Skits and Sun

Afternoon everyone. Should be able to get through this one quickly. Summer has officially arrived with nice and toasty temps. Awesome! Wednesday, Mia and I had the best time playing outside after school while Jill unfortunately had a very late night at work. We played soccer at the park, and had an early dinner with Jill (before she went off to a dance academy for the evening) and did some art. She was pretty tired so without much of a fuss, she crashed close to 9pm. As much as we enjoy family time, I do enjoy a little one on one with Mia. We rarely get moments when we're not trying to rush out the door to school so hanging out on my day off is nice.

I stupidly forgot to take off on Friday for the Torrent game, but they didn't need me there to watch them destroy Indy 5-0. First win of the season. Great job Blues! Friday was a busy and fun day. Mia's grade did little skits about Very Important People in history. She played Johnny Appleseed's kid and a narrator. Despite the microphone being a bit far from her, she did well as well as the other kids. Some of them memorized their lines really really well and were adorable. After wards, she showed all of us her classroom, picked out some books from the Book Fair and we did Hot Dog Day outside. It was a tad warm for some, but overall a really fun day. Later, I worked till 10.

Yesterday, we went to our friend Christina's baby's 1st birthday party. Penelope is the cutest little kid and despite the warm weather, everyone had fun. Jill made some really great pineapple shaped macarons that everyone enjoyed. Mia played with Arabella and a little girl named Camilla. They enjoyed launching rockets, tossing bags and playing on the swings. Later, they did a "Girls Night" with my Mom, Auntie Ashley and of course Jill. They went out to sushi while my Dad and I hung out at home.

Today, they're on their way to Camden's 4th Birthday Party while I prepare for another fun day at work. This week is a short one. No school for Mia on Monday, I'm helping my buddy move on Wed and we've got a field trip on Friday. I'll also be taking my Dad to the Torrent vs Kalamazoo match. The women's team played yesterday and pulled off a 2-2 draw on a hot day in Minnesota.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Field Trips and Nature Walks

Good morning everyone. Busy week per the usual, so lets get to it. Mid week, I chaperoned a field trip to the Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove, a short little bus ride from New Berlin. The kids went to see The Little Red Hen. Before we departed her class, I hung out with some of the other parents watching our kids do their morning routine which consists of singing, sign language, then some Spanish, and Pledge of Allegiance. They were absolutely amazing to watch do all these things, and to think they do it every day. They listened quietly as she read two different versions of the Little Red Hen and watched to see if the kids could tell the different parts of it. When the bus arrived the kids got all excited and immediately tried to figure out who would sit with who. Two of Mia's friends wanted to sit with me. "Um, I need to sit with you because I need you in my life" said Olivia...then Irianna".

On the ride there, I sat by myself with Mia, Nakkita and Audrey in the seat directly across from me. Audrey and Mia planned it out early that they would sit together. Originally, they wanted me with them, but when I saw Nakkita sitting solo, I asked if the girls would like her to sit with them and they said "yes". Great. They started a craft before the play started. I helped the kids put together a hen with a paper plate, eyeballs and construction paper. Audrey claimed "yours won't look as good as mine" but when I completed it, she retracted her comment and said "yeah...it's pretty awesome". 

I sat with Alexa's Mom in the back and we watched the kids sit real nice and watch the play. They had a great time, and loved it. I think I heard from someone that they were the quietest and most well-behaved class there. Always nice to hear. :) On the way home, I sat with Olivia while Mia sat with Audrey again. We had a lot of fun on my very last field trip with her class. They've got one at the end of the month at the zoo, but my Mom will be attending this one. She's been holding out for a hopeful trip to the zoo and is very excited. 

Later, we went to my parents house after some grocery shopping and watched Chelsea take on Liverpool. It ended in a 1-1 draw which sums up the season for us. Thursday, Mia went to school for about an hour to check out a guy who brought animals, puppets and instruments to class. All of the classes were in the gym and from what she said, everyone had a great time. She was too shy and scared to touch the animals, but laughed as she told me a frog peed on the guys head. When I went to pick her up, her class came out of the main doors and were going to go on a nature walk. I was invited. Sure why not. Irianna attached herself to my leg before I had to get her off as we hiked down to the old site of Smarty Pants. Behind there, is a pond where the kids could hear croaking. Fun time. Friday, Mia and BFF Olivia went to Wildcard Gymnastics. THIS time, Mia had a lot of fun because her friend went with. The gym had more kids in it this time. The girls played and jumped and were silly for a few hours. It's always enjoyable watching these two interact. They're such sisters. 

