My Turn....by Kevin

I've spent the past year or so enjoying Courtney's blogging without providing any input of my own. I guess now is my chance. She did a wonderful job filling you guys in about our trip to NYC, but didn't quite do one thing it's justice. YANKEE FREAKING' STADIUM.

I guess she forgot to mention that she has now enjoyed a ballgame in the house that Babe Ruth built. The same field that the likes of Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Goose Gossage, Phil Rizzuto, and Roger Maris played on. Oh yeah, by the way, she was privileged to see Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez play. She even saw A-Rod knock his 538th home run. Does she realize this man will in the near future be the true Home Run King? Probably not, but she was one hell of a sport.

How awesome is Courtney? Well...let me put it to you like this. She let me take her to the game 2 hours early for no other reason than the fact that I couldn't wait any longer to get there. She walked all over that stadium with me taking pictures every 10 yards or so. When I said I wanted stand in the sun and watch batting practice, she was totally cool with it. She even came with me for a few minutes. (By the way, I did catch a ball) Then when she wanted to leave she was like, "Hey, I'm gonna go find the seats, want me to get you anything?" Yeah, she got me a huge Diet Coke in one of those souvenir cups and a Nathan's hot dog with mustard. Then she enjoyed one of the funniest mmoments I've ever had at a baseball game. Some guy was headed towards his seats besides us and lost his balance right in front of her and fell four rows straight down, landing ever so softly on this wanna be Paris Hilton and then proceded to keep falling row after row. Her hair was jacked up. The moment the shock of the situation ended, I busted out laughing so hard. Perhaps not the nicest gesture, but I couldn't keep it in. I felt bad for the guy, but I couldn't hold back any longer.

Following that moment Will Ferral, I mean, his look a like buddy sat down right next to Courtney. This guy was a legit Yankee fan. Total Mouth Breather. He proceeded to fill out his own lineup card with both teams and kept score play by play the entire game, while at the same time listening to the radio broadcast on his old school FM Walkman. He was amazing, not unlike all the other Yankee fans. They love their baseball there. Far more than all the cholo's in left field at Dodger Stadium, or the Cougars that go to Angels games and try to be a "fan"..... I digress, the best Yankee fan moment came as the dumbass Redsox fan walked up the stairs and without hesitation, the hundreds of fans who saw him all chanted, "Asshole, Asshole, ......" They then proceeded to pelt him with Ice, Popcorn, plastic beer bottles and any other object they could throw.

The seventh inning stretch at Yankee Stadium was unlike any other I've experienced. Rather than your traditional "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", they sang "God Bless America". When I say they, I mean the entire stadium. It was a pretty amazing moment. Probably the proudest moment I've had as a citizen of this Country. Of course it had to do with a sporting event, sorry Grandpa Brown...

As the game wrapped up and we paid our homage to the Yankee's, I almost shed a tear. A dream had been fulfilled. I sang along with Frank Sinatra's, "New York, New York", as is the tradition after each Yankee win. Thank you Courtney for letting me have this moment. I'm glad we were able to share it together. It wouldn't have been the same without you.

New York, New York (revised)

Kevin and I went to New York City to celebrate our FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! I can’t believe we’ve been married for five years.
“Phantom of the Opera”
I have wanted to see Phantom of the Opera since I was a little girl. At the end of the show I was balling like a baby.

After the show we went to the hotel with the plan of going back out to enjoy New York City night life. We were both exhausted, changed into our PJs and went to bed.
We stayed at a European style hotel, which meant we shared a bathroom with six other rooms. It was like camping without the tent and the campfire.
The next day we packed up our stuff and took a taxi over to Kevin’s boss’s hotel. She is living in New York City during the week for some type of educational program and she offered her place to us for the weekend. What a blessing that was, we were so grateful. We felt so welcome in her place, she left us notes and told Kevin he wasn’t allowed to work. The view from her apartment was amazing.
Grand Central Station
We started out on what would be the most exhausting 48 hours of my life! We walked to Grand Central Station. It was so beautiful.

Subway
The subway wasn’t as bad as everyone said it would be.
Statue of Liberty
We admired Lady Liberty from the shore. We hear she is going to open to the public for tours again. I wouldn’t mine going up to the top of the statue when they reopen it.

