Thanksgiving and a Little Father/Son Bonding

It just occurred to me that I never posted Thanksgiving pictures!  Although, there aren't too many photos to speak of.  I guess I was too busy either cooking, eating, or sleeping to take any pictures!  Making an entire Thanksgiving meal by yourself can really wear a girl out!  In any case, here are the few that we got...

On Saturday, Cody and his dad made their way up to Minnesota for their Annual Bears/Vikings game.  Cody has been organizing this for the last couple of years and had a crowd of over 30 go this year.  They had a great time, but, unfortunately, the Bears suffered a loss.

This canopy was Cody's early Christmas present.  He was thrilled to get it and I was thrilled I didn't have to find a way to haul it to Murphysboro!

When you go to a game with both Vikings and Bears fans, the one thing you can agree on is that you all hate the Packers.

Father and son sporting their Bears attire

My apologies to Cameron and Grandma for not getting any photos of them!  Here's to next year!

Bears Bonding

A few weeks ago, the Bears had a night game and, of course, Daddy was watching.  Right before he went to bed, Owen crawled up on the couch and watched with him.  I walked into the living room and saw the cuteness and couldn't resist taking a photo...

It won't be long before all 3 of my boys are snuggled on the couch watching the Bears!  And I'm sure it won't be too long after that, the snuggling will subside and the yelling at the TV will commence.

Wrigley and Soldier Field in the same weekend?!?!

Yes, my husband was, indeed, in sports fan heaven. Not only did he and Owen get to watch the Bears practice at Soldier Field, it just so happened that the Iowa Cubs were playing a game at Wrigley Field that weekend, too. I, of course, thought this was too much to pack into one weekend but what do I know? Cody really wanted to take advantage of this because, like the Bears game, it was a cheap way to take Owen to Wrigley Field.

Ginna got to join in on the fun this time around.

Are they cute or what?

The next couple of pictures are a prime example of what we are going through these days in trying to get a good picture of Owen. Kid will not look at the freaking camera to save his life. Drives me nuts!

Oh well, at least that's a good one of Matt and Gianna! The real reason Cody wanted to go to this game was because after the game was over, all the kids in attendance got to run the bases. Yeah, Owen was excited about it but Cody was over the moon.

"I got to touch the ivy," was all he kept telling me. I'm surprised he was able to concentrate long enough to get pictures of the kids running the bases. I'm also surprised he didn't just take off and run with them!

The kids were allowed to run from first to home and then they were done. Come on, do you think that stopped our Owen? Of course not! He kept right on running, rounding home and making his way back to first! Here he is being instructed to go back to his father, that man over there who is drooling over the ivy and trying to think of a way to take some of it home, too busy to collect his son once he got to home base.

Once again, a good time was had by all. I'm just not sure who had more fun--the die-hard-Cubs-fans Daddies or the kids!

Bears Family Day

A few weekends ago, Daddy and Owen headed to Bolingbrook/Chicago for a Big Boys Only weekend. They had a weekend packed with fun that started with a day with the Bears!



Every year the Bears have a Family Day where you can pay about 7 bucks to go to Soldier Field, participate in some fun activities, and watch the Bears play a scrimmage game. We thought this was a good start for Owen since it was so cheap and didn't require him to sit still for a long period of time like a real game would. Uncle Matt, Dominic, Matt's brother, Dave, and his son, Jake joined them and a good time was had by all!

You know me, I have to include a picture of the band!

Look how close their seats were!

Look closely and you can spot Brian Urlacher!

We are looking forward to a time when Cameron is old enough to go so we can experience this as a family. Or maybe Daddy and the boys go and Mommy gets a shopping day all to herself? Stay tuned for more Chicago fun!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

While we were on vacation in St. Louis we were finally able to check out the new Busch Stadium. I almost didn't go because I was afraid to leave Cameron since he wasn't in the best of moods, but I'm so glad Grandma insisted I go! The stadium was awesome! I was a little upset when I heard they were building a new one because I hate change and I am sentimental with everything...even baseball fields. But this park really won me over! It has an old-time feel with all the modern conveniences, including escalators! I hated when we had high seats at the old stadium and had to walk up all those ramps!

Since Steve Glodo was running the show, we made it to the stadium pretty early and had plenty of time to check things out before the game started. We stopped for a few photos outside:

Owen and Stan the Man

Being that this was Owen's first MLB game, I wasn't sure how he would do so I thought I should bring plenty of ammunition to fight boredom. I thought a backpack would be easiest to carry around but forgot to bring one. Fortunately, Maddy came to my rescue:

That's right, I rocked the Hannah Montana!

Third Base Entrance

All around the stadium there are plaques like these:

They were designed by one of my friends from college, Gabe Drueke, who is also from Southern Illinois. I had heard all about them but I was so excited to be able to see them firsthand! I was so impressed with what a great job he did!

Maddy had a gift card to Build-A-Bear and they happened to have one inside the stadium. So she took advantage of the situation and made her own Fred Bird.

The funny thing about this is that if the real Fred Bird comes within 100 feet of her she is consumed with fear and will not go anywhere near him.

We had great seats along the third baseline and took a little time to hang out by the dugout before the game to watch batting practice and possibly score some autographs. Unfortunately, we had no luck with the autographs but Owen still enjoyed himself.



One of my favorite things about the new stadium is how open it feels. You can see right into it from the street and inside, you have an awesome view of the city:

We were even lucky enough to find ourselves on the jumbo-tron:

Yes, that's me taking a picture of myself on the jumbo-tron. I was actually trying to get a picture of Owen and Cody on there because the guy got a great close-up of them, but I was too late and got myself instead!

Alas, the Cards couldn't pull out a win for us but a great time was still certainly had by all! And Maddy and Owen were just happy they got to spend a little time with their Grandpa.

And so begins the madness...

Last Sunday marked the official start of football season. Or as I like to call it, Daddy Can Not Be Bothered To Do Anything on Sundays Season. Owen is becoming a huge Bears fan like his daddy and I'm sure it's not long before Cameron's cheering along with them. Here are a few shots I got:

This is Owen's impression of the Bear

Unfortunately, though it is the correct size, Cameron's Bears outfit was apparently made for an actual linebacker. It's huge! So we had to settle for the Bears blanket.

Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Steve sent Owen a Devin Hester jersey just like Daddy's and he loves it!!!

Of course, no game is complete without at least one rendition of "Bear Down, Chicago Bears!"

I have a feeling it's going to be a very long winter.