Weekend Work & Weekend Fun

I haven’t posted in the last 5 days. It is not often that I get time with my entire family, so my focus has been on them.

The weather has been just perfect. Even though we are officially still in Spring, it felt like Summer! We’ve got a water table that the kids love to play at, but we took advantage of the warm weather and set up their new sprinkler.

We picked this huge fire hydrant up at Sam’s Club and the kids love it. Water shoots from the side “plugs” and there is water that spins out of the top. Even my wife knows that you are never too old to run through the sprinkler.

Memorial Day was very laid back and I worked on some projects (more on those in another blog), but Tuesday was just the best day! Sam planned a day at the beach with the family. She also knows how much I have talked about my childhood summer vacation destination ….

As a boy, we spent many summer days in Caseville. I have written about it in the past. Prior to having kids, Sam surprised me with a day trip there. I was like a little kid! I remembered so many places. I have since told her that I would love to take the kids there. So we combined their first trip to a beach with their first trip to Caseville.

Choosing to go on the Tuesday after a holiday weekend had perks! We pretty much had the entire beach to ourselves! It was perfect! We lathered the kids up with sunscreen and before we could get some on ourselves, the kids were running toward the water!

Andrew loved every second of being there. At first he spent his time chasing seagulls, but eventually made it over to the water.

Neither kid has ever been to the beach, so they had no idea just how hard it is to run in the water. Both of them fell almost immediately and freaked out a bit. The main beach at Caseville is perfect for them because it doesn’t get too deep for a while. You can walk out pretty far and still be above water.

Ella was a bit scared after she fell in the water, but I walked her out a bit and held her hand all the way back because she was scared.

The water was cold at first, but that was always the way it was growing up. You know how it is, you go under water and then you are fine. There was a bit of wind that day, which made it a little chilly, but it was still fun to be there with the family. We even tried to build sand castles, but Andrew thought it was more fun to step on them once they were built.

Sam prepared a fantastic picnic lunch for us. She made sandwiches, packed some fruit, and plenty of water, iced tea, and juice boxes. She found this cool beach blanket that was perfect for us.

Of course, once the food came out, the seagulls were very interested in our picnic! Andrew wanted to throw them food, but we stopped him, thankfully. You know once they get a nibble of food, they want it all!

There was a point where the kids were cold and shivering, so we brought them up to the playscape and let them run around a bit. We were both surprised when Ella said that she was done with the beach. She said she would like to come back, but was ready to go home.

One thing we didn’t do was go by the old place that my grandparents had just out of town. We figured the kids were pooped, so we’d just head home. We did, however, stop by the new Caseville sign and get a family selfie.

The sign is a new sign. From what I read, they did a big upgrade to a lot of the signs in town to make them more “uniform.” What’s cool is that on the left of the sign the word “Caseville” is spelled out in the International Nautical Alphabet. You can see it a bit better in this picture of the kids.

After our long drive home, we decided that we didn’t want to cook. So we took the kids to the local pizza place and had a nice family dinner.

It was a fantastic day! Sam and I, however, realized soon enough that we had forgotten to put sunscreen on. Sam’s back and shoulders were just fried and my head was also pretty toasty. So we’ll be keeping the Aloe close by for the next couple days!

Friday Photo Flashback

It’s time for another Friday Photo Flashback. 42 years ago this week, the movie Somewhere in Time was released. I blogged about it here:

A Less “Sci-fi” Time Travel Story

The film was shot on Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel played a big part in the movie. For this week’s Friday Photo Flashback, here are a few photos from a trip to Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island.

I love that the date is stamped on this photo – July 1981. Here is my brother and I, locked in the stocks with my mother standing behind us with a huge smile! It is one of my favorite pictures of my mom.

The stocks were obviously a big part of this fort, as my brother and I were locked in yet another set of them.

What is up with my socks in that picture!?!? And I am not sure where my glasses went.

Because Fort Mackinac is on Mackinac Island, we had to take a boat over. There is only one photo from the boat trip that I have and it was taken by my mom.

We must have went to the island two days in a row, as my brother and I are dressed in different clothes. I love the fact that my dad is looking very “Burt Reynolds/Bandit” in this picture!