Saturday, we got up and went to the Milwaukee Art Museum. We haven't been there since Mia was about 4 months old. Much more enjoyable as a 5 year old. She loved all of the art. She made a weathervane in this little studio. The detail Mia puts into every project she does, is incredible and both of us were very proud of her. We had a late lunch in their cafe before heading home for the day. I missed the Torrent's last friendly game due to the obnoxiously cold temperatures but the resulted in a tie. 

Sunday, I got up nice and early for the final Chelsea game of the season where they took on the BPL champions Leicester City. It ended in a 1-1 draw as well. We had a pretty frustrating season losing one of the best managers, suffered a handful of injuries and worst of all, witnessing players that shined last season fade out the majority of this season. Didn't want to end the season with a draw, but the main focus, was on if JT would be around for the 16/17 season. He was originally not offered a deal a few months back, and when he was rumored to be looking around for a new club, Chelsea quickly stated a contract extension was indeed offered, we're still unclear what will happen. I hope the skipper can stick around. He's the anchor to the West London ship and he's always been with the team no matter if they're winning or losing. 18 years with one team is very impressive. Hopefully he sticks around. No clue yet if I'm going to watch their friendly game in MN. Waiting for a confirmation from my brother and Dad that there down to do it. 

Throughout the week, I worked on some snapback hat designs for the Torrent and it's being decided which design will end up being the one that goes in production. I myself, do not sport the latest hat trend, but apparently a lot of people have been looking for a Torrent lid for their head so hopefully they sell. Mia's got a birthday party to attend this Saturday. Trey's turning 5 so she's super excited to attend. I've got some design work to do, and hope to start some traditional art stuff as well. That's all for now, thanks for reading! 

Save the Earth For the Diva!

Good evening everyone. MY was it a busy week (again). Monday, I had taken the day off so that at night, I could attend the Milwaukee Torrent's first soccer practice as a team. Mia had school per the usual and learned about Earth and how to protect it. She spent the gorgeous 83 degree day PICKING UP GARBAGE AND BOTTLES at the park with me...She could have went on the playground but decided that the planet needs help. "Dadda, people just do NOT care about the planet, we need to recycle". She was pretty obsessed with picking up garbage and making sure recyclable material goes where it belongs. It was both cute and smart of the diva. Later, I drove out to Glendale for the practice. Man, did the temp change from 80's to a very windy and cold upper 40's. At least the power was working and it wasn't raining unlike the last time I was there.

I stayed the entire practice videoing and photographing for both the social media sites, and Torrent TV. Torrent TV came from an idea of mine to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at what the players do to prepare themselves for game time, some fan interactions at matches and interviews with players and staff. The wind made it difficult at times, but I got what I needed. The interviews weren't easy dealing with the wind, but I learned for next time, a setting that helps cut the wind. I spent the next few days editing the footage for my first segment which went over real well. Wednesday, Mia skipped school because she was attending a field trip Thursday with Grandpa Chicago and the class to Texas Roadhouse and Sendiks, so we had the day to ourselves. We met up with some friends in the afternoon at the park. The kids had so much fun together and we even brought Remi. At one point I took Remi for a little walk, and all the girls came with me. It was myself, Mia, Olivia, Kaylee and her sister Maya. The girls were adorable playing hopscotch. We headed back and the kids played some more before we went home.

Thursday was the field trip. Mia and her Grandpa had a lot of fun. He had a handful of girls to keep an eye on and it sounded like they all had a great time. Thursday night was the first ever Torrent game against UW-Milwaukee. I couldn't attend it due to work, but I was glad to have found out later when I got home that they won their first game. I was fired up for the win and ready to go to MY first game Saturday against Marquette with my brother.

