At homeschool soccer
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Drew the soccer machine
So....
Drew has been somewhat tentative during the games this soccer season. This is far different than what we see in the yard or in practices where he runs like crazy and attacks the goal. He admitted the other night that he was hanging back from the group in games because he was scared his head would get hurt if it was hit by the ball. He then decided it wasn't that scary and in his next game he wouldn't be scared.
Long story short, he went out and scored 6 goals in the next game and basically dominated the other team. Totally different player.
Drew has been somewhat tentative during the games this soccer season. This is far different than what we see in the yard or in practices where he runs like crazy and attacks the goal. He admitted the other night that he was hanging back from the group in games because he was scared his head would get hurt if it was hit by the ball. He then decided it wasn't that scary and in his next game he wouldn't be scared.
Long story short, he went out and scored 6 goals in the next game and basically dominated the other team. Totally different player.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Vacation catch up
Thanks to late nights and the normal Phelan ridiculous schedule we keep on vacation, this is my first chance to get caught up on activities from vacations. Away we go:
Thursday - We got up early and began our mega CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) tour of the city. It actually went really well and continued our vacation long string of perfect transfers and use of a system we have very little clue about (thanks Navigator Sherri). We took two separate buses to get to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. It was a fun place to go, probably not quite worth what we paid to go, but the kids had fun. We did lots of exploring. Kate is heavily interested in space stuff right now, so she enjoyed it the most of all. Drew and Ben had a fun time in the kids explorer area which included a mock space toilet, right up their alley. It was a very windy day, not helped by Adler being on an exposed isthmus on Lake Michigan. Next stop was Chick Fil A on Michigan Avenue, mainly because we like the food, the kids will gladly eat there, and we knew how to get there which took a bus and a train to get back downtown. This led to Ben's unbroken string of somehow falling asleep on every crowded, loud, and bumpy trip we took through the city. After eating, we took a stroll through the city to the Navy Pier which is a bit like a mall/carnival area. Fun place. Harry Caray's restaurant is there. We also went to the Children's museum which had free entry and played around. Fun, not quite as fun as the ones around Atlanta, but the kids had a blast. Back to the hotel and bed.
Friday - Time to check out of the hotel which was awesome. It may be our favorite we have stayed in, at least up there with the Village Inn in Virginia during our DC trip. We trekked back to Lincoln Park Zoo (awesome, awesome zoo) to kill a couple of hours to give the kids a chance to check on the baby goats and chicks and to see how cows get milked. No hands on experience there which Kate found disappointing. We toured the zoo a bit more and got to se the few animals we missed on the first pass. Drew's favorite was the polar bear, Kate's the giraffe, Ben the zebra. After that it was time to hit Wrigley for the Cubs game. We stopped by Wrigleyville for souvenirs, hit the McDonald's across the street for ice cream before the game (the grounds crew happened to be in there) and then walked into Wrigley. Our seats were great, total score there. Probably 40 rows slightly to the right behind home plate. Great views. It was a decently chilly day, but pretty fun to be there with 38,000 fellow Cubs fans. We all had our Cubbie gear on. First pitch and guest anthem were by Martin Sheen. He is one short dude. The field, park, and neighborhood are 100 years older than the Atlanta area, but a million times better. Safer area, better integration with the surrounding homes and stores, convenient, great views, and the ambience was everything one would expect. It was also a perfectly representative Cubs game. They were up 3-1 in the top of the 9th with 2 outs and 2 strikes on the Astros who then hit a two run homer to tie it. Bottom of the 9th, they got a runner to rd but failed to score and went to extras. They ended up winning in 12, but we had to leave after 9 due to the 6 hour drive towards Cincinnati. All in all, going to Wrigley was better than I could have hoped and I think I have Kate and Drew hooked and Sherri at least partially converted. She even wore a Cubs shirt. No sports bigamy, she has to pick between the Braves and Cubs now. Ben had a blast flirting with the 25 year old woman behind us. This involved lots of laughing, peekaboo, and apparently some nose picking on his part. Long drive to Cincy. Remember those monolithically weird windmills I wrote about on the way to Chicago? Turns out the only way they can be creepier is to come upon them when the sky is totally dark and you see a vast landscape of blinking red lights so planes won't fly into them. And, on the close ones, you can vaguely see the blades spinning in the red light just to let you know they are still there. Stayed at another decent hotel, keeping the good hotel streak alive.
