquitoes were atrocious. We wore plenty of bug spray but Luke was wearing his faux crocs without socks and Momma forgot to spray his feet. Poor guy woke up with swollen ankles this morning from all the bug bites. Those dumb little bugs can smell him from a mile away.

It was a great night. We all had a great time and I even got a little emotional during the fireworks display thinking about what a great country this is and all those brave souls who sacrificed for it. Hormones, I tell ya.

Luke and I had such a lovely visit with my mom and stepdad in Oklahoma! Luke did great on the plane. He wasn’t scared at all, in fact he was so excited he didn’t sleep a wink. He talked and laughed and sang the whole time. It was kind of a pain transporting the carseat along with the carry on bags and everything, but it was so worth it. The carseat made the ride comfortable for Luke and he had a great view out the window. And of course it came in handy for riding in my mom’s car – it came in handy especially when my mom got into a fender bender on one of the very last days. She and Luke were fine but they never made it to the park, and the car is not fine.

We did a lot of playing and eating, a typical vacation. My mom lives near an Air Force base and Luke really enjoyed seeing the jets fly overhead. Who knows, maybe he’ll be a pilot when he’s not pitching for the Tigers.

I was in awe of how beautiful Oklahoma was. We did a good deal of sightseeing and saw a lot of cows, horses, hawks, and even a few dead armadillos. Oh and the sunshine! We Michiganders aren’t used to seeing so much sunshine. I had to buy sunglasses out there because I didn’t think to bring mine from home.

Now I know I promised one big post about our trip, but this is about as big as it gets. I wouldn’t want to bore you with all the daily details. I do have pictures though! I didn’t take a ton but here is a nice one of my mom and stepdad with Luke in downtown Enid. You can find more on Flickr (the link is on the left sidebar).

Luke and I are currently visiting my mom in Oklahoma. Which means this is the longest I’ve been with Luke all day every day. I’m getting a taste of what Mike’s daily life is like. I have the challenges of Luke’s ever changing moods and I do a good share of chasing, but most of all I am LOVING hanging out with this kid! He is super fun, let me tell you. And he takes THREE hour naps, which is fantastic because Momma’s pregnant and exhausted so she’s gotta have naps too

I did not bring my laptop so I only have internet access at certain times so I haven’t had too much time to blog. However, I’m taking notes on paper of all the things I want to mention in my big Oklahoma Post once this trip is over. It will be worth the wait, I promise. We are having a lot of fun here!

Luke and I have plans to fly to Oklahoma at the end of this month. We’re going to visit my mom and I can’t wait! One thing I’m a little nervous about though is flying with a 2 year old. Flying period, actually. The last time I flew it was pre-9/11 and they didn’t have all the security restrictions they do now. So I need to do some research so I can be sure I’m prepared, especially since I’ll have Luke with me. I have questions, like if I need ID for Luke, if I can bring sippy cups and snacks, etc. Do any of you that have flown with young children recently have any advice you can offer me? What kind of things do I need to know?

I’m sure I forgot to tell you, but I am somewhere very special this weekend. I’m camped out a church for a retreat thing called Chrysalis.

What is Chrysalis?

Chrysalis is a Christian organization that puts on 3-day retreats (we call them “Flights”) for high school kids. We basically set up camp at a host church (which changes from one to the next) on a Thursday night. Friday morning the young girls or boys (never together, we do separate retreats for each) arrive and that is when the real fun begins. We spend the next three days teaching them about Jesus Christ and showing them God’s love in some very cool, creative and often tangible ways (i.e. an endless supply of food). It’s a VERY AWESOME thing.

It’s a lot of work to put on one of these Flights and it can be exhausting, but exhilarating at the same time. I’ve been involved with Chrysalis for 14 years, ever since I attended as a young teenager in 1994. In fact, most of my very close friends are friends I met working on Chrysalis Flights. I love working these Flights. I love the people. I love the teamwork that goes on. I love that these young ladies this weekend will walk away Sunday knowing – really knowing – how much God loves them and accepts them for who they are. Did I mention it’s an awesome thing?

You know what else is awesome? Waking up at 6:15 am while other workers are still sleeping and having to get dressed in the dark. Fortunately, the iPod makes a great flashlight.

