November 11, 2008 at 11:32 pm · Filed under Disney, Family, Luke
One of the highlights of our trip to California was getting to take our little boy to Disneyland for the first time. He has a Disneyland Sing-along DVD that his Aunt Meepa gave him, so he’s known where we were going as the days got closer. As I’m sure millions of other parents have experienced, the real joy of a Disney park is getting to watch a young child experience it.
The first “ride” was the shuttle from the parking garage and already Luke was all smiles and excited! His joy kept us going all day long.
Here we are at the first Photo-Op. I grew up close to Disneyland, so even though Walt Disney World is bigger and in some ways better, I still like Disneyland in California the best.
What fun to be showing my son around a place I came countless times as a child. Oh, the memories I have in this magical place, and its surprised me how much it looked exactly as I remembered it.
We had silly fun everywhere, even in the stores.
Of course, Mommy found the Tea Cups!
There are so many little things to explore. Walt sure knew kids.
One of our main goals was to meet Mickey Mouse. So when we found his house, Luke was beside himself with excitement!
Soon we were heading in to Mickey’s Mouse’s House!!
AND FINALLY, WE MET THE MAN! Er, THE MOUSE HIMSELF!!
But Mickey wouldn’t be so friendly if he found out that his dear Minnie had a thing for Luke! We got pictures with a bunch of the Disney characters, but I think the highlight for Luke was discovering Mickey’s car which he pointed out to me all by himself, “Mickey Mouse Car Daddy! Mickey Mouse Car!” as he ran over.
You can always count on Lukie McQueen to discover any cars!
Luke spent more time in Mickey’s car than he did with the Mouse himself!
Turns out there are lots of things to drive at Disneyland! Soon Luke was pointing out all the cars, and he went on Autopia over and over. (We had almost no lines the two days we went)
Finally, Luke got to be the driver and daddy the passenger. (Who helped a little)
This truly is the Happiest Place on Earth!
No where else can a two year old get to actually drive so many different types of vehicles. He was in heaven!
There’s just something about being behind the wheel for a boy of any age.
Luke was filled with gratitude and kisses all day long!
I’ve always enjoyed amusement parks but it’s such an incredible joy to experience Disneyland as a parent taking a child. I loved every second of it, even though my wallet and feet were sore by the end of the day, it was worth it. We’ll definitely be back in February! (When I go to CPC in San Diego)
According to All-Things-Disney-Expert, Steve Tanner, while the movie Cars made nearly 500 million at the box office, by summer 2007 it had grossed over 2 billion in merchandise sales! (source) We certainly can relate! We have Cars toys, clothes, sippy cups, band-aids, towel, blanket, snacks, even an ice packet to help put ice on owwies.
And now, the Halloween costume!
Lightening McQueen? More like Lukie McQueen with his Pit Chief!
Lukie McQueen with Mommy.
Now that’s one good lookin’ kid! It was fun to go Trick or Treating… starting at Grandma and Grandpa’ and then going with cousins. Luke enjoyed the walking and seeing the lights and cars at various houses. The candy wasn’t that big a deal.
After thirty minutes he said he didn’t want any more candy. “Enough,” he says. We didn’t argue. So we headed over to a church outreach that had thousands of visitors. They had game rooms, live music, petting farm, food, pumpkin patch, a cake walk, and so much more. But Luke’s favorite (of course) was the cars on display!
A Sheriff Hummer! (your tax dollars at work)
Lukie McQueen always manages to find a cool car! No matter what we were doing, Luke kept saying, “Go see cars? Go see cars?” He absolutely loves cars.
A highlight (pun) was getting to see a spotlight up close!
I, of course, saw a chance for some photography.
I suggested they add a Bat Symbol! Got a bunch of cool shots, but figure most of you would rather not have to look at too many!
It was a great evening of candy and cars! After over fifteen years of organizing or planning Halloween outreaches, it was so nice to just attend one as a dad. It felt weird, but it was really nice to just be focused on one child… my own.
The annual pass to Brookfield Zoo has turned out to be a good investment. Free parking. Free admission. Free soda. (good on the wallet, not so much on the waist!) Free shuttle ride. Free shows. Too bad it takes about $20 in gasoline for us to get there and back!