Trinity Church
I wanted to see Trinity Church because it's in National Treasure. It was pretty cool and pretty dang old. Kevin and I sat in mass for about 2 minutes, that was enough for us.
Trinity Church Cemetery
It looked like the Haunted Mansion (I think I go to Disneyland too much!) with the standing head rests. These were from people who died in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s. Besides the La Brea Tar Pits, we don’t have stuff that old in LA.

New York Stock Exchange
Kevin wanted to see the New York Stock Exchange, since it was right there we decided, why not? We don’t have any kids with us!

First Capital of the USA
Across the street from the NYSE is our Nation’s first capital. George Washington took his presidential oath on the stairs of this building.

Ground Zero
After walking down Wall Street and headed to Ground Zero. Everyone is right when they say it is underwhelming. I think it will be a lot better to visit when the World Trade Towers are rebuilt by 2012; along with the monument remembering those who lost their lives that day.

Yankee Stadium
This was Kevin’s night to do what he wanted. He really wanted to go to a game in Yankee Stadium, especially since this is the last season they will play there. The Yankees are building an amazing, new, state of the art stadium across the street. We didn’t have enough time to see Monument Park so we headed to the team store. Kevin was amazed at Yankee stadium, he even caught a ball!

At Dodger Stadium, you eat a... Dodger Dog. At Yankee Stadium, you eat a Nathan's Dog.

Some guy walked past us to get to his seat and totally ate crap falling down about 3 rows. I felt bad for the guy, but it was so funny.
Here's the new Yankee Stadium.

After the Yankee game we joined the mass of people heading to the subway.

ESPN ZONE
How lucky is Kevin that his wife lets him eat at the ESPN Zone? Yes, the Yankee game was followed with dinner at the ESPN Zone in Time Square. I might as well be there by myself; Kevin is so enthralled with all the TVs around him. He said, “I want a room like this in my house one day.” I didn’t understand what he meant by that, but to clarify; he wants a room with a bunch of TVs so he can watch multiple games at the same time.
Time Square
We walked around Time Square after dinner, and headed back to the room. I walked straight into bed. I don’t know how Kevin could stay up to watch the Top 10 on ESPN.
Pfizer Headquarters
Saturday morning started a little more slowly. I did not want to put on my tennis shoes or walk at all… but we were in New York City! We walked to Pfizer’s world headquarters. It’s a whole building. Since it was Saturday we could not go in, but they have an amazing mural depicting medicine through out time.

United Nations


What an amazing place. There were many displays talking about some major problems in our world. From the destruction of the rain forests to the refugee camps of Darfur, it is amazing how much of an impact and influence the U.N. has for the world. It made me feel so good to know that there is an organization working on the problems of the world.

The U.N. goals are:
1. End Poverty & Hunger
2. Education for All
3. Equality for Women
4. Save Children's Lives
5. Make Motherhood Safe
6. Stop HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
7. Protect the Environment
8. Build a Global Partnership for Development

5th Ave.
Kevin was in heaven! All of his favorite stores in one place! Cole Hahn, Faconnable, Brooks Brothers, etc… yea, can you say champagne taste on a beer budget? We kept shopping, so we had to focus back to our list of things we wanted to do that day.

Central Park
We walked to Central Park and rested, we were exhausted; Kevin wanted to take a bicycle taxi, I said, “No, lets walk through the park!” Words I would regret later. I didn’t realize how BIG Central Park was.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
We walked all the way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Ancient Egyptian art is so cool because it’s sooo old, same as the Asian art pieces; I don’t really get excited about modern photography. My favorite painting was the “Death of Socrates” by Jacques-Louis David.

230 Fifth
Our last night in New York City we decided to check out the night life. We had dinner at this quaint little Mexican food restaurant, it was so good. We went to a night club called 230 5th. It was awesome. It was a roof top night club.

From the roof we could see the whole city, and had an amazing view of the Empire State Building.

On our way home we stopped at a couple of bars, Joshua Tree, an 80's bar... awesome, I love 80's music. Then a sports bar... they were playing Bob Marley... perfect for Kevin. We got home and CRASHED!

Madison Square Garden
Kevin wanted to see Madison Square Garden, so we walked all the way there. Oh how I hated walking.

On our way back we ate.... PIZZA!!! We just couldn't get enough pizza.

