A new life; same as the old life?

As Addison grows up, I am continually amazed by her intellectual abilities. She is small for her size, in the 25th percentile last time we checked, but her mental abilities are off the charts. I am sure most parents think this about their kids, and who knows, maybe I am no different. However, when you read the articles, guidance, etc, and it says that typical 4-5 year olds can say a couple hundred words and can form sentences with 5-6 words, and she is already doing that....well you can see where I am going with this! She already knows pretty much all of the colours, can count to twelve, and knows about 8-10 letters and words associated with them. She can recite in total "Fe Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman, be he alive or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread", and almost all the words and actions to Insy Winsy Spider! Of course along with such cognisance (I blame/credit Lorraine depending on if she is being annoying or cute :-) comes the annoyi...

Those amongst you who are Disney aficionados will recognize the post title. We recently returned from a long weekend in the Disney capital of the world, Orlando FL. My sister Kimberley has been a huge fan of Disney forever, but had never had the opportunity to visit, and so she decided to save her pennies and pounds, and hundreds and splash on a two week vacation in "The place where dreams come true" She emailed and mentioned this and we agreed to meet for a few days to catch up as it is only a short flight from Chicago, and we already had some accommodation that we needed to use (long story). So it was set, or so we thought! Closer to the date she emailed and they, she and her boyfriend at the time Scott, had decided that they would get married whilst they were in Orlando, as you do! The trip quickly turned into a wedding, with flower girl (Addison), witnesses (Lorraine & I), etc. We hung out for a few days together over the weekend, went to Animal Kingdom (met my brothe...

Everyone in the world knows Johnnie Walker Whisky, I am sure. However, even the worldly wise, like my boss, may not know that it is actually a brand born and bred in my home town Kilmarnock and continues there to this day, although possibly not for much longer . History Of The Brand (Purloined from other resources linked below) Originally known as Walker's Kilmarnock Whisky, the brand is a legacy left by John 'Johnnie' Walker after he started to sell whisky in his grocer's shop in Ayrshire, Scotland. The brand became popular, but it was his son Alexander Walker and grandson Alexander Walker II who were largely responsible for establishing the whisky as a widely popular brand. Walker died in 1857, but his legacy was assured as the Walker family developed the business and grew the Johnnie Walker brand to become world famous. Alexander Walker first introduced the iconic square bottle in 1870. The other identifying characteristic of the bottle is the label, which is applied...

I am sure you are all getting sick of seeing pictures of Addison by now, but I don't care..she is just so damned photogenic. So there are more here , and here . She has her own incredible personality, which is mostly good, although of course there are a few things that don't jive well, like throwing a fit when she doesn't get her way. The naughty spot is getting some usage at the moment. One of the things she has started to do, for the last couple of months, and I think she learned this one from me, is what she calls her "special kiss". She takes your face in her hands and plants one on you! Baby CJ is progressing well, we have another scan next week, so I will post the pics of that. Addison seems to be OK with the idea so far. She knows his name and where he is. Lorraine has been talking about singing to him and so now Addison pulls up Lorraine's shirt to let him hear. After a few minutes she pulls it back down as he is "getting cold" Lorraine is ve...

Similarly to my recent post about city trips, we haven't taken advantage recently of the host of local free events. Most of the local towns and cities have a lot going on in the summer, I guess because the weather is not condusive (read frickin' cold) in the winter! From concerts, to "Taste Of" events, to Arts & Crafts festivals. A couple of weeks ago, we went back to the old village where we lived for two years to enjoy their free Friday lunchtime concerts, although the term concert is rather loose, as often it is really more of a DJ spinning some tunes. Nevertheless it is an opportunity to get outside on a beautiful sunny day and enjoy the weather; and whaddayaknow, this time actually was a band, and a pretty decent one at that! They also had the obligitary fire engine for the kids to climb on. As usual more pictures are available here . We ate some sandwiches, hung out with the other friends and their families for a brief time until it was time to go back to n...