This summer has gone by kinda fast. I keep realizing I did fun things and I’m pretty sure I forgot to blog about them. Such as:

June:
R.E.M. Concert in Chicago. (Oh wait, I blogged about that. Well, it’s worth mentioning again!)
40th Birthday party for Matt
Date night with Mike
Birthday celebration with Heather
Dinner with Grandpa Selleck

July:
Fourth of July barbecue at Mom’s
My fabulous trip to Georgia
Tacos at Mom-in-Law’s

August:
Surprise 30th birthday party for Angie
Free pizza with the Johnson’s
Girls’ Night with a movie and margaritas
1st birthday party for Isaiah
Cook out at Sandy’s
Fun with friends and family over Labor Day weekend.

There was an understandable lull in the action in July due to my miscarriage but I jumped right back into the summer fun in August! Overall it was still a really good summer. I’m pretty fed up with the heat though, and I’m ready for cooler weather. Next summer will be better because we’ll have central air conditioning at home. We’ve been saving up for it and we’re almost there! Yeah!

Friday was my Rex Manning Day! My sister, Kari, and I spent a great day in Chicago and then went to see R.E.M., my all time favorite band, in concert at the United Center!

I awoke at 5:30 am ready for the day, but decided it would be in my best interest to get a little more sleep. I dozed off but was awake again 20 minutes later. You just can’t sleep when you’re excited about the day. I got up, got ready, and was on the road by 6:30 am. I called Kari to let her know I was on my way. She lives about 2 hours from me, so it gave her plenty of time to get breakfast ready for when I arrived. Once we had our vittles we packed our bags and hit the road!

The drive was pretty uneventful until we got to Indiana. Kari thought the speed limit on the freeway was 65 mph but the cop informed us (very rudely, I might add) that it was 55 mph. The irony was that when the cop flashed her lights, Kari pulled over and ended up parking right in front of the speed limit sign. We are lame about pictures and didn’t think to get a snapshot of it, so we took a picture of another 55 mph sign we passed along the way. You know, so we wouldn’t forget. Just picture less concrete and more clouds.

After an accidental detour and a $0.30 toll, we made it into Chicago just fine. I love Chicago. I LOVE Chicago. I am apparently a total city girl. Who knew? Kari lived there for about 2 years so she showed me some of her old stomping grounds. She had packed a picnic lunch – AMAZING chicken salad sandwiches, grapes, bananas, chocolate pudding, chips, oatmeal raisin cookies, ginger ale to wash it all down – so we parked in the Gold Coast neighborhood and walked to the nearest park to eat. We thought it was a dog park but it turns out it was just a dog-friendly park. Darn. I’ve never seen a real dog park.

I want to take this opportunity now to thank Jewel-Osco for offering public restrooms. We searched far and wide. Thank you, Jewel. You saved our bladders.

After lunch we still had plenty of time to kill, so we walked around and eventually found the coffee shop Kari used to frequent. Well, I guess it’s more than a coffee shop but we were going just for the coffee. We ordered two cups of the Turkish stuff and sipped and chatted for the next hour or so. The coffee was a little sweet for my taste but it didn’t matter because I was in great company having great conversation. Kari and I talk almost every day, but this was a day we could just chill and have fun without all the distractions of every day life. It was wonderful.

We went to La Pasadita for dinner. Kari used to eat there a lot and she has been raving about their tacos, so we had to go. Kari ordered the carne asada torta and I had the super carne asada burrito. People, carne asada is the way to go. This burrito was ginormous, and full of steak. It was the kind of burrito that just kept getting better, bite after bite. I was stuffed to the gills after eating half and saved the rest for later. Thankfully Kari had the picnic cooler because that second half made for a nice snack after the concert. When we walked out of the restaurant we mentioned that we should have taken a picture. I thought about it while we were there but we were the only white people there and I thought if we busted out the camera then we would really stick out like sore thumbs.

