Good nightstand material ahead: :)

Saturday, September 16, 2006- We got up and finished packing for the trip.  We drove to Lincoln to catch our flight, which ended up being an hour delayed from taking off, due to weather in Vegas.  Because our flight was so cheap ($150/person round-trip) we ended up having to pay for snacks and drinks on the plane...therefore that was limited. :)  We arrived in Vegas and Jeff loved the fact that there were slot machines in the airport, although he wouldn't play them because they wouldn't pay out he claimed.  We got to the rental car area, and I told Jeff he would have to try and get our car rental discounted if we had to pay extra for being under 25.  He did a great job negotiating; we paid the extra $150, and got a free upgrade to the ultra-roomy Suzuki Florenza (it made a compact car look big!)  Good job on that one Jeff!  We headed out of the parking lot and made it to the Stratosphere by our visual compass, checked in and brought the luggage to our room.  We went downstairs for awhile to check out the casino, and then ate dinner at Lucky's restaurant.  We then again looked around the casino and checked out the sports book.  Jeff wasn't as impressed as he thought he would be.  Jeff wanted to see the strip and get out and walk around all the hotels, so we got in the car, got on the strip and waited in 2 hours of Saturday night traffic on the way down the strip and on the way back...not getting out of the car once.  It was nice to see the lights.  We went to bed early, around 10 pm.

Congrats, you made it to day 2.

Sunday, September 17, 2006- Although we went to bed early, we decided to sleep in regardless.  Jeff went downstairs to check out the Vikings game at the sports book, while I showered and watched price is right.  After a little while, we headed to Circus, Circus.  We ended up watching the last quarter and then overtime of the Vikings game due to the comeback by the Vikings that Jeff wasn't anticipating.  We then played a variety of carnival games, and ended up winning four stuffed animals: white tiger (pretty big), pink lizard, fluffy dog, and teddy bear.  We also got to see a circus act, where this man balanced on a rolling can and board.  It was pretty neat.  He could really blow those Cirque people later in the week out of the water (hehe "O")  Ok, well maybe not, but it was free you see.  We parked the car a little further down the strip at the Frontier, and walked into the hotels around it on both sides of the street.  We went back to the Stratosphere to change clothes for our evening at the comedy club.  We drove to and then did valet at the Tropicana and enjoyed 3 very humorous comedians at the Comedy Stop in the Trop.  We were quite hungry afterwards, so headed to a Mexican restaurant La Cantina.  It was very Mexican tasting; from like when I was in Mexico, so of course I didn't like it.  The waitress noticed and was really nice, and brought me out some plain tacos.  Pretty sure that was the biggest tip Jeff ever gave in his life.  But she deserved it.  We headed back to the Strat after dinner.

Monday, September 18, 2006-My Dad's Birthday- Woke up after sleeping in.  Watched price is right, and then Jeff went down and gambled half-way through.  Ate a McD's for lunch.  Got in the car, as Hoover Dam was the destination...but when getting there found out it was closed, due to high winds and cranes falling the previous day.  We did have a real treat for our drive though, by looking at Lake Mead.  Gorgeous blue, green water!  On the way back to Strat we stopped and shopped at the Hallmark close-out store.  I couldn't believe my eyes!  It was an old grocery store filled with Hallmark items!  I found a few great gifts and my drink mix buckets for $2.50.  Didn't do quite as much damage as I could have!  Got back to LV, and ate at Outback for dinner (Thanks Uncle Tom & Aunt Laura) which was right across the street from the Mirage.  Just prior to dinner we watched the Mirage's volcano presentation begin.  After a really nice dinner, we went to the Venetian, to Madame Tussad's Wax Museum.  We really had a fabulous time taking pictures with all the stars.  I married George Clooney, appeared on Oprah, Jeff played 1 on 1 with Shaq & golfed with Tiger Woods.  We went into the Venetian, and walked up and down the "streets" and watched the gondoliers and their passengers.  We then ourselves, enjoyed a romantic gondola ride after seeing a just engaged couple get off the boat in front of us.  That was neat.  Our gondolier was quite funny as he reminded other gondoliers in passing, to not sing the Hokey Pokey to the passengers.  He also had a wonderful voice and it was all very enjoyable.  We saw the Volcano explode again after coming out of the Venetian and made our way down to Cesaer's palace to see "The David."  This was our first after midnight night...stayed out until 1 AM! :)

