Halloween 2013

For several months, the Topeka Street Department has been working on Willow, 4th Street, 5th Street, 6th Avenue and Washburn Avenue. Orange cones and barricades are everywhere. Some streets are completely closed while others are reduced to a single lane. So, even though it is almost impossible to get in (and out) of Potwin, Halloween goes on.

Kids lined up 

and parents dressed up.

(Lucky Devil and Handsome Devil) 

We had visitors from Paraguay, Spain and Cameroon.

We even had an old friend stop by.

Peace, Dude.

Happy Halloween 2013.

Samantha turns 33

Last Friday was Samantha's 33rd birthday. Team George gathered around to throw her a party.

There were cute party goers in pretty dresses ...

fun party food ...

 and a birthday cake speech.

But most of all, there was George. Cuter than ever and ready to join the party.

Happy Birthday, Samantha.

George is 2 months old

Saturday, George celebrated his 2 month old birthday.

Saturday was also Samantha's 10 year college reunion and Stanford's homecoming game. George, who is a huge sports fan, got in the spirit by dressing up as a football.

George is the cutest football ever.

Kansas golf

You've got to LOVE playing golf in Kansas.

(Colbert Hills Golf Course - 7th tee)

The graceful rolling Kansas flint hills.

The harvest gold native prairie grass.

The spectacular green fairways.

 The perfectly clear blue skies.

The clean fresh air.

I rest my case.

George the sports fan

I just returned from a 4 day trip to see George. Oh yes, Samantha and Jake were there too.

Since neither of George's parents are sports fans, I have assumed the role of exposing him to the wonderful world of sports. So, before he was born I started sending him daily emails about sports. Samantha has been reading them to him. Well, it appears that George might be getting this sports thing. While I was there, he insisted on wearing his TEAM GRANDPA outfit 

and his KU Jayhawk shirt.

We watched a ton of college football on Saturday and some NFL on Sunday. Go George!

I also got to see Beth and enjoy a first class meal at her house Sunday night. We drove home from Beth's via the 6.3 Billion Dollar New Bay Bridge. We even stopped to enjoy the 25,000 dancing LED lights on the West Span.

Here is a nightly live stream of the dancing lights. No, dancing lights is not a sport, but they're still really cool.

Thanks, Samantha for reading the daily Sports Talk emails to George. It appears to be working.

Google Shopping Express

While visiting George this weekend, I had a chance to glimpse into the world of our Silicon Valley family. Need some Miracle Whip? Enter Google Shopping Express. Order it online late Friday night and have it delivered to your door Saturday morning ... for free.

Yep, delivered by an attractive young lady with a contagious smile, the $2.99 jar of Miracle Whip arrives in perfect condition. It's easy as easier than pie. 

A couple of hours later, a $3.99 jar of organic strawberry preserves arrives from Google Express in very snazzy packaging.  

How can this be a successful business model? Sure, it's Google but even so ... how can this be profitable or efficient? How can they hire the people to create the computer system, hire the people to do the shopping, buy and insure the delivery vehicles, design and purchase the packaging, hire the delivery people and deliver the product for free? OK, Samantha says that it will ultimately cost $79 a year for unlimited delivery. Even so, isn't it super inefficient? Isn't it a total waste of natural resources? Isn't it an environmental disaster?

All of that aside, I love it. Thanks, Google.

Ryan moves in

A few months ago, Helen was contacted by Irv Holmes, a total stranger who called her after Googling "Best Topeka Realtor."  He was looking for a place for his son to stay for 10 weeks while he was here in Topeka. Ryan, a senior at Northwestern University, needed an internship for his journalism degree and had just secured it at WIBW TV. But, Ryan needed a place to stay. Understanding that apartments are hard to find for that time period, Helen and I considered inviting Ryan to stay with us. However, the demands at work and the Bambino distraction made us decide against it.

Enter total strangers Emily and Dave Liggett. When we were looking for a peaceful place to stay during George's birth, Dave and Emily warmly opened up their hearts, and their home, to us. Their generosity instantly inspired us to open our home to Ryan. He moved in last Saturday. Today was Ryan's first day at work. Here he is at the end of the day:

Ryan said his initial adventure at WIBW was a blast. He traveled with their sports team to Lawrence where the KU Basketball team was having Media Day. Ryan filmed the players as they shot around at Allen Fieldhouse. He then edited the film and was home in time to watch it on the 10 o'clock news. It was very cool.

Now ... The Rest of the Story. Ryan and his family happen to live in Burlingame, California. The Liggetts live in Atherton. Samantha, Jake and George live in Menlo Park. All cities are on the San Francisco peninsula and all are within 25 minutes of each other. When we were there for George's birth, we got to meet Ryan's parents, Irv and Kathy Holmes, when they hosted the Liggetts and us for a wonderful lunch. Oh yes ... the youngest Liggett son is a freshman at Northwestern University this fall. No doubt, we are all meant to be friends.

Congratulations, Ryan on a successful first day at work. It will be a fun and interesting 10 weeks.

Ron and Evalyn - 25 years ago

25 years ago Ron and Evalyn got married on the Rock Garden Bridge in Gage Park. Their wedding reception was at our house. Here is a formal photo from that day.

25 years later we gathered on the Rock Garden Bridge to celebrate this marriage milestone. We had a casual picnic and took this very informal self-photo.

Congratulations, Ron and Evalyn on your 25th Wedding Anniversary. Thank you for letting us be a part of this special day.

The Daily George

Thanks to FaceTime and Google Hangouts we have been able to see and talk with George via video chats. Samantha and Jake are also providing Photo Stream versions of their favorite George photos. They are even electronically publishing The Daily George where photos are added on a daily basis. Here are a few of my favorites over the last couple of weeks.

Here is a fun video of Squeaky George:

And here is my little girl walking George earlier today.

(Hey Samantha ... that is a total waste of a perfectly good cup holder.)

No, FaceTime and The Daily George are not as good as being there, but I'm very grateful to the Internet.
Thank you, Al Gore.

Goodbye Annika

After we dashed off to California last month for George's BIRTHday, Annika moved to the loving home of Nancy and Michael. Mega thanks to them for being such great host parents. Annika never had it that good here.

On our Labor Day return to Kansas, we whisked Annika away for her return flight to Germany.

Thanks, Annika, for being so much fun. I hope that your brief visit to the USA was worthwhile. There is no doubt that your English skills improved dramatically. I am sorry that we were so distracted while you were here.
Auf Wiedersehen.