Wrigley Field

John and I went to Wrigley Field in July when we were out in Chicago for my work and to visit Missy, Greg and the girls. I know, it was like over a month ago when we were there, but my digital camera battery had died and we had to buy a disposable. With that being said, I am not very good at the whole dropping off of film and picking it up, etc. since all of my pictures go from my digital camera to my computer. What's really cool is that you can just get a disc with all of the pictures on it for about $5 and your disposable camera is instantly turned into a low quality digital camera (the pics didn't turn out that good!)



Besides for its popularity for being one of the oldest fields and having its "brick wall" in the outfield there were some pretty cool things we found out being there. Across the street from the stadium on right field and center field, the people who own the buildings actually built patios on top of their roofs so that they could view a "free game" at their leisure.



We were almost jumped by Cubs fans because we were representing Philly on their turf. John did sport Emily's Cubs hat just in case. We also hung out with the "unofficial mascot" there, finding this out about him when we got home

"The Cubs have no official mascot, though a 'polar bear' looking mascot, which had no name, and was not popular with the fans, was used briefly in the early 1990's.[Currently, however, the Cubs' un-official mascot is a formerly homeless man named Ronnie Wickers, who goes by the nickname of "Ronnie Woo Woo."[6] Wickers is not employed by the team, but is seen daily at games and outside the park, dressed in full uniform, usually with a hula hoop or jump rope. Wickers is the second fan to reach this status, the first being "Gary The Drunk" in the 1980's thru mid 90's.Wickers, however, is much more popular. He is known for his trademark yelling, for example "Mark.... Wooo! Grace.... Wooo!," and has been adopted by fans as a part of the culture at Wrigley Field"

So, my question to all of you out there who may be Cubs fans - Who the heck is this bear we were hanging out with and why can't I find any info about him on the web. From the research I did below, he is not "Ronnie Woo Woo" (Ronnie doesn't wear a bear uniform", he is not a homeless man and according to this website, the Cubs do not have a mascot at this time.

Hmmmmm......

Penny Schladt

Last Thursday after work John and I drove up to Aunt Brenda's house to see the Schladts before they headed back to Chicago. On their trip to PA they stopped off at a breeder around the Penn State area to pick up their new puppy (Penny) a Goldendoodle (Poodle & Golden Retriever Mix). It is the cutest puppy I've ever seen!

Here are some pics...











Also, just to give some of you an update, John and I are going to try to have another baby. I did want to wait awhile because of what happened a few months ago and get a puppy to keep myself occupied for awhile, but after some discussion we decided to just go for it! Please keep us in your thoughts and hope that everything goes a lot better this time around

CHICAGO!

This past week I had to go to Chicago for a work trip, so like all of the other "work" trips John and I have been going on, we decided to make it a vacation/work trip!

I flew out last Monday, then John joined me on Wednesday night, but it was more like Thursday morning with his 8 hour delay!

We were in a great hotel, it was in the heart of the city right by lake Michigan.























On Thursday night once my training endedx John and I strolled out on the town and hung out at the House of Blues.

Friday morning we headed out to our cousin's Mis, Greg, Emily & Olivia. They live right outside of the city, so it was convenient to make this a nice family vacation. It was the first time that we had been out to visit them so we were very excited!

Friday afternoon we all went to the Arlington Park Racetrack and we hung out in the picnic area. It was a lovely day and the girls had so much fun taking pictures of the horses &v the track (and us of course!) That evening we sat around the fire back at the house eating pizza and playing games. It was fun watching the girls try to stay awake as long as they could, it was just like Aiden & Riley. In fact, it was so cute when we first got there, they thought we were bringing Aiden & Riley with us because whenever they are in town from Chicagp we are usually with the boys and they are attached to us by the hip.



Saturday we went to a Civil War Encampment in Barrington, IL. The girls had a lot of fun asking questions to all of the people working there about their lifestyle, what they ate & wore and their living arrangements. Saturday night we saw an awesome Fireworke display.



Sunday we all went down to Wrigleyville (pics to follow, had to buy disposable camera) and we hung out around the Stadium. Unfortunately, John and I had to catch our flight at 6pm, so we couldn't go to the game, but it was neat to be hanging out down there at all the little local bars/restaurants. You could even catch a glimpse of the game near the right field corner. And I got to high five a Cub!

We had a great time visiting our family this past weekend and we can't wait to see you guys in a few weeks!

A visit from the Okies!!

This weekend our (John's) family from Oklahoma came to visit. They had planned a driving vacation from OK, with some stops on the way to see some sights, then to Philly. Then to NYC, Wildwood, then it's back on their way out west.

Aunt Barb, Uncle Nip, Cousin John and Paget, and their sweet kids Keira & Camden.

Yesterday was John's dad's side "family reunion" it was nice to see everyone that we don't see that often (and it was right down the street from our house!!)

Unfortunately I didn't take too many pics yesterday, but I did capture a few moments.


Camden's surprise 13th birthday cake


















Our other little "Ryleigh"
























And her daddy (Uncle Patrick)



















More Pics soon to come...

Congratulations Seanny!

I would like to congratulate my dear brother-in-law for graduating from the Philadelphia Police Academy this past week. He has been working for 6 long, hard, months to earn this honorable title as a Philadelphia Police Officer.

Sean will begin his assignment in the 15th district, which thankfully is not too bad of an area!

Congratulations Sean for all of your hard work and dedication!

Unfortunately, I don't have pics yet from the ceremony, but here are a few from Flukes Irish Pub.

hmmmm...

I just have to share this with everyone because it cracks me up. Yesterday while at my Pappy's house, I gave my two nephews their Easter baskets that I put together for them. Of course, there was M&M paraphernalia in there, amongst the Spongebob pencils, coloring books, candy, etc.

After their mommy tells them that Aunt Kristy works at the M&M company where they make M&M's their wheels started turning...

"Aunt Kristy, is this your boss?(pointing to the blue M&M on the front of a toy I got them)"

I reply, "No, I work for the red one"



I couldn't help myself, I kept going..

Aiden, "You work for an M&M?" Me, "Yup, he's a pretty cool boss"

Riley, with his smirk "nuh uh, you don't work for an M&M"

This went on for a few more minutes, had me cracking up just the thought of it if I really worked for an M&M! Would be pretty cool though!

I just love having conversations like these with my nephews