The last time I was anywhere near Mackinaw was over 20 years ago. The day I was there, it was extremely windy and rainy and they were not running the boat to the island. The last time I was at the fort was 40 years ago.

My wife and I are hoping to get up there very soon. It’s been too long.

“Finding a good way to spend it…”

My Facebook feed has been full of pictures of the “last day of school.” Many of those photos are of high school seniors who are celebrating their FINAL “last” day of school, while others are of students in kindergarten through 11th grade who are just excited for summer break!

The theme song to the cartoon Phineas and Ferb (created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh) states:

“There’s 104 days of summer vacation till school comes along just to end it. So the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it.“

The song then goes on to list things that they are going to do. If you are unfamiliar with this cartoon (which is as entertaining for adults as it is for children), it is about two step brothers who make the most out of every day of their summer vacation. Phineas is often heard to say, “Ferb! I know what we’re going to do today!” They then proceed to work on their big idea while their sister tries to get them in trouble.

Some of the big ideas they had include: building a rollercoaster, building a beach in their back yard, becoming a “one hit wonder” band, become movie directors, carve their sister’s face into Mount Rushmore, build robots, go on a cattle drive, create a new season, become secret agents, build the world’s biggest ice cream maker, create a hot new toy, turn their car into a monster truck, build a shrinking submarine, fix a time machine – and time travel, reunite a rock band, build the ultimate treehouse, transform a dinghy into a pirate ship, have a chariot race through their town, build a Ferris wheel, build a roller derby rink, discover a caveman, hold a medieval tournament, build an escalator to the moon, created the biggest bowling game, build a miniature golf course, build a real working teleporter after seeing one in a movie, build a haunted house, paint the unpainted desert, make a cartoon about themselves and their friends, created a rainbow-inator because their friend has never seen one, build a rocket and go to space, build a flying car, AND create a portal to the planet Mars. THAT is all from the first season!!

Let me say that I NEVER had a summer quite like Phineas and Ferb, but I certainly looked forward to summer vacation. As I have mentioned in the past, many of my summer days were spent playing baseball with the guys from my neighborhood. When we weren’t playing ball, we were usually riding bikes, playing cops and robbers, running through the sprinkler, or playing with Star Wars figures.

I believe that kids today are missing out. They are glued to their phones, tablets and video games. I know trying to get my older son outside to do anything is a chore. My daughter loves to be outside! I hope she always stays that way! There are SO many things to do outside. This summer, I plan to spend lots of time outside.

During our summer breaks as kids, one thing my brother and I always looked forward to was a weekend or two up in Caseville. When my grandparents bought their place up there, we went often. Many times we’d be their with my aunt and uncle and my grandparents, too. On those weekends, it wasn’t odd to have a tent pitched outside because there were so many of us.

Highlights of Caseville included fishing at the back lake, swimming at the beach, horseback rides from the folks at the end of our street, and tooling around on the mini-bike. In town, we could stop at the IGA for groceries, play Putt Putt Golf, or shop at many of the souvenir shops. Occasionally, we’d drive over to Port Austin or drive down to Pigeon to walk around.

The only other real trip I remember was when I was 11. We went up to Mackinac for a week. I remember we visited the Grand Hotel (where the movie Somewhere in Time was filmed) and because we were in shorts and tank tops, we didn’t stay long. I remember posing next to a cannon and I was wearing a cowboy hat and those awful tube socks! We also got to go on the boat ride over to Mackinac Island. There were no cars on the island and there were many horses. We visited the Fort, which was full of wonderful artifacts. One of my favorite pictures is of my mother standing over my brother and I while we are locked in the stocks.

As summer vacation approaches, I hope that we will be able to do something nice with the kids. They are both still very young and may not remember it all, but I really want to take them somewhere. I just need to sit down with my wife and talk things over. The two of us will “find a good way to spend” time together as a family!

Weekend Wrap Up

I am not working my normal schedule at work, so my days are a bit messed up. The weekend for me, basically consisted of half a Saturday and today. I work Friday overnight and get home Saturday morning about 8am. I slept till about 2pm and Sam woke me up so we could enjoy some family time together.

