True Believers

Well hockey season is officially over with as far as I'm considering it. My beloved Pittsburgh Penguins are out so with that, I really don't have a lot of invested interest in who wins Lord Stanley's cup. Just as long as it isn't the Flyers or the freakin' Bruins. It's tough when your team doesn't make it very far into the playoffs. Especially since they were on fire pre-playoff season. There's always next year. We've got a great team full of some amazing players so I have high hopes that they'll come back in October hungry to win the cup.

So it was a rainy day off. Not a lot I can do with a kid who'd rather be outside exploring and having fun. At one point it stopped and we were able to take Remi out for a short walk. She always loves going for walks. Said "hi" to this couple checking a house for sale down the street.

 I FINALLY found the original dog picture for the portrait I should have completed a few months ago. If Mia sleeps, I can actually work on it :) Did a tiny tiny bit of work on it today. I've got SO much more to do, but I hope I can pull it off. I've got other projects I wanna get done so the faster I get this out of my house, the happier I'll be. Nothing else to discuss for now.  Hoping this crappy cold weather disappears. Jill's sinuses are kicking her ass a little bit. Possibly Mia has a cold too. Never fun. Here's a picture of Mia trying to text someone on Jill's phone. Silly kid.

HOCKEY NIGHT IN MILWAUKEE

Let's talk about Hockey. Easily my favourite sport of all time, right next to soccer. I've never been a fan of football and basketball is more fun to play, then to watch (barely). Baseball is fine for the most part. I'll cheer on the Brewers and White Sox when I can. I've always looked at hockey players as knights. Armed with a stick that is also their tool to score goals. When they get on the ice, they're going to battle and will do anything to win the game. Soccer probably seems boring to some because the halves are longer then short 20 min quarters in football and the scoring isn't crazy high..but it takes patience and skill to be able to hit your mark from a good distance. It takes a hell of a lot of skill to kick a ball as far as they do, as apposed to throwing it.

My love of hockey started young in grade school. When we'd get some hardcore raining back in the house I grew up in, part of our backyard would flood some...and if we were lucky in the winter, it'd freeze and we'd get our own personal pond. Sure the ice was choppy and crappy at times, but it worked. We could walk out our backdoor and play hockey with the neighbor kids. And if we didn't get a good rain one year, we'd pack up our skates and sticks and head to a pond down a few blocks. I've never been the best ice skater but I've always loved hockey in it's entirety. In the spring/summer, we'd play street hockey. My oldest bro would DIY make me some goalie pads out of cardboard, some used shin guards and whatever else we had. It was a BLAST. I love playing goalie despite not being the biggest guy out there, but being quick and agile helped. :) I remember one or two nights playing at night in the driveway of this storage facility. We played real late into the night and it was so much fun. My brothers are pretty great and in January of 2011, we all got to play hockey again on an outdoor rink in -2 degrees weather. It was cold as hell but So worth it. I had purchased some used skates for 30 some bucks earlier and it proved to have been a wise investment. Last winter I didn't get to play with the guys sadly, but I know we will skate again.

Today, my little bro stopped over and we exchanged thoughts on our beloved Penguins against the filthy Flyers. Both quite nervous about tonight's game. Because I don't have cable, he kept me updated tonight throughout the game. a 10-3 win for the Pens couldn't have made me happier. Still in it, and I'm STILL smiling.

"Get in the fast lane grandma, the Bingo game is ready to roll."

That's all for now people. Thanks for reading :)

Back In Your Head

Man, my art is taking a major back seat for me lately. I don't know why. I have an unfinished project I need to complete but the picture is missing. DAMMIT. I've got other projects I wanna start too, but Mia's getting more needy..but that's okay, right? Went to the doc today. Mia's 21 some pounds and 29 1/2 inches long. Man, she grew fast. She can eat anything now and start drinking whole milk. It's crazy, because I remember having to hold her little head up as relaxed in my lap drinking formula. Now she's little independent Mia wanting to drink/feed by herself. Today she tried her very first slice of PIZZA. Glass Nickel's chicken/Alfredo sauce/mushroom/spinach. It's amazing, really. Glass Nickel is one of our favourite pizza places. She also tried fish, and milk. Not bad for a girl who had two shots today.

Other then that, nothing else to talk about. Been thinking about how much I wanna play in a band again lately. It's such a conflicting thing: wanting to be an active musician, but loving the life of a dad. Planning something I can't talk about (you'll find out later). The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the playoffs (but lost today). Not a good way to end the night :(. All I need is a Pens jersey and I'll be a happy fan. LETS DO THIS PENS!