Saturday, Jill had to work an event for work while Mia and I watched the Chelsea game. They won 4-1 against Bournemouth and Hazard picked up a pair of much-deserved goals. It was great to see the good guys finally playing well despite having no titles to win at this point. Mia and I went to the park for a while playing soccer. She really likes playing goalie, and isn't too bad either. She'd want me to tell her where I was going to kick it so she could stop it. Little punk :P Later, my brother Andy and his friend picked me up and we went down to the game. Mia and Jill went later to see the Jungle Book at the theater. It was a cold evening, but the supporters had a lot of fun. I unveiled the Torrent Tom and the El Capitano mascot for the Flood. We had the flags waving and the drum pounding. It was a bit nerve-wrecking when the game was starting to just start chanting to get everyone going, but to my surprise, they were INTO IT! Parents, friends, soccer fans, etc were joining in and chanting as the team unfortunately fell to the college team 0-4. It was a tough loss, but with a busy week, a difficult game. I only hope the players saw how supportive the fans were for them and this is only the preseason, just they wait till the league game start. Milwaukee's been waiting for this team for quite some time, and it'll be nice for the soccer community to rally behind these guys. I don't know how many more preseason games I'll make it to.

Mia had a great time on her "girls night" with Jill. We enjoyed what we could of the nice weather Sunday before I went in to work.

This week, I'm going to vide edit some of my footage from Saturday's match and do some logo work for the salon. Mia's got some more school pictures tomorrow and graduation cap and gown pictures as well! Can't believe she's almost done with 4-K! Thanks for reading!

Mahalo Ono Kine!

Good evening everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the weekend. Early in the week, we noticed that Marie the cat was limping around in the morning. Turns out, she had an infection and a fever. Lucky the antibiotics helped the kitty to a quick recovery. She was feeling better the day she had went to the vet. Wednesday, Mia and I went on an exciting field trip with her class to the First State Theatre in Milwaukee to see Just a Little Critter. Mia was paired with her friend Kaylee as "bus buddy". She didn't get her recess BFF Irianna, (AKA-The Runner) because her mom attended. In fact the 4 parents that came each got kids to watch. Olivia's Dad got three crazy ones including his girl. Olivia wasn't that bad, but Alexa and Isabella were bouncing off the walls in the bus. It was cute, and they were fun. Kaylee and Mia were great on the bus ride there.

The play was fun and the kids had a lot of fun. Mia liked all the songs and fun acting. Before it started, Kaylee had to pee and Mia was FREAKING  out because she was so worried she'd miss the start of the play. It was both funny and nerve-wrecking. We had to go into the girls bathroom because I had NO clue where the guys one was. Whatever. I've always enjoyed going on field trips with Mia (this is my third since she started at  Smarty Pants in 3K) and it's just really enjoyable to see the kids in a more relaxed environment. On the ride home the kids were dead exhausted. Olivia passed out with Alexa sleeping on her. Mia was tired and Kaylee tried the same thing. She doesn't like to be annoyed when she's tired so it was a bit of a rough ride back to school. All in all, fun time.

Throughout the week, I've been working on different game announcement images for the Torrent, each one pushing my creativity to new heights. Friday morning, Mia and I had a boardgame-a-thon and played a few new ones she got for Valentines Day. While playing, it reminded me how old my 4 1/2 year old is getting. She gets concepts of games without me explaining anything to her, and can patiently wait her turn to spin or pop the bubble thing on Minion Trouble. Jill and I both agree that 4 has been our favorite age so far. She has her moments, but is sweet and kind a lot of the times.

Saturday, the ladies went to a craft fair while my Dad and I watched some of the FA Cup games. Reading beating West Brom was entertaining. Wish Everton would have lost to Bournemouth. Later for a late lunch, we went to this small Hawai'ian takeout and grocery store in Tosa'. Ono Kine Grindz. I tell you, it brought back some fond memories of our trip to Hawaii. Everything sold there was from the island including the tasty POG juice. We bought a few of those. MMM! I had gotten this cornish game hen in teryiaki sauce and a sticky rice that was super tasty. We'll have to go there again. It was cool to see my buddy Andy's photography all over their walls. Such an eye for beauty, but when you're in Hawaii, you see the beauty everywhere. Saturday night, we hung out, movie night per the usual.

