Such a beautiful day. We ran some errands, did yard work and went to Palmer Place for lunch outdoors.
We dropped off some stuff at Alice's house and I grabbed a couple of morning glory pictures.
Perfect weather. Even though September is about to be over the hibiscus bushes are still acting like it's the middle of summer.
In a few minutes we leave to have dinner with our friends Bill and Susie at the Kona Grill in Oak Brook.
My plane got in on time (8:15) but the remote parking thing was slow. Twenty minutes got me to the first remote lot but there was no bus to Lot F. 20 or 25 minutes later the bus shows up. Got home at 9:40 or so. Remember: do not drive to O'Hare - take a taxi.
Nothing much to report from Las Vegas. At the Thursday night "event" we gambled with play money. We each got $1000 in chips and at 8:45 counted up to see who had the most. I played blackjack and ended up with $6,750 so I was in second place. Now why wasn't it real money? The MGM Grand is just so large it's hard to comprehend. Over 5,000 rooms, 150,000 square foot casino, 3 Starbucks, a MacDonald's, more than a dozen restaurants, a lion habitat. You have to see it to believe it. And they are adding on to it.
Lori and Keir will drop of the kids and cats tomorrow so they can go on the final house walkthrough. They move Monday but can't move their stuff in until after the 4:00 closing. So we will have the girls until Tuesday morning. I leave Tuesday afternoon for Atlanta, back Thursday night (and no, I'm not driving to the airport).
I drove to O'Hare yesterday in the middle of the day to catch a flight to Las Vegas. Traffic was awful - all backed up around the O'Hare exit. Worse, all of the main parking lots were full. I had to park in the economy lots before once so I still thought I would make it. Well all of the economy lots along Bessie Coleman Drive had "full" signs saying to proceed to parking lot F. Kept driving and driving and finally got to lot F. The shuttle bus came right away but seemed to go maddeningly slow on it's long trip to the shuttle train. The train stops at terminal 5,3,2, then 1. I was flying United out of terminal 1. When I finally arrived and tried to use the self check-in machine it said I was too late and offered to put me on stand-by for a flight leaving 2 1/2 hours later. I took the boarding pass but still thought I might be able to check-in at the gate. Of course the security line was impossibly long. I hustled to the gate - unfortunately B22 the farthest B gate from security. I got there before they had closed the doors but the agent said I was too late.
The next flight was leaving from gate B1, as far from B22 as you can get. I stopped at the customer service counter and asked if I could get "confirmed" on that flight. They said nope you have to stay on standby unless you want to be confirmed on a later flight which goes through L.A. So I waited, and waited and waited. They called a few names for standby as they were boarding the plane. Not mine. At the very last minute with no one left to board they called my name. Naturally the overhead luggage racks around my seat were full. I found a space a few rows back. There was already a guy in my seat (a middle seat) so I showed him my boarding pass and get checked his ticket and moved over to the window seat. I should have just kept my mouth shut and taken the window seat. Finally got to Las Vegas about 8 hours after I left my house. But the estimated 1000 people in the taxi line moved along pretty fast.
The MGM is huge - over 5000 rooms. I grabbed some dinner at Wolfgang Puck's in the hotel and then walked down to the Eiffel Tower for some night shots.
Awfully warm considering the first day of fall was yesterday. Well summer can hang on for a long time as far as I'm concerned. Lots of leaves are falling already - seems too early. We may have to put the net over the pond sooner than we usually do. I hate to do it - the pond just isn't the same. Hoping we get a couple more weeks of water lilies. 
One week from today Keir and Lori and Lindsey and Scarlett move into their new house. They're excited and we are too.
I think it's going to be another long season for Bear fans. Let's face reality - Rex Grossman is a mediocre quarterback with an occasional great game. He is not good enough to be the starting quarterback. Last night's game was a clear a contrast between a regular quarterback (Grossman) and a great quarterback (Roma). When our defensive people got through the line Roma somehow got away and completed the pass. When theirs got through they sacked Grossman. I know, I know, we've heard all the spin - didn't get enough protection, receivers dropped some passes, so and so pulled up short on his route. But you never hear any of that when people talk about Favre, Marino, Montana, Staubach, Elway, Tarkenton.
The Bears won NFL championships in 1940, 1941, 1943, and 1946 and just missed 1942. In 1940 they beat the Redskins 73-0 in the NFL Championship game. During Sid Luckman's tenure, they were second in the division in 1939, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1949, and 1950. Only in 1945 did the Halas-men fail to win a divisional championship or challenge for the lead throughout the season. In contrast, the forty-plus years following Luckman's reign, the Bears have played in only five league championship games, achieving a World Championship in 1963, a victory in Super Bowl XX in 1985 and a loss in the Super Bowl last year.
It sure didn't feel like fall, nice early but middle eighties by afternoon. Both girls slept till 7:00 which was nice. We just played and got ready to take them back downtown. That little Scarlett is a lot of fun. She sits up real well and seems to have great motor skills.
We met Keir and Lori down by their place at John's for breakfast/lunch and then came back home. Did some yard work and got the garbage out so we could watch the Bear game. It's 3-3 at halftime. The Bears offense doesn't seem to be able to get anything going.
