Macy, Merrick, & Cole

I went to Kansas City on Friday afternoon to meet my new niece Macy Ella Jane. She is such a sweetheart and is so small. Her foot is not even as long as my index finger. She is absolutely perfect and my sister is lucky to have such a wonderful little baby.

Bravo to my sister and brother-in-law as they make some dang cute kids. Most of my day on Saturday was spent playing with Merrick. Wow that girl has energy. From what I am told she is just like me when I was her age. Merrick knows that we are good friends because we have things just her and I can do, like play "Club." We also played many games and after a while I convinced her to play house, my favorite thing to do when I was little. Heck it is still my favorite thing to do. We even took turns holding her sister. Merrick is a great big sister and is very calm and cautious with the baby.

On Sunday I headed to Cole's World Series. His dad is the coach and they were playing in a pretty intense set of games. I got to see Cole make some good plays at third and get some good hits. The lost their first game in extra innings but they all played really well. They had to switch fields and then play again right away. It was so hot out, I can't believe those kids played in that, Cole caught in both games as well and I salute him for putting on the catcher gear. As most of you know I have a little problem with the heat so I would have never made it. The 2nd team they played was not quite at the same level as the Missouri Bandits (Tom & Cole's team). In the 2nd inning Cole and his teammates scored 14 runs. The game only lasted 3 innings with a final score of 23-3. I am glad I got to see him play. I hope they did well with the rest of the World Series.

It was nice to see the family and I can't wait to see the baby again soon. Hang in there Becky- she will stay a baby for a while, just don't forget to enjoy it.

So far this week.

It has been an exciting week with lots of things going on, and there is still more to come.

On Monday evening Chris & Angela, Ryan & Jamie, and Bob & I went to Council Bluffs to the Imax theater to see A Dark Night. The new Batman movie. I had not seen Batman Begins so Bob and I watched that last week so I would be all caught up. The movie was great. It was probably the most intense movie I have ever seen. There were no slow parts and lots of action, with a great story line. I kept making fun of Bob b/c he has seen all the Batman movies so he knew what was going to happen but he loved it too. Heath Ledger did do an amazing job, and his character was very scary. He was so scary that I couldn't sleep on Monday night b/c I was freaking out-that hasn't happened for a long time.

Of course on Tuesday the birth of my sister's baby came. I am going to see Macy and the family today so I am very excited and will return with some pictures I am sure.

Wednesday evening my brother's band was playing at the Waiting Room in Omaha with the Apples in Stereo. Bob and I went to the show and it was fun to see the guys play. The Poison Control Center is always fun but you have to be a little careful so you do not get caught singing in a mic or getting thrown in a pig pile. Bob stayed back as far as possible so I enjoyed their part by myself. We stayed to see a few songs by the Apples. It is great to see my brother getting to play with guys he pretty much idolized when he was in high school. I'm so proud of him. The band stayed at our place but I was asleep when they got there and they were sleeping when I left.

Last night Bob and I grilled some corn and he had steak and I had chicken. It was one of our relaxing nights. We ended up watching the movie The Bucket List. My mom had borrowed it to us and we hadn't had a chance to see it. After the movie on Monday I am afraid this movie was a little slow, but it was good. A good story line and very sad. Of course I cried and Bob made fun of me. He liked the movie as well. Probably more of an older crowd film but it worked.

Other than the big fun stuff. I have also been back to looking for new jobs so hopefully something will come up soon again. I took a little break as it has been nice to just hang with Bob his last summer break. I have to say I am jealous of him that he has been just hanging out since he got home from India. I know I get mad sometimes but I am glad that he has this time as I know it will be many many years before he will have a chance to relax.

I also wanted to wish my best to Chris and Angela who are moving from Council Bluffs to Omaha this weekend. I know how much moving sucks, I'm sorry I am not sticking around to help. I'm also sorry to Jami and Ryan as they are moving next weekend and Bob and I will not be around to help b/c we will be gone at a wedding. Good luck guys. STAY COOL.

MACY ELLA JANE

Add one more to the Fleming/Gacke clan. Yes my sister had her baby today. Macy Ella Jane was born at 4:06 this afternoon. After a long day of Yahzee Becky gave birth to a wonderful baby weighing in at 7 pounds 12 ounces. She is 20 inches long and has just a little bit of light hair on her head. We are hoping that hair turns brown soon.

I am so excited to go see my niece on Friday evening and get to see the Gackes this weekend. I am sure I will have pictures too.

Congratulations Becky, Tom, Cole & Merrick.
Happy Birthday Macy.

