4th of July Talent Show 2015

Currently watching a death metal band composed of ten year old's perform. But here's the pictures of my kids during their performances at the talent show. 

Fireworks to Close the Night

Improvising after the road to our destination closed. Watching three different  fireworks displays from the side of Ryan Road.

The field behind us is so filled with lightning bugs it looks like a Christmas display. Beautiful.

Happy Treason Day!

Ha

The Bike Decorating Contest

All three of my eligible kids won ribbons in the bike decorating contest! Smiley won 2nd place ("the kid who won didn't deserve it," he says) and got a water gun. LuLu finished third and was rewarded with a paint by numbers kit, and Junie  got a rainbow loom for second place. Inevitable pics to follow. :)

Some pictures of the victorious decorated bikes, and the goodies they produced. Still missing a pic of Smiley's winning entry, and a group photo (cough JJ cough)

The 4th of July Parade 2015

We decorated our bikes and planned on riding in the local parade, but a quarter of a mile from home Smiley's rear brakes broke (beyond the ability for me to fix it on the spot) and we jettisoned our plans. We returned home and then walked to the park, where we're waiting for said parade to stroll by.

The parade was great. There were tons of classic cars, an Elvis impersonator, Polish dancers, a Scottish marching band, a step dance troupe, the Mayor, Alderman, and State Reps, a clown who belted Parker over the head with a foam hammer after Parker told him to go away, a friend across the road who routinely tossed handfuls of candy to my kids, a unicyclist, Milwaukee's Official Jester, a Polka band, a square dance group, the Ace boxing club, lots of kids and bands and flags, a 1860's baseball team re-creators, military and church groups, etc. The kids got tons of candy, bottles of water, patriotic necklaces, flags, and Lauren even snagged a spent cartridge from one of the rifles that were fired off! A great time :) Pictures to follow later.

Waiting for the parade to start

Here's Junie with her friend Claire and some of her goodies from the parade

Just after the clown attack lol

A giant cream puff, the Scottish marching band and the boxing club.

Smiley is back from Camp!

Smiley is home from camp (minus a pair of broken glasses)!!! (He took a soccer ball to the face)

Ed Sheeran

Where my Elder two will be tonight. Sorry I was a jerk today, but look at the tickets and forgive and forget. Have fun! xo

update: 

MY LIFE IS COMPLETE (YaYa)

I take it the concert has started :)

Angry Dad

This is probably just the hip making me salty, but for five days all the kids were away at camp - unprecedented in the last 13 years. Then the Elder two come home yesterday, and compliment our clean house. I go away to Walgreens just now for ONE hour, and I come home to plates in the living room, shoes in the middle of the kitchen, a roll of TP on the kitchen floor, the TV on in an empty living room, the dinner I made UNTOUCHED while a can of fruit cocktail and some abdominal concoction of pretzels and melted cheese is left in a bowl on the table, LuLu's punishment chore undone, and no hot water left in the shower. WTH???? YaYa and Lulu!!

Swim Pic

The road to Olympic swim Gold is rarely this pretty. Enjoy it.

Dogs Don't belong in cars

While I'm waiting, a dog barked incessantly from a parked car. Yes, the windows were open, so spare me the memes please. While I'm on the subject, you know what's a cure for leaving your dog in a closed car in the summer? Leaving your damn dog at home. I can't text while driving, but you can wrestle with a dog on your lap or nuzzling your balls while on I-94???

My Day

Long day. Physical therapy on the hip in the morning, doctor visit in the afternoon for some anti-inflammatory medicine to kill the ache from the "cure" from this am. Swim class in two hours.

To Clarify

This is in response to a text I received this morning: I'm a fairly conservative Catholic Republican heterosexual that places himself in the Eisenhower/Nixon/41 wing on the GOP - what some dingbats label a RINO. That said, I'm friends with people from a variety of POV's - left, right, Far Left, atheist, Catholic (them's the best), Evangelical, gay, straight, and all points in between. 

I am of the opinion that you can disagree with someone politically without disagreeing with them personally. Tip O'Neil and Ronald Reagan did all but spit at each other on camera, but would get together for a drink in the evening. 

Does that mean I agree with all those other POV's? Obviously not. Do I think some of their intellectual choices are whackadoodle? Well, duh. So what? I assume you think the same of some of my beliefs. Short of all consuming zealotry - is there anything less sexy in the world? - you're free to speak your mind, provided you don't make it into a personal attack. 

And for the record, the sender of the text and I AGREE on most things, just not some recent events. 

So, that being said, enjoy the rest of the day.

In today's paper

I'm in today's Green Sheet (in the Journal-Sentinel) They chopped it up but they did give me a nice little blurb at the end. Pick up a copy please.

Hate Mail

My favorite FB hate reply of the day, in response to my saying that a homeless man that turned down an offer of thousands and chose to remain on the street is in need of mental health treatment: "Your comment seems to me you are metalling sick or you are on drugs!we don't need people like you on this earth,your heart is darker than Isis own!"

LOL

Our welcome home dinner with the Seniors. Alanis Morrisette's "You Learn" came on and lulu scolded me for singing along. Cue a shit eating grin from me. 

"Now you did it," Lisa said.

When I sang the next line much MUCH louder Lu all but vanished beneath the booth lol.

Yup

Yeah, that about sums it up.

The Bus Strike

I just traversed the city by street and without any buses on the road it was a bit like driving in a ghost town. Eerie. An easier ride, but eerie. Some folks were still waiting at stops, checking their watches in frustration.

Another casualty of the bus strike: Lisa and I had plans to go down to Summerfest for a couple of hours this afternoon, but minus the park and ride forget it. She said we could pay for parking, but with everyone forced to drive the lots will be full, and besides, the lots will be raising their rates in light of the strike. Just as well I guess.

I have a family pass to the Art Museum that now, in light of their intentionally disrespectful anti-Catholic piece, will probably go unused (unless and until the kids are so bored and annoying that it overrides my ire). A$$holes.