Keir and Lori went to their new house today so check on the painting and the closets. We met them over there and I got a few more shots of the house.
They are all excited about moving into their new house 
I put the rest at Keir and Lori's new house
We all came back to our house for lunch and then Keir and Lori left to run some errands and do some more packing. We kept the girls overnight and will take them back later this morning.
Ron and Carol and Rich and Debbie came to our place for dinner last night. It was warm but we sat out on the deck for wine and appetizers. We figured we won't have very many more chances. Jill made a fabulous dinner - stuffed chicken breasts with Vidalia onion fig sauce.
Such a wonderful place to go with kids. Kyle called Jill and said "I want to go to Navy Pier and ride the Ferris wheel". Lindsey said she didn't want to go but Kyle took her by the hand and told her "It goes very slow". He talked her into it and she loved it.
They both rode the train but Lindsey couldn't talk Kyle into riding the carousel.
Meanwhile Braden and Scarlett just watched.
I love the skyline views from the Ferris wheel
Last year we had two hibiscus bushes on the deck and by this time they were not looking very good - they just hadn't thrived. This year both bushes have been fantastic and show no signs of tapering off.
Actually it's been a banner year for all the flowers and bushes.
Amy had been shopping at a little boutique clothing store on Madison a while back. The owner asked her to model some of their clothes at a fashion show and last night was the night. We drove downtown and went to a bar called Plush. There were four models and the bar itself was the "walk".
We sure do miss her. This is the piece we had in the church bulletin when she passed away (written by my daughter Amy).
Nadine was born in Miller, Missouri as a twin. Her twin died before her second birthday as did an older sister; thus Nadine ended up as the second oldest in a family that included 2 brothers and 4 sisters. They all attended a one room school house, and Nadine would eagerly study by the light of a kerosene lamp. She loved school and loved learning. By 6th grade she knew she wanted to become a teacher and was determined to get the education that would allow her to pursue her dream. She was the only member of her family to attend college, and graduated from Southwest Missouri State Teachers College. Deciding to go even further, to get a Master’s Degree, she left small town life and courageously boarded a bus for Chicago, where she enrolled at Northwestern University in Evanston. To put herself through school, she got a job waitressing at Hill’s Tea Room. It was here that she met her soul mate, Arthur Hill, the man she would be married to for next 42 years. They were married on Valentine’s Day in 1942, and a few months later he was sent overseas to serve in World War II, where he remained for the next three years. She wrote to him every day and got jobs teaching in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and then back to Chicago. After the war, they were finally able to start their family and had three sons, Art Jr., Ron and Rich. They bought their first house in Fernwood, and then a second in Morgan Park where they lived for 14 years. Nadine started teaching again once her three boys started school and taught at Thornton Community College for 17 years before she and Art moved to beautiful Encinitas California in 1974. Still, she continued to teach, even taking computer classes so she could teach others how to use them. Her sons and their families loved to come visit “Grandma and Grandpa” every year. Her beloved Art passed away in 1984 and Nadine moved back to Chicago in 1990 where she would spend the next 14 years as an integral part of the lives of her three sons, daughters-in-law, Jill, Carol and Debbie, 10 grandchildren, Amy, Lori, Julie, Heidi, Kelly, Abby, Daniel, Deanna, Christy, Marissa, and her 5 great-grandchildren, Olivia, Mary, Patrick, Kyle and Lindsey.
And here is the link to the memorial pages we put up Tribute to Nadine Hill Happy Birthday Mom!
The weather was perfect today. We went to Sunday School and then church. I had to take pictures of the third graders getting their bibles. There seem to be about twice as many kids in church as there were a few years ago. That's a great trend. The church rose garden yielded this beauty today.
In the afternoon we bought some mums for the front porch and in front of the garage. Jill planted those while I cleaned up the pond and watered the plants in the backyard. Then we sat on the deck for a while before coming in to watch the Bears beat the Chiefs.
We are amazed at how well that red hibiscus bush is doing this late. The peach one is doing okay too but the red one is really pumping out the blossoms.
We decided to drive up to Lake Geneva today. We took Route 12 all the way instead of going on the expressways. Stopped for breakfast at an IHOP in Des Plaines and then drove on up. It was cool - in the fifties when we got there and 61 by the time we left. Nice day though with blue skies and sunshine. It was pretty busy but we found a place to park right away. Had a late lunch at Popeye's with a window table so we could look out over the lake.
Well, after almost seven years at Microsoft I finally ended up with an actual office. Jill and the kids were coming out that way so I suggested they stop by as none of them has been to where I work.
We all had lunch at Kona Grill outside and Scarlett was up at the table with the rest of them for the very first time
That evening I was back at the Kona Grill having dinner with my new Central Architecture Leadership Team.
So yesterday was a pretty good day.
It's been a great year for the yard and pond and all plants and flowers. With the cicadas, then the itch mites and a lot of construction around here we haven't been able to spend as much time in the yard as we would have liked though.
There is a lot of nostalgia stuff floating around - most of it not all that good. This site has a pretty good round up of stuff from the sixties. Turn your sound on.
http://moreoldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.htm
