Huge Sale

Sometime this summer Mylan and his mom, Becky, are taking a vacation to Chicago. Becky has some friends who live there. During the day while we are all at work, Mylan goes to the babysitter who lives directly across the street from Becky's house. Just so happens to be Mylan's best friends Grandmother. Today on Larry's way home he received a phone call from Becky telling him that she is still at work but discovered that Mylan was in the front yard with a hand made sign that read "Huge Sale". So Larry drove by her house to check it out and see what Mylan was up to. Larry drove up to find Mylan in the front yard with the sign and a few small toys, baseball, Nascar, and basketball cards scattered on the front porch. As it turned out he was trying to sell some toys to make some money to spend on his trip to Chicago. As Larry arrived he'd discovered that Mylan had already sold a few of his beloved baseball cards for something like $2. So Larry asked Mylan how much he wanted for his baseball cards. Mylan said, "$25!" Larry said, "I'll give you $10." Mylan said, "OK! There all mixed up though so you'll have to pick out all the baseball cards Daddy." Larry said, "I'll give you $12 for all for them." Mylan was thrilled with that and agreed. Mylan loves his baseball cards and other sports cards so Larry knew that Mylan wasn't thrilled to sell them. Mylan most likely thought Larry was buying them for his own personal collection because as Larry left he said, "I'll have these waiting for you when you get home Buddy." Mylan was thankful and said, "Oh thank you Daddy!"

Although, if I were in Becky's shoes I wouldn't be too thrilled to find my child in the front yard when I got home trying to sell his toys and cards to make money for a family trip. However, you do have to admit it is pretty darn cute! I just wished I had a picture of it.

American Home Shield

Larry and I moved into our house July of 2005. Our house was built around 1970. It has the original A/C unit. So when we moved into out house Larry's sister told us about American Home Shield. Although his sister lives in a newer house than ours she has found AHS very useful. Some might view it differently but it has certainly come in handy for us. We originally got it because we didn't want to be stranded should the A/C unit go out on us. That darn thing just won't die. However, we have still gotten our worth out of AHS every year.

A/C has been worked on twice now. Die stupid A/C! Just give up already!

Dishwasher is bout to be worked on for the third time.

The stove has been worked on once.

The washer has been worked on once and the dryer is about to be worked on come Friday.

We've also had tree roots removed that caused a gross backup in our basement.

Omaha: Finally home

Once we finally arrived home from Omaha we discovered something out of place at our house. It was a bat! We found a momma and a baby bat clinging to the screen on our front window. Gross! They were gone the next morning though. Thank goodness!
I looked online to see what kind of bats they were and I think they were Brown Bats.
Double click on the photo to enlarge it for a better view.

Omaha: KC Speedway

Okay so on our way home from Omaha we decided at the last minute to go to Kansas City to eat at Gates Barbecue. We got a little lost and ended up at Arthur Bryant to eat. As we were leaving we saw the Kansas City Speedway. Mylan is a big race fan, although Larry and I aren't. We decided to drive a little closer so that Mylan could see the tracks better. As we were going to leave a security guard waved us down and told us that we were aloud to go in. We simply had to sign a waver. That was great! Mylan was so excited! Once we got in there we were told that they were doing driving lessons that day and that later in the day they were offering ride alongs. So for a pretty penny we got Mylan a chance to do a ride along. It is a once in a life time opportunity for Mylan to have some great memories so Larry and I decided to do it. Mylan got to do 6 laps around the track at 180mph. They also had another car on the tracks to do the close turns and drafting along side the car that Mylan was riding in. The race car people thought Mylan was pretty cool being a 9 yr old and getting to do a ride along and they even got him a "special" Gatorade out of their own cooler for Mylan to drink after the ride. Talk about cool! Mylan was scared and excited at first but in the end he had a blast! Mylan was worried that I wouldn't get enough pictures so he instructed me what he wanted pictures of.
A few of the pictures are blurry because I had some camera issues.

The helmet was a tight fit so it was a little hard to smile.

After his laps around the track.

Omaha: Just plain tired

Do I look tired? Well that's because I am. I am exhausted. It was so hot on this trip to Omaha that the heat at the end of the day just drains you. Phew!

Omaha: Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day Larry!
After Mylan woke Larry up on Father's Day morning he gave Larry his gifts.

A coupon book good for house chores and other fun father son things.

A t-shirt.

A new ball cap. Larry is a very picky guy about his ball caps so anytime his ball caps are purchased for a gift, careful consideration is made.

This picture was taken after Larry had read one of this cards. Funny!

Omaha: Bat burning and pin collecting

Okay so at the end of the Slumpbusters baseball tourney all of the teams gather and have a bat burning ceremony. Those who choose to do so can purchase a wooden bat and burn it in the bonfire to represent riding themselves of the season batting slumps. There was a lot of people at this ceremony. The boys also have team trading pins that they trade with other teams who are from all over the United States. This is a fun thing for the boys to collect so they can keep them on a special towel to hang in their rooms at home or frame up on the wall.

Jackson, Issac, James and Mylan

The boys...

The parents...

Gina and Brian

James and Mylan comparing their pins collected

Mylan's pins

Eric and Angee

Lisa's baseball toes and shoes