A little get a way

Tim and I spent a much needed weekend

together and away from everything.

6:30 am I got TJ to Aurora and watched the Thunder

slaughter Oswego while Tim got Cal and Karrick

to grandma's in Long Grove. We met at the house around

noon and headed to Downtown Chicago. Tim and I lived

down there for years, but it is a different city

State Street has come alive again and slum

blocks transformed. When I started at the CBOE

in 1984 you didn't walk around State Street at night

I spent days finding the perfect Hotel, Hotel Burnham

was probably one of the nicest Hotels I have ever stayed in.

In 1999, after being neglected for decades and nearly forgotten, the historic Reliance Building was carefully restored and resurrected as Hotel Burnham, a Kimpton Hotel. This important building is justly listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. An inviting hotel in downtown Chicago, Hotel Burnham exudes the elegance of a bygone era and preserves a rich part of our country's history. As one of Chicago's most significant architectural landmarks, Hotel Burnham is a fitting tribute to the int

repid spirit of this city.

Occupied by an array of merchants and professionals throughout the 1900s, the Reliance Building later fell into disrepair. In the early 1990s, renovation and restoration of the Reliance Building began at the urging of the partners who own the building and with the help and support of Mayor Daley, the City of Chicago Planning and Development Department and Kimpton Hotels. Portions of the interior were completely rebuilt to match the original, while the mosaic floors, multi-colored marble ceilings and walls, and ornamental metal elevator grills

stairways and archways were meticulously refurbished

to resemble those that once existed.

The resulting 122-room boutique Hotel Burnham gorgeously

illustrates Chicago's past and present glory. The restoration of the

historic Reliance

Building as a signature hotel is also

a progressive step toward bringing State Street

back to its original splendor and confirming

it as a major tourist destination.

1900

Lobby staircase

Love the mahogany doors with the glass panels

When was the last time you actually got a key

for your room?

All original iron elevators and marble with mosiac floors

The stairs had the worn down marble steps

from 100 + years of use

Tim and I in the lobby

State Street from our window

this little girl was playing in the fountain in Daley

Plaza at Arab fest

After a great lunch on the River we went shopping on Michigan

Ave. I bought a beautiful necklace from

Arts and Artesians

Dinner at Italian Village

Sunday morning we went sailing.

Chicago Sailboat Charters

2 1/2 hours out on Lake Michigan, it was 85 and sunny

I was born and raised in Chicago so I often

forget all that it offers. It's all at our fingertips

A long long wonderful week

Callahan spent the week at IMSA taking a Science class.

Science Explorers, Jr. During this year's Science Explorers, Jr., your inquiring young scientist will explore unusual science careers, dig through past civilizations and examine fossilized remains, investigate natural disasters, work to solve environmental issues, and play with color in chemistry, biology and physics. There's a different topic for every day! This hands-on program is developed and taught by IMSA high school students with the help of IMSA staff. This year's Jr. topics are Natural Disasters and Weather, Oddball Scientist Jobs, Archeology and Paleontology, Color, and The Environment.

He went mon-fri 8:30 am to 3 pm. Highlights for Callahan

were disecting a cow eye and making explosives.

This is the 1 week out of each year that the

light of passion glows in Cal's eyes.

He went last year and talk about it until this years class started.

He can't wait to go there for high school. you live there in

dorms 10-12 grades. Freshman year is spent at your own high school

The last hour of the last day parents are allowed in. Such an

amazing school. The brightest in the country attend imsa

to quote Cal

" I am finally with kids like me, they are as smart

or even smarter than me"

Cal on the big screen (in green shirt)

Callahan cutting the fat off of the cows eye

(look on plate)

I got a play by play of the operation

He remembers every little detail.

(again Cal displayed on big screen)

check out the research room.. yeah

it's only a high school

It was so worth 5 days of getting up at 5:30am

driving 2o miles to Aurora, then 50+ miles to Skokie

for 4 hrs of work, just to turn around and

drive back to Aurora to pick up Cal

by 3pm. then back to Lombard.

Damn near 150 miles a day

=================================================================

GO THUNDER!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday night the Thunder played their first game

of the season in North Aurora.

The North Aurora tournament is 4 days long

The boys were on fire, hitting was insane.

We ended up slaughtering the N Aurora

team 15-3. We play 3 games on Saturday and

up to 3 games on Sunday, depending on how we play

Saturday.

These kids are amazing and have equally great coaches

that spend a lot of time teaching these kids

They work hard and practice 2 hrs 3x a week

and 1 hour prior to every game

My TJ pitching

"good game walk"

Coach Ross gives the boys 1 can of pop after each game...yeah, I said pop

The boys just love it and so do I!

