AliBlog

Good guy, bad guy, baby flower

Trick or treating with Grandma Dee.[Click photos to see more.]

In Cleveland

In Cleveland you can stop downtown to ask a group of construction workers how to find the Ritz and they will get you there without a single whistle or wise crack.

In Cleveland you can give a stranger 75 cents for a dollar so he can catch the ferry. Or maybe he was parking his car.  He was in a hurry.

In Cleveland you can walk from the Ritz to the Rock Hall passing a stadium, a wind mill and a sculpture of flames on your way.

In Cleveland you can make a woman cry for letting her borrow your iphone.

In Cleveland Michael Jackson fans leave flowers, handwritten notes and mementos at the foot of an oversized guitar donning his likeness.

In Cleveland, the acceptance speech video at the Rock Hall will make you cry.

In Cleveland, the luxury hotels are having a good year. Execs credit the staycation and say locals are rediscovering the city.

In Cleveland you can watch the sun shine and the rain fall on the street simultaneously.

In Cleveland you can eat a meal by an Iron Chef for under $50.

In Cleveland you will find friends old and new to enjoy for a day.

So excited to be sharing this place with my kids

 

Click the photos to go over to flickr and read the funny photo captions that Jeromy wrote. I just love Cedar Point. We decided last week at the very last minute to meet our friends Rick and Anne there for an evening, along with their son Rickie and his cousin Wyatt. They were visiting from Texas, and we hadn't seen them since we moved from Arizona to Illinois in 2003 when Robey was eight weeks old and Rickie was 18 months.

For our first family trip to Cedar Point, we left Zanna with Grandma Dee and drove up after work with Robey and Moe. They loved the bumper cars and the old fashioned cars. Robey is exactly one half inch shy of being able to ride the big rides, but he enjoyed a few fast spinny rides and everyone liked the cable bucket cars. What are those called? I'm blanking on all the ride names. Oh - except the MaxAir. Rick and Jeromy rode that while Anne and I stayed in kiddieland with the kids. Then, the guys hung out with the kids while Anne and I squeeee'd on the MaxAir. Later, we took the kids through a light display in Frontierland while Jeromy and Rick stood in line for the Dragster. It was dark by this point, so Anne treated the kids to light sabers, which were a hit.

The evening trip was perfect for testing out how the kids would do. You can't do even a fraction of what you want to do in four hours, but that just leaves more for next time. And they're definitely up for a next time. So's Jerm. He's already scheming plans for season passes next year (if we don't dock the boat ....).

Mike takes the best pictures of our kids

See more here. Be sure to check out the Crow's Nest set from our trip to Michigan over Labor Day weekend.

Name that band

It's Halloween night, so naturally they take the stage in costume. Or three out of four of them do anyway. One as Dolly Parton, one as Greg Maddux and one as a skeleton. Their stage banter is constant, urbane, giddy. At first I think they wear their fame uncomfortably but after a few more songs and a few more unrehearsed cracks between songs, I think: No. They're not wearing their fame at all. And that's only one of the biggest truths of the night.

Another truth comes when Jeromy says, "They're the cast of Seinfeld with string instruments," and I see it exactly. Elaine on the fiddle, Jerry on mandolin, George on guitar and Kramer on the upright base. Only, this George is an unusually quiet George. And this Kramer is silenced by a non-functioning mic. Actually, we learn, he's mic'd with the Secrets Among Friends Mic. Whatever that is. Did you know such a thing existed?

Another truth comes when I say, "You haven't lived until you've seen a skeleton clog." Still true. And this skeleton. He clogged until his bones dangled, ready to unhinge into a pile.

They play folk-infused pop, traditional bluegrass, Beatles cover songs and encore without shirts. George and Jerry (or Maddox and himself) (or if you want the truth, Chris and Sean) re-enter the stage bare chested. They are white, nearly hairless, untoned and clearly embarrassed. Chris says, "We realize this is in poor taste. But I think we can all agree on two things. One, Halloween is in poor taste. And two, Britney Spears is in poor taste."

