I'm Surviving But My Hair's Turning Grey

We're on Day 8 here without Ted, and I'm hanging in there, but I don't quite feel on top of the world I have to admit.

We've been getting postcards regularly from Daddy while he's on the road, and we've talked just about every day. Quite honestly, I don't think Cadence realizes how many days have passed, and it seems like she still thinks Daddy is at work and this is just one really really long work day.

We're currently on an impromptu mini-vacation to downtown Chicago. I found a room at a 4-star hotel (The Palmer House Hilton) for $76 on Hotwire, so we came down here yesterday afternoon for the 4th of July festivities. We don't have much of a view, and the room is tiny.

But the bed sure is great for jumping on. AND it's king size, so we had PLENTY of room. So much so that Cadence actually did a circle lying in different parts of the bed throughout the night. I found her lying horizontally at the foot of the bed at one point. I'm glad I woke up before she fell off.

Although I have mixed feelings about this holiday (I am not a proponent of blind patriotism, and much of what mainstream America stands for makes my stomach ache), I'm not going to argue about a day off, especially when it's on the most perfect summer day imaginable--sunny and in the mid-70s. Like a Seattle summer day.

Anyhoo, gotta run. Have to pack and check out in an hour. More photos later.

Three Thoughts Thursday--On Hiatus

Sorry, folks, but I haven't had a thought worth sharing in a while, and I'm so behind on photos--and let's face it; this site is about the photos (mainly of Cadence) and not about me--so Three Thoughts Thursday will have to resume next week. Hopefully, I'll be thinking again by then.

Ted's dad flew us to Madison on Saturday afternoon, which saved us quite a bit of driving. And Cadence totally loves flying with her grandpa, so it was a special treat.

Cadence was totally chatty and excited as she enjoyed her in-flight snack of canteloupe and grapes that Grandma had packed for her, until we put the headset on her so she could hear us talking to each other. Then she totally froze and barely even blinked after that. I guess hearing our voices almost inside her head freaked her out. She just held onto Grandma's hand the whole time, staring straight ahead of her. When we took the headset off as we were landing, she just resumed chattering away, almost as if we'd turned her off and on again. Weird...

My cousin Casey, who had driven up earlier, picked us up at the Madison airport. We headed downtown to our hotel, the Madison Concourse and Governor's Club, which ended up being a block from the capitol and all the fun and excitement on State Street near the UW campus.

We grabbed some dinner at State Street Brats, and that's where Cadence began her hunger strike against food with any nutritional value for the entire weekend. She wouldn't eat anything but fries there, and things didn't get much better for the remainder of the vacation.

After dinner, we walked over to UW's Memorial Union Terrace on Lake Mendota to watch the Rhythm and Boom fireworks across the Lake. Apparently, half the town also congregated on the Terrace to see the fireworks, and it was so crowded you literally had to watch where you were walking so you wouldn't step on people's fingers.

The fireworks were okay, I guess, but I once attended the Celebration of Light in Vancouver, which is the largest fireworks competition in the world, and that kind of spoiled fireworks for me from then on. Chicago also has fireworks a couple times a week because of Navy Pier, so I guess I'm just a bit jaded.

Cadence LOVED being on the Terrace, and she basically did not stop running--and by running, I mean RUNNING--around until we left for the hotel some time after 11pm. Meanwhile, Ted and Casey had ordered two pitchers of beer and were taking their sweet time drinking them. The Union sells beer only to members, which Casey happens to be, and they sell pretty damn good beer. I was so anxious for the boys to be done with their beer that I actually had a glass myself, just to speed things along.

After two-and-a-half hours of sprinting, Cadence finally fell asleep in her stroller on our walk over to the hotel. We didn't even bother chaning her into her PJs. Goodness gracious, that girl knows how to party.

So remember that little itty bitty bit of beer I had to hurry things along on the Terrace? Well, it came back to smite me the next morning. I woke up hung over with an imminent migraine. Although I managed to take Cadence swimming in the hotel pool for a little bit, by the time we were eating breakfast (it was actually more like lunchtime by then), I was in so much pain and sick to my stomach. I knew that I had an appointment with the porcelin god and that there was no way in hell I could go on the New Glarus brewery tour which we'd planned for that afternoon.

Casey and Ted dropped me and Cadence off at the hotel (after I purchased a very large bottle of Excedrin), and I somehow managed to subscribe to the Disney Channel-On-Demand before rushing to the bathroom and taking care of business. It was pretty nasty. Somebody remind me to never eat potatoes when I know I'm gonna throw up in the near future.

I was sick the rest of the day. I closed all the blinds and let Cadence watch Little Einstein and Disney Clubhouse, which she was very happy about as she'd never seen those programs before.

My head was still in so much pain that I didn't even go out for dinner, even though it was a gorgeous day outside and I was starving since I'd been cooped up in the hotel room all day. Casey and Ted came back from their brewery tour, which they were able to enjoy since they didn't have to chase Cadence around. I did make them take her for dinner though, just to get her unglued from the tube. I, on the other hand, stayed in and ordered room service. I also stayed away from alcohol for the rest of the trip.

