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Fayling came to Toledo for a couple of days to start the month, so he and Brandi entertained the kids with Kalahari, a birthday party at the Toledo Zoo for Aiden, and Greenfield Village. Thatcher officially endorsed Detroit pizza as the 'best ever' with a visit to Buddy's, so they should be more than honored.
Shortly after Nick finished school, the two of them headed south for family visits. At Fayling's new house, the pool kept the kids entertained between thunderstorms. An inflatable flamingo died a horrible death at the hands of the older boys, so enter the new giant inflatable Toucan. There was also a new Xbox game called Kinect Party. It kept the kiddos active as they got to be Godzilla attacking a city, jumping from spot to spot to avoid the hot lava floor, dancing around as skeletons that had been struck by lighting, and kicking and punching to pop all the balloons (the video game, not in the pool). It's a great game, highly recommended. Nick got a horrible sunburn the first day in the pool, so that put a kabash on the rest of the activities. Plan B was lots of TV, and it's clear that Nick has a lot of his mom and aunt in him with his preference for murder mysteries and new love of Ghost Adventures. We also got to stay for Seth's 13th birthday. We haven't missed one yet for Seth. That night the kids had a great time flying their whistle copters in the yard. A short jaunt to Alabama to visit Grandmama and Grandad preceded the Atlanta stop, where they saw Noccalula Falls for a day.
Nick's taste buds have expanded. He's ordering new items at Taco Bell, now favoring the Quesarito, and he likes Tobasco sauce on everything. Chipotle burritos are always welcome as well. A Subway visit is now always a footlong, with his expanded appetite, egg-white subs at the moment.
He wandered out and saw Brandi watching a video on YouTube about makeup application. The subject was a cross-dresser. Nick noticed, "She's cute." Once Brandi pointed out the person in the video was a man, a long pause was followed by, "What the f*@#!" Appropriate use and timing, even if not ideal.
Pics here.
Jason
Brad and I connected for another baseball weekend this year. I cut across Ontario to Buffalo after work on Wednesday, and he flew in from D.C. to start our four days. He got his buffalo wings in Buffalo at the original Duff's on the first evening, and we polished it off with ice cream from The Andersen's.
Day One
First game was 10:30 AM on Thursday in Buffalo, against Toledo. Beer and a hot dog for breakfast, from the lonely open beer vendor in the park... it was school day at the park, packed with kids, so beer was scarce. This was fine, although our great seats along third base were perhaps in the disabled kids' section, so the kid behind me barked like a dog and kicked my seat for nine innings. But the weather was perfect, with a little sunburn on the temple and nose from the late morning rays.
We walked down to Dinosaur BBQ after the game for Brad to try the famous ribs. From there, we toured the Wilcox home, where Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated.
The evening was dinner at a local Italian place called Vino's which had a couple of authentic Italians arguing about their phone bills at the table next to us, and Brad ordered a pasta dish that was so spicy it nearly burnt his face off, but the flavor was excellent. Not enough bread in the joint to put out that fire, but Stephanie did her best with chocolate cake.
Only the overflowing throne in our hotel room threatened to ruin a good first day, and the kid who got hit in the head by a foul ball.
The stadium giveaway was McFries... which we never claimed.
Day Two
On to Syracuse, where the Chiefs played the Columbus Clippers in the evening. A nice gal sat next to Brad to give us the local gossip, the locals loves his red shoes, and we enjoyed a sloppy game of errors. Fireworks after the game rounded out a nice evening.
Earlier when we arrived, the Taste of Syracuse event was a couple blocks from our hotel, where all the local restaurants had tents downtown, and we ate ourselves to exhaustion each $1 sample at a time. We had pizza at Nick's in the evening at midnight before the day ended, while enjoying two local college girls beating the crap out of one another on the street cornernear our hotel.
The stadium giveaway was a free Ice Cream cone... which we never claimed.
Day Three
Down to Erie, PA where we watched the Seawolves (Tigers AA affiliate) beat the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals AA affiliate) twice in an afternoon double header. For $15 a seat, we were front row behind the dugout, where we could see the stubble on the face of manager Lance Parrish. More fireworks in the evening after the game, but no winner at the raffles... we missed the 50/50 in every park, and a jersey raffle for Cancer at this one. I kept score for the first game, a 1-0 pitchers' duel with both of them pitching complete games. Looking down at the scorecard, a player tossed a ball up to me as he came off the field, which I caught with my face. I got a souvenir just the same.
When we first arrived in town, it was RibFest in Erie, so we tried the competing BBQ ribs in the town square... brisket on a bed of mac-and-cheese was to die for. Then we finished our walking meal with ice cream on a fresh waffle.
And of course, midnight pizza at Stevo's.
No stadium giveaway... we were hoping for something to go with our virtual fries and ice cream.
Pictures here.
Shortly after Nick finished school, the two of them headed south for family visits. At Fayling's new house, the pool kept the kids entertained between thunderstorms. An inflatable flamingo died a horrible death at the hands of the older boys, so enter the new giant inflatable Toucan. There was also a new Xbox game called Kinect Party. It kept the kiddos active as they got to be Godzilla attacking a city, jumping from spot to spot to avoid the hot lava floor, dancing around as skeletons that had been struck by lighting, and kicking and punching to pop all the balloons (the video game, not in the pool). It's a great game, highly recommended. Nick got a horrible sunburn the first day in the pool, so that put a kabash on the rest of the activities. Plan B was lots of TV, and it's clear that Nick has a lot of his mom and aunt in him with his preference for murder mysteries and new love of Ghost Adventures. We also got to stay for Seth's 13th birthday. We haven't missed one yet for Seth. That night the kids had a great time flying their whistle copters in the yard. A short jaunt to Alabama to visit Grandmama and Grandad preceded the Atlanta stop, where they saw Noccalula Falls for a day.