Of course, we saw all kinds of animals! (Took the ones above from the tram!) I enjoy taking pictures of the animals - I do not enjoy smelling them!
However, it is not the animals that Luke enjoys the most. Oh, sure, he likes them. He’ll look at them when we point, and can even identify several by name. But there are other “creatures” on display at the Zoo that he will run to! And he’ll spend more time with each of these “animals” studying them, than he will on anything with fur or wings or hooves. Yup, you guessed it, the Cars on display from various dealerships.
Oh, yes. The cars. When we said we are going to the Zoo today, Luke’s answer is, “See Cars?” But our favorite thing about the Zoo is not the animals or the cars… it is being in a safe place where Luke can run around and enjoy a rare form of freedom to lead us around for a change, and for me, it is a wonderful opportunity for my hobby - “Luke Photo Journalism.” Here are some of my favorites from today. (Thanks for indulging me!)
Luke enjoying the playground. It’s a tunnel!
Luke behind bars… “I’m innocent!”
Luke, the fashion model.
Luke, the old fashioned greeting card.
Eager to get on the carousel.
Around and around with Dad.
Proof that I take pictures of my wife too!
It was a great day hanging out with the family. One of my good friends, Alan Root, said recently at Kid U, “Every day God gives us a gift - he gives us today. That is why it is called the Present.” It was a good reminder to live in the moment and enjoy TODAY. As Jesus said, “Tomorrow will take care of itself.”
October 13, 2008 at 9:34 pm · Filed under Family, Luke
Today was the third awesome day in a row. After Touch a Truck on Saturday, the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, and a birthday outing for my little sister today - tomorrow is looking to be quite drab when I get back to normal work life. But a good three days it was, and a great way to start my week.
They have an observation tower so you can see the maze from quite high!
Luke climbed and counted all ninty stairs by himself. (climbed that is, I counted for him)
He enjoyed looking down as we got up high.
Once at the top, the view was pretty awesome!
Here is Luke with cousin Tricia. Mom didn’t want to risk her life in tall wooden structure, though she sent her husband and son just fine!
While the view wasn’t a high as when Luke did the Ludington Lighthouse, it was pretty high up there. I had fun spotting people far away with my telephoto lense and yelling to those below us, “You’re going the wrong way!”
Then it was time to head into the maze ourselves!
They provide you with a map that shows 24 places you are supposed to find.
Luke actually caught on and would say, “There another sign, Daddy!”
Mommy and Luke taking an illegal short cut! (Well, they were following Daddy)
Luke with the Birthday Girl!
They had a few bridges where you could get your head above the corn.
Eventually we got out! Luke surprised me when we went down the 50 foot giant tube slide by saying “AGAIN!” at the end. Usually he is content to do things like that once.
We went several times. At the end of the day, he asked to go one more time, and this time at the top he said, “Go alone.” I about fell over. So I let him go alone with me right behind. I know it will be all too soon that he beats me to the top of the hill and is down before I’ve climbed the stairs.
Luke was a good sport as Mom and Dad posed him around the place at various “photo ops”
He’s becoming quite the little poser with his scrunched up silly smile. We even took some pictures in the maze for our Christmas Letter with a tripod and timer, but you’ll have to wait to see those.
It was a great day with the family enjoying what’s left of warm fall weather. it’s gonna be hard tomorrow to get into a normal work day mode. But it was a fantastic weekend. It’s been awhile since I blogged three family events in three days! Thanks for letting me share them with you.
I’ve seen the Chicago Marathon out the windows of Moody Church for years, but this was my first time participating. No, not as a runner, but as an official volunteer! Why? Because my brother was running it as his first marathon and some friends from church were volunteering. I thought it would be cool to not just watch him run, but get to serve him and the other runners as well. It was a long but fulfilling day. I was up at 3:30 a.m. to begin my adventure! Check in downtown was at 5:30 a.m.
Me, Deb, Judd and Jason - friends from church.
Our job was to fill cups of water and then serve the runners at the first water station. Notice it is still dark out! We were set up by 7:00 a.m.