Saturday - Started the day at the museum which was pretty cool. Dinosaurs, floods, artifacts, Kate and Sherri got to see the planetarium. The boys went to a snake show and touched a lot of them including just the three of us holding up a 100 pound boa constrictor. That was nifty. 4 hour drive to Knoxville where we are right now at a Best Western. I'll come back and fill in the Sturday stuff tomorrow. Ready for a shower, Kate, Drew, and Ben are all now asleep and we will be soon also.
Thursday - We got up early and began our mega CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) tour of the city. It actually went really well and continued our vacation long string of perfect transfers and use of a system we have very little clue about (thanks Navigator Sherri). We took two separate buses to get to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. It was a fun place to go, probably not quite worth what we paid to go, but the kids had fun. We did lots of exploring. Kate is heavily interested in space stuff right now, so she enjoyed it the most of all. Drew and Ben had a fun time in the kids explorer area which included a mock space toilet, right up their alley. It was a very windy day, not helped by Adler being on an exposed isthmus on Lake Michigan. Next stop was Chick Fil A on Michigan Avenue, mainly because we like the food, the kids will gladly eat there, and we knew how to get there which took a bus and a train to get back downtown. This led to Ben's unbroken string of somehow falling asleep on every crowded, loud, and bumpy trip we took through the city. After eating, we took a stroll through the city to the Navy Pier which is a bit like a mall/carnival area. Fun place. Harry Caray's restaurant is there. We also went to the Children's museum which had free entry and played around. Fun, not quite as fun as the ones around Atlanta, but the kids had a blast. Back to the hotel and bed.
Friday - Time to check out of the hotel which was awesome. It may be our favorite we have stayed in, at least up there with the Village Inn in Virginia during our DC trip. We trekked back to Lincoln Park Zoo (awesome, awesome zoo) to kill a couple of hours to give the kids a chance to check on the baby goats and chicks and to see how cows get milked. No hands on experience there which Kate found disappointing. We toured the zoo a bit more and got to se the few animals we missed on the first pass. Drew's favorite was the polar bear, Kate's the giraffe, Ben the zebra. After that it was time to hit Wrigley for the Cubs game. We stopped by Wrigleyville for souvenirs, hit the McDonald's across the street for ice cream before the game (the grounds crew happened to be in there) and then walked into Wrigley. Our seats were great, total score there. Probably 40 rows slightly to the right behind home plate. Great views. It was a decently chilly day, but pretty fun to be there with 38,000 fellow Cubs fans. We all had our Cubbie gear on. First pitch and guest anthem were by Martin Sheen. He is one short dude. The field, park, and neighborhood are 100 years older than the Atlanta area, but a million times better. Safer area, better integration with the surrounding homes and stores, convenient, great views, and the ambience was everything one would expect. It was also a perfectly representative Cubs game. They were up 3-1 in the top of the 9th with 2 outs and 2 strikes on the Astros who then hit a two run homer to tie it. Bottom of the 9th, they got a runner to rd but failed to score and went to extras. They ended up winning in 12, but we had to leave after 9 due to the 6 hour drive towards Cincinnati. All in all, going to Wrigley was better than I could have hoped and I think I have Kate and Drew hooked and Sherri at least partially converted. She even wore a Cubs shirt. No sports bigamy, she has to pick between the Braves and Cubs now. Ben had a blast flirting with the 25 year old woman behind us. This involved lots of laughing, peekaboo, and apparently some nose picking on his part. Long drive to Cincy. Remember those monolithically weird windmills I wrote about on the way to Chicago? Turns out the only way they can be creepier is to come upon them when the sky is totally dark and you see a vast landscape of blinking red lights so planes won't fly into them. And, on the close ones, you can vaguely see the blades spinning in the red light just to let you know they are still there. Stayed at another decent hotel, keeping the good hotel streak alive.