Tuesday, September 19, 2006- This was to be our day to explore the Stratosphere.  Went to the ticket counter and got our ride up in the tower, our Big Shot ride ticket and our Viva Las Vegas Variety show for the afternoon.  We headed up 100+ stories to the observation deck and watched the 2 other crazy rides, just hang off the edge.  Jeff and I were both convinced that we would have no part of those rides, as we didn't have enough life insurance!  If those rides would malfunction, there's only one way off, and you will have one amazing last view of the strip!  We did make our way up to the Big Shot, as we rocketed straight up even higher than 1,149 feet!  It was quite the thrill and quite an amazing view!  I did conclude that I am quite satisfied with the height of our rope course, and do not wish to raise it any higher.  We had a better view of the dangling rides, and were still convinced that they were crazy!  We made out way back down, and became land-lovers again, by enjoying the Viva Las Vegas show.  I'm glad we didn't have to pay $100 like our Cirque shows, but it wasn't bad for being free.  The magician was funnier than the two comedians combined.  He had a bunch of dogs dressed up in costumes.  It was hilarious!  We had a very romantic dinner at Fellinis in the Strat, where we both enjoyed Chicken Alfredo.  I told Jeff that was the first time I think I've eaten at an Italian restaurant in close to a year!  Boy, am I in withdrawal!  We then drove down to the MGM to see our Cirque du Soliel show, "Ka."  It was definitely good, but was also as dramatic and it was doing stunts.  I was looking forward to it being more stunts than drama.  But it was very good and the set was like nothing you've ever seen.  After the show we made our way down the strip a little ways, and then headed back to Strat.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006.  In the morning, we slept in awhile, ate at Panda Express for some Chinese food, and then we headed out to Hoover Dam, once again.  And fortunately for us this time it wasn't closed!!  However, Jeff being the thrifty guy he is, decided that we shouldn't take the Dam tour.  We did however walk around the entire place.  What a sight.  And again the water was just this amazing color!  The architecture looked quite modern, instead of how old it actually was.  We found a recording that was playing near an old ticket gate and listened in for awhile.  I hate going places and not understanding the real importance of them, which is why I was mad we didn't take the dam tour, but fortunately they explained some interesting facts about the dam on this recording and how it supplies that water to the surrounding states of I believe AZ, CA and UT.  That's amazing!  Once we took all the dam pictures, and I got some dam souvenirs, we headed from where our car was parked in Arizona, and back to Nevada for some golf, at Boulder Creek Golf Course in Boulder City.  I really got to experience a real 18 hole golf course with Jeff, without any clowns or windmills!  I think the thing I was first amazed with though, was the GPS system in the cart.  "You are 207 yards from the green, 219 from the hole!"  That was pretty neat.  I also watched the magical science while waiting for golfers ahead of washing clubs and balls.  It looked kind of fun.  At first, Jeff wanted to just get through and wouldn't let me behind the wheel.  But after a few times of taking the flags out of the holes, he let me zoom, zoom, zoom.  I enjoyed some of the wildlife while Jeff tried to golf.  I caught a great picture of a chipmunk that came about 2-3 feet beside me.  And then, along the whole course, we kept seeing a ton of Jackrabbits!  There ears were longer than there bodies, and boy were they big though.  I would say 15 pounds some of them weighed!  All in all, it was beautiful being surrounded by the mountains and the only ball Jeff couldn't find was the last one, in which Jeff and I both thought hit the green or real close.  Of course the last place we looked was the hole, but unfortunately not there either…unless it is similar to mini-golf, and was swallowed up into the ball bin under the ground.  In which case, he got an 82 instead of an 83. J  We headed back to the Strat, all sweaty and cold from the mountain air, so we changed before our night out on the town.  We went to downtown Las Vegas and ate at Binions.  Jeff enjoyed some prime rib and lobster for $9.99.  We watched the Laser Show, and checked out souvenirs.  Then I saw a sign outside of the casino that had advertised, 99 cent Margaritas.  So we go in and they also have a drawing for a free pull on the slot machine that we entered.  But they had to call your number as they had one free pull every half hour.  We were minutes away, so we decided to wait, and our numbers weren't pulled.  So then the real gem was that they were out of the 99 cent margarita cups.  I thought that was a little suspicious, but didn't give them a whole lot of grief.  We go into the casino across the way, also advertising 99 cent margaritas.  I wait in a somewhat long line to order my margarita, and just as I suspected, they happened to be out of the 99 cent margarita cups.  I pointed at the small cocktail cup they use, and I ask if I could have a margarita in there.  She says no, those are the cocktail cups.  And then I ask how they can advertise it falsely then.  And the girl gets a huge attitude with me, and says if I have a problem I can talk to her manager.  So I go in the direction she points me to speak with the manager.  I explained to him that I came in the casino to get a margarita, wait in line and conveniently they are out of cups.  He then asks, what do you mean by conveniently?  I told him about the casino we were in just previous to his, and I couldn't understand why they couldn't sell me a 99 cent margarita in a cocktail cup.  He asks me to follow him, where he tells the bar wenches to give me my margarita in a cocktail cup.  So after all that work, I enjoyed the best pina colada slush ever.  And quite truthfully, Jeff went in hid during my confrontation at a slot machine, then came out after it was over, to enjoy half of the pina colada!  That dork!  Well, I showed downtown who was boss, and Jeff didn't want to risk me doing that again in another casino, so we headed back to the strat, where we sat down at some slots.  This was actually the only night I gambled.  I spent $2 at the nickel slots, and enjoyed a couple free drinks there, and called it a night.