I am fast realising that I am an old dog..I know many of you have likely thought that for years! Spending most of the weekend laid up with a dodgy knee, and not remembering what I did to cause it, doesn't help! Well, this old dog has been taking snapshots with expensive cameras for years now and has decided that it's about time to learn some new tricks. Of course being Scottish, I am trying to do it for free. I do like the look and structure of the courses these guys offer, but I don't know yet if I am committed enough, or honestly have the time to warrant the fees. They do have some excellent tutorials/articles though that are worth a look, like this one about airshows for example. I did find this website , which seems to have a bunch of free training in photography and many other topics. It has assignments and quizzes and a message board in case you need questions or support, so I am giving it a go.

We hadn't really been in the city for a long time as a family. So we decided that this past weekend, with 60-70f weather, that it would be the perfect weekend for a lakefront bike ride. Plus with another baby on the way , it wouldn't be long before it becomes too tiring for Lorraine to go on long days out. So we packed up the bikes on the back of the truck, including the baby trailer, and off we went. We parked at the Hancock Center. We had planned to park in Lakepoint Towers by Navy Pier, but they are now more expensive the John Hancock, WTF! We did find out though, for future reference, that if we get into the city before 10:30, the early bird rate is as low as $12 on the weekend, an absolute steal compared to the $29 for arrival at 10:45! How and ever, after getting everyone set up, belted in, etc, what a rigmarole, we headed off Southwards first to North Avenue Beach. We know that area pretty well, as that is where they hold the air and water show. It was lunchtime by now, ...

Those of you who know us well, will know that first time around, we had the boy names all picked out, but just could not agree on the girl names. We did end up eventually with a great name, and I didn't even come up with the Cubs connection, Lorraine did that all on her own! Well this time around it will be much easier, because thanks to the wonders of the modern science and the amniocentesis, we know we are having a boy and that he is due in early December. We have always liked the concept of last names as first names, and both liked the thought of using Lorraine's maiden name, Cooper, as his forename (I know Clark would have been cool too, but I would not have gotten away with that - Wrigley sits at the corner of Clark/Addison for the uninitiated). Lorraine only has a sister and therefore the family name would have ended without it. James was my maternal grandfather's name. A very influential figure and guiding light in my life; much more so than my father ever was or wi...

Any Cubs fans who have been paying attention this year are probably thinking the same thing. The first three months have been rough, injuries, suspensions, and generally poor play across the board. The amazing thing is, we are still very much in the hunt, a mere 2.5 games back! I have been to a few games already this year and have several more planned, but I could not let this particular game go by without note. A couple of weeks ago, Steve was able to secure tickets in the front row by the opposition bullpen. It was a gorgeous day, Cubs won 7-zip and the picture opportunities were awesome. To top it all off, one of the guys with us, was a winner in a random draw to get our pictures taken on the field. Click here to check them out on the Captain Morgan website. The other pictures are here , if you run the slideshow fast enough on the pitcher pictures, you can almost see the motion like one of those flicker books.

If you think my little girl is just the cutest thing your ever saw, then please vote for her. I recently entered her in a local radio station contest, and we only have about a week to vote to get her through this round, then I would guess some other voting in following rounds. Click here to go to the site and vote , as many times as you can/want, although I think you have to register before you vote, so I understand some people will not want to do that. Vote early, vote often!

Some friends of ours decided to take a trip to the Big Apple, and asked us if we would like to coordinate a trip to meet up. We spent weeks going back and forth and eventually settled on a date around the April/May timeframe. Flights, hotels, vacation days, etc were booked. I have to say that I didn't remember NYC being so expensive, but then I always was coming from the UK. I was surprised though, that in this tough economy, hotels in Manhattan were still charging a minimum of $200 per night, plus $50 per day parking, and would not budge on the prices. So we started to look around and found a Super 8 just over the river in NJ, through the Lincoln tunnel. We got three nights for the price of one in Manhattan, and whilst not as convenient, or upscale, when you are only sleeping there, who cares?? But I am getting ahead of myself, let's start at the beginning. We decided, mostly because flights are inconvenient with a baby, and certainly you still have to have cabs, rent cars, ta...