Then they launch into a Britney Spears cover song. Accompanied by a screeching fiddle and a skinny white boy dance. It's her most recent song. The one she botched at the MTV awards. I don't know the title but Chris sings it better than Brit ever intended.

Then they play a few more traditional songs. And somewhere within the encore, they cover a Jackson Five song with Dolly/Elaine (okay, her name is really Sara) singing the lead for little Michael.

Damn, was it a performance. A wild ride. Not just a concert - but a show.

Can you guess yet who it was? It was Nickel Creek, saying farewell to a town they'd never even told hello ... and we miss them already.

Filling his head with good memories

Saturday before leaving for a hike

Robey: Mommy, remember that time me and Daddy and Monroe went for a hike and you met us there  with lunch?
Me: Yes, I do.
Robey: That's in my head.

Sunday while eating lunch at the counter

Robey: Do you remember the time Max was sitting here and he was kicking his feet underneath the counter?
Me: Mmmm-hmmm. I think so.
Robey: That's in my head.
Me: Those things you remember in your head are called memories. I like to hear about what's your head.
Robey: I like having them in my head too.

Yesterday was a bloggity good day

Remember when I posted that shot of myself 9 months pregnant with Monroe, and you all said I looked great, and I said, "Oh no, that's an accidental camera trick. I'm actually quite huge." Here's what I mean. That's me yesterday at five months pregnant (and trust me, I was much larger in that 9-month shot from the last pregancy).

But - beyond the self-obsessed observation of my size, the real news is that I met a blogfriend live and in person for the very first time. Annie is a whirlwind of energy, intelligence and compassion, just as you might expect from her blog. We met for dinner at Squid's in Chapel Hill, which I can't recommend highly enough. I made fast friends with Jamie, the general manager, when I had to call three separate times for directions before actually finding the place.

AND I relied on a real-life friend who's also a blogger to help too. Sarah rescued me by logging into my Facebook account and finding Annie's phone number, which I had forgotten. Given that Sarah has probably met hundreds of blogfriends in real life, I thought it seemed terribly appropriate that she helpd me on my way to my first blogfriend meetup.

After dinner, I got to meet Annie's husband, her five cats (or maybe just 4 of them, one may have been hiding), and one of her friends who helps out with J. Plus, Annie is introducing me virtually to another blogfriend of hers who will be a good contact for some of my business blogging adventures.

It turned out to be quite a nice night considering how crazed my day had been. Before heading to dinner, I had five back-to-back meetings, which all ran late, so I was running behind for each and every one. I kept meaning to get back to my computer to make a plan for the drive to Chapel Hill and even make it to my hotel room before that drive to change my clothes and brush my hair, but that never happened. That's how I ended up on the road with a grease stain on my shirt, and without good directions or the appropriate phone number.

But then the dinner was fantastic, as I've described, and when I finally did make it to my hotel room around 9, I WON AT BLINGO and had an invitation to join a book group at work to read Devra's book. Seriously. How's that for more bloggity goodness? What's Blingo and how can you win? Go register & start searching. After that, don't forget to read Annie & Sarah & Devra. Oh, and if you get the chance, eat at Squids!

T-shirts slogans that offend

Spotted Sunday at the Cleveland Hopkins airport on a slender, young co-ed:

Does my t-shirt make you feel fat?

Spotted years ago in a Southern cafeteria-style restaurant on a teenaged employee:

I hate everything

Both times I was more offended than I ever imaged I could be by a T-shirt. Have you ever been offended by a slogan on a T?

Owen turns two

We spent Saturday at DeeDee & Uncle Gary's place at the lake, for Owen's second birthday.

"I own about a thousand yo-yos."

"But no video games," said his mom.

"And no girlfriends ... and no social life," added YoJake.

He performed recently at our local library. Robey loved it. Me? I couldn't get past the yo-yo star's unlikely resemblance to our friend Greg and everyone's friend Ben (in a strange if-you-combined-the-two kind of way).