Thursday, September 21, 2006.  We slept in awhile after a late night arguing for margaritas on Wednesday.  We both watched the price is right in bed.  Good bonding time watching Plinko.  We had to find a Wells Fargo ATM and filled up on gas, and ate lunch at Wendy's after driving quite awhile trying to find a subway (which you sure couldn't do in Grand Island!)  We headed down the strip to finish the hotels we hadn't seen yet.  We checked out Paris, Aladdin and the others in close proximity.  We headed back around 7 or so to change into nicer clothes for our Cirque du Soliel Show, "O" at the Billagio.  We got there right at an hour prior, waited in line for our tickets, and headed to our seats.  Now this show was just amazing.  It's a lot of circus acts focused around water.  The ground would come and go, as people would run across and then dive into 10 seconds later.  It was beautiful.  I think my favorite was the diving off swinging pendulum type things which made them start by going up into their dive and of course down.  Sorry, it's so hard to explain all the things our eyes saw.  There were two clowns also that were quite funny throughout the show.  And then there were contortionists who sit on their own heads, then stack three people tall, looking like totem poles!  It was such a neat experience and I can't lie when I say that I enjoyed being entertained more with this one, and then the "Ka" one as it was dramatized.  Both good shows, but I could just sit and enjoy without wondering what's going on!  After the show at 11, we headed out for dinner.  We saw the fountains at the Billagio do their things, and then headed to New York, New York.  We enjoyed the scenery on the outside, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, NYFD boats and skyscrapers, where people stay.  Then on the inside, it looked amazingly like a NY City street!  The stores were really what they advertised, and we enjoyed for dinner NY style pizza at a NY Pizzeria!  It was fun.  After dinner we had to ride the roller coaster, "Manhattan Express."  Although overpriced, it was a lot of fun!  And so neat to the strip at night from there!  Then, after the ride we…ok, I watched a girl band play while Jeff played some slots or video poker.  That was fun.  We went back after the evening in NY.  If I had a choice of where to stay next time, it would be here.  There seemed like there was a lot going on and could keep you well entertained.