At home for the weekend

This past weekend Bob and I drove up to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Friday evening we enjoyed spending time with Bob's parents, sister and brother-in-law, and adorable niece Addy. We love spending time with them as this used to be a weekly event before we moved to Omaha. We had some great Persian food and then had a dip in their pool.
Saturday morning I convinced Bob to go swimming again as we rarely get the chance to go in the water, then off to meet our friends Mesa and Tony for lunch and to get things for the couples shower we were attending that afternoon. Being with Mesa and Tony made me realize how much I miss that area. I really hope we can move back closer to them in 3 years. Oh and one of the best parts was going to my FAVORITE Ice Cream place. Izzy's. It has been on the Food Network and it is delicious. Bob was also excited and seriously screamed when he saw that they had his favorite flavor Guinness.
Later we attended a couples shower for our little buddy T-nag and his fiance Jen. We all played
"Wedding Jeopardy" where our team won! I was really competitive and it was funny b/c we didn't know very many people there. We also passed around a sheet of paper and wrote the story of Jen and Tony's future. When Mesa got hold of it, it became a little scary. I believe the 4 of us wrote the following-don't quote me though. They then adopted a monkey named Marcel. Marcel taught Jen & Tony to do the Soul-ja Boy. They adopted more monkeys to re-create civil war battles. But the monkeys got off track and had dance offs.
Later that evening the boys left for the Bachelor party and Mesa and I headed out to buy their wedding present and enjoy some girl time.
Sunday morning Bob and I left to come back home stopping at 3 great places, 1: Caribou Coffee! 2: Jim's Apple Farm -it had just opened 3: My parents house to give my dad his belated birthday present.

We had a nice time and we are looking forward to heading back there for the wedding on August 2nd.

Right now I am patiently waiting to hear news of the birth of my new niece. Patience is a virtue that I was not really blessed with. I will keep you posted when she arrives!

Justin Wins, nobody cares

Last night Chris and Angela came over to watch the Home Run Derby, my favorite part of the All-Star Break. We were all pretty tired as we just came back the day before from Kansas City for yet another baseball game. So of course as usual ESPN's announcers just over look the guys from Minnesota, never mind that this guy was MVP two years ago, but whatever. Nobody picked Justin to win.
During the 1st round we all know about the Cinderella story of Josh Hamilton and how he came back from a drug addiction and now broke this record of home runs in the 1st round. It actually got boring having him hit all the home runs. I think Justin Morneau made the derby exciting. And I was getting pretty excited when Justin was in the final round. So after Josh Hamilton lost! ESPN interviews him, and tells Morneau to wait. Then they only talked about stupid Hamilton, not the winner of the event. What is with ESPN, be sports broadcasters and not butt lickers. I'm serious. That really made me mad, what does Minnesota have to do to get recognized? Obviously winning the Home Run Derby is only cool if you used to do drugs. So here is my salute to Justin Morneau, 1st baseman for the Minnesota Twins, Canadian, and sober! Go out and celebrate with some Jimmy John's Justin!

Best Trip ever!

The Slamming Seven at Yankee Stadium

Dunkin Donuts at Fenway Park-My favorite ball park.

My dad, Bob and I (Cole in the background) at Comerica Park in Detroit.

We returned on Friday evening from our great baseball trip. We all had so much fun and I will never be able to thank my dad enough for such a great experience. We started off Sunday morning, Bob and I left Omaha at 4:30 am to get to Ames-we didn't need to leave that early but then we were able to leave Ames, 7 of us in the Suburban and headed out on the road. We made our trek and stopped Sunday evening in Erie, PA. Monday morning we loaded up again and made it to Cooperstown, NY for our first destination the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. It was nice to be back there as I did not remember much of when I had been there as a little girl. It was also great to see Bob, my brother-in-law Tom, my brother Pat, my nephew Cole and Dad like little kids so excited to go in. I don't think my sister-in-law was as excited as the guys but she did learn so much about baseball. We split up and made our way around the museum, we met up that evening late for some dinner together and talk about the great things we saw. I feel bad as my dad said he was a little disappointed as it wasn't as good as he remembered it.

Tuesday morning we took off early to drive into NYC. We drove to ground zero, it was so strange seeing this huge hole, and really surreal, especially as I remember going to the top of the World Trade Centers when I was a sophomore in High School. We drove by Battery Park and stopped to see the Statue of Liberty and then drove -yes drove around Times Square downtown Manhattan. It seemed like we kept driving in circles but we stopped and Bob and I got some real New York pizza and then my salute to Sex & the City by getting some Tasti D'lite Ice Cream. We drove up to the Bronx to go to the Yankees Rays game. It was great being around the history and being in the stadium. We had great seats, as former Mayor Giuliani sat in the same section as us! The game was pretty good. That night we drove up to Providence RI to spend the night.