Here we are ready to serve! If that looks like a lot of water, it IS! over 1400 cups! Soon the runners would be arriving, and we were prepared! The race began at 8 a.m. Soon runners would be arriving!
Followed by the elite running women, who seemed to have more photographers for some reason.
And then the masses!
But finally MY BROTHER CAME BY! I was eager to get to hand him the water, but didn’t know when I’d see him. And I had to serve other runners too. I had my mini-video camera going and was hoping to get him coming, taking the water and passing, but he appeared just as I was grabbing another cup so I almost missed him, but I did get to give him water and catch this short video:
GIVING WATER TO MY BRO:
After he passed, I retired the camera just passed out water for over an hour - it is mind-numbing how many people ran by… over 40,000 runners one after another. I wondered if we’d have enough water, but as it turned out, we had MORE than enough!
In the 2007 marathon water ran out and it got serious for the runners. Volunteers were buying water in the stores to pass out… so this year (with Olympic aspirations no doubt) Chicago made sure there was plenty of water. Turns out, we only gave out the top level of cups as did all the other tables for two city blocks. What did they do with the extra water?
Watch this video to see:
Deb and Judd show how strong they are!
Now came the huge job of cleaning up more cups than runners in the race!
Official Trash Compactor of the Chicago Marathon!
Once we were all cleaned up (and that was a huge job) I was free to just be the official Jordan Bastian Photograher. So I hurried down a few blocks to get ahead of where all the runners I had served would be arriving around the 14th mile point. Now I was able to take more pictures. (see full gallery)
They came waving flags…
juggling… (there were two jugglers)
this guy had a cup on his head and my sister saw it still there 20 miles later!
George Washington must be in good shape!
But, of course, I was waiting to see my brother again. Let me just tell you, it is MENTALLY EXHAUSTING to be focusing on hundreds of people every minute looking for one person. I knew after the water station he was wearing a blue shirt… but so did a bunch of other guys! But finally, after about a 45 minute wait, I spotted him!
There he is, number 13572, and he hasn’t spotted me yet…
Then he sees me!
I was able to snap some shots as he zoomed by…
and then he was gone, back into the crowd. I studied the race map and figured out I could get to the finish line before him if I raced to Grant Park. It was a hike, but I got there well ahead of him and scoped out a place to spot him again.
I’d never SEEN so many bananas!
There was over a mile for the runners to walk after the finish line to cool off, filled with food and other stations related to the race. But as I got near the finish line I saw:
Thousands of medals just waiting to hang around the neck of the runners.
And then it hit me! I could actually present my brother with his medal!
By the way, having the official volunteer hat, jacket and volunteer badge got me access inside tall fences where the runners and volunteers were. Everyone else was packed outside trying to peer in. I enjoyed volunteering at the water station, but I had no idea how much it would help the rest of the day to have the “official” gear on! It streamlined my walk and I could go anywhere for pictures… and even to greet my brother and give him his medal.
But first, I had to spot him in this vast crowd. You can’t imagine how hard it is to look for someone in this throng! My text message updates sad he was estimated to arrive in the 3:55 crowd, but I knew it might be longer as he slowed toward the end. It was getting REALLY hot out, but then, maybe he’d get a burst at the end and come in early? So I ended up watching the crowd intently from 3:40 (in case he was early) to 4:30 when he arrived. I was starting to wonder if I’d missed him, which could have happened, but I didn’t want to give up, and I hadn’t gotten a text message yet that he was done. So I stood on a table and studied the 20,000+ faces that came before him… but FINALLY I saw him! I quickly jumped down, gave my camera to a complete stranger already recording a video and asked them to record me presenting Jordan with his medal, and here it is:
I know YouTube quality isn’t that great, you can download it here. (QT 15mb)
Here is the Champ reunited with his wife, Kelly. He chose Flat Top Grill as his celebration restaurant and Kelly’s family and our sister Melissa’s family and I enjoyed a post-marathon meal. I think we were as exhausted as him, well, ok, almost.
WARNING: Sentimental content ahead.
I can’t end this post without saying how proud I am of my little brother. While he’s grown to be much stronger than me, he’ll always be my little brother. I was bursting with pride today to see how much my little bald buddy has grown. I was thirteen when two days after my birthday I got what is still the greatest birthday present I ever got: a brother. While much of his childhood Jordan can’t remember (just as we all lose much of it) it feels like I can remember all of it. Jordan was my best friend and only being a dad now comes close to how much I enjoyed our relationship during his childhood.
While his childhood is over, I love him as much now as then and am so proud of how he has grown up. When he was a little boy, he would often point to me and say to people, “He’s my Big Brother” as though Big Brother was a title of honor. Today, I couldn’t be prouder to instead point at him and say to people, “He’s my Little Brother.”
October 11, 2008 at 1:32 pm · Filed under Family, Luke
Today we got to take Luke to a local event that was the perfect event for a little boy, it was called simply, “Touch a Truck” which is exactly what our little car lover dreams about at night!
Luke was a little intimidated by the size of the vehicles. It actually took a little encouragement to get him to sit in the drivers seat. He was a little overwhelmed. I don’t think he’d see trucks this big up close before.
But he liked any time he saw levers or switches… fortunately they didn’t actually DO anything!
The Police car was a highlight, of course, and he even got to sit in the back seat, somewhere I explained he doesn’t want to get a ride in the future! I also was happy to learn that a laptop mount in the front is not illegal. Hmmmmm…
I think I even enjoyed getting to see a city snow plow up close and personal.
The fact that I could climb inside the plow tells you it is BIG!
And how often do you get to climb into the front containers of a garbage truck? Yes, they were very clean! (also pretty rare!)
Fire trucks are always a treat… though the sirens made him a little nervous. But I suppose that’s a good thing, they are supposed to alert people to danger.
Finally, Luke found one his size. And this isn’t a prop, it has a functioning engine, and in fact, was driven on the road to the event. (Granted a few blocks with police escort.)
I think the construction vehicles were Luke’s favorites. All boys wish they could operate one of these. (Big boys too!)
It was a perfect way to spend a beautiful Saturday morning. MANY THANKS TO MOM WHO TOOK THE PICTURES!
Well, I decided to bless my wife by cooking the Kid U Post-Conference Pizza Outing Left Overs last night… it was good stuff, Gino’s East if you’re curious. Deep dish pepperoni pizza to be exact, and there was some left over to take home to my wife who missed the late night dinner due to getting our little boy to bed.
I could swear (though I don’t) that she said, “Just put it in the oven at 350, it will heat up better than in the microwave.” I was a little surprised, thinking she meant just put the box in, so I answered, “Really? Just put it in the oven?” She replied, “Yes.”
So I did. I set the timer for 20 minutes but about 15 into it the kitchen smelled of smoke. I was on the phone with my dad giving Kid U highlights when my wife comes in crying, “Did you put the BOX in the oven?!?!?”
I said “Yes, just like you told me too.” Turns out it was on fire!
The fire was quickly put out, and after all the excitement, the pizza was fine, though it definitely had that “smoked” flavor! Please tell me we aren’t the only couple with communication problems.
The lesson learned? Best to just let the wife prepare the food and I’ll stick to clean up duty!
September 20, 2008 at 8:29 pm · Filed under Family, Luke
Today was the day we finally gave Luke another haircut. We love his curly hair, but when it starts getting in his eyes we know we have to cut it again. It’s a bummer because he always seems to age three months with a hair cut. We know, “It’ll grow back” - but he’s so stinkin’ cute with those curls! Too bad, today was hair cutting day! And for the past two years Sara has been cutting both boys hair to save money. (haircut prices have gotten ridiculous if you ask me!)
Here he is, all smiles and read to go under the knife,
er, scissors anyway.
That’s one curly head!
Our personal hair stylist at work!
Bye, Bye Bangs! (my wife would like to ask you not look at the
messy counters in the background)
Oops, was that an ear lobe?
Elmo helps the time go by as mommy sculpts the head.
It’s a brand new boy!
Is this the same boy!?!? Amazing how different he looks.
