Tropical Storm Alex Strikes Kansas!

We left St. Louis in the sunshine, but it started clouding up before we hit Kansas City. Crossing into Kansas, we met Alex, but it wasn't Ate Dee's friend in Colorado Springs. It was tropical storm Alex, rampaging up from the Gulf of Mexico. The big drops of rain started splashing on the windshield, a few at first, and then by the bucket! Luckily we survived the wettest hour of our sojourn so far, and we made it back to the land of sunshine. Remember when it was raining salt? That would be something, wouldn't it? Thankful that we survived Alex, Daddy pulled over in Walker, Kansas to say a prayer at St. Anne's, but it was locked. We were praying at a little shrine on the side, when an old man came with a key and said he just got back to town. He opened the church for us, and we said our prayers, and continued our trip. Did you know my sister gave my other sister a haircut today (Aug. 15, 2010)? It looks nice! Anyway, we made it to Salina, Kansas, where we spent the night. I'll tell you about Tuesday's trip to Colorado and the road through nowhere land tomorrow, if I can find the time. Maybe after Dinosaur Train but before Spongebob. Ciao for now!

The Dinoquest Continues

I'm not sure how far I can get, since I still need to go to church and head over to the kindergarten reunion in Foster City, but I unloaded my toys at Uncle Tom's, and we went to visit Grandma. I brought my new tiger to see her, too. We took her for a short walk with her walker, then we went to the noon mass at the New Cathedral/Basilica. Uncle Bill and Aunt Judy invited us over to their house for a barbeque, which Grandma really enjoyed. The ribs were great, and I had fun chasing the dogs around the yard. It's too bad Alex and Carson weren't there, but they were able to visit a few weeks after us. We took the dogs for a walk to the park, but in the alley on the way back I tripped over some sticks and Ellie dragged me along, so I got a scratch on my tummy. Daddy was busy moving the van into the alley to pick up Grandma when it happened, so he was surprised to see me crying. Anyway, he had to back out and come around from the other side, because a neighbor was washing his shiny red cruiser in the alley, which Ate pretended to drive for her photo shoot. Mommy pretended to be the papa, papa, paparazzi, then we loaded Grandma and tucked her in at Ackert Park, then drove down to the Arch to see the fireworks. It looked like everyone was having a good time at Mike Shannon's, but we were stuck in traffic with a big building blocking our view of the fireworks. We were more successful the following night with Uncle Don. We found a parking garage a little north of the Arch, and walked over to watch the show. The view wasn't bad from on top of my dad's shoulders. Earlier that day, we took Grandma to All Saints, where she was able to chit-chat a little with some old friends. Daddy's old school building is still there, but the school closed after he finished 3rd grade with Sister Emily, aka Sister Enemy, back in '68. We wer hoping to bring Grandma and Uncle Tom (famous from Daddy's Mom & Tom series of comics) with us to see the hidden dinosaurs at the Missouri Botanical Gardens (aka Shaw's Gardens back in the old days), but they decided to spend the afternoon at the old homestead on Crest reminiscing about the good old days when we used to walk up to Wash U. to watch the fireworks on the 4th of July. Meanwhile, Uncle Don and we rode the tram at the gardens, then we got off and entered the climatron, where most of the dinosaurs were hiding in the jungle. I have a few photos, I think, on Picasa (just search for Cellphone2010). After the Climatron and a few photos with the raccoons, Ate Dee and I chased some ducks around over in the tranquil Japanese tea garden. We weren't as fast as Mommy, however, when she saw the garden snake slithering through the stone sculpture over at the Chinese garden! Daddy picked up some garden bookmarks in the air-conditioned garden information center. After we finished the gift shop, we took Grandma back to the nursing home, hugged her good-bye, and promised to write and send pictures. Before we left town in the morning, Uncle Don gave me a golf club and a golf ball, and he told me to play like Tiger (on the golf course, not off!). Then we packed up the van, said farewell, and we started driving. Day 6 of driving! I'm off to Our Lady of Mercy. Back soon and very soon!

Ascent of the Sears Tower (aka Willis Watchtower)

Now where was I...oh, yeah! We passed the Taste of Chicago, and I caught me first glimpse of dinosaurs, a banner covering the front of the Field Museum, where they house all the dinosaurs. I tried to get confirmation from Daddy that we'd be going there, but he would neither affirm nor deny. Finally, we made it to the parking lot behind the Sears Tower, found the entrance for the skydeck, paid our money, passed the Arch image, waited, got in the elevator, waited, then someone pressed the right button, and we catapulted to the top of the Sears Tower, where I picked up Mr. Squiggles, who's normally blue, but lights up in various colors when you squeeze him just so. Towards the east we saw Lake Michigan again, to the north we saw Northwestern and the Luneta look-alike, and on the west side we found the ledge! I ventured to the edge of the ledge, which was closer to it than my dad was, and after seeing that no one was plummeting to their death, I moved totally onto the glass floor, 1300 feet above the tiny cars and people below. It looked like maybe I could land in the Chicago River, but I didn't want to take a chance. Eventually everyone dared to stand on the ledge, even Ate, then we moved to the other ledge to pose for a family photo. Finally, I got everyone out of the tower and into the Field Museum, where we quickly purchased a family membership and went to see Sue, their prehistoric T-Rex, looming in the lobby. We saw more dinosaurs than I had ever seen, watched the 3-D movie, and headed to the southside to see Daddy's business school at the University of Chicago. Singing "All My Loving" along with the Beatles as we drove along the midway, we finally made it to the freeway and headed south to St. Louis. We stopped at the Love's/McDonalds for gas and a hotdog, then drove thru the darkness, passing the Arch and konking out at Uncle Tom's cabin, I mean, house. Excuse me, I need to go rest my fingers for a bit.

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!!