Sweet (future) Home Chicago...

Someday...someday...I'll get to call my favorite city home! But until then, I need to get my fixes in when I can. This year I got to attend a GSA Network Services Conference in the Windy City. It is basically a chance for all government TELCOM service providers to suck up to perspective clients...I even won an award! Oh yea, I got to meet Ditka and Harry Carry too ;).

My highlights of this conference? Saw the cubbies play at Wrigley in a night game...ate at Harry Carry's steakhouse...got up every morning and ran along the lakeshore by Soldier Field in Grant Park...and on my last night got to go out for dinner with a friend that I haven't seen in ages. It was so much fun to see Jackie...Allyson and I had such a great time with her in our Key West days and haven't seen her since she moved away to marry Jason. Needless to say, the three of us had a blast in the short amount of time that we had together! A toast to reconnecting with old friends :)

P.S. I continually forgot my camera in the hotel room during this trip, so I apologize for not having more...

Dave Matthews Band!

So Allyson happened to get me tickets to see Dave (from Father's Day) and life was good!

Thank you Peggy and Jay for watching Grayson, and thank you Laura and Billy for watching the dogs! Grayson had one blow up shortly after we left, but I think the ultimate sacrifice award goes to Laura for sleeping on the couch downstairs with Stella.

We love you guys!

Grayson's Victory Tour continues...OBX 2009!

I'm not sure if it is because of Grayson or what, but this vacation went entirely too fast this year...It is so nice to be in a spot that brings you so much comfort and so many memories. I can't imagine how it feels for Allyson and her family, who have been coming here for 30+ years.

This year we shared a house with Sean, Steph, and little Sarah and it was tons of fun! Every morning I got up early with Grayson so Allyson could get some rest, and every morning Sean was already in the living room with a pot of coffee going...thanks Sean! It is so interesting to watch Sarah and imagine what Gray will be acting like in 3 months. It really shows you just how fast kids grow up because Sarah was already learning to crawl as we ventured through the week...

We had a great house and having the pool was key. As long as we have kid(s) with us I imagine we'll shoot for a similar set up. We can't stay long at the beach because of the sun and heat, so being able to come home and jump in the pool was key. We also got to make ourselves some margaritas and cocktails to enjoy poolside... (another thing we normally wouldn't be able to enjoy at the beach ;).

Without further adieu...here are pictures from our week(s)...the S is for Allyson because she got two weeks...:(

Anniversary night 2009

Just one of the many good things about celebrating your anniversary in the OBX is that we had family there to fight over who got to babysit while Ally and I went out to dinner...Nice to have that problem!

So off we went to Kelly's (which is the restaurant that catered our wedding food). Mr. Kelly actually stopped by our table while we were at dinner, just as he did when we went there a few nights after our wedding. What a nice old Irish guy!

Dinner was delicious, and it was especially surreal for us to be sitting there as another couple whom were just married come in to celebrate themselves. 4 years and still going strong. I'm truly lucky to have my wife and best friend by my side. We've been through alot in only four years, and there just isn't very much that seems to give us problems.

I get such a sense of fulfillment when I see Allyson with Grayson. It is as if she were born to be a mom. He can't cry loud enough or be fussy enought to make her mad...and she has nothing but smiles for him in return. I'm truly lucky to be living this life...truly lucky to be with such a loving wife...I have so much to be grateful for at the age of 31...truly blessed that Ally and I always have so much fun...I can only hope for another four years of joy...but in order to make sure that happens I'll be one hard working boy...

I love you babe!

Relaxation at it's finest

Look at the little Giggle Saurus....

Grayson's first swim...

Well, the pool was a little chilly the first day, and Grayson didn't like it very much. I basically just immersed him in the water quickly and he screamed his little head off...but I wasn't worried about it because I knew we had all week to work on it ;).

The next day we changed our tactic and let him get used to the water on his feet, and then his legs and then his...well, you get the picture. It went much better from that point on and before long he was motoring around in the water in his new raft!

More Pics from the OBX

So many good pictures, such limited space!