Friday, September 22, 2006.  We slept in once again (seeing a theme here…we're on vacation!)  Then we spent some time down in the Strat's Sports book.  Jeff bet some teams, and then we went our separate ways for a little while, so I could buy some souvenirs, and he could check out his bets and play some slots.  I put all the stuff in our room and got ready for Red Rock Canyon excursion we had planned.  So we left from downstairs and started the drive out.  We wanted to eat lunch on the way, and again looked for a subway.  I swear we could not find one subway in the 15 miles we drove!  We thought we would try this "Raising Canes" chicken finger place.  It turned out to be a great stop.  The chicken fingers were good, and the sweet tea was even better.  We loaded up on it!  Glad we ended up stopping there instead of subway.  So then it was a little further until the busy streets stopped and we turned onto the scenic drive.  We lucked out that the park had closed 15 minutes or so prior, so we got to get in for free, because Jeff wasn't ready to spend the $3 or $5 to go on the scenic drive.  Although once we were done I would have paid double or triple that.  The red rocks were just absolutely beautiful and there were plenty of places to pull off and do hiking.  I had wanted to do some real hiking, but Jeff wasn't that game, and in the end we would have had no time anyway.  We climbed and looked and enjoyed our time there and have many pictures to prove it!  We then headed down the road a ways from the scenic drive (which we were probably 15-20 miles on the scenic drive…so see worth the $5!) to Spring Mountain Ranch where every night they show a play during the summer.  It was a little chilly, so I being the good Girl Scout I am came prepared with my fleece jacket and Capri's.  However, as we walked in, Jeff dressed in his polo and shorts, the ladies said…oh you'll never make it through with out more clothes.  I considered buying Jeff a blanket or sweatshirt or something, but Jeff spent the last $20 of cash on the play.  I can't believe the cash we had got again that morning, was gone all ready!  Anyway, I was chilled, but Jeff froze through the first act of "Noises Off."  They did quite a good job.  I couldn't rub his legs or arms any longer so I made the decision to not have him suffer through a second act, although I was enjoying it.  I was just ready to head to bed, but as I figured Jeff couldn't let his last night in Vegas go without one last time on the strip.  We "had to stop to get money from the ATM" right by Palace Royale.  Jeff did finally buy me the ice cream I had waited for all week.  It was great, but I got so messy.  Also, during this time, the strip was closed right by where we were, and there were fire trucks and ambulances in the middle of Las Vegas Blvd.  So as my ice cream was dripping and I was eating it, we watched the commotion, in which we found out that there was a fire at the Venetian.  Just as I was finishing it up, the opened the cross walks that were blocked, and the nosey people we were went and checked it out.  And sure enough, there was a huge blackened part on the tour where flames had been burning it.  They were still working on it right in front of us, although there were no flames, only securing that it was put out.  So that's a way to go out of that crazy place.  I got one last $1 margarita from Casino Royale, and we went back to get a long night's rest at the Strat, starting after packing at midnight or so.

Saturday, September 23, 2006.  Well the alarm and wake up call went off at 4 something.  Like I said, good night's rest.  We showered, finished packing and headed out to return the car.  We took the shuttle straight to the airport, checked in and happened to be there quite early.  Better than late I guess.  I enjoyed a coke and sudoku before boarding the plane.  We brought all the pop tarts and granola bars, and didn't need a thing from the "cash bar."  We were done spending money!  We arrived safely in Lincoln, and just as we were landing we saw a stealth bomber out the window, from the annual Lincoln Air Show.  What a neat way to end our trip.  It kind of reminded me of our honeymoon, returning on the 4^th of July and seeing fireworks over Chicago.  No first class this time though.  We got our baggage, got our car and headed to Grand Island, while enjoying for awhile the planes flying overhead.  We talked about our vacation, and for me I was ready to return to normalcy.  We showered, started laundry, found out Jeff passed his second part to the CPA exam, and enjoyed each other at home just as much as we did there.  Overall, it was a nice vacation and a great get-away for the two of us.