We’re not to keen on actually going out to dinner, but we ordered out and got food from one of our favorite restaurants. I’m not going to lie – it was nice to sit back and enjoy a great steak at home and be with Sam and the baby for the day (even if it was short).

Sunny Sunday Morning

Sam works tonight, so it was Ella and me today. She was up at 7:30, and after she ate, we went out for a walk in the neighborhood. There were a surprising amount of people up that early. We saw people walking their dogs, people taking out the trash, people riding their bikes, and people just enjoying the sunshine out on their porch reading the paper.

It got pretty hot today, but it was cool when we walked. I figured we should probably get the walk in before it got too hot. Ella just loves to be outside, so when we got home, we sat out on the front porch step and watched cars go by. She gets so excited when that happens. There is a church at the end of our street, so there were plenty of cars for her to watch this morning.

When we came inside to eat, we must have woke Sam up. Sam fed her (and let her play in the apple/strawberry/banana baby food that she didn’t eat). Naturally, she needed a bath afterward! She was obviously tired, and Sam was going back to bed to try to sleep, so she took Ella in the bedroom to nap with her.

I watched a pastor friend of mine from Grand Rapids on Facebook Live teaching on a passage in the book of Colossians until Ella woke up. I usually work Sunday night, too, and sleep most of the day in preparation for being up all night. Thank God for the Internet, as I can tune into pastor friends in my hometown, across the state, out of state, and even out of the country if I want.

“I know what we’re gonna do today…”

In all the time we have had cable TV, I guess I didn’t know we had Disney Channel. That was the channel that was on when I turned the TV on today. Usually, I turn on the TV for background noise, and it is usually on PBS. Sometimes, it is on Nick Jr. because Ella loves Bubble Guppies. Anyway, it was on Disney Channel and I was happy to see that there was a marathon of Phineas and Ferb on this weekend.

I used to watch this with the boys all the time. It was so much fun. If you are not familiar with the show, the entire show happens during the 104 days of Summer Vacation. Each day brings the boys on a new adventure. They are always building something out of this world, their sister tries to get them in trouble with their mom, and their pet platypus is a secret agent who stops an evil scientist from destroying the “tri-state area.” There’s always a musical number in each episode, too. It is a blast to watch.

I’m not sure if they were running them in order, but I know the last episode they showed was the actual series finale. Ella was sleeping in my arms while the last episode (which I had never seen before) played. Call me what you will, but I was totally wrapped up in it. Kudos to Dan Provenmire and Jeff Marsh for creating such an amazing show. Sadly, the entire series is not available on DVD. If it was, I would surely buy it … for Ella to watch …. with daddy….

I never had the chance to when I was doing radio full time, but I had always hoped to get to interview Dan Provenmire (who does the voice of Dr. Doofenshmirtz). I thought it would be cool if he could do my voice mail message – hell, I still wish I could have him do it! I’d love to sit and talk with him about the show. I messaged him on Facebook once and complimented him on the music numbers and he gave me a little insight into what went into that for every episode. Those are thing things I miss about not being in radio anymore – interviewing neat people.

Almost Monday

Ella is sleeping now and the sounds of her sound machine are coming out of the baby monitor next to me. I watched a message from a pastor in Warren about the importance of the Bible and how it will be used in the last days, which was very interesting. One thing the pastor mentioned was how he tries to read through the entire Bible once a year. I really need to find a way to do that.

As I ate my dinner, I watched our cat run back and forth chasing a fly that got in the house. She finally caught it … and ate it. I’m glad I was already done eating. I’m going to take a little trip down to see my dad tomorrow. He’s recovering from knee surgery and I want to make sure he doesn’t need anything done.

One request before I close – I have something brewing that I am hoping might pan out for me. I will be looking into it further this week. If you would be so kind as to pray for me, or send positive vibes, I’d appreciate it very much.

Thanks for reading!

31 Years Ago

The year is ….

Ronald Reagan is President of the United States.
It cost 24 cents to mail a letter.
A gallon of gas was 91 cents.
The Washington Redskins beat the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII
The Winter Olympics were held in Calgary.
The average yearly salary was $24,500.
The LA Dodgers beat the Oakland A’s in the World Series.

