A 'field' trip

Today was an exciting day as Elizabeth decided (well, actually I did) to cash in her coupon that I gave her for her birthday. The coupon was for one trip on the train to downtown Chicago for a day of adventure and fun. For those of you that I have not talked to (or don't have trains constantly running in your area) - there is a unique phenomena that happens. Little kids love trains, and want to see as many as possible. Adults who drive become incredibly upset - or maybe thats just me - when they have to wait for the trains to pass by. My kids have taking to cheering 'Yeahhhh train!!!' when the gate goes down in front of me and I sit stewing in the car. All that said, Elizabeth loves trains so I wanted to make sure she got a nice long train ride with a fun day spent downtown where we could see large buildings and also go to a museum. We took the 8:06 to downtown and Elizabeth loved the ride. Everyone was quietly reading their books, paper or blackberry, and the only thing you could hear every 10 seconds was 'LOOK DAD, LOOK AT THAT PARK! LOOK AT THAT! THERE IS ANOTHER TRAIN...OH MY GOODNESS...' and I had to constantly remind her to use her library voice inside the train. We made it downtown without much hassle, and I quickly realized that we were not in Union Station like I thought we were going to - which means I was lost. As I was loading Elizabeth up a business man came over to me and said 'Excuse me, you look lost. Can I help point you in the right direction?' With all the confidence I could muster, I let him know I was helping my daughter into our stroller and was about ready to go exactly where I knew I was going. After 28 years of life, nothing changes....

ALOT of walking, map usage, retracing of steps and a taxi ride later, we made it to safely to the museum. Elizabeth was quite impressed with the size of the museum, I was more impressed with how ugly Soldier Field is now after the renovations (you can see it in the background of this picture...just click the picture to make it bigger). Soldier Field is right across the from the field museum (get the joke in the title now?) in case you think I would drag my daughter all the way to the stadium just to see it. I've been there before - and lets be honest, the bears are terrible.

In case you are not aware, the Field museum is Chicago's natural history museum - and it really is great. I snapped a picture with Lizzy next to the T-Rex in the main lobby. When I asked her if she knew what it was, she had no idea. I'm not sure if we've not told her what a dinosaur is, or if she has only ever seen pictures of them with skin on. Either way we've got some work to do. We also goofed around and took a whole bunch of pictures of ourselves - one of which turned out half way decent (see above).

After three exhibits and lunch, she was pretty sure she wanted to go back on the train and go home....but I made her come to the Egypt exhibit because it is my favorite. Even though she was tired, she did muster the strength to try and pull the stone shown in the picture. Little did she know it weighs 6000 lbs - and I also believe it to be bolted and caulked to the ground. Even so, she was a little disappointed, but we pushed on home after that. We caught a bus over to state street and I decided to walk back to the train. Elizabeth fell asleep almost immediately, and doubled over (sleeping) in this little umbrella stroller we had. I realized that if I jogged, I could catch the 2:40 train back home. It must have been quite the site to see some bald headed man jogging through the streets in sandals and jeans with what appeared to be a child doubled over in distress in the tiny stroller. Fear not, no children were injured in the making of this story. We made it to the station and caught the train. While trying to transfer Elizabeth to the seat, she woke up. The first thing she said was, 'Why are we on the train - I want to be in the museum!' Oh well, you can never make them all the way happy. At the end of the day, I feel good because as Lizzy was leading prayer at dinner tonight she said, 'Dear Jesus, thanks for a wonderful day on the choo-choo and at the museum...'

Besides this exciting day to Chicago, we also had a very nice weekend with my immediate family. Both my brothers, their wives, and Christy and I were able to make it up to Michigan to hang out with them and my folks. Even though it was a little chilly I let Sam and Lizzy play in the sand on the beach. Also, my middle brother and I did a couple mile walk from downtown Grand Haven out to the light house. Here is a picture of the Lizzy and I facing out towards Lake Michigan. The waves were probably 8 to 10 feet near the pier, which makes me happy I was not surfing with the three other crazy people we saw out there.