Saturday - Started the day at the museum which was pretty cool. Dinosaurs, floods, artifacts, Kate and Sherri got to see the planetarium. The boys went to a snake show and touched a lot of them including just the three of us holding up a 100 pound boa constrictor. That was nifty. 4 hour drive to Knoxville where we are right now at a Best Western. I'll come back and fill in the Sturday stuff tomorrow. Ready for a shower, Kate, Drew, and Ben are all now asleep and we will be soon also.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Another day in Chicago
And, here we go again. Today was wet about half the time, windy and chilly the whole time. And it didn't matter a bit because today was awesome fun. The rundown:
1. We took our first trip on the Chicago transit bus system. It was pretty packed, but ultimately a better travel option for our needs than the El. Anyway, it was different and fun. I still feel a bit out of sorts using public transportation on a vacation but distance, weather, and 3 kids with short legs have somewhat conspired against our insane walking adventures.
2. Lincoln Park Zoo - I knew it from the commercials during Cubs games, no one else had a clue about it. It was an awesome zoo. Puts the Atlanta one to shame. Free to go in and it is full of amazingness. We got to see all of the requisite zoo type animals along with some extra fun. The theming of each section was great, felt almost Disney like in it's niceness. In the giant feline room, we got to witness a roaring contest between the two lions and the tiger. It was pretty cool, loud, and reminded us that without the bars in the way we would be lunch. They also have a pretty awesome kids area with some cool mini-farms, interactive exhibits, and a petting area. Oh yeah, they also got to feed cows. Gigantic cows. Not babies, full on huge cows with heads bigger than Ben's whole body. Drew was a bit hesitant and only did it a couple of times, but Ben and Kate could have done it all day long. And, since we were the only people there, they could have.
3. The Magnificent Mile - Yeah, it's a total tourist trap, but it's still fun to see. One mile of tons of stores, cool buildings and architecture, random union picket lines, and a Chick Fil A oasis of food that fueled us to finish the day strong. Kate got to go to the American Girl store with Sherri and Ben while Drew and I hung out in the Lego store and did manly things with manly construction sets based on Star Wars. We hit a few other stores and explored at our own pace which was set on it's normal super fast speed.
4. Millenium Park - This was an end of the day add-on. It's basically a giant park with some art, bridges, and random stuff so we took pictures, the kids ran around, and we killed off a bit more energy. A final few blocks walking to a bus stop and the ride back to the hotel.
5. Some random grocery store - Named Jewel-Osco. Needed some food supplies for the room.
All kids now asleep. Drew's favorite thing today was probably the termite tunnel, riding in the backpack, and exploring. Ben was pretty much hooked on Sherri. Kate really liked the cows.
Side note, Kate is a beast and has fully earned her Phelan walking legs this trip. Between climbing mountains and walking every step of the way with us through the city, she has proven her ability to walk distances and speeds most people would not be able to handle and she has done it all without a bit of complaining.
Drew is well on his way to this lofty status. His moutaineering is coming along nicely and he's building up to the long distances, just a few years to go on that process.
1. We took our first trip on the Chicago transit bus system. It was pretty packed, but ultimately a better travel option for our needs than the El. Anyway, it was different and fun. I still feel a bit out of sorts using public transportation on a vacation but distance, weather, and 3 kids with short legs have somewhat conspired against our insane walking adventures.
2. Lincoln Park Zoo - I knew it from the commercials during Cubs games, no one else had a clue about it. It was an awesome zoo. Puts the Atlanta one to shame. Free to go in and it is full of amazingness. We got to see all of the requisite zoo type animals along with some extra fun. The theming of each section was great, felt almost Disney like in it's niceness. In the giant feline room, we got to witness a roaring contest between the two lions and the tiger. It was pretty cool, loud, and reminded us that without the bars in the way we would be lunch. They also have a pretty awesome kids area with some cool mini-farms, interactive exhibits, and a petting area. Oh yeah, they also got to feed cows. Gigantic cows. Not babies, full on huge cows with heads bigger than Ben's whole body. Drew was a bit hesitant and only did it a couple of times, but Ben and Kate could have done it all day long. And, since we were the only people there, they could have.
