Crossing the Mighty Mississloppy

Let's see...where was I....oh yeah! We were about to cross the Mississippi. Did I mention the restrooms in Iowa have internet? Illinois was nice and sunny! We passed by Daddy's old office in Naperville, paid our tolls, and ran into some big city traffic. We stopped in Skokie on Dempster for some gas, and finally parked on Orrington, in front of the old NU Apartments. We checked into the Hilton, and then headed over to the beach south of campus. After Ate's photo shoot and finding some ladybugs, we passed by a concert on south campus and walked north, stopping before we hit the Bahai Temple. It was cool seeing so many lightning bugs! We also got run over by a stampede of summer campers who were staying in the north quad. Daddy carried me on his shoulders down Sheridan, and finally we made it to Burger King where we picked up our Eclipse vampire wristbands that change color if you venture into the sunlight. After a splendid free breakfast the next morning, we carried our stuff a few blocks thru downtown Evanston to get to the free parking, then visited St. Mary's and the adjacent flower garden. Turning south, we entered sweet home Chicago, passing Loyola and driving down Lake Shore Drive, which reminds Mommy of Luneta. Be back soon...

Chicago, St. Louis, and Salt Lake City and It's all on the Same Street!

Last month I took a road trip with my family, heading east across the west. The first stop was Sacramento, to gas up the Odyssey. We brought lots of DVDs and CDs to keep entertained, in addition to a variety of toy dinosaurs. We stopped again somewhere in Nevada. They were selling Indian jewelry behind the restrooms, along with vases. We made it to our Hilton in downtown Salt Lake City before dark. Had a nice swim, and in the morning, after a nice breakfast, we attended the holy mass at the Cathedral, which was magnificent. After we finished giving thanks, we piled in the Honda and didn't stop till we hit Wyoming. Mom took a nice picture of me and the Sinclair dinosaur. I wanted to come back to Wyoming for my birthday. So many dinosaurs! We took a few photos at the park in Sinclair, Wyoming, before crossing the continental divide and heading south from Cheyenne to Colorado. It was getting dark and wet and we hit a little traffic passing through Denver, but it was dry by the time we arrived at Aunt Janet's. We saw a little rabbit hop up her drive, so we hopped up after it. Aunt Janet introduced Uncle Michael and Penny, who was recovering from surgery. In the morning we met Aunt Janet's squirrels and jays, who came to get the peanuts that my dad and I placed on top of the fence. We met Alex and her brother, who came with us to the Dinosaur Resource Center, which had a nice Allosaurus outside, along with a Styracasaurus. I asked the paleontologist a lot of questions during our tour, which had everything from bambiraptors to Tyrannasaurus Rexes. Later we went swimming at Aunt Janet's club, and Daddy, Mommy, and Ate played a little indoor tennis. The next morning we left again, stopping in Nebraska for gas. I found a nice studded ball that I added to my Christmas list, before we exited highway 80 that evening in Omaha, Nebraska. We walked over to Wendy's to pick up our dinner, and saw a nice rainbow out of our hotel window. Enjoyed a nice swim with Ate Dee and everyone. Watched Dinosaur Train at breakfast, and then we crossed over to Iowa and got some ice cream in Kellogg. The navigator conked out, so we said some Hail Marys, and it started working again after we stopped for lunch at the Iowa Machine Shed, where we played on the tractors. Gotta run now...I'll be back!

Candlelight Christmas Concert at Holy Name

Went to watch Ate's concert last night at Holy Name. Got bored waiting for the show to start, so I explored downstairs. The show started with the chamber singers doing a Christmas song and a reading from the book of Isaiah, so I went with Daddy to explore upstairs where they keep the organ. When we came back down, my soprano sister, Ate, was doing her solo in Latin. It was mesmerizing! After she finished, I went down to check out the snacks. When I came back up, they were singing so sweetly and soothingly that I fell fast asleep in the back pew. I woke up for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but then I passed out again. Ate D says I missed a great concert and party, but I had a sweet dream about some dinosaurs battling by the bay when the ground started shaking and Mt. Tam erupted and started spewing lava and volcanic ash everywhere! Today we had free dress, so I donned my Spiderman shirt and Spiderman pants. Mama dropped me off....along with my Spiderman lunchbag!

Thanksgiving Feast

Today we killed the beast and ate our feast in Clubhouse. After a splendid repast, we told the Thanksgiving story about the Pilgrims from the Mayflower and the Indians who shared their food to help the Pilgrims survive the cold winter. Demetrius was chief of the tribe with a feather in his hat. Gianmarco's dad and my dad helped out in the morning. And nobody got a red card...amazing!!

There Be Dragons

Have you seen There Be Dragons yet? No? That's probably because it doesn't come out until next year. But...if you want a glimpse of this story about St. Josemaria, check http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b74poOS5IMs . Just 2 more days until the ice cream social. I hope I can get a double-scoop! Larry the Crosswalk Guard stopped traffic for us this morning so Ate D and I could get across Southgate. I wonder who's going to be the first KB kid to have a birthday party...Demetrius? Kayla Mae? We'll see!

Dungeons & Dragons & King Tut

Tonight I drew 13 dragons, but no dungeons. I didn't draw any gila monsters either. I went to church with Mommy and Ate Dee. We didn't work in the backyard because it was too foggy. Yesterday we painted, but some of the paint got washed away by the dense fog. After my steak and potatoes, I had a Hagen-Daaz ice cream bar. I'm almost finished putting my 100 piece dinosaur puzzle back together again. We watched Michael Jackson's Thriller video, and the Beatles Hello Goodbye video, along with I'm a Little Teapot on youtube. Tomorrow I'm going to draw more dragons and eat more honey roasted peanuts. Ate's finishing her homework on the Nile delta. She wants to go see the King Tut exhibit at the de Young museum.

Noah's Amazing Ark

We read Noah's Amazing Ark tonight, about how Noah, his family, and the animals survived the great deluge. We also read "Gentle Lamb", a story from the "Ready Readers" book that Richard gave me for my birthday. I picked up my AYSO uniform--black shorts, white jersey, and red socks (like that Bostonian baseball team). Owen tripped me today, but I forgave him and offered it up for the souls in purgatory. Ate wrote an article called "All Along the Hallway", and Ate D memorized her multiplication tables up to 12 times 12. Mommy's Netflix DVD arrived with a crack, so she had to watch the Korean drama on mysoju.com. Daddy went to the back-to-school night and brought me back a cookie. Lolo stopped by last night to pick up some papers and practice his Tagalog with Mommy. Next week's the ice cream social!