1988 movies included Rain Man, Die Hard, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Big, A Fish Called Wanda, and ….

1988 music included:

…and Sweet Child O’ Mine from Guns ‘N Roses, too!

It was also a very special year for me …

Always an Abe!

I was reminded by Facebook’s “Memories” feed that it was 31 years ago this week that I graduated from Lincoln High School. (25 years later – to the day – I would graduate from college.) It’s hard to believe that it has been that long. Some days I can’t remember where I put my car keys, but I can remember graduation day like it was yesterday!

The ceremony always happened outside, unless it rained. If it rained, less people from your family could attend, because it was moved indoors to the auditorium. Luckily, the weather cooperated June 9, 1988, and we walked the stage outside in the stadium. The band performed some songs prior to things getting started. As a senior, we played through most of them. I remember conducting a number – it was called Tin Pan Alley. That is a memory I will never forget.

At the required time, the seniors left the band to go line up to walk in (to Pomp and Circumstance). I will always remember in the days leading up to graduation, sitting in band class and the seniors having to “sit out” during a number because we weren’t going to be there when they played it. Sitting in class listening to Pomp and Circumstance while the underclassmen played it was weird. It was then that I knew exactly how the seniors the year before felt when they had to listen while we played it.

I remember someone telling me that your senior year will go fast – they were right. There were times I wish there was a pause button. It was my favorite year of high school hands down. Our football team was undefeated. I had a solo in the marching band show. I went to all the dances and the prom. I got my first new car and spent many hours with my friends driving around listening to mix tapes I had made.

Things I Miss Most

It’s 31 years later and there are times I wish I could go back. There are so many things I miss about high school:

Friday Night Football Games. Yes, I miss playing in the Halftime Show, but I also miss watching our boys win! My classmates were always out their playing hard, and as I said, were undefeated my senior year. Coach Jim Benefield was the BEST! Hands down.

Movies in Class. Whenever you walked into a class and saw the TV and VCR, you were instantly excited. Even if it was some dumb educational film, it was a welcome event!

School Holidays. Winter Break! Christmas Break! Extra days surrounding other holidays! We had a lot of extra time off! And who can forget Summer Vacation?! In some countries, extra days off and built in vacation time is looked at as a must. Productivity in those countries are high and workers are happy. Sadly, once you graduate, you seem to work to death and often have to fight to get time off! I miss those holidays!!

Yearbooks. There was a time where you didn’t know what your picture looked like until the teacher passed them out. 9 times out of 10, mine came out looking terrible. Even Picture Retake Day didn’t help! There are plenty of bad yearbook pictures of me! There are also plenty of other kids with bad yearbook pictures. Today, I love sitting back and reading the things people wrote in my yearbook.

Less Responsibilities. This holds true for most adults. We tend to look back at the days of ‘freedom”. Who wouldn’t want to be in a position to not worry about whether or not you have enough money to pay bills?!

Working While Going to School. My first job was at a boat marina. They worked around my crazy band and school schedule. I don’t remember the hourly rate, but I do remember getting a check for $150-$250 every two weeks. It was like “mad money”. I used it to buy albums, tapes, books, and gadgets. I really had no bills, and a teenager rarely saves money.

Passing Notes. Long before texting, we used to write notes and pass them back and forth in classes and in the hallways. Sometimes, I’d get caught passing one in class. I did most note passing in the hallway. Many times it was just stupid gossip, a drawing, or the “Do you want to go to the dance – check yes or no” type note. Some folks even got real creative about the way the notes were folded, too!

Lockers. I am sure my locker partner, Joe (who was always good at numbers), can remember our locker combination! I remember it was outside the library, under the clock, on the second floor. I rarely used it after freshman year. I kept most of my books in the band room or in a backpack. A lot of girls decorated the inside of their lockers, and on game days, they often decorated the lockers of the football players. I think my locker was basically a storage place for whatever I didn’t want to take home.