Wednesday morning I was told to wake up early to leave again and I said I only was going to get up early if I was promised Dunkin Donuts! We drove into Boston and drove around the city again a bit. Boston has so much character and I wish we would have had more time to spend there. We were driving by the old North Church and my brother lifts himself out of the window and yells, "The British are coming the British are coming." Right around all these tourists. It was so funny and we all laughed so hard. We then went to Fenway and walked around the stadium and then inside too. It was fun to see some Twins fans and we were able to be pretty close to one of my favorite players Mike Redmond, where I proclaimed my love for him. We were really close to the bullpen where Livan Hernandez was warming up before the game. Just before he ran out on the field he threw me the warm up ball. I think that may have been the best part of my trip. Getting a ball at Fenway Park. The game started off good but hit a very low point and continued to be a blow out. It wouldn't have been that bad but it was so hot and we all just kept drinking "waaater!" After the game I navigated us out of Boston and we began our long night. We stopped at a service station and I was feeling pretty ill, it was a combo of the heat and car sickness but we got back in the car and headed out on the road again. Just when we were back on the Turnpike Cole started screaming and saying he had a bug in his ear. We all kind of thought he was making a big deal out of something until Tom saw it and was able to hold and somehow push out of his ear. It was really scary and I was so scared for my little buddy that I think my sickness went away. It wasn't even midnight yet and we had some major problems. We kept driving well into the night switching drivers and trying to sleep as much as we could-Ask Bob how much he slept that night! We drove into Cleveland around 4:30 and stopped at a hotel to check in at 5:00am.

Thursday morning we left the hotel at 8:30am. Mind you we had just checked in 3.5 hours before that! We drove 5 more hours and arrived in Detroit for the Twins game. We were looking forward to seeing our team again and were hoping for a better outcome than 24 hours before that. I got to proclaim again my love for Mike Redmond and he laughed at me. The game was exciting but we left early only to find out the Twins came back and won in 11 innings. That evening we drove to the other side of Chicago where we stayed, went out for dinner and got a good nights sleep.

We arrived in Ames IA around noon on Friday and we were all happy to be out of the car but sad the trip was over. I had so much fun bonding with Pat and Ashley, Tom & Cole, Bob and most of all my Dad.

Getting ready to leave

Well the last few days have been just getting ready for the trip and enjoying our time resting and relaxing together. It was nice to leave work early on Thursday and know that I will not have to return until a week from Monday. Then on Thursday night Bob and I went to the Electronics Door at the Nebraska Furniture Mart to ring bells for the Salvation Army. We rang from 6:00-9:00 and raised lots of money for the storm victims in Omaha.
The morning of the 4th we woke up to enjoy the day. We grilled some chicken and corn for lunch and played outside a bit. We then went to the Omaha Royals baseball game. The game was okay, except that the Royals are not a good team. After the game they had a band play while it got dark out and then fireworks show. I have never been that close to fireworks and they had some good music playing during it, like Clock by Coldplay, Revolution by The Beatles, and of course We're Coming to America by Niel Diamond. Those were some of the best fireworks I have ever seen. Well worth it. It took a while to drive back home b/c of the traffic and when we returned home and were trying to fall asleep at 12:30 our neighbors decided to shoot off fireworks. And not just little ones, big ones that were lighting up the bedroom and making huge noises. I was able to fall asleep but Bob was not.

Today Bob got his car taken care of so we are just down to two vehicles instead of 3. I went to get a haircut and now we are just getting packed up and ready to go to Cooperstown, New York City, Boston and Detroit starting tomorrow. We are both so excited.

Happy Be-lated Birthday America!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is the best guy in the worlds birthday. Yes Bob knows he will always come 2nd to this guy. The number one man in my life. My dad. I can't imagine to begin to say all of the nice things you have done for me. You are always there for me whenever I needed a shoulder to cry on or an extra $20. You taught me how to love, laugh and most of all live life to it's fullest. The love you give to each one of your children is so special and so different. You are sure to let each of us know how great we are and we each have an amazing bond with you. Your 2nd love of your life, sports, has become mine as well. You gave up so much when you were younger to make sure your family was taken care of and all of us appreciate that.

You make me laugh all the time, and you also put things into perspective when I am being irrational. You have taken me all across the country and I was lucky enough to be able to be on your first trip to a foreign land. We will be leaving for the trip of a lifetime this week all thanks to you.

You are the best dad. I love you. And I hope you have the best birthday, and soon to be one of the best trips of your life. Happy Birthday Dad.