It is such a treat after a long hot ballgame

brings back memories of when I was a kid...you got pop

after a sporting event. I'm so done with the healthy snack for

sports and schools. That needs to be done at home

Don't get me started...

30 years ago there was no such thing as Plus clothing or a 4x

what a 20x, 30 years from now?

Just say no people!

and enjoy a Coca cola after 3 hours of baseball

After TJ's tournament we stayed at the Aurora Holiday Inn

(across the street from IMSA)

How precious is Karrick sleeping with his"best buddy"?

Goodbye White Sox

Last night TJ pitched his final inning as a White Sox
We lost in the playoffs which completes our in-house
season.
Next year TJ moves up to the Senior Division
and a whole new draft begins.
We had a great 3 years as a White Sox with great coaches,
players and parents. All will be missed, but TJ looks forward
to the competition the senior
division will bring.

No time to rest as Travel season is in full bloom.
We open our season Thursday night at 8pm in
North Aurora, followed by a triple header Saturday
Long day of ball as each game lasts 2 1/2 + hrs
They may play Sunday depending on Thur-Sat
performances
TJ lives for Travel season as the level of play
and competition is fierce.

Do I dare begin to think that in 1 year
TJ will be playing High School Ball?
Wasn't he just a cute little towheaded 2 year old?

Fathers Day

We went back up to Whitewater WI this weekend. My father in law joined us
and for Fathers Day we had a nice dinner at The Duck Inn

Welcome to The Duck Inn, a historic Supper Club located on the corner of County A and Hwy 89 in the township of Richmond, city of Delavan, WI. The name, The Duck Inn, originated first during the prohibition era when the Duck Inn was a speak easy. Therefore, patrons were to secretly "duck in" for a drink where the bartender would tell a patron to be quiet and "speak easy".

After prohibition ended, Wisconsin Liquor licenses were issued mostly outside the city limits, with the contingency that the establishment must serve food. To make use of the liquor license, establishments started to specialize in dinners, thus "supper clubs" were born.

In 1994, The Duck Inn was purchased by Jeff Karbash with the goal to restore The Duck Inn to a traditional supper club. The Karbash Family created an inviting atmosphere with casual fine dining in an elegant country setting. This is done with a historical duck theme, festive holiday decorations, friendly accommodating staff, and fine food & cocktails.

The rest of the weekend was fabulous, so relaxing. Boating,
swimming, sunning, reading and eating.

My weeks are so jammed
packed with running around that 2 days at the lake is all I need
to recharge my batteries

Vortex

Our house is in the middle of a renovation. Our living room

is in the kitchen, the laundry room is in the family room.

It's pure chaos.

Today the living room, stairwell, 2nd floor

hallway walls and ceilings were being painted. We were

asked to leave the home so we headed to Paradise Bay

our new $9 million pool.

It is just gorgeous, I can't even describe how

beautiful it is. Not only is it great, it is so freakin clean

(as it should be being brand spankin new)

Some highlights are:

2 zero depth pools with built in animal slides

Palm trees that spray water

floating alligator rope walks

The big toilet bowl

high dives, low dives

drop slides, curly slides

8 lane lap pool with built in bleachers

every type of spraying tube and canon

The12 foot diving well has stairs crossing the width of the pool

that go down 4 or 5 feet.

By far my favorite attraction was the Vortex pool

it is circular pool that is only 40 inches deep and

15 foot in diameter.

The water shoots out sideways to create a whirlpool.

Remember as a child running in circles to create

a vortex, than lying down while your body

floats around the edge of the pool?

This does it for you

It's incredible!

Karrick and I spent the majority of the day just

being spun around in circles

round pool by second umbrella from the right

Whitewater Wisconsin

This weekend we decided to skip TJ's Sunday make-up

game and head up North to the lake.

Bay side campground is owned by Tim's best friends family. It is a large

plot of land on the lake and sits next to Park side Marina.

Their are 17 independently owned trailers and boat slips.

Tim's family has owned one of the

trailers and boat slips for 30 years

Whitewater Lake is tucked in the Kettle Moraine State Park

and the scenery is breath taking. You are buried so deep in the forest

that it is hard to believe we

are only 2 hrs away

The dam that separates the lake from the creek was loaded

with 100's of foot long trout trying to swim

up and over to get into

the lake

TJ and Tim get the boat dock ready

and now it is officially Summer

The boat is a classic and I feel like I'm in a 1960's

OO7 movie

The first weekend of each summer for Tim is usually

spent fixing the boat.

This year she started right up

Never to young

to learn a little poker