That's all for now :)

Florida Vacation-2012

Hello again. Gosh, it's been a while eh? Lots of interesting things/events have happened since my last blog post. First of all, my lovely girl Mia has turned ONE. Her birthday party was a huge success. We had a big turn out. Some friends and family sadly didn't make it but to everyone who did, we appreciate it. Mia got a lot of great stuff and a nice kick start to her college education. Sweet. The day after her party, we packed up (probably too much) and headed down to Illinois, and the NEXT day, we were flying out of Midway airport in Chicago to sunny Florida. My mother in law, Jill, Mia and I were flying out to Sebastian Florida (west side of the state) to visit Jill's grandpa. I haven't seen him since our wedding and he has yet to meet his great grand kid.

To be completely honest, we were actually pretty scared about the plane ride. Everyone was telling us "give her drugs, give her Benadryl, give her this, give her that". We really didn't want to result to giving her any drugs for the ear popping but brought something anyway. As the plane was taxing onto the runway, we were both sick to our stomachs. Thankfully there were a ton of kids on the plane (since we were landing in Orlando and they were all headed to Disney World) but we were still nervous. We gave Mia a bottle and she did REALLY well! Didn't fuss at ALL on the flight. In fact, she befriended a girl behind our seats (ironically named Mya). They even high-fived. Cute, right? She would say "hi" to everyone that made eye contact with he. We landed with no problems and off we were to get our bags and pick up the rental car.

On our 1 1/2 hour drive from Orlando to Sebastian, she slept a little bit but when she woke up, she was pretty pissy. A little Ted Leo & The Pharmacists courtesy of my iPod calmed her the rest of the drive, and when Grandpa G came out, he was SO excited to see Mia. We talked and relaxed till it was bed time for Mia.

The next day, we headed down to the Sebastian Inlet off the Wabasso beach. On our way I was fortunate to see a DOLPHIN just chillin in the waters! Beautiful 85 degree day. Perfect for playing at the beach & it was Mia's first time in the ocean. The calm waters were perfect for her first time and she really really enjoyed it. Walked straight in and could easily have walked around in the shallow waters all day. We took a break from all the fun to watch the pelicans fly around this bridge a bunch of people were fishing off of. It was cool watching a group of pelicans waiting for this fisherman to toss the scraps he was cutting off his haul of fish. Mia loved watching the birds land and take off. Later at night, we ate at favouite among Jill and her mom-Squid Lips. Once again, Mia got to watch pelicans AND seagulls flying around the dock as we waited for a table. These kids were feeding the big group of catfish by the dock as well. Mia loved it. They also tossed some food up in the air for the seagulls to catch.

Squid Lips was tasty. Great food, as well as Mulligans which we ate at later in the week. Grandpa G had got Mia her very own birthday cake too. Like the other cakes she's had for her birthday, she destroyed this one too. We all were laughing. So besides the ocean, Mia also really enjoyed going to this little place for kids called Splash Pad. You press the top of this poll, and water comes out different parts on the splash pad. Mia loved it. We had to go there at least three times. And once again, she would meet and befriend any kid playing there. On our last day, Jill and I got to drive Grandpa G's scooter up and down the street. It was a lot of fun. He told me I took off like a jackrabbit. I could easily see myself driving one of those in FL if we lived there. I hear there summers are pretty crazy hot. I don't know if that'd bother me.

Also on our last day we walked up and down the docks by the Indian River, went to an art walk and went to other side of Wabasso beach. Now this was the ocean people! Way better waves. Saw some skimboardng kids trying to catch a few waves (would have loved to try myself). We walked up and down the shore with Mia. She really loved the rushing waters on this side of the beach coming in. They'd hit her and she'd just crack up laughing. Totally one of my favourite parts of the trip.

The next day, we said our goodbyes and headed to Orlando. Returned the car, checked in the Hyatt (RIGHT inside the airport) and got dinner in the food court. There was a big fountain inside the airport that Mia couldn't get enough of. This kid really loves water! The next day, we had to get up at 4am for our early flight. Mia slept as we packed everything up. 6am, we boarded the plane and headed home. The airport was super busy by 5:30am. Just tons of people everywhere trying to get through security. Mia did very well again on the flight and even slept for an hour! We had a bunch of kids on this flight again and thy all were exhausted. She woke up eventually. We had some turbulence and Mia found it quite hilarious, like a roller coaster or something.

We landed and as we were getting off the plane, Mia befriended ANOTHER kid. This little girl named Savanna. Ah, that kid. They high-fived as we got off the plane. Jill and I both sighed in relief that we survived our very first trip as a family. Jill's Dad was super excited to see Mia when we met him at the baggage claim. Awww....

So within the last 10+ days, Mia has become more picky with what she eats. We're starting to have to hide some fruits and veggies in food she likes. Today she had some fruit but other times she spits out some of it. Blah. Mia also enjoys pasta now, as well as cake and ice cream. She's getting more independent with feeding. She'd prefer sticking the spoon in her mouth herself. She claps and waves now too.

So that, my friends was our wonderful Florida trip. Who knows when the next vacation is. Probably not for quite a while. All I know is, I'm missing the ocean right now! :)