So, for the short version...we had a fine week, more car trouble as to be expected!  But got it all straightened out and fought for my money....as to be expected!  Then we had a fabulous time in Chicago at the tournament.  We really enjoyed our quick visit downtown as well!  Well, I better get on with the long version!

So we had a wonderful start to the week.  I went to bed way to late on Sunday night...after Jeff said, "are you coming to bed???"  So I followed him, and was glad when his alarm went off that it wasn't me having to get up...or so I thought.  Jeff calls me from the kitchen after he had been out in the garage for a minute.  The Sonata wouldn't start.  We jumped it, and all was well, until he went down the driveway and turned his lights on and the dern' thing shut off.  So he had me drive him to Aurora, so he could leave for Pawnee City from there...I don't think I mentioned, that Jeff was leaving the house at 5:30 AM.  So I got to watch the sunrise on my way back to GI.  I go into the garage and start the car again.  I drive it around town for a half an hour to charge the battery.  Then for the true test I pull it in the garage and turn the lights off.  Sure enough, it shuts off again.  So I begin to charge it for the third time to get it started to get it somewhere.  While it's charging I make a phone call and the guy guesses it's the altenator.  I get ready and try to start the car and not a sound.  So great, the next call I have to make it to AAA for a tow truck.  They say they'll be there within the hour, and an hour and five minutes later he shows up.  We haul it to Graham Tire to get tested (see if it's in fact the altenator, the battery or starter).  I call in the afternoon and they still hadn't run the test.  They call back later in the afternoon and tell me it's the battery, so they said it was ready and I could pick it up.  I get to the place, and the guy rings me up....$130!!!!  I literally said in a firm voice..."for a battery??????"  I got my AAA discount, finishing it at $117!!  Then they explain that the battery only costed $90 and the other was for labor, etc.  I left one unhappy camper.  To finish this saga...I end up picking up my battery and taking it back to Walmart after finding the receipt from 3 years ago...props to me and my hours of chronilogical file last week, and end up getting $32 of my $40 battery back.  Not to bad paying $8 for use of a battery.  I go in on Friday to Graham's and tell the service manager who returned from vacation that day, that I was unhappy being charged that much...more than double the price of the last battery I put in.  He offered for me to buy a battery somewhere else, and he would install my new one and take out his battery...I said deal.  So I truck over to Sam's Club and buy a 3 yr. replacement and 8 year prorate battery for $45 including tax!!!!  Compared to the immaculate $90 battery that had a 2 yr. replacement and 6 yr. prorate gaurentee.  I ended up getting refunded $100 from Graham's and overall we spent less than $30 for this whole ordeal.  Sounds a lot better than $130!!!!!  So that's the whole week in a nutshell...many hours working on the car!

I did quite a bit of cross-stitching while I was home, and Jeff was gone through Thurs.  I had good intentions of scrapbooking, but was just exhausted after aerobics and all the car stuff...it was nice to veg on the couch.  Then, Wed. I kind of had plenty of time to scrapbook, but then became a number and joined the oh-so wonderful Myspace.  So now I'm a junky just like everyone else.  It's been fun finding some friends from Phelps Luck Elementary, and Lutheridge and HS and Midland.  It's interesting!

Then Thursday, I picked up Jeff in Aurora and headed to Aerobics.  Came home and packed some for our weekend trip.  I encouraged Jeff in his home stretch of studying for the CPA exam he would take in the morning.

Friday morning, Jeff got up and headed to take the exam (we should find out results in Sept), while I finished up the car stuff I mentioned earlier.  He got home and we packed up the car and left on our way to Chicago.  We arrived at the Grandma and Grandpa Lack's around 8:30.  So didn't do too bad with leaving at 11:30.  We visited with Jeff's grandparents and Nancy and Glenn when he arrived.

