Hubbard

posted by lukadog @ 9:02 AM 0 comments

Keystone Karnival!!!

I want to make this post worthy of the months of anticipation, but Jamey
dumped her 1st, that's right her 1st, apple martini on our brand new keyboard. This isn't easy. Its like walking in mud. I'll do my best. Today was Keystones 5th annual Karnival. It's a fund raiser, kinda like an ice cream social. They really do well. Most every room has a different game for the kids to play. We were in charge of the "7/11". The object is to roll the ball into the slots that are numbered from 1 to 7. If, in two tries, you get a 7 or 11, you win some beads. For any other total, you win candy. The beads can be traded for bigger prizes at the end of the carnival. (Kinda like Chuckey Cheeses.) The kids were great.











Shannon, Brian and Isabella came in to show support.










Jenessa diggin for a "golden egg". (I think a "shocking egg" would be a funny twist.)




If you get a sucker with marker on the tip, you get some beads. If not, you keep the nasty, stale, sucker. Jenessa got the crusty sucker. (I think it was a one of those crappy mystery flavors too.)










This one was tuff. You gotta throw two plastic golf balls and match the colors. The squares were 2'X2' and included red, green, blue and yellow. It was very near impossible but Jenessa walked away with some beads!



















All the while, Isabella was there to cheer her on.



This last game was my favorite. And the stakes were high. A pizza party. The bottles are marked with each of the teachers names, The more pennies in your class, the more points you get. Here's the kicker, silver and paper subtracts.















Jenessa had a purse with about 400 pennies in it. She dumped every last one in her bottle.













Then she split up her silver with a devious smile.
This years carnival was a hit.





















Luka and Chewey send their love!

All is well here and sorry its been so long since a post.
Later!

posted by lukadog @ 1:11 PM 1 comments

Jenessa's 9th Birthday

Jenessa was lucky enough to have two Birthday parties this year. The first was at home with some of our family's. It was a nice day and it gave us a chance to entertain in our new back yard. Lila, Wendy, Don, Erik, and Tomi came from my side and Jim, Patty, Ryan, Shannon, and Brian came from Jamey's family. Our friend Becky brought her kids, Kirsten and Kenny as well.

Wendy always make a new and interesting cake for Jenessa's party. This year she told us she was going to make a
"cat litter box". It's always supposed to be a surprise but Ness can be a bit moody, so we told her what it was. SHE FREAKED OUT! She cried and said it was "not polite" to have cat poop on a birthday table. After an hour of explaining the humor, she agreed. Wendy asked if Ness wanted to help make it and she was all in!


For Jenessa's second party she asked to go to the
Huckleberry Railroad. We said she could have two friends go and later, spend the night. We waited about a month to go because then you could "Trick or Treat." (And get a discount for wearing a costume!) Here are some pics from the week-end.

Till next time!

posted by lukadog @ 7:45 AM 0 comments

Fourth of July

Once a year we meet the Gorneys for a week-end outing. Usually we go to Cedar Point or Kings Island. (Amusement parks.) This year Patti wanted to mix things up a bit. She took her first trip to Chicago about a year ago and fell in love. She suggested it for this years trip and everyone agreed. We left at about 6:00 AM on Saturday, July 2nd. We ended up at the hotel (Travelodge, Downtown.) at about 11:00 Am. Five hours too early. They were nice enough to let us check in anyway. The rooms were nice, good size and they included a kitchenette. My favorite part was the fact that we were right across the street from the taste and walking distance from everything else. Please see the photo below . It was taken, heading East, from the observation deck in the Sears Tower.
Erik, Wendy and Don came out on Sunday and spent the night. It was a great week-end. We left at about 11:00 AM on Monday the fourth. Scroll down for some more pictures.










Here are some more pics of the visit to the Sears Tower.
Nessa and strangers.













North













Joey, Jonathan, and Jenessa.













South.













West.













East.













Here are a few shots of the 1,000,000 + people attending/leaving Grant Park during/after the fireworks.
These two shots were at about 8:00 PM. The fireworks weren't scheduled to start for another two hours. Look at all the people!



























Sorry, I know this is a crappy picture. I can pretty much guarantee I was being bumped while I took the shot. It was crazy!