Flight Drama
We took a cab to JFK together. Since Kevin's flight left before mine, I got there quite a bit early. It turned out to be a blessing because my flight was canceled AGAIN! The airline people were telling everyone to come back tomorrow morning. Whatever! I want to go home. I buttered up my guy a lot. I said, "Let's work your magic! Are you a genius?" Then I asked the other girls if he was a genius. I tell you, he looked for a good 15 minutes to find a flight for me... meanwhile, everyone else was told to come back tomorrow. He did it!!! He found another flight. The problem was it was out of Laguardia and it left in 1 1/2 hours. I asked 3 other people if they wanted to share a cab. What an exhilarating cab ride to the airport. I asked the cab driver what his record time was from JFK to Laguardia, I had him all pumped up to beat it, turned out to be pretty scary. The cab driver was driving in the shoulder and almost got in 50 accidents. Amazing we made it there in one piece to find out our flight was delayed 1 hour... then 2 hours... then 3 hours... I thought I would never get home... Finally, our plane arrived. Everyone boarded and we all waited another hour to take off. By the time I got back to Cleveland I zombie walked straight to be since it was 11:30. At least I didn't have to wait with 2 kids! I enjoyed being by myself. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Farm Park

Totally amazing! I think I liked the farm park more than my kids! You can experience everything a farm has to offer and there's tons of interactive stuff for me!! I mean the kids...
We went with the Flinders and Mamo J (Joyce). Mamo J always hooks up her grandbabies with yummy snacks. Caught in the act!


She loves her grandbabies, and her grandbabies LOVE her!

Hannah and I milked a cow! I have never milked a cow, but it is a lot like expressing your own milk... TMI???


The horse-drawn wagon ride was a big hit. Gavin was a crack up, he thought it was the COOLEST thing!

He loved the goats/sheep, I can't really tell them apart. If anyone knows what these are feel free to educate me.

Hannah and the goat/sheep!

Gavin's favorite was the "HORS-EEES"

This particular horse kept eating Sam's hair. I wasn't fast enough with the camera, this is Sam after getting his hair eaten by the horse.

Hannah and Sam got to "brush" a horse too.

The park had a lot of different kinds of horses. This is called a Percheron. This is the type of horse the knights rode. They are HUGE and so beautiful. This is Mel.

There was a cool working dog show. A Boarder Collie named Lucy showed off her sheep herding skills.

Gavin and Sam breaking the "no climbing on the fence" rule. I had to take a picture before I got Gavin down... blogging before safety! Seriously how is he supposed to hurt himself falling ONE FOOT!!!

We went though the chicken coop. I'm not sure who started it, I think it was Mamo J, but everyone started "bahking" like a chicken and then the chickens went WILD!
Here's an egg and a funny looking chicken.

It was a smelly, but fun day...

Parties and Pedicures

The day started out cold and rainy. When we walked out of church it was sunny and beautiful. We spent the whole afternoon outside. I just love having a backyard. My kids love having a backyard. They rode their bikes around and I weeded. My in-laws FORCED me to weed! I'm kidding, I love to weed, it is so relaxing.
The Flinders came over for Mamo J's (Joyce) birthday. We had a good dinner. I figure I will gain about 5 pounds here, I will enjoy my two weeks of gluttony.

Hannah and Gavin LOVE their cousins. It's always so insane when they are all together.

After dinner the kids went on a ride! Steve has a trailer that attaches to his lawn mower. He drove circles around the house and front yard. The kids LOVED it.

Elise was scared of the loud noise. She just wanted to cuddle with Joyce.

This is Chaya, she is going to obedience school and needs to get used to a collar. She was possessed when we were trying to get it on her. Poor thing, I felt so bad when I was basically strangling her to get it on. I love this dog... she makes me want to get a little dog (I'm a big dog person).

Since we were celebrating Mamo J's birthday we had to have a birthday cake... she had a little help blowing out her candles. Why do kids think it's ok to blow out EVERYONE'S candles? Poor Gavin, he's trying so hard to hang with the big kids.

All the kids enjoyed the cake...


I gave Joyce a pedicure for her birthday... Hannah and Gavin wanted one too. I guess I created a pedicure beast out of Hannah! I don't know how Kevin will like his son getting a pedicure?

It was a great day in Ohio, we all miss our Daddy so much. Good luck Daddy on your test!!!!