With Elizabeth up in Michigan with my parents part of last week, I was able to get alot of reading done. I read Death by Suburb for our small group at church. It was a really easy read and had several good ideas. The thing that got me was less his stressing that the suburb life could seriously impact your Christian walk - that I get and agree; but rather, your reaction to dealing with the threat. He mentions that some people in response to this will do a stint in missions or enroll in a seminary....those are both things that I'm doing! Even back in January while at our LAM orientation, I did raise the question, 'Christy, should we be staying in the states instead of going to Costa Rica? There is alot of need here too, if we stayed here and focused on missions...' Luckily (well, actually not by luck), I don't second guess our decision. I feel very comfortable with God's call in our lives to go to Costa Rica and serve at La Palabra after much prayer - but - the book was thoughtful enough to jog my memory of that struggle. I also liked how he stressed quietness, and to a degree, simplicity in life. One of the books that Christy and I will be reading is the Freedom of Simplicity by Richard J. Foster which I think will be a great one on that topic with alot more meat.

Anyway, its getting late, and I've smelled really bad since dripping in sweat after running in Chicago. This was simply made worse by the 1.5 hours of racquetball I played right when I got home. I'm going to clean up and hit the sheets.

Until next time...

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.

I caught a fish THIS big

Okay...so maybe it was a little smaller than I remember it being. I guess the digital age is not all its cracked up to be - it keeps us guys honest about our stories.

It has been a little over a week since I came back down to Richmond to finish out work and I am really looking forward to getting back and seeing the family. Things have been rough for Christy as everyone is sick (including her). Certainly something to pray for as Elizabeth has a 102 fever and Sammy has an ear infection. I guess when it rains it pours. All this and Christy has to start teaching her class mid next week and the storms in Chicago knocked out power for the next couple days.

I've been trying to keep busy around here with what little work there is left to do, exercise at the YMCA and lots of movies. I was also able to send out our update letter which I am hoping most of you have received by now. The most exciting thing I did by far this week was go fishing (see picture above) with two friends from church. My last few days are filling up with activities at church and meals with friends. It is hard to believe but our six year time is finally coming to a close here in Richmond.

Its been good Richmond.....

I'm off to play some bored (har-de-har) games with friends now. I'll try to get another post in before I head home.

What to do....What to do...

Between all the traveling, the move and the fact that we do not have internet at our place yet it is has been hard to get the blog updated. However, one thing I did not have before (time) - I seem to have an over abundance of now. I am down in Richmond finishing out my last two weeks of work - but Christy and the kids are up in Wheaton continuing to settle in there. Although a one or two hour break can be so nice when you are with the kids all day, my first three days of the fourteen day trip has left me really missing the Elizabeth and Sam. I managed to complete all my errands that I needed to do down here on Thursday and Friday, and I was able to spend some time today addressing, stamping and stuffing our next prayer letter. Keep on the look out as they will be in the mail soon!

We've settled in nicely to the new place in Wheaton. In between work I tried to spend time with the kids (cosley animal farm, children's museum, runs in the jogging stroller, etc) so that Christy could start preparing for her class. She starts teaching at the end of the month and is nervously excited - so hopefully everything will go off without a hitch on the first day.

A couple new posts of the kids below. The first is Elizabeth being cute while laying on the couch - the other is Sam-I-Am with a silly grin. More than likely he is thinking how much fun it would be to take the camera and chew on it. (I guess better that than Elizabeth's leg).

To sign off tonight, a quick note from devotions that I liked from yesterday. (Proverbs 4:25-27) 'May I let my eyes look straight ahead and fix my gaze straight ahead of me. May I ponder the path of my feet so that all my ways will be established. May I not turn to the right or to the left but keep my foot from evil.' I wish I could say that all actions I take in my life are the direct result of me focusing on Christ, but clearly that is not true. Clearly a verse to pray over and ask for help. Until next time...