It's been a while...Days 61-71.

Wow. What a week since we were baptized. It'd be nice if I had a laptop I could do this on while I'm gone. I'm sure I forget so many good things from each day.

We took Colton out to his game in New Lothrop on Friday, but we had to be back at the church by 7:00 to attend the Discovering Oakwood class. That was educational as far as the history of the church is concerned as well as some insight on why Pastor Don preaches like he does.

Saturday, he had another game. That was a long drive to see them get shut out 5-0. Colton doesn't take the losses very hard. Neither do I, but I would like to see them win.

Sunday, we became members of the church. It was great meeting so many members of the church for the first time. I was surprised by how few I really recognized. Many times I find myself looking around the church just to take all the joy in, but I'm not really looking at the faces. I'm looking more for how the spirit is moving each person or how joyous they are. Being a part of the largest new members group was great, and the handshakes and hugs were wonderful as we stood in line introducing ourselves to the rest of the congregation. Somehow I'll have to work on my people skills if I'm going to be a bigger part of the church, but I'll go wherever the Lord asks me to go.

Monday we went to the zoo. It wasn't too hot, and a nice wind was blowing, so we got tired, but never really wore out. We got to see monkeys climbing, lions yawning, tigers stretching, giraffes eating, kangaroos laying in the shade, penguins diving, birds chirping, zebras walking, prairie dogs munching, a hippo nodding off, alligators creeping, and a polar bear laying right above us on the aquarium bottom.

Tuesday we went to Michigan's Adventure. Colton felt brave enough to try the cork screw. Amazingly, so did Gabrielle. I was disappointed on how short it was, but Gabrielle wanted to try it again, this time "with my eyes open". :) She went on it a couple more times after that, and Colton tried the Thunder Hawk with Kim. She liked it. It got Colton a little nauseous. Gabrielle also went on rides with Noah. She was the perfect height for riding the roller coasters, but still small enough to ride on the kiddie rides. I asked her not to grow for a couple years, and she said she would remind me I said that next time we come.

Colton wanted to try the guess your pitch speed game. The first ball was 43 and the second 44. He had to guess what his third pitch would be, and he said 45. This meant he was going to try to give it a little more heat, and I watched as he threw that ball with all his might. The sign lit up with a 45 and he got a huge smile on his face and picked out his new teddy bear. We tried it again later and his first pitch was 44 and his second was 45. I figured he'd guess 45 or 46 and, being the positive kid he tries to be, he guessed 46. He threw a high strike with this last pitch and after seeing the 46 light up, his fist shot in the air. He was pretty happy with himself and I was happy for him.

The wave pool was a favorite as usual and we spent quite a while in that area, getting a lot of sun. Fortunately, the kids have a little of my skin color, so Kim was the only one resembling a lobster in any way.

It was late when we got back to the hotel, and we all collapsed in bed and were sleeping soon after.

Wednesday and Thursday, we spent in Chicago. I drove the three and a half hours it took to get there and we got there and were checked in by 3:30. We realized back at our room that it was actually 2:30. Sweet. An extra hour! We did a lot of walking and sight seeing. Gabrielle and Kim went to the American Girl Doll place and Colton and I checked out the nearby Borders. Noah and Colton picked out a couple books and I picked out a book in the "classic" section. It's called the Catcher in the Rye. It's really a very interesting book. It sort of reads like a continuous stream of a man's thoughts and actions. It appears he's heading to a mental breakdown, but I'll have to finish it to find out.

We checked out the Hancock Observatory after stopping by one of the smaller shops and grabbing some Jamba Juice smoothies. Good stuff. We got to see some street performers drumming on their 5 gallon pails. They were very good and we threw a few bucks in their donation bucket. We ate at their very big McDonald's later on and there was a very big church group there. I felt like saying something to the leaders, but nothing came to me. We also ate at a ESPNZone, and I had a very good cheese steak sandwich.

The next day, which happened to be our 15th anniversary, we had to walk all the way back to the observatory to get the anti-tampering thing taken off. It was an excuse to grab some more Jamba Juice and we stopped by Macy's on the way back. Kim was done looking around rather quickly, probably because everything was so expensive, but Colton and I found some things we liked, which didn't include the $84 t-shirts. We didn't get anything, but Kim came up and picked up a few things for Gabrielle. Colton picked out a t-shirt and we left. We really didn't do much to celebrate our anniversary except enjoy ourselves.

We were behind a french speaking family in Macy's. I took a few years of french in high school. I couldn't understand them, but I love the eloquence of that language. I could listen to them talk all day and probably not understand more than a few words. The kids know their numbers in french (and spanish) and probably know what R.S.V.P stands for by now, since I say it almost every time we get a letter requesting that we "R.S.V.P" (respondez sil vous plait [respond if you please]). Ahhh, Francais...

We got home late Thursday night. It didn't seem like a 5 hour drive, but it was pretty close to it. I had called to see when the new Batman was playing on Friday and there was a 12:05 show. I decided to go ahead and see it since I was really the only one who wanted to see it and I thought it may be too dark and violent for the kids. There wasn't too much violence, but the darkness of it was pretty terrifying. I ended up getting a front row center seat and enjoyed the first 3/4 of it. The last part was poorly thrown together and really disappointed me. I've watched mediocre movies turn into great ones by a good ending (Sixth Sense) and would rather sit through that than watch a pretty good movie with a dismal ending. I'm glad I went, but I don't know if I'd see it again unless Kim wants to.

Friday, I fixed the dryer first thing in the morning. We finally got the parts for it, and I started taking it apart. It said to refer to the manual to figure out out, but, hey, I don't do manuals. I may have figured it out quicker if I had, but I was pretty satisfied with my job when I was done. I had to take the drum out too, to remove some lint that was behind it, and with Kim's help, I was able to put it back together. I got the parts together and everything back in within a couple of hours.

Saturday was my birthday. I had gotten cards from my sister and my mom. My sisters was a little odd in that she spent $5 on a card that made the sound of a pouring beer when you opened it. I rarely drink, so she must've really liked the card. It was odd not hearing from my brother, since I'm closest with him. It was probably a guy thing. The kids handed me a bag that I already knew had a favorite large chocolate bar of mine in it after seeing it the day before and she had mentioned it. The bag also had a little box in it. Surprise, surprise. In it was a beautiful sterling silver chain with a cross on it. It was perfect and I thanked her for making such a great choice. I'm not a big jewelry guy, but I don't want to take it off and it is another way to help me keep my mind on the Lord first in my life.

Sunday was the day Pastor Don spoke of the goodness and its' place in the "Fruit of the Spirit". He was very emphatic when making his points and humorous as usual at times as well. I think this series is going to help a lot of people. I know we all try to be good, but he is really making good points as to what goodness really is. I agree it is difficult to change, but most of us are going to make real efforts to try.