This was our spot for the show. We had to camp out for 5 hours to save this spot. It was perfect.
From left to right...
Fred, Jo, Chrissy, Joey, Ryan, Jim, Wendy and Don. Not pictured were, Jamey, Jenessa, Toby, Erik, Jenny, and Jonathan.









Sunday was such a nice day.
Nessa and the lake.













Buckingham fountain.













The next Five are from the Navy Pier Ferris wheel.





































































The next few shots are of millennium Park. I wish we had more time there.


This is a walkway to the park. It looked like it was made of aluminum.












Another view of the bridge. Check out the band shell behind it.












I think these sculptures were my favorite. There were two about 200 feet from each other. I bet they are about 50 feet tall. I think their made of glass block. There are lights and lasers on the inside. This is what they looked like without the lights on.








They would somehow project movies onto the block.












It would even squirt unsuspecting victims. We can't wait to go back to spend more time there. They were working on the "giant chrome coffee bean" and we didn't make it back to these glass block things after dark. We saw them from a distance one night and they were awesome, but we had been walking for hours, so we didn't stop.







It was a great mini vacation and we hope everybody that went had a good time.

posted by lukadog @ 11:18 AM 0 comments

Luka's New Friend

We finally did it, we got Luka a friend. We looked into dogs but its heartbreaking enough to put one dog in the kennel.(Even though the owners seem to love Luka.) We figure the cat can live through the week-end no problem. We decided to get a friend because we got tired of seeing Luka mope around. He was fine on his own but when Jamie Palmer moved in, Luka got use to having Stewert around. When Jamie moved out, Luka lost Stewart and he has not been the same since. We weren't sure how Luka would react to a cat. Stewart taught Luka a love for small furry animals. (We think a love for eating small, furry animals.) We often pondered the idea of a kitten. We liked the idea of a dog, cat, kid, and a mortgage. But because of the teaching of professor Stewart, we didn't think it was possible. I have to tell a story to explain how we decided to get chewy. Luka and I went for an evening walk a couple of months ago and we happened upon a cute little cat with a pink collar and a bell. You could tell she was interested in the two of us because she met us at her gate 30 feet before we got there. I figured this was the perfect time to see just how much Luka loved small, furry animals. Besides, I hadn't feed Luka yet. With caution, I let him inch toward his dinner, I mean the cat. Luka wouldn't look her in the eye. I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. After a brief pause, the cat meowed. It startled Luka but he wasn't fazed. He licked the cats face and started to wag his tail. I told Jamey and Jenessa the story and our minds were at ease. Mystery solved! Right??? Not really. A woman at work had a cat that just had a litter of 7 kittens. She asked if we wanted one. We talked about it and decided it would be good for Luka. That very night, on Luka's walk, We came across the same cat with the pink collar. This time Jamey was with us and I thought this was a perfect time to prove that Luka was a gentle and loving spirit. (I have so many crazy stories that I'm not sure anyone ever believes me. I try to prove my experiences for credibility.) This time Luka was connected to a retractable leash. (A big 25 foot retractable leash.) It's very similar to the first story except for the ending. Luka pounced on the unsuspecting victim and began clamping down on her neck. Of course I'm as cool as a cucumber and per the instructions, begin to retract the leash. Jamey dives in like a West Side Cript in a gang fight. In the process the rope from the leash gives her rug burns and bruises from her thigh to her knees. The cat gets away and Luka goes hungry. So much for gentle and loving spirit. This didn't stop us though, we already met the kitten and fell in love. We picked up the cat on a Friday, in a carrier, and let them sniff each other out. They were both pretty wired so we put Chewy up-stairs and closed the door. The very next morning, Jamey and Jenessa went on a camping trip. It was up to me to make Chewy look like a pal and not brunch. The next coulple of days were spent holding Chewy and letting Luka get use to the little bugger, I was still nervous that he would bite his head off. Imagine explaining to Jenessa that the pile in the backyard was her cute little kitten. After the third day I drank a beer, opened the up-stairs door, and tested Darwins little theory. It turns out that Luka knows how to bite just hard enough to hurt like hell without breaking the skin. Chewy fights back and runs away if its too rough. They seem to get along great. I have to admit, everyday I come home from work, I expect to see little pieces of Chewy all over the house and Luka looking at me like WHAT?

posted by lukadog @ 1:25 PM 0 comments