Days at the park...

I've scoured every block within a 1-mile radius of our place here in Wheaton, and there must be over 15+ available parks for the kids to use. Okay...okay...I grew up here so I already knew where they all were - but I have checked them out and taken the kids to many of them. It has become one of the more favorite past times of Elizabeth, Sammy and I. We have 2 or 3 that our favorites and I snapped a couple pictures so you all could see some updates of the kids. The park I snapped all the pictures at is made specifically for 2-5 year olds which is great. Elizabeth can safely (this is key) play on every object there which allows me to focus about half my time on Sammy so he doesn't feel left out.

Underneath the slide shown in the picture above there is a little table with benches to sit at. Elizabeth thinks this is a dinner table and always brings me sand food and wood chip drinks to taste - yummy. For those of you that enjoy my own personal suffering, I've hit my head near bleeding multiple times on the walk way above this table. This little bench also seems to be where all the kids like to congregate in the playground, even Sammy likes it there (e.g. silly smile to the right).

Connecting two separate pieces of the equipment are this mesh metal tube that the kids like to climb through. Elizabeth asked me to try - so I foolishly did. I'm not sure if I am just a) Old or b) much heavier than she is - but those little strips of metal went digging into my surgically repaired knee. Two things followed - immense pain lasting 1 minute and then numbness for several more. Needless to say, dad will no longer be going through the tunnel. Instead, I just walk on top of it which freaks Elizabeth out and no doubt provides Sam with aspirations to do something similar which will simply worry me.

We miss everyone in Richmond but are enjoying getting reconnected in Wheaton. I've signed on to be a youth leader for a small group of guys in Student Body (Wheaton Bible Church's high school ministry). Tonight is the first night that I'll be going to the small group so pray that the other leader, the boys and I will be able to break down barriers and build some new friendships. In a situation like this, its easy to have huge visions of all the great talks you will have and spiritual growth you will be able to impart on the youth - but as a book I've been reading reminds me - the problem with that is that it is about YOU. Mind you, it is good to try and have deep talks and help people grow...but...this core group might grow by 300% or it might fade away. It is important for me not to get overly excited or disappointed by either of those - rather - to know that God has a plan for me and the boys, and to lean on him for help as we proceed through the year.

The Great Adventure

The adventure that I speak of is Elizabeth's first extended trip away from home and mom and dad - with Grandma and Grandpa! My parents are coming in tomorrow and will be leaving Wed morning with Elizabeth to spend a couple days up in Michigan together. I've heard of all sorts of fun events planned from the zoo to parks to museums and even making strawberry ice cream together. She might have so much fun that she decides never to come back! Although I am sure Christy and I will miss her, we'll enjoy a little down time with only Sammy to care for. We will see her soon enough on Friday when we had to Michigan to meet up with the entire Meyer Clan to celebrate my birthday on Saturday (feel free to send cash, gifts and other goodies my way).

Its been a while since I posted my thoughts on random articles that I see online - and I have a whopper to view today (not really). It has to do with something only slightly less cool than the pigeon hugging monkey I posted about last time. Today it has to do with missile silo homes. Maybe its just a guy thing, but missile silo homes and also the idea of purchasing an island was a topic of conversation and online searching at least once every six months while I was at Capital One. For all you rookies who have never dreamed so big, I've included a link to help understand the greatness that could be owning a house over an old Titan or Atlas missile silo and/or your own private island get-a-way. Christy and I were considering a private island in Costa Rica - but after examining our bank account we learned we were a few million short. To be honest though, the drive would have been a bear from the ocean to San Jose.

Another article that caught my eye was on the UAW labor contract disputes with GM. These disputes, along with similar ones that are always seen in the airline industry, are amazing to me. I guess I can understand the union position (e.g., you promised us this, now you need to pay) but at some level they need to understand they are running the company into the ground, and when that happens - no one wins. No retirement benefits, no job security, no nothing. Clearly we are a ways off from this; however, it has just always seemed like a dangerous game of chicken. They might actually get more now than they will when the company is very weak and can't afford to concede anything.

Until next time...

Settling into Wheaton

Well, Christy and I have been in Wheaton together for two weeks now and I must say it is better being together than being apart. My last two weeks in Richmond were fun as I got to say goodbye to all my friends and close out work at Capital One, but I did miss the family tremendously. Christy has started her job at Wheaton College as an adjunct professor and appears to be settling in nicely. I have given her sound advice on how to fail students properly but she does not seem to be listening - which is probably best for everyone. I've been mainly a stay at home daddy which is a big adjustment for me, but a wonderful (probably once in a life time) opportunity. The kids and I spend alot of time going to parks, museums, the public library, shopping for milk and other activities. I've also been able to try my hand at making several meals including Pad Thai, Red Curry Chicken, Spanish Rice and other meals. I even went shopping at the oriental grocery store for thai egg plants - I got some strange looks and had to search for someone to speak English, but I got the egg plants and they tasted great.

Christy and I had our first get together at the condo today and 7 different folks came. We had great fellowship together and everyone was so supportive of the move to Costa Rica. We've also enjoyed beginning to get plugged into Wheaton Bible Church. We have been going to service and also gotten plugged into a community group there. I'm also looking forward to being in the men's bible study on Thursday mornings and also involved in other capacities (not having a job has the perks of having more time to serve in the body).

Elizabeth and Sammy are doing well. Elizabeth's most common phrases (besides 'Milk Please' and 'Lets go see Nanna and Pappa') is 'Dad, lets go to the park' or 'Dad, I just have to get out of the house.' Sammy has started calling Christy and I 'Hey-dad' and 'Hey-mom' because Elizabeth will say 'Hey Dad....hey dad....hey dad....hey dad....hey dad...' until I answer her. Awesome.

Cristy was able to update many pictures of the kids (click on the link in the upper right) - I highly recommend everyone go take a look. My favorite is with all the cousins plus a few second cousin piled on the couch. I was in Richmond when that picture was taken, and with that many kids under the age of 5 in one area, I am kinda happy about it.

Before I go, I'll leave everyone with this picture. It is a picture of a monkey hugging a bird. I saw this on drudgereport and it is the cutest picture I have ever seen (minus any of my kids of course). Basically, this stray monkey has buddied up with this pigeon, and they are friends for life. Does it get any better than this?

Internet works!

Well, its been a while but I have an excuse...It took us a little longer to get the internet up running than we thought it would. I am happy to say that Christy and I have medium speed (I won't call it high speed because we went on the cheap and got the 700K download speed for 10 dollars a month instead of worrying about getting maximum speed for 40 a month) up and running. It is fast enough to surf the web, write emails, and stream music without any hassle at all. Hurray!

I'll be better about posting here and emailing everyone. Hope all is going well and we'll be in touch soon.