I did manage to drag myself out of the hotel room once the sun went down (I'm extremely photophobic when a migraine is plaguing me). We walked down State Street, and Cadence was as crazy as ever, running amok. Luckily, there is no car traffic on State Street, so I wasn't as stressed out about Cadence getting flattened by a vehicle.

We went to The Chocolate Shoppe, which is where our favorite Chicago ice cream shop, Sweet Occasions, gets their ice cream. Yeah, cuz Cadence NEEDS sugar. Really, folks, we don't even give this girl juice. I have no idea why she always acts like she's got high fructose corn syrup running through her veins.

I gotta say, Cadence LOVES vacations. Clean sheets and fluffy pillows galore and TELEVISION! Elevators! Swimming pools! New territory to explore and run and run and run around in! What's not to love? Me, on the other hand? I've pretty much had it with vacations until Cadence is old enough to walk down a street unchaperoned. Can someone please tell me when that will be? Is 4 years old too young? How about 3? I suppose I should work on her potty learning first...Don't even go there, people...

We checked out of the hotel on Monday morning and stopped at the Henry Vilas Zoo before driving back w/ Casey to Ted's parents' house. And thus ended my Madison getaway.

I guess I'm a little annoyed that the bulk of my vacation was spent in bed hiding from the sun. And I hear that New Glarus is a really cute town that I would've really loved, so I totally missed that too. Oh well. I'll just have to remember to steer clear of the beer next time. Sheesh.

It was a real relief to get back to Ted's parents' house. We stayed overnight there, and it was actually like another little vacation. Ted's mom is a great cook, and Cadence could care less about me when there's Grandma, Grandpa AND Sniper the cat to play with.

We even got to visit the neighbors' horses, one of whom just had a baby a month ago. I've never had much contact with horses, having grown up in the city, but I've always been fascinated by them. I think they are absolutely beautiful creatures, and Cadence agrees.

I guess it's inevitable now that Cadence will one day want a horse of her own. We'll just have to move to a farm or something.

Alright, I'm getting really tired of posting, so I'll just have to continue some other time.

Playing Catch Up Part Deaux

Okay, so the show on Friday night was pretty awesome. Tim had one of his art students help with the lighting to transform Berry's sanctuary into a music venue for the evening. I had a pretty hard time taking photos with Cadence running around.

I enlisted my brother's help in keeping an eye on her, and Tom from church also said he'd look after her. Nevertheless, Cadence managed to run around like a little sprite during the shows, and I believe she was actually on stage at one point. Here are some of my favorite photos of Tim's set:

This was actually during sound check. This is Matthew on piano and Ethan on clay jug (he also plays violin, very well I might add). I like how Matt's looking over at Ethan, giving him the thumbs-up. He's actually holding a melodica, not a cordless phone. Similar, but not quite the same.

And this is Ryan "And-They-Will-Know-Him-By-The-Yellow-Knit-Hat" Hammer. I bet his lovely wife Janelle made that hat, which I have seldom seen Ryan without.

Matthew and Ethan's shadow. I love this photo for some reason.

I know the band's not totally in focus here, but hey, it's more about the perspective, okay?

The rest of the photos for Tim's set can be seen on my flickr here. Slideshow can be seen here.

In the middle of Tim's set, Ryan and Jan Hammer performed a couple songs they had written. It was very sweet, even though Ryan totally forgot the words to the second song (he wrote it a few hours before the show). One of the songs they performed, Goodnight Sunshine, can be heard on the Tales from Tuckaway Myspace page.

Ben and Bruno made it to the show by the latter half of Tim's set. They were driving from Grand Rapids, and probably hit some knarly traffic with all the crazy construction going on. I had never listened to their music before Friday night's show, and I admit that they were nothing like what I had expected. I don't know why I had any expectations of them at all, but for some reason I thought they'd be more emo and a bit on the loud side (compared to Tim Lowly's music, at least). I couldn't have been more wrong. One of my favorite experiences in life is to stumble upon a band that I'd never heard of previously but whose music just blows me away upon first listen. It's like finding a loose diamond while lounging on the beach, lazily combing your fingers through the sand. (More photos from Friday night's Ben and Bruno set here.)

Tim and the gang reciprocated Ben and Bruno's road trip by driving out to Grand Rapids to play a show with them on Saturday night. Cadence and I tagged along, and we made a minivacation of it. I don't want to go into all the details of the trip, so I'll just give you the photo highlights. All the photos can be seen on my flickr account here.

Driving for 3+ hours with a 2.5 year old can be taxing on one's sanity. We did see some interesting sights, though, like this tough-looking band of bikers. There are around a half dozen bikers behind this guy. If you look carefully, you can see his face in his mirror.

We stopped in Dutch Village in Holland, MI, which is considered Tulip City USA. The town was just starting their Tulip Festival, and sure enough, everywhere you looked, there were tulips.

Cadence had a blast, and no wonder. There were baby ducklings!

Goats!

Dancing!

Slides!

And her favorite, I believe, was the carousel. This was her first carousel ride, and she LOVED it!

