Father's Weekend at Missouri State

Drove to Springfield to visit Alex over Father's weekend at Missouri State where we took in a football game. Missouri State lost, but we had a great time anyway.

College Visit - Southeast Missouri State

Southeast Missouri State left a very good impression with Michele and I, and most importantly, with Nick. We loved the campus, the cafeteria, the housing, and the  administrators we came into contact with.

Here are some of the sights from that visit:

This tree is called the gum tree due to the number of chewed pieces of gum that students have stuck to it over the years.

Champion Beech tree near the river front branch of the campus.

Looking out over the Mississippi towards Illinois.

Academic Hall, which is the landmark building of the campus.

 

The probability that this will be Nick's choice for college is very high.

She's a Keeper

Our neighbor's tree looks very nice this time of year, so it seemed like a good backdrop for a photo of my life partner.

Alex Came Home

For the first time since starting college at Missouri State University, Alex came home for the weekend. He spent much of his time catching up with friends, but we did manage to get him to sit still long enough to take a few pictures.

Cody Wants to Go for a Walk

This is Cody's way of saying, hey, I'm ready to go outside and sniff around:

Who could say no to that face? Not me, that's for sure.

Tailgating Two Weeks in a Row

This week's tailgating group prior to ISU's game against the SDSU Jackrabbits:

ISU Tailgate

Finally had an opportunity to look inside the newly renovated ISU stadium this past Saturday during the pre-game tailgate.

The place looks very nice. Can't wait to see the Redbirds take on South Dakota next weekend.

We Care Twin Cities Half Marathon

Michele ran a 10K today alongside the participants of the We Care Twin Cities Half Marathon. Pictured with her is her good friend Tara who took part in the half marathon:

This is a shot of Michele as she crosses the starting line. That smile makes me wonder if she knows there is more than an hour's worth of running still ahead of her:

Amazingly enough, she crossed the finish line with the same smile. I'll never understand runners.

Up Up and Away

Stumbled upon this powered paraglider trike while walking with Cody today at Maxwell Park:

I have got to get me one of those!

College Visit - Western Illinois University

Today we paid a visit to Western Illinois University so Nick could take a closer look at their Engineering program.

On the plus side, we were very impressed with the engineering program as a whole, and especially with the chair of the engineering department. On the minus side, Nick thought the campus was spread out too much, and he wasn't happy with the meal options in the cafeteria.

Next on the college visit list - Southeast Missouri State in October.

Family Weekend - Missouri State University

Great weekend with Alex in Springfield. Looking forward to getting back down there again soon.

Cardinals vs Cubs

Michele and I traveled to St. Louis yesterday with our good friends John and Krissy to watch game two of a double header between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs.

We got photo bombed by a Cubs fan outside of Busch stadium:

But, we had the last laugh, as the Cardinals destroyed the Cubs 13 to 2. A great night with great friends.

Road Trip - MSU

Justin, Brian, Nick and Kyle just prior to leaving on their road trip to Missouri State University to hang out with Alex over the long Labor Day weekend:

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Redux

My beautiful wife Michele completed the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge yesterday, and while doing so, challenged me to do the same within 24 hours. I accepted and completed the challenge this evening, and offer the following photo as proof:

Yes, the water was as cold as it looks.

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Michel was challenged by one of her co-workers to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which seems to be all the rage right now. If you aren't familiar with this phenomenon, individuals are challenged to dump ice water over their head, challenge others to do so, and donate $10 to the ALS association.

Michele was video taped taking the challenge, but we couldn't retrieve the video from the smart phone. The best we could do is this screen shot:

Man oh man, but she looks cold!

Back to School

Wow, the first week of school is over already. Time seems to be in warp drive. I guess I'd better get the annual back-to-school photo posted before Christmas break sneaks up on me:

Since Nick will be in college this time next year, this will be my last official back to school photo. I suppose I could commemorate the day next year by taking a photo with just Cody in it, but that will depend upon how emotional I feel with both kids being gone.Yeah, I'll be happy for both of them, but at the same time, I'll be crying inside.

MSU Move in Weekend

It was move in weekend at Missouri State University this past weekend, so Michele, Nick, Kyle and I spent most of the weekend helping Alex get situated. The real fun was organizing the furniture in Alex's dorm room. The whole process reminded me of solving a rubic's cube. There was an ideal combination, we just had to figure it out.

All in all, Alex appears to be excited for the new direction his life is taking him. Michele and I are both excited and happy for him, but we're very sad to see our young boy leave the nest. Its only been 24 hours since we waved goodbye, and already we miss him dearly.

Illinois State Fair

Michele and I traveled to Springfield yesterday to watch and listen to some of our favorite bands. This was our second consecutive year of concert going at the Illinois State Fair.

This year's line up was awesome:

Boston

April Wine

Sweet

Jazz Fest

Just returned from a week on the road that included stops in Iowa and South Dakota. A highlight of all that traveling was the Sioux Falls Jazz Fest. The crowd was huge, the food was delicious, and the bands were bursting with energy. Here are some photos of a few of the bands we liked most:

Samantha Fish

Gary Clark jr

George Thorogood

Announcing Gig

For the first time ever, I watched a baseball game from up in the announcer's booth while assisting my son Alex with his first announcing gig. Alex sounded like a pro which made me wonder if this might be his career calling. Only time will tell.