Sunday I got up and watched Chelsea destroy Man City in the FA Cup on Youtube in Arabic. You could say "yeah they played the youth team because Man City wanted to rest some of the senior players for their UCL match this week" but who cares? If we win the cup, who's going to look at the game and say "well they only won 5-1 because they played the U-21 group". No. The team played creatively the 2nd half and smashed goal after goal. Hazard's free kick was solid, and Traore was able to get yet, another FA Cup goal. Everton is next and they'll be a bit more difficult. I worked my usual 2-10 that night.

This week, nothing major planned. Just graphic design work on some projects, for the Torrent and that's about it. Thanks for reading!

Daddy-Daughter Weekend

Good Morning. Hope everyone had a great weekend and got to enjoy the beautiful weather. Lots of things to talk about today. Tuesday, Mia wanted to drop off a Mother's Day card for her teacher so we stopped over. Wednesday we went to the park with her friend Hannah. I had high hopes it would warm up, but no, it was pretty cold but the girls didn't seem to mind at all. Later, we had to take my car in to get it looked at (surprisingly, nothing was technically wrong) so we sat there a bit and suffered watching Sponge Bob. Ugh...Friday she had school. They learned about frogs, tadpoles and practiced their songs for the end-of-the-year graduation. I was also told that she could go on a field trip to the Green Meadows petting farm. Mia of course wants to do it, and they need chaperons so it looks like we BOTH are going this Wednesday. I'm not sure what Mia's more stoked for: The petting farm, or riding a school bus for the first time. Either way, she's really excited to go. We went there last Summer so this should be a lot of fun.

I took off Friday night from work so Jill could spend the weekend in Lake Geneva with her friends that came up from Illinois and Indiana. This would be the very first time Jill would be without Mia. It was actually a really nice weekend with the diva. I told her we could get pizza and a movie Friday night. We went to Pizza Hut to pick up our Cheese/Alfredo pizza and were going to watch The Boxtrolls on Netflix but for some reason it wasn't on there anymore. So, we ran over to Pick N Save and got Big Hero 6. That was another movie she's been really wanting to see. It was real good, and she loved it too. She was a bit bummed Saturday when we had to return it. She was really missing Jill Friday night, but eventually fell asleep. Phew...Saturday, she had soccer. My Mom came to her practice. I didn't dress her in her full Chelsea kit so she picked out a pair of purple shorts and tank top with matching long socks (which for some reason, she wears ALL day after practice) She did really good. She totally gets the "little touches" when she's dribbling and was shooting really well. She still has problems here and there with the cones. She participated in all of the games (Red Light, Green Light) so I was happy. She doesn't have practice this weekend for Memorial Day weekend, and the following weekend we're in Steven's Point for a wedding so her LAST week of soccer, is their one and only game. I think it actually may be outside because a parent brought it up to the coach that "why don't the kids play outside?" "Oh, I thought you guys would rather be indoors". On a sunny Saturday? I don't think so. 

Saturday afternoon, I was able to cut all of the grass while Mia and my Mom hung out outside. Later, we went to the park. Mia's newest favorite thing to do is basically, make a new friend. She no longer wants us to exclusively play with her. Same thing yesterday when she was was Jill at the park. "I wanna go and make new friends". I love it. Anyways, she played really nice with this one girl who was older then her. They went down the slides together and did chalk drawings before we left. Later, we ate real quick and went to my brother Andy's hockey game. They won 4-3 ( I believe the score was) Mia had fun playing on the bleachers with her dolls and yelling to Andy "If you want one of my cookies, you better get a goal!" When we got home, we watched Ratatouille before FaceTiming with Jill. Mia wasn't upset this time talking to her because we told Mia that when she woke up Sunday morning, Mommy WILL be there. So, Mia quickly wanted to go to sleep so she could wake up and see her. All in all, it was a real nice weekend. It was kind of nice having a "just the two of us" Friday and Saturday. We didn't have any arguments and she listened real well. This week is SUPER busy. Dentist appointment today, parent-teacher conference tomorrow evening, Wednesday the field trip, Thursday, nothing and Friday school. Plus, we're leaving town Saturday for the holiday weekend.  Today, Chelsea plays their LAST away game against West Brom. So close to finishing the season! :) 

Thanks for reading!!