Tuesday, July 25, 2023

On Tuesday morning, Chase and Nanaw had breakfast before they took their walk. And they saw the kitty! They were so excited to see their friend but very worried about him wandering around in the street. Chase and Nanaw don’t know why someone would let their kitty go out in the street. It's too dangerous. Mama sent two pop tarts along for Chase. He had one for breakfast, and then Nanaw said he could have the other one for tomorrow's breakfast. But he must have forgotten about that because he ate the second one as a snack. School went well except they ran out of time and didn't get to read The One and Only Bob. Chase showed Nanaw some videos that he had uploaded to YouTube: one of Lars, a couple of Roblox games, and a fireworks one. Nanaw told Chase he should ask Mama and Daddy's permission to upload videos to YouTube, and he wasn't very happy about that. He texted Mama about but not Daddy. Mama said that after Nanaw left, they would talk about it. Mama sent Nanaw a text saying that they weren't happy about Chase uploading videos without asking their permission. So Chase couldn't upload any videos for a month, and then they would talk about it. So they didn't say no. And if Chase promises to never do something like that without their permission, maybe they'll let him upload videos to YouTube.

Monday, July 24, 2023

Chase and Nanaw went on their morning walk really early on Monday, even before breakfast. They didn't see the kitty cat and the book was still in the box book library. Chase had a sausage and pasta frozen meal for lunch, and he liked it. School was good. Chase did some pages from the new English book and math book. He's doing well with the Spanish writing and the prayer writing. He's also doing well with the decimal problems, even the more difficult ones Nanaw found online. He's going to take the decimal test one more time this summer, right before he goes back to school. Mama is off on August 11, and they may go to Columbia Bottoms to look at the sunflowers. They went last year but couldn't find any sunflowers. In the evening, Mama asked Chase if he wanted to go swimming. Chase said yes and asked Daddy if he wanted to go. Daddy didn’t feel like going so Chase said he didn't want to go. Then Mama said she would go swimming with him, and he changed his mind and decided to go. They swam for about an hour, and both Mama and Chase had a good time.

Sunday, July 23, 2023

Daddy and Chase went to church on Sunday morning, and it was Chase's turn to serve. Later in the day, Mama and Chase went to the Columbia swimming pool for about an hour and a half, which made Chase very happy. Mama played with Chase, which also made him happy. They mostly played with the ball in the water. Mama sent the three cool pictures below to Nanaw. For dinner, Mama made one of Chase's favorites, homemade hamburger helper. Mama wanted to send some of the leftovers to Nanaw's house for Chase's lunch but he said no. So Mama put some in the freezer, hoping he would change his mind in the future.  Nanaw came to visit around six, after having dinner with Papaw in the cemetery. It's 18 years ago today that he went to heaven. Chase and Nanaw played Math bingo with the guys and had lots of fun doing that. Then they played with the fish thing Chase got from Shedd's Aquarium in Chicago. It has lots of cool things, like sharks, a lobster, a turtle, a walrus, a stingray, a starfish, an octopus, and other sea creatures. Then Chase and Nanaw played fishing with the guys, using the snakes as their fishing rods. Next Mama went to Dairy Queen and got a caramel thing for herself and blizzards for Chase and Daddy. Chase was happy about the chocolate milk Mama got for him this week -- it's the kind that he thinks tastes like chocolate ice cream. LOL