Saturday was too early of a morning...5 AM.  Then we got ready and we were out the door by 6 to pick up something quick from McDonald's and then head to a shuttle stop for the PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club.  We waited on the bus for a little while, and then they took us to the course.  There was so much they had to do to get ready for this tournament, and hopefully if I'm creative enough in a minute I can tell all that I learned.  We still had some time until the first tee time, so we walked around a little bit and watched a few people putt.  We watched the first few tee off, and began to follow one two-some.  Joey Singular (sp??) hit one to the left into the trees, which ended up landing close to us, so we joined the other close people to watch him up close and personal (from 3-5 ft.) hit it towards the green.  The official asked Joey if people in the group were in his way and if he wanted them to move.  He responded with "Well, that's up to them!"  We all got a good chuckle out of that.  We watched another group tee off from the green and followed them for a little bit.  We went forward to Joey's group on the 5th hole, and watched from a distance Joey's double eagle.  Boy was everyone cheering and high-fiving.  It was neat after just being near him a few holes back.  So then on the next hole we watched him tee off and he had to tee off first, and while getting in position he said "Well, I've never had to tee off after a double eagle before, lots of pressure!"  He was a nice guy. 

After this we found some seats at the first hole and watched everyone tee off.  Probably my most anticipated was Phil Mickelson.  He really seemed like the nice guy they say he is.  We saw Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, and all the guys.  After Phil, we did take a lunch break and pay an obsene amount of course.  Then Brad and his friend Kevin, Jeff and I waited for a spot in the stands so we could watch Tiger tee off.  Boy did the stands clear out after Tiger drove the ball down the fairway.  We joined the crowd, and made our way to the 18th hole, to join Jeff's parents and grandparents.  Then we watched every group come in starting at about 11, and finishing through 35.  We spent a good amount of time there.  Jeff had to point out to me when he teed off, Jason Gore, who I guess won an Omaha tournament...and boy is he a big boy.  With his white shirt he resembled a marshmallow.  So when he came in at 18, I proceeded to call him Jason S'more.  He even hit one off in the woods at 18, and Johnny said he probably went to roast a marshmallow in the forest.  We had some good laughs with the Marshmallow Man.  Tiger and Luke Donald were dead even at the end of the day, but as you probably heard Tiger made it to -18 and won the tournament.  We went into the overpriced store and bought Jeff a commemorative pilsner and shot glass for his collection.  I think he's glad he got them, and it was sure special to be there.

So onto my things I was surprised about and that I learned about golf this weekend:

1.  Golfers are short.  Tiger always looks huge on tv, and he's one of the tallest at like 5'9" or 5'10".  So I told Jeff if our kids would go pro in a sport, they would probably end up being a golfer or jockey...we'll let them decide.

2.  It takes the golfer like literally over a minute sometimes to get their feet in the right position.

3.  There is no Shooter McGavin on this pro-tour.

4.  That golfers should refrain from wearing white polos when they have a husky body style...they would hate to be mistaken for marshmallows.

5.  That the US golfers look normal in their clothes, but all others (European, Australian and Japanese golfers) wear really tight clothing.  Jeff concluded that this was because Americans are fat.

6.  It's hard work keeping up with the golfers.  You don't have a straight line to follow to the ball as they do.  My arm hurts from Jeff dragging me from hole to hole.

7.  The golfers seem to be really nice people.  I didn't hear one person cuss, or take someone out as they do much of the time in hockey.

8.  Caddy's have huge calves.  Every caddy was in better shape than the golfer they represented.

9.  Some of those guys are so young looking.  Any of my single friends, should be going there to meet their future husbands!!!

10.  Girls are allowed to pee in boy port-o-potty's

11. A Chicago hot dog has a dill pickle, onion, tomato and jalapeno peppers on them.

12. For real, I learned the holes change positions from day to day.  I thought they were always in the space that you saw them day after day.  I said to Grandma, well they should have known that their ball would roll short, from playing yesterday.  They laughed for a minute and then explained that it changes.