3. The Magnificent Mile - Yeah, it's a total tourist trap, but it's still fun to see. One mile of tons of stores, cool buildings and architecture, random union picket lines, and a Chick Fil A oasis of food that fueled us to finish the day strong. Kate got to go to the American Girl store with Sherri and Ben while Drew and I hung out in the Lego store and did manly things with manly construction sets based on Star Wars. We hit a few other stores and explored at our own pace which was set on it's normal super fast speed.
4. Millenium Park - This was an end of the day add-on. It's basically a giant park with some art, bridges, and random stuff so we took pictures, the kids ran around, and we killed off a bit more energy. A final few blocks walking to a bus stop and the ride back to the hotel.
5. Some random grocery store - Named Jewel-Osco. Needed some food supplies for the room.
All kids now asleep. Drew's favorite thing today was probably the termite tunnel, riding in the backpack, and exploring. Ben was pretty much hooked on Sherri. Kate really liked the cows.
Side note, Kate is a beast and has fully earned her Phelan walking legs this trip. Between climbing mountains and walking every step of the way with us through the city, she has proven her ability to walk distances and speeds most people would not be able to handle and she has done it all without a bit of complaining.
Drew is well on his way to this lofty status. His moutaineering is coming along nicely and he's building up to the long distances, just a few years to go on that process.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Day something of vacation, my brain can't count
And, here we are. We woke up at our initial Chicago hotel and busted it out of there just in time for AM traffic. We drove north up Lakeshore Drive as our first order of business was finding Wrigley Field which, all apologies to Disney, is the happiest place on earth. Holy cow, it's awesome. We took a 10 AM tour of the park and got to see pretty much everything except the innards of the scoreboard. Sat in the stands, went into the pressbox and saw the organ, broadcast booths, etc. Went into the visitor's locker room. Went and sat out in the bleachers in right field. Walked through the Cubs locker room. Sat in the Cubs dugout and stood on the field behind home plate. And took a million pictures. Way too cool. Saw all the statues, pictures, etc. Awesome awesome awesome.
Went and check into our hotel for the next 3 night. The Majestic Chicago. The true mark of hotel awesomeness is how the sleeping goes, but this place seems off to a good start. Nice little place that is probably pretty easy to overlook but seems quite great. Stay here if you visit the city. Good part of town and everything.
We then hightailed if over to the Shedd Aquarium which was neat. The kids (especially Kate) liked it and it was fine by the parents. Pretty busy, but some neat stuff including a giant anaconda among other freaky critters. We played in some random stretch of grass afterwards just to burn off energy because we haven't walked, hiked, and climbed enough quite yet on this trip. Also, the wind coming off Lake Michigan is no joke.
We all also got our first taste of the El which was OK. Busy and public transport is not our favored mode of transport. This may be the first trip we have ever taken where we chose public transport over just walking, solely out of deference to the shorter legged among us. Sorry kids, but pretty sure you'll inherit the crazy walking gene from your parents. We are both equally to blame for that.
Back to the hotel and then a half mile stroll to IHOP where no food was left untouched and Drew may have eaten a plate or two. He was beyond focused on what he wanted. As soon we mentioned it as an option, he laid out his menu. Made it come to fruition once we got there (the Rooty Jr with spiced apples for those keeping score). Good server too, no complaints.
All in all, an A day in terms of seeing stuff. An A day in terms of totally wearing out anyone currently awake or asleep in this hotel room as I type away.
And, we'll pretty much ramp it up again tomorrow.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Oh, one more thing
We now know what it sounds like when a big rig blows a tire from 50 feet away. Kinda like a bazooka hitting it's target. Thankfully, the semi was going the other way and there was a grassy median between, but sheesh that was loud.