Saturday, July 22, 2023

Mama said they left Chicago about 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning, and she thought they'd be home by 2.  But they got home about 1:30. At 2 p.m., Mama took Chase over to the other Chase's house for the baseball team's swim party. Chase said the whole team was there. He had a great time, and he even got in the hot tub, even though he doesn't usually like hot tubs. Mama and Chase stayed till a little after five. All the boys got baseball cards of the team and extra ones of themselves; Chase gave Nanaw one of the Chase baseball cards. They went to McDonald's to get dinner, and Mama called Nanaw to tell her when they would be home so Nanaw could come visit. Mama, Chase and Nanaw sat together at the kitchen table while Mama and Chase told Nanaw all about the trip to Chicago. They bought Nanaw a souvenir cup with the sightseeing sights on it. Mama, Daddy and Chase said it was a wonderful trip, and they want to go back again. Daddy wants to take a river cruise on the Chicago River. Mama reminded Chase that he's serving in church tomorrow; he'd forgotten. After Mama and Chase had finished telling Nanaw all about the trip, Chase and Nanaw went into Chase's room to play storms and disasters with Chase's guys. Chase was happy because Mama promised to take him to the Columbia swimming pool tomorrow. That boy really loves to swim! The first picture below is from yesterday -- Chase in the Chicago hotel room. The second picture is at the baseball team swim party. The third picture is Chase tonight. And the fourth and fifth photos are Chase's baseball card.

Friday, July 21, 2023

Mama says: "The hotel has free breakfast. Today they had bacon and tater tots. Will likes their cheesy eggs. They have bagels, muffins, etc. each day and some good pound cake thing. This morning, I took a walk for about 20 minutes and found a grocery store and two Subway shops, plus I found the place for us to catch the train to Wrigley. The boys walked back to the store with me and got sodas. We left around 10 to catch the train to Wrigley. The game is at 1:20 and the Cubs pitcher is really good. Although the Cards lost yesterday, it was cool to see a game at Wrigley and to see Robbie's Claudia. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Chase and I liked our tacos but Will, not so much. When we get home, Chase is going to a baseball team swim party at the other Chase's house." Nanaw tried to send the picture of Sam and Sylvester on their walk several times to Mama but the picture wouldn't go through.

Thursday, July 20, 2022

Mama texted Nanaw that yesterday she saw a small Yorkie in a stroller -- so Mama can't tease Nanaw about her cat stroller anymore. On Thursday, they went to the Bean, the aquarium, and the Promenade, and then played miniature golf,  They walked everywhere, and Mama said she had over 25,000 steps on her Fitbit. Here's what Mama said: "I woke up at 5:30 and Chase was awake - it’s a little dark for him to sleep. He’s up and dressed already!! We went to Pizzeria Uno for lunch -- it's a block over. Chase had spaghetti with huge meatballs, which were good. Will and I had deep-dish pizza. We have leftovers for later. We're going to go see if the lobby has their happy hour again. My feet were hurting so after lunch, I laid down and watched TV while Will and Chase went down to the pool. Chase brought all the guys in to snuggle with me. Will walked to Shake Shack to get shakes and cheese fries. Chase swam for another 30 minutes in the evening." Tomorrow, they're going to a day baseball game at Wrigley Field to watch the Cardinals play the Cubs. Mama will probably make friends with some Cubs fans like she did in St. Louis at Busch Stadium. 

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Mama and Chase brought Sam, Sylvester, and Tyler over to Nanaw's house on Wednesday morning for their sleepover with Nanaw while Mama, Daddy, and Chase go to Chicago for a major sightseeing tour. They'd been there earlier in the year for a hockey tournament and wanted to go back because Chase had heard about the Bean but didn't get to see it. (The Bean -- its official name is Cloud Gate -- is one of the largest outdoor structures and weighs 110 tons. Its mirror-like surface reflects people, trees, lights, sky, and everything around it. It's shaped like a kidney bean, hence the nickname The Bean.) Here's what Mama said: "When we got to Chicago our room wasn’t ready. We left our stuff with the valet and walked around a bit. We went to Sugar Factory- Chase got a lot of jelly bellies and I got chocolate-covered almonds. After we got our stuff in the room and chilled, we went to the hotel lobby for happy hour - the lobby is on 6!?! Chase had 2 breadsticks. (They had soup, salad, chips, and cheese) Then we walked to Navy Pier. Chase had cheese fries, and Will and I had burgers - all very good. We walked back (about a 25-minute walk each way), then went to the pool around 8:30. It was cold so I didn’t swim long. Chase and Will swam for about 30 minutes." The fourth picture below is of the view of Chicago from their hotel room that Chase took and sent to Nanaw.