Less Technology. I’ll be the first to admit that I am connected to my phone today. But, back in school, we weren’t connected to it. We talked to people. We had to use the card catalog to find books and encyclopedias to write reports. We used maps. We watched film strips! We had to thread the film projector. We rewound tapes to listen to a song again. Yeah, technology is great, but there were advantages to not having it too.

Field Trips. You had to have your permission slips! I never did the Washington DC trip. I did do a Florida Trip to Disney. I also loved those little trips to places like the Detroit Science Center or Cranbrook. I remember having my mom chaperone a couple times. Field trips were probably more frequent in elementary and middle school, but the ones in high school were always great fun!

Young Love. As you flip through a yearbook, you can often see those high school romances (the ones that lasted, and the ones that didn’t). I know a few people who married their high school sweetheart and they are still together!! That’s amazing! With young love comes hurt in many cases. I witnessed that at a prom I DJ’d recently. I remember seeing this guy sitting on the floor with his face in his hands and I thought, “I know how you feel, pal.”

Dances/Prom. It wasn’t until high school that I even attended a dance. It always seemed like it was just me and a few friends going to get out of the house. We never danced with anyone, we sat and talked and listened to the music. We walked around and drank that really crappy punch that always seemed to be the drink provided. I remember going to Homecoming with a gal who asked me. I had no idea even how to dance! After that night, though, I realized dancing with girls was a whole lot more fun than sitting eating those stale mints and drinking that punch! I remember using some of the money I was making at that boat job to rent a tux and go in on a limo for the fancier dances.

Teachers. No surprise here. Go back and read some of the many blogs I have written about the teachers I had in high school. They were the best! Mr. Shaner, Mr. Benefield, Mr. Balos, Mr. Yanoulaki, Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Beltz, Mr. Harvey, the list goes on and on. I am friends with many of them on Facebook. I am also friends with other teachers who I never had in class, but always respected and made an impact on me. I was lucky to know them in high school – and after!

Friends. My core group of friends and I have pretty much stayed in touch since high school. With My Space and Facebook, I have been able to reconnect with those I lost touch with. That’s one thing about technology that I am ok with. A downside to this is that since we all are connected on Facebook, our chances of a real reunion probably won’t happen (Not that we ever really had one – we didn’t. We tagged along with the Class of ’89 once, but nothing official for my class.) What was great about high school is that you always saw your friends every day. It was always extra cool when they were in the same class as you. The ones that weren’t, you couldn’t wait to meet them in the hall to tell them about something silly that happened or to plan something for after school. I miss that, but at the same time, when I am finally able to hook up with a friend on the phone or on social media, I enjoy picking up where we left off.

The Future. In high school, the future seemed so unclear. There were infinite possibilities. Your career path had not been chosen yet. There was a blank canvas for you to paint on. You had so many choices. You were in control over what you did next. The future was bright and it was something to look forward to. I’m not saying that 31 years later, I have no future, I do. It’s just different to look at it and know that the future is a bit more narrow since there is a lot less time ahead of me. I can still look ahead and know that there are a lot of good things awaiting me. I still look forward to the future, but I am looking at it through eyes that have seen more than an 18 year old. I have experienced more hurt. I have seen more cruelty and negativity. I have seen more dishonesty and hatred. I have lived through much difficulty. I look at the future a bit more cautiously now than I did at 18. I am smarter now, I hope.

Final Thoughts

Would I love to go back to the days of my youth? Would I love to have less responsibility, no bills, and have more time to just have fun? Yes. Without a doubt! However, if I were to go back to those days, I would live through some hurtful times, through depression, and shame. I would likely make some of the same bad decisions. I would make the same mistakes, maybe more.

Truth is, if I had the opportunity to go back and change things, I probably wouldn’t. Anyone who has watched Back to the Future or any time travel movie knows that all it takes is one small change to change everything else in the future. Would I like to go back and erase embarrassing moments? Would I like to go back and take back words I said in anger? Would I like to correct a mistake? Sure. But if I did that, it changes where I am today.

Yeah, I went through some real crappy times, but they all brought me to where I am today. Today, I am a happily married man. I have an amazing wife. I have two wonderful sons. I have some of the most amazing friends. I have a loving family. Life is good. Why would I want to change it?