OMG! FMG!

Granny has been working waaaay too much lately! So, last weekend I promised Jayden that I'd take him wherever he wanted to go...I am always amazed at the number of times he asks to go to Frederik Meijer Gardens! This is why, after our first year going to the butterflies, we just went ahead and got a membership. I'll bet we've been there an average of 8 times a year for the past three years! Jayden adores this place and I have developed such a fondness for it, too. I know we have taken many photos here. Many of them similar except for the fact that Jayden continues to change and grow up. This day, we went walking in a part of the garden that we've never gone to before. While on our walkabout, we ran into some aquaintances from Holland who were attending the wedding of a former neighbor. It was an Indian wedding and the traditional saris the women were wearing were just breathtaking! Jayden hit all his favorite spots...the fountains, the Great Lakes (complete with boats) and the sandpit where he is obsessed with the trucks and digging holes! We ate lunch in the cafe there and then did something at FMG that we have never done before-we took the tram all the way through the garden and viewed all the sculptures. It was really worth doing. I had no idea there were so many...and so much more room left for future expansion. The guide gave us all the names of the various works of art and told us who the artists were and a bit of background information about each artist and each piece of sculpture. It was really neat~and I learned something, too. Always a bonus!The farm hosted tastings for heirloom tomatoes today and there was also a rose show. It is my intention to get more involved with the exhibits and classes offered here in the future. For now, we'll be back later in the Fall for the pumpkin art and the Halloween decorations, then, of course the Christmas trees...and the cycle will begin anew with the return of the butterflies in the spring. We will be there!

What the cluck?!

The Whitecaps took a shalacking by the Fort Wayne Tincaps! The Whitecaps started out like champs~Gustavo Nunez doubled, then made it to third on a grounder and ran it home on a pitch that went astray. This in the first inning. After that, no Whitecap made it past first base! The Tincaps scored a run in the 5th, three more in the 6th, and buried us under 3 more runs in the 7th to strike the final blow. Whitecaps lost 7-1. The worst game I've seen this season at 5/3RD Ballpark.

The redemption of this night came by way of the famous San Diego Chicken who I hear is possibly slated for retirement this year. This guy, Ted Giannoulas, has been "doing the chicken" since he was in college at San Diego State in 1974! A rock station in San Diego hired him for $2/ hr. to pass out candy at Easter time at the San Diego Zoo. He was such a big hit, the station kept him on to do other promotions. The chicken started showing up at the Padres games and that was the beginning...since then, this famous foul has appeared not only in sports events, but has been part of the concerts of such artists as Paul McCartney, J.Geils Band, Sammy Hagar, and even Elvis! He has entertained presidents. He even had a cameo in the cult classic movie, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.During all these many years, Ted Giannoulas has never refused an autograph request or denied a photo with a fan of any age, no matter how long after an event he has to stay to accomplish this.

I have seen the San Diego Chicken probably 6 times~it never gets old! This guy is always coming up with new material. Tonight was no exception. He pulled out the eye exam chart for the ref, he did multiple dance moves, ate and pooped out a ball(Jayden is still talking about the chicken going potty outside!), he kicked the ref in the rear, he made a mess sweeping the field when the groundskeepers were trying to do their work, he got the bases stuck to his feet and ran off with them, got into a water balloon fight, got his clothes ripped off(or is that feathers plucked?)and too many things to mention! ALL adorable and Jayden really loved it!! The chicken definitely saved the day seeing as the game itself was a total loss!

The game that never happened on the weekend that wasn't...

I'm having another one of those weekends...the kind where all I do is work :( So, the highlight of the weekend was supposed to be the Whitecaps game on Saturday night BUT the rain just did not let up and it was finally cancelled without the Whitecaps even taking the field!) I've been there before when the game has started and then got delayed by rain or cancelled by rain after at least some play but this time, Oh, no, not even one pitch, not one high fly to center, grounder to third, foul ball, no stolen bases~nada, nyet, zero, zilch! Still, it was an interesting scene in some ways...we got there early and so we were able to have a little table under the eves. We got beer, hot dogs, hamburgs, peanuts. We stood around and visited and people watched. Pretty soon, everyone was scrunched up under the eves. I bet the vendors made a killing. Nothing to do but eat, drink ,and be as merry as possible. The kids had all gotten these funny little super hero capes as a promotional gift. Personally, I wanted one but you had to be 14 or under to get one and I guess I just wasn't convincing enough. Some of the adults were making skirts out of their kids' capes and dancing around. It was an interesting sight. The thing that finally caught and held our attention for a good portion of the evening was the people who were attempting to eat a Fifth Third Burger. As I understand it, the Fifth Third Burger is five 1/3 pound beef patties(to make it 5/3rds of a pound~get it??~because 5/3rd is the name of the ballpark...built by 5/3rd bank.Cleaver, huh? Then, in addition to the meat there's nacho cheese, chili, salsa, crushed tortilla chips, tomato and lettuce, served on an 8" sesame seed bun. This gigantic gut bomb has 5,000 calories, 300 grams of fat, and bunches of carbs! The other name for it is "heart attack on a bun".I have not verified the following information but someone told me the Fifth Third Burger costs $20. There's some sort of time limit, but if you eat one in one sitting, you get a free one or a Tshirt or something like that. There were two teenage boys making the attempt as well as one guy, we're guessing, about 40ish, who was attempting to eat two of them! Although he was an attractive fellow, the fact that he could eat that much of anything in one sitting made us girls a little nervous...hmmm.Anyway, I guess he was successful at doing that in May and decided to try it again. By the time the game was cancelled, at least one of the teenagers had made it. The older guy had finished one but was still working on the other. I'll get more of the complete low-down on the Fifth Third Burger next time~besides all this entertainment~we get to come back to another game for free because of the rain. So, either during playoffs or next May for sure, we get to do this all again! See, there is a silver-lining! Here's a few photos of our rain-drenched outing:

Grand Lady Riverboat Cruise

There's a bit of a nautical theme to my posts lately...last weekend canoeing and this weekend I joined the SBD gang for a very pleasant afternoon picnic cruise down the Grand River. We saw many families of turtles along the way perched on branches in the river, lots of beatiful woods and colorful vegetation, along with an assortment of birds. Very picturesque. We discovered an extensive bike path that stretched thoughout the wooded area. A plan for a bike adventure in the near future is taking shape! Meanwhile, here are a few photos of our time aboard The Grand Lady:

Adventures in Canoeing

Lana, Jayne, and the SBD bunch hit the Pere Marquette today. We had a canoe convoy that took us 15-20 miles downriver...some of us got off at the 15 mile landing but a number of the teams went the entire 20 mile length. The weather was perfect. The river was busy. We stopped for a nice lunch on the bank at noon. Shortly thereafter, Jayne and Lana ran amuck, tipped over, got stuck, got unstuck, ran amuck, rinse and repeat!Then Lana went solo with her unflattering disembarkment move out of the canoe~very comical:)))Unfortunately, during these times, we were otherwise occupied and sorry, no photos!Just glad we had the camera safely in a ziplock bag, securely in the mesh bag, which was tied to the handhold of the canoe or we wouldn't even have the pix we did get. You'll have to use your imagination...Very fun. Jayne and I are still speaking after all of this and, as a matter of fact, plan to go again next year as a team. This is true friendship if you can canoe together, tip it twice, and still consider the relationship solvent. Well, we were up the river without a paddle and lived to tell~next adventure, please!

Whitecaps Fun

The Victory Point bunch took in the Whitecaps game today at 5/3rd Ballpark in Grand Rapids. My pictures didn't turn out too great this time so I'm afraid this adorable photo of me and my "date" Kim DeGlopper is the only one I find suitable to post. The Whitecaps basically annihilated the Cedar Rapids Kernels~they were pretty corny! The Caps won 10-4. Adam Wilk played his first game in the Midwest League giving up only 2hits, shutout for 6 innings, and managed to get 7 strikeouts. Not bad! It was a great night at bat for the Caps. Ben Guez had 5 hits, and out of the nine starters, eight of them had hits as well. The game unravelled a bit in the ninth inning when the Kernels came alive to get 4 runs in before being put to bed once and for all by the Whitecaps. Love that Dizzy Bat Race, the Cow Tipping, and the Eyeball Race! Great atmosphere~perfect weather~lots of fun!

Ribfest ala Dan

Dan Wedge opened his home once again for what has become an annual event, the ribfest. The Life Connections group from CWC and misc. friends, family, and neighbors came to enjoy Dan's famous ribs, conversation, yard games and a campfire. Wish I could have stayed longer but it was a delightful evening anyway. Thanks so much Dan for being such a gracious host! Already planning on next year...