There was also a ride that Cadence was thrilled to see cuz she was thinking it was the Most Ultimate Swingset Ever. Unfortunately, she was too little to ride.

So Daddy rode instead.

But Cadence enjoyed watching daddy flying by.

We had so much fun that it didn't matter that we had actually intended to go to Windmill Island, but never made it because the Yahoo Map directions suck big time.

We had just enough time to check into our hotel before we had to show up for a 5pm soundcheck at the church where the show was. It was a beautiful church, and I wish I'd taken more photos, but I was pretty busy chasing Cadence. I actually had technical difficulties with my memory card, and so I didn't get to take any photos of Tim Lowly's set. I deleted enough photos to be able to take a few shots of Ben and Bruno, though.

Ben (of Ben and Bruno) brought his wife, also named Sarah, and their 2 year old daughter Eleanor, so Cadence had a playmate for the evening. It turns out Sarah and I had a lot in common, such as carrying cameras, being on flickr, parenting philosophies, having charming and active toddlers who want to be with their dads especially when said dads happen to be performing on stage at the moment.

I didn't get to see much of the show, but I really enjoyed hanging out with Sarah and Eleanor and chasing Cadence. I did get a chance to take some photos of Ben and Bruno, which can be seen here.

On Sunday morning, we planned on relaxing at the hotel. Cadence decided the relaxing should begin at 6:30 am (5:30 Chicago time), so we ended up dragging ourselves down to our free kinda-hot breakfast by 7am. I'd been telling Cadence for a couple days that we would be going swimming in the pool, and she was excited (I think she thought there was gonna be fish involved).

When we actually got to the pool, however, Cadence refused to go in. She's a pretty cautious kid, and without any other little kids around to encourage her, there was no way she was gonna get in that water. Oh well.

After we checked out of the hotel, we met up for lunch with our friend Lori and her son Devin at the Grand Rapids Brewing Company. We had a very *cough* active *cough* lunch, thanks to our rambunctious youngsters. Cadence was having so much fun with Devin that she started crying when we had to go in separate cars to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. She quieted right down though once I got her to understand that we'd be meeting Devin at a big park where they could run around to their hearts' content.

The kids had a blast seeing butterflies, floating little boats on a miniature version of the Great Lakes, playing in a giant sandbox, climbing in the huge treehouse, looking in the log cabin, and even having a little tea party. All this with endless running and giggling interspersed throughout the outing. It's amazing how quickly kids become friends. All they require is someone who'll run and laugh with them.

It was so nice to actually spend time with Lori in Real Life. She and her husband Scott and Dev will be coming to Chicago in June, so I'm looking forward to seeing them again. Cadence cried when we had to go our separate ways, but we promised her she could have a tea party with Devin in a few weeks.

We headed home after the Gardens, and Cadence was asleep within a few minutes. We were pretty exhausted and could have used a nap, too. We wanted to stop and get some coffee, but since Cadence was asleep, we decided to just keep driving, and we didn't stop until we got home.

So there you have it, folks. Our mini-vacation in a nutshell. A very large, cavernous nutshell.

Best Shot(s) Monday--Playing Catch Up

I am so behind on posts around here, and with the new camera I've got so many new photos that I think I've buried myself real good this time. Anyhoo, I don't have much time so here are some photos from the past week that I really like. And a lot of them have nothing to do with Cadence! (Nothing personal, of course.)

I took this photo after running out to the lake to take photos of a pretty full moon. I threw out all the photos of the moon but got a drive-by of this sign. It's a coffeeshop/diner on Grandville, right by Metropolis.

This is at the Dutch Village in Holland, MI. I just love how Cadence is running away here. Try to imagine this with a high-C-two-octaves-above-middle-C squeal of a toddler as the soundtrack.

Also at the Dutch Village. Red wooden clogs. Need I say more? Funny thing is, I was wearing my red crocs when I took this photo. Of course, I wasn't thinking so I have no photographic evidence.

I hope Ted doesn't kill me for posting a photo with his chest hair, but I really liked this one. And I risked water damage on my brand new camera to get it (I was very, very careful). It is inspired by this much better photo of a much cuter subject (sorry, honey) by the talentedJeanette LeBlanc.

This was in our hotel room. There really was no view except of the Howard Johnson across the alley, but oh well. It's black and white cuz I couldn't figure out the color. I don't have Photoshop, ya know.

We had the pleasure of hanging out with Lori and her son Devin on Sunday. I think Cadence has finally found another toddler who can keep up with her. My favorite photo of Cadence this weekend was actually taken by Lori, which you can see over here on her flickr page.

See other folk's Best Shot Monday posts on Tracey's site.

Roadtrip!

We leave tomorrow (actually, today) morning bright and early for GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN! Awwz yeah! Say yes to Michigan, baby! And we're staying in a hotel! With a pool! And a King Sized Bed! We're gonna see my friend Lori and her family!

We're going cuz the Tim Lowly band (for whom Ted drums) is playing a show w/ Ben and Bruno, who came all the way down to Chicago in Friday traffic to play a show w/ the Lowly band at our church tonight. The show was awesome. I was quite blown away by Ben and Bruno. Anyhoo, more on that later.