We realised that we didn't really do much last year in terms of going out, having fun, exploring our local environment, getting into the city, etc; and so we resolved to get back to that this year. Our first trip was to Starved Rock State Park , a couple of hours South and West of us in Olgesby, near Utica, along the Illinois river. It was recommended by a good friend of ours who had been there over twenty years ago. The weather was gorgeous, in the 50s, and we got ourselves all set up with cameras, back pack baby carrier, hiking boots, etc. We had actually wanted to go about a month ago when all the snow was melting as we thought the waterfalls would be more impressive, but the weather didn't play ball that weekend. There was still some water in the falls, although I think later in the year, they all but dry up. The park has 18 canyons and over 13 miles of trails, although we probably only walked about 5 or 6 miles of them, and it was more of a wander than a hike, as we took o...

It is hard to believe it is almost April already, as they say where I grew up, "It'll soon be Christmas!!!!!" Work has been a bear since last summer, working through a major project which went live in the New Year. We have spent the last couple months under the gun, and whilst we are not 100% done, we are certainly feeling more comfortable now, and the pressure has eased considerably. Home life wise, it's been a pretty quiet few months, as we get through the end of Winter and look forward to Spring, with the golf & baseball seasons starting again. The weather is changeable as Spring always is, with one day in the 70s and the next in the 40s. We had a good amount of snow this winter, although not as much as previous years, certainly not as much as last year. It is gone now though and the golf course have re-opened, I still suck Charlie (107 last weekend). I did manage to squeeze in a whistlestop trip to Vegas for a buddy's 40th birthday and for the entire 4 day...

Addison got her 1st official haircut last weekend. We went to a special place called Kids Cutz where they have cool kiddy cars to sit in, with a huge selection of DVDs to watch and very child friendly hair dressers. As you can see in the picture here, they also had bubbles which AJ seemed to love. All in all it was a trim, so it didn't take long, and she was pretty relaxed for the most part. She even got a little certificate of completion for her first cut. I uploaded one of the videos, but there are more here too , and more pictures here , here and some pictures from the Christmas trip to the UK here , including some of her driving Godfather Mike's car!

As regular readers know we headed off back to the UK for our first Christmas there in 4 years. We set off on the 17th December the day after a huge snow storm in Chicagoland, which dropped approximately 6 inches of snow, causing many flights t be cancelled. As a result, for the first time we were forced to have Addison on our laps (mostly Lorraine's) for 8 solid hours, that was a tough trip Arriving morning of the 18th in the UK, we were all pretty beat. It was cold for the UK and over the ensuing weeks got colder and even snowed I played some golf, we both caught up with numerous friends, and generally had a jolly old time. I will write more in the next few days, and I also have some video of crazy Morris Men, a UK tradition, that I am sure my American readers will have some difficulty comprehending!

I haven't written in my blog for a while. Not because nothing is happening, but because I have been up to my ears in work and preparing to go home for the holidays (insert Carpenters medley here!) So let's see, what has been going on? Soon after I wrote last time Highland Park had their Halloween celebrations. The city had some special events going on, wagon rides, donkey rides, etc. We waited in line for 30 minutes only to find that AJ decided she didn't like donkeys! She and Lorraine went on a hayride instead and I minded the the stroller.The first picture above is AJ's skeleton Osk Kosh shirt, with the donkeys in back. The neighbourhood really seemed to get into Halloween, with lots of houses decorated, and lots of kids running around. The week before Thanksgiving, Highland Park lit up their holiday lights. They had a high school band, Santa came in to town and there were sleigh rides. AJ really loved the drummers, especially when they got their trashcans out and sta...

My inlaws just left (almost 3 weeks ago now, where does the time go??) There was, of course, the usual round of shopping and drinking, eating, etc. One of the things we did do was to go to a local pottery store, where you can choose items to paint and draw on, which are then fired for you. Mads mad some cat bowls, and Jan made a wall tile, which you can check out in the other pictures. Lorraine and I made this tissue box cover. There are a couple of other pictures in the collection, but as you can see, we put her name on there, and also go prints of both hands and feet. The feet were relatively easy to do, but she kept closing her hands, making it really difficult to get a good print, but it turned out OK. The weekend after they left, we went out with Godfather Mike to celebrate AJ's birthday with him. Did some shopping, got some of the cheapest gas in the country in Wisconsin and spent some time down at the lakeshore, walking around and actually in the lake paddling in just her na...