After dinner we did some shoe shopping, because La Pasadita is located in the Shoe Capital of Chicago. Haven’t you heard of it? We also found some cool clothing shops. One that sold super cute baby shirts that are printed with things like “Led Zeppelin” or “iPood”. Cute stuff but all overpriced. The other shop we liked was a consignment shop. When we entered we were greeted by the owner’s 20 month old daughter. The owner was a very sweet lady. She thought I was pregnant but I forgave her because she dared to walk around her own store barefooted. Oh, and her daughter had her own playroom which I thought was pretty cool. She had some nice stuff for sale. Most of it wasn’t my size but I did find a shirt I liked that I ended up buying and wearing to the concert.

Yes! The concert! And you thought I would never get there. I give you props if you’re still with me here. This is a long post. We arrived at the United Center super early and were the first patrons at a decent parking lot. It was nice to get there early and not have to contend with crowds. People really didn’t start showing up until the second opening act started playing, which surprised me. If I pay for an entire concert, I want to be there for the entire thing.

The first opening act was The National. I hadn’t heard of them and had no expectations so I was surprised that I enjoyed them so much. The lead singer had a nice deep voice and the melodies reminded me a lot of some of my favorite 80’s music, but without seeming like knock-offs. I also liked that they were a band made up of bonafide musicians. They played piano, violin, trumpet, and trombone. It was good stuff.

Modest Mouse on the other hand, was a complete disappointment. I have liked them in the past but their performance just didn’t do anything for me. That’s all I really have to say about that.

If you’re not an R.E.M. fan like me you could probably just skip the next two paragraphs. Just a warning.

R.E.M. was amazing. Outstanding. Far exceeding my expectations even. I was thrilled to see what a great time they were having on stage. Michael Stipe looked like he was just having the time of his life. I was pretty happy with their song selection, which was a good mix of the old with the new. They started off with some oldies like “Begin the Begin” and “These Days”. That made me glad I had listened to my “Life’s Rich Pageant” tape on the way to Kari’s so I could brush up on the lyrics. They played most of the songs off the new “Accelerate” album. I know I’m going to love that album even more now because every time I listen to it I’ll be reminded of how it sounded in concert. Some other favorites were ”Final Straw,” “Bad Day,” “Ignoreland,” “The Great Beyond,” and “Man on the Moon” (did you know the latter 2 were both written about Andy Kaufman?). They played for a solid two hours so I can’t recall all the songs but those are the ones that come to mind.

They played the usual audience favorites like “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth” (which I personally can’t stand… I could do without the whole “Monster” album) and “Losing My Religion” (which I’ve heard a million times but still can’t make myself hate it… it’s a good song). I was hoping for “Nightswimming” but didn’t have my fingers crossed because it’s not really a “concert” song (Are you getting tired of the quotation marks yet?). They didn’t play it. They didn’t play “It’s The End of the World” either, which I didn’t expect, but it would have been fun to sing along. There are so many great R.E.M. songs that I would have loved to hear but I especially would have loved if they had played “Outsiders” and brought Q-Tip out on stage to rap with Michael Stipe. If they had done that I might have crapped my pants.

All in all, it was a fantastic concert and a fantastic day. June 6, 2008 was my Rex Manning Day. Thank you, Jesus

Oh, this day has finally come! The day my sister and I will tool around and reminisce in Chicago, feast on the best tacos in the world (so I’ve heard), and tickle our souls and earbuds at the R.E.M. concert. Let’s see if I’m ready…

Coffee – check!
Concert tickets – check!
Weaver D’s “Automatic for the People” t-shirt – check!
Map of Chicago – check!
All the R.E.M. albums I own – check!
Goofy giddy grin – check!

I think that’s everything I need. I’m hittin’ the road!!

The Silver Bells in the City parade is tomorrow! I haven’t made it every year but I love it when I do. Just something about all the lights and music and the chill in the air makes me feel like a kid again. I checked the parade route and it goes right by our office building. I plan on picking Luke up and then coming back to park in our parking lot behind the building. We’ll be smack dab in the middle of the action, but can retreat for warmth and potty breaks if need be. I’ve already talked to a couple friends who are going to be down here for it and I hope to meet up with them. If you’re not one of them but you want to join me, let me know!

*Update: We had such a great time! We joined up with Heather & Josiah and got to watch the fireworks from the 12th floor. What an amazing view of the capitol building! The weather really wasn’t too bad. A little cold, but we came prepared. Here we are in all our bundled glory: