We Found Heaven! In Mundelein!

NOTE: Click on any image to view full screen! As I have posted before, LUKE LOVES WATER! So we were delighted to just learn of a “Spray Park” only a few miles away this week! When we looked at it online, we knew Luke would be absolutely beside himself with delight when we got there! So when I woke Luke up in the morning and we did our usual talk about the plans of the day, I told him we discovered heaven, and it’s in Mundelein, and it only costs $2 to get in! It became our joke of the day that I repeated over and over and over, “we found heaven! and it’s in Mundelein! and it only costs $2 to get in!” And we were right! HE LOVED IT! (Dad loved it too) Since we don’t live in Mundelein, we pay double… but no complaints here! But we are a little envious of Mundeleinians who only have to pay $1 to get into heaven! We may just have to sell the house and move to save $1 every time we go here! We’ve already been there twice, and that’s $6 we could have saved if we sold our…

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One Day Mini-Vacation in Manitowoc

This weekend I found myself on the way to Manitowoc! Because it was a long drive, I decided to take the fam along and add on a one-day vacation on Monday and experience the sights and sounds (and smells) of Manitowoc. Luke was excited to get to go on a road trip with Daddy! Now, I realize some of you may be wondering, “Where in the world is Manitowoc?” Well, here is a hint: We saw a lot of signs like this as we headed North, Wisconsin! Luke was soooo excited, as you can see! We were eager to find some fun things to do in the area, and our host gave us some tips. Manitowoc is a very nice area, there is a World War Two submarine that we’d like to see when Luke is a little older at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. There were beautiful parks and quaint little shops along the main street. (did I just say quaint?!) But we were happy to find that Manitowoc has it’s own Lincoln Park with a free zoo! Luke’s FIRST trip to the zoo! Of course, I started by feeding him to a lion! The highlight of the Lincoln Park…

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Freedom is not Popular

Having been to fourteen other countries in Europe, Asia and Central America, I have the right to say that not only am I glad to be an American – PROUD TO BE AMERICAN – but I have the perspective to say that we are lucky to be Americans! Unless you are an immigrant – you are an American because you were born here and THANK GOD for that blessing! There truly is no better place on earth and may I say I am sick and tired of people, especially politicians and news reporters who talk like WE are the scourge of the earth and deserve every bad thing that happens to us. If we are hated, it is because we are better, and we ought to be proud of what makes us better, not make excuses for those who seek to destroy us. I’m not saying we are perfect, but we are not only #1 in the world in freedom and opportunity, we are #2 and #3 and #4 as well. Their is hardly a runner up in what America offers its people. It is no mystery why we have enemies – but it is because we are good, but…

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My Adventure with Flat Stanley

It’s been a fun two days, I got to hang out with my MLB beat reporter bro, have full access to roam behind the scenes and on the field at a major league ball park, hang with Frank Thomas in person, but BAH… the highlight, was spending a day with Flat Stanley! What?!? You’ve never heard of Flat Stanley? Well, I’ll get back to him… Major League Grass! These are my feet on the grass at Comerica Park, home of the almost-world-series-champs Detroit Tigers, the day after their opening day against the Blue Jays, who my little brother covers for MLB.com. (look for his name right on bluejays.com) I drove to Detroit to hang with my bro for a few days and watch him “in action.” Karl and Jordan in the Dug Out My one day media pass gave me access to the whole park. I entered the stadium via the “tunnel” on the visitor side after passing through the clubhouse. Sorry, but no pictures were allowed in the clubhouse. This was a day off, between opening day and a game today, so the park was empty but there were players there to practice, work out, etc. Among several Blue…

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Slow Down. There is beauty that is often missed.

I was in Orlando last week for the Children’s Pastor’s Conference and will be posting more about that on Kidology.org, but I wanted to post some pictures from the Coranado Springs Resort where I stayed. But I have to tell you something about myself… I don’t take the usual pictures! I like to see what others walk right past. All of the pictures below (and it was hard to narrow down the ones I wanted to post) were taken right off the path at the resort. Behind a bush, down by the water, over a bridge, beside a building, etc. At my new slower pace of life I am taking more time to slow down and open my eyes to the beauty around me, and it was actually fun to be stopping and taking close up pictures of nature in a very ‘man-made’ place with people scurring past me in a hurry to get to the amusement park or other activities. Several times people stopped and asked, “What are you taking a pictures of?” surprised to see me kneeling or hunched over where there didn’t really appear to be anything worth the effort… but I think these pictures prove that…

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