13.  That I should expect to see a double eagle at every tournament I visit in the future as they are quite easy to come by.

14.  For some reason, after 18 they had to bend over and pick up their ball from the hole.  It doesn't get swallowed up and stored in a ball bin under the ground. (jeff requested this one in bold)

15.  Golfers wear pants, caddy's wear shorts.

16.  Tiger requested that they weld a hockey player and remove the goofy golf guy from his trophy.

17.  No cameras or cell phones were allowed on the course, thankfully I didn't learn this the hard way.  No memories to scrapbook except my official pairings and starting times pamphlet!

18.  That no one was in the kitchen with Medinah.

19.  Tiger is sooo rich that he was the only player that could afford to drive a buick.

20.  Phil Mickelson does not like to be referred to as Philly Cheese Steak.

So, as you can see this was quite an educational experience for me, and I learned a great deal.

I know it's hard to read more after that beautiful list work.  So we got home from the tournament, to find Bradley and his suit case on the door step after being dropped off.  We all went in a dinner started cooking.  We were treated with Pasties from the UP...yum!!!  We all went to bed fairly early and Jeff and I slept in a little while, while the Wiitanen's took Brad to the airport.  We had a great breakfast, the guys headed to golf themselves, using some of the helpful tips above I'm sure.  The three of us gals headed to Long Grove for some shopping.  I made out with a Turkey figurine, Thanksgiving plates for my plate rack and a lettuce cutting knife.  I didn't do too much damage.  There was also an art show going on and there were some absolutely beautiful landscapes, drawn, oil, photo, etc.  It was so great to see everyone's talent, and wishing I had only an ounce of it! 

We headed back to Arlington Heights for a nice lunch with our crew that was all ready present, and then Jonathan & Janice and Amanda & Jessica.  The girls and I figured up a really good trick to get Jeff wrapped up like a taco.  It was great fun!  After Nancy and Glenn left, and then the Lack's, Grandma and Grandpa took us downtown to see Chicago's Millinium Park.  They were building when we did taste for our honeymoon, so it was surely neat to see it all.  We really enjoyed the bean, seeing the theater, walking through the garden and the coolest was watching the kiddies in the faces fountain, and watching the faces "spit" on the kids.  See the picture I'll attach to the next e-mail.  I really enjoy being downtown.  Then we took the scenic route home, ate a snack upon returning to their home and went to bed soon after.

We got up Monday morning, ate a nice breakfast and then headed down the road back to Grand Island.  We really had to take a potty break in Lincoln, so I stopped at the Cheerwine gas station again, and we got some big gulps to keep in the fridge.  We got home at 6:30, started some laundry and didn't do too much else.

Work is fine this week.  I'm really having to pull everything together for the program flier, which is good.  Then I have more than I expected to get ready for my camp this weekend, as my weather tours were canceled for Friday night as a storm's coming in...which leads to the other problem....a storm is coming in.  So I'll have to work on that stuff tomorrow.

Jeff is working on a hospital in St. Paul this week, so it's nice to have him home every night, and they are nice enough to pick him up which saves on gas...since it's not at $2.57 like it was in Des Moines this weekend...although $2.76 is much better than $2.99!

We heard tonight that Grandpa Lack had to go in the hospital again with blood clots, and he should be out in the morning, but any prayers for him would be much appreciated!  Crazy that it happened so quick after seeing him yesterday.  We hope you feel well soon!!!!

Then for the weekend, Jeff will be heading to Omaha after work on Friday to hang out with Tim and the two of them plan to golf on Saturday and then head to Nick's party he's having.  Meanwhile I'll be dodging the storms and trying to keep everyone happy out at camp.  They check-in at 4 PM Friday, and leave at 10 AM Sun.  Should be pretty fun, and I have great help, so it'll be good.

OK, this is enough, I will let you go now!

Have a good week!

Love,

Gina :) and Jeff Woods (didn't you know we're relatives of Tiger's???)