Vacation day 3 - Start with C, ends with O, and has hicag in the middle
And zero percent of the people reading this have any idea where that came from.
Here we sit in Chicago. How did we get here?
We woke up around 7 in Jeffersonville, Indiana and ate breakfast. Then, we went back south about 3 miles to the Louisville Slugger museum and factory tour? How long does it take you to go 3 miles? Took us about an hour since one of the 3 bridges that crosses the Ohio River was shut down on Friday due to concerning cracks. Comforting. No big deal for us though. We toured and saw how bats get made and we even got free souvenir mini-bats which, as a low end guess, will be taken away from Drew and Ben 10 times in their lives when they are used as weapons.
After that it was a 3 hour drive when we stopped halfway and hung out in Lafayette, Indiana (home of Purdue) and stopped at Columbiana Park and Zoo which is a pretty awesome gigantic playground and free small zoo in the middle of a town that feels a bit like Humboldt. No mailboxes, near as I can tell the mailman walks around drops stuff off at the doors. Anyway, at the zoo you could walk through the wallaby exhibit, pet goats, pigs, miniature horses, llamas, and chickens depending on which animals stand still. Otters, peacocks, monkeys, and a couple of other animals.
Ate at sam's club because they have big pizza for little money and we have 3 voracious children. High society stuff for us.
Back in the car for about 2 hours, ending up in Chicago. The previous post showed the giant windmills we passed. Must have been thousands of them dotting the farmland and the pictures don't accurately convey how weird it is to drive past them.
Ended in the Chicago outskirts at a Best Western - Chicagoland Countryside. Yay, the land that gave us Barack Obama. I'll have to show my heartfelt gratitude to every person I see (Sarcasm mode off). Went and found a pretty cool playground/park to kill an hour at night and played the best game of pretend baseball ever.
We'll have to post the video of Drew at the Louisville Slugger museum swinging against 90 MPH pitches. good grief, baseball appears to be his natural sport.
Tomorrow is another day. Wrigley tour, aquarium. Who knows what else.
Here we sit in Chicago. How did we get here?
We woke up around 7 in Jeffersonville, Indiana and ate breakfast. Then, we went back south about 3 miles to the Louisville Slugger museum and factory tour? How long does it take you to go 3 miles? Took us about an hour since one of the 3 bridges that crosses the Ohio River was shut down on Friday due to concerning cracks. Comforting. No big deal for us though. We toured and saw how bats get made and we even got free souvenir mini-bats which, as a low end guess, will be taken away from Drew and Ben 10 times in their lives when they are used as weapons.
After that it was a 3 hour drive when we stopped halfway and hung out in Lafayette, Indiana (home of Purdue) and stopped at Columbiana Park and Zoo which is a pretty awesome gigantic playground and free small zoo in the middle of a town that feels a bit like Humboldt. No mailboxes, near as I can tell the mailman walks around drops stuff off at the doors. Anyway, at the zoo you could walk through the wallaby exhibit, pet goats, pigs, miniature horses, llamas, and chickens depending on which animals stand still. Otters, peacocks, monkeys, and a couple of other animals.
Ate at sam's club because they have big pizza for little money and we have 3 voracious children. High society stuff for us.
Back in the car for about 2 hours, ending up in Chicago. The previous post showed the giant windmills we passed. Must have been thousands of them dotting the farmland and the pictures don't accurately convey how weird it is to drive past them.
Ended in the Chicago outskirts at a Best Western - Chicagoland Countryside. Yay, the land that gave us Barack Obama. I'll have to show my heartfelt gratitude to every person I see (Sarcasm mode off). Went and found a pretty cool playground/park to kill an hour at night and played the best game of pretend baseball ever.
We'll have to post the video of Drew at the Louisville Slugger museum swinging against 90 MPH pitches. good grief, baseball appears to be his natural sport.
Tomorrow is another day. Wrigley tour, aquarium. Who knows what else.
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