September 20, 2008 at 8:05 pm · Filed under Family, Luke
First off, I have to say, my sister is the ultimate party planner. She puts together the most amazing themed parties for her kids (sample). Today was no exception. It was an overnight camping Indiana Jones theme where they went geo-caching for treasure and every kid got an archeologist bag, brown fedora and a whip! Due to having a two year old, we came for the morning fun. It was a beautiful forest preserve I’ll be returning to for hiking! Luke took to the trails immediately…
It is right along the Fox River in Cary, so there were many water views on the hike.
One funny sight (that I couldn’t take a picture of) was three guys fishing with beer bottles. A poor man’s technique perhaps. They tied fishing line to the neck of their beer, threw the line out, drank while waiting, and when then got a bite, wound the line around the beer bottle to reel it in. Yes, we saw them catch one!
One of the kids caught a craw fish. Going with the theme, we just pretended it was a scorpion!
I showed my son how to intimidate a small creature by returning its taunts right back at it!
While he wasn’t given one, due to his age, Luke found a whip and quickly was giving the bigger kids an amazing demonstration on how to do it!
Which is how he earned the title, “Illinois Luke.” Yup, that’s my boy!
September 16, 2008 at 12:59 pm · Filed under Family
It was 1986. There were hardly any computers. To figure out the first Friday night of September four years in the future required some manual scratching on paper trying to remember leap year! (a PDA would have been wonderful then!) But I finally figured out what the first Friday Night of September 1990 would be… why? That would be the first Friday Night of my Philippine Missionary Kid Pen Pal’s first eligible date when she finally came to the USA for college!
Perhaps she thought it was a joke, or was just being nice, but she accepted the rambling invitation to her first date with me, granted four years in the future, and I began counting the days!
Finally, the date arrived, and we had our first official date in the United States! September 7th, 1990 finally arrived! I could only afford a one way limo ride to the shore where we went for a dinner cruise at Navy Pier in Chicago - however, it was not the place it is today. It was an empty freight yard with only one ship! (I’ve had to work closely with Mayor Daley to get many much needed improvements though for my annual date!)
The Spirit of Chicago, now completely remodeled and relaunched a few years ago tends to be our boat of choice, though we like the Odessey too. The Anita Dee II was a HUGE disappointment… unless you want to be the only sober people on board. (Tip: The Entertainment Book has a buy one get one free for Spirit of Chicago, worth twice the entire book cost!)
A few years ago McDonald’s added a pretty cool Ferris Wheel, that for years was only $2, but eventually they got greedy and realized the same number of people would probably pay $6 to ride it, so they trippled their income. But it goes slow and the view is pretty nice. (the picture of the boat above was taken from the ride, as was this view of the Shakespeare Theater w/ shadow of the Ferris Wheel)
The cruise is usually around three hours and has the best view of Chicago! One year the weather was so bad we never left the dock and another year the waves were so high the huge roast fell and rolled across the floor. Oh, and there was the year a small boat got crushed during docking…. ooops. But hey, out of 19 years you gotta have some excitement!
We now head down early to enjoy Navy Pier before heading out to sea… er, out to lake.
Then the sunset comes and the sky starts to glow. (I didn’t edit this picture at all)
We often make some new friends. (like the Phillipinos last year) This year we happened to sit next to a pastor and his wife, celebrating 30 years of marriage, Larry and Michele Mosher of Tinley Park. We were enjoying some nice quiet conversation when suddenly the DJ picked Michele and I for a little “skit” we had to act out!
She was told that she was now a showgirl named “Lola” and I was her lover. Another guy got a gun… which was bad news for me…
I wound up dead and she unhappy for the rest of her life. I’d never heard the song before, but perhaps you’ve heard it, “Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl…” It sounded familiar but I’d never heard the words before until we had to act out what we heard. I was dying to get out of it. Turns out, I did!
It was a fun evening, hard to believe it was our 19th cruise! (or that next year will be 20!) At least it didn’t rain like last year!
One of the highlights is that every year they take a picture as you board, so this is our 19th boarding photo! Next year we will put all 20 together and make a flip book of us getting older! First, we have to FIND them all! Hopefully we can get them all in order! But it’s been a really neat tradition.
Here’s to 19 more! Though maybe it will be a levitating hover boat by then!
