As the calendar turns to April, Michael takes center stage as he prepares to turn 12. In celebration of his upcoming birthday, we have a shot of him trying to do some magic tricks, while Danny looks on, in Diagon Alley last summer at Universal Studios and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Tag / MDM
FB2: Week 48
A disappointing week, due to holidays and illness, that caused me to fall shy of my weekly target. Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, due to it being Christmas. Unseasonably warm weather on Monday led to a great day, thanks to a nice elongated walk around the neighborhood. Tuesday managed to just barely squeak past the 6000 step barrier. Wednesday and Thursday were about even, with only 121 steps off between them. Friday fell below the mark, thanks to spending the day with Danny and Michael. Saturday fell well below, with Danny and Michael having spent the night and a lack of sleep due to illness taking a toll.
Total steps: 39,103
Daily average: 5586.1
Ringing In The New Year
2017 is upon us! We kick off the new year with the first photo from this year’s calendar, featuring Michael and Angelina in the hallway of Lincoln-Way West following Danny’s grammar school graduation last May.
Winter Wonderland
We finish off the year with 2 shots of Michael from 2 different baseball games in 2 different stadiums. On the left, he is posing with the retro racers of Paul Konerko and Joe Crede on the concourse at US Cellular Field early in the 2015 season. On the right, he is showing off the baseball he got from Tom Ricketts at Wrigley Field during the 2015 post-season.
FB2: Week 43
A week off of work switched back and forth between good and bad days, with the week ending up just barely on the positive side. Things got off to a slow start on Sunday where I did very little outside the house, finishing up at just over 3500 steps. My fortunes turned around on Monday, where a trip to Rosemont to see Doctor Strange with Hayley and a car accident put me over 11,500 steps. Tuesday was another down day, despite a lunch date with Michael and a trip downtown to the Civic Opera House to see the premiere of the 2016 World Series film. Wednesday bounced back to nearly 6800 steps thanks to trips to multiple grocery stores to prepare for Thanksgiving. Thursday, being Thanksgiving, was the worst day of the week, finishing with just over 3000 steps. Friday and Saturday both used neighborhood walks to push above the 6000 step mark and the weekly 42,000 step goal.
Total steps: 42,082
Daily average: 6011.7
Dog Days Of Summer
As the calendar turns to August, we go back to last summer and the Cub’s season ticket holder family day at Wrigley Field, where Michael was involved in a game of catch out in left field.
FB2: Week 24
Another good week, as my consecutive days above goal streak reached 36 before coming to an end on Saturday. Things got off to a good start on Sunday, coming close to 10,000 steps thanks to a morning walk followed by a trip to US Cellular Field for a disappointing White Sox/Braves tilt. The work week started off well, nearly hitting 9000 steps on Monday. Tuesday was the highpoint of the week, crossing 11,000 steps thanks to an after-work trip in to the city for dinner with Val and Hayley. The rest of the week was pretty standard, until Saturday, where a morning trip for mini-golf with Danny and Michael was the extent of the day’s activity.
Total steps: 54,011
Daily average: 7715.9
FB2: Week 22
Despite putting up my lowest weekly total in 10 weeks, I did manage to keep my streak of days above goal alive for the week, reaching 23 days. Things got off to a decent start on Sunday, with Michael and I heading down to US Cellular Field to watch the White Sox successfully battle the Blue Jays. The work week got off to a slow start, with Monday and Tuesday just managing to squeak past 6000 steps due to the lack of an afternoon coffee run. Things improved on Wednesday and Thursday, as I was able to leave work earlier and managed to throw in an after-work walk around the neighborhood. Friday was another squeaker, despite a trip down to Abt after work to get Hayley set up with a US-based cellphone. Saturday was a big day, as Hayley and I headed down to Naperville for Ribfest, featuring a performance from Sheryl Crow, leading to my only 10,000 step day of the week.
Total steps: 51,053
Daily average: 7293.3
Vacation Recap – Universal Studios
After a whole 9 weeks since my last trip to Florida, I woke up early on the morning of June 1 for a 6 AM flight to Orlando with the family. After landing, we caught the shuttle to the Hard Rock Hotel, where we had a long wait for the rooms to be ready. After a quick lunch and a round of mini golf at the Citiwalk, Dennis, Angelina, Danny, and I went to Islands of Adventure for a quick re-introduction to Harry Potter land and the Jurassic Park ride. We then headed back to the hotel, finally got in to our rooms, had dinner with appearances from a minion and Scooby Doo, and then called it an early night due to the early flight.
Thursday morning we got an early start and started at Universal, where we had a breakfast date at the Leaky Cauldron in the new Harry Potter area. After breakfast, we headed to Olivanders to pick up wands for the boys, then went through the line for the Gringotts ride, before my mom and I begged off before the ride began. It was at this point I got a text message from Jeff asking me to get him a wand. As you may recall, I was at this very spot with Jeff less than 2 months ago and he could have purchased his own wand, but he was being a bit of a baby. So, I went and bought him a wand, putting more thought in to it than I probably should have. Once everyone was done at Gringotts, we hopped on the Hogwarts Express for the ride to Islands of Adventure. Later, we wound up back at Universal, where Danny had an encounter with the shrunken head on the Knight Bus.
Friday was back to Universal for a character breakfast at Cafe LaBamba, followed by a return trip to Harry Potter land. After a quick trip back over to Islands of Adventure, we headed back to the hotel for some fun in the pool.
FB2: Week 19
Another great week thanks to the end of the trip to Universal. Things got off to a great start on Sunday, which was split between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Monday was an early day due to the effects of Tropical Storm Colin, which blew in around the middle of the day. Tuesday featured one last trip to the park, where we ended the trip with one last go on the Simpson’s ride before checking out and heading to the airport. Wednesday was back to normal, as I returned to work, though without the afternoon coffee run. Thursday didn’t even break 5000 steps, as I was stuck at work until nearly 6:00. Friday was back up above 6000 steps, if just barely. Saturday also managed to break the 6000 step mark, thanks to a trip down to US Cellular Field with Michael.
Total steps: 66,521
Daily average: 9503