The Real Spencer's Blog

Christmas Photos

2013-01-07T21:58:00.001-06:00

And ANIMAL too!

2012-09-24T15:42:00.002-05:00

Of course I couldn't limit myself to just the guitar, so, after watching ANIMAL bang out some serious tunes in the Ma-na-me-na song, I just had to give it a try! Sadly, I didn't have a tape of that one, so, instead, I figured I'd use Just a Song about Ping Pong!

Then I decided that using an actual drum might sound better...

Sadly, it isn't nearly as fun! Someone please send me a proper drum set!!

Doing the Bob Dylan Thang...

2012-09-24T15:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, well ... what can I say? I'm just going to use this for the occasional post of things for friends and family. Here's the first of a couple -- me, doing my best Bob Dylan!

A Few Family Shots...

2011-08-27T12:47:00.000-05:00

Ok, I know ... it's boooooring but here's a few family shots just to prove I have some! Starting with me, Mommy and Grandpa!

...and then replace Grandpa with Daddy!

And then there's mommy -- but she's missing something...

Yup. ME!

I'm the best accessory a mommy could ever have!

...and one last family shot -- daddy's broken arm and all!!

The Train Home!

2011-08-24T12:39:00.000-05:00

Planes!
Trains!
Automobiles? Nah, none of those today! Just planes and trains -- which are my favorite and second favorite thing. After the air show, we headed home on the train!

We had to wait. I didn't mind the waiting as there were lots of trains coming and going! Oddly, mostly the other direction!

...and then there was the kinda cool curvy track. I wonder if I can build this layout with my Thomas set? Maybe grandpa will help me with it...

On the train, I got my own seat! It was cool sitting next to mommy!

Daddy had to stand with the stroller. Ha!

More Party People!

2011-08-23T12:27:00.000-05:00

Of course, there were loads of people there. I mean, yes, there was myself...

But there were others. This is me with some of the other kids that were there. Oh, did I mention that Rion taught me her cheesy grin?!?

...and me with more of Rion's princess friends. Did I mention that Rion had a serious gaggle of princesses over for the party?!?

Uncle Bruce, meanwhile, did something sane -- he hung out on the deck...

Evan was running around with numerous others as well. He was kind enough to stop briefly for a photo, but was then off like a shot!

...and, of course, nap time -- I had to grab some shuteye after the planes were done, as I was a tired little guy!

Rion's Jumping!

2011-08-22T12:17:00.000-05:00

Cousins are always fun. Rion and I seem to share an affinity for one of the same activities -- JUMPING! She first showed me how a princess jumps on a trampoline...

Which, of course, I tried to do as well...

I wasn't quite as successful at first.

But it wasn't long before I was jumping from the trampoline to the couch and all over the place! I had a good time! Rion -- after changing out of her Princess dress -- then showed me how to jump really, really high... You start by looking cute and innocent...

Then you get ready.... Set...

and JUMP!

If she'd jumped any higher, I think she would have hit the ceiling!

...and then land....

I'm going to have to practice my jumping a bit more to catch up with her!

AIR SHOW!

2011-08-21T11:57:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know or don't remember, Chicago has an annual air show! Last year, the Blue Angels scared the bejeevers outta me as they screamed overhead as I tried to nap on Mommy's shoulder. This year? I got to see the United States Air Force and their Thunderbirds go screaming across the sky!

They didn't scare me... Well, not with the noise and everything like the Blue Angels did. It was amazing to see how close together they flew! Heck! I get uncomfortable when I get that close to a girl!

Then they leave these streaks across the sky! They seem to be moving so fast you can't always be sure where they've been, so this helps!

Watching them streak across the Chicago sky was quite an experience! I really enjoyed it...

...even watching the stragglers head home was neat! Mind you, if I was in the plane heading for home, I'd probably take my time as well!

It was a good day out.

Flowers, as if...

2011-08-15T17:15:00.000-05:00

Kinda just to prove I didn't go and just see trains, I feel almost obligated to put up a few pictures of flowers, 'cos that's what usually grows in a garden! In this case, something big and white and a water lily seem appropriate!

The other thing going on was a kite festival. Unfortunately, the photos of that turned out pretty lame. It was fun watching the kites woosh and zoom around when the professionals were doing it -- but the photos ended up looking like little things miles away. It just didn't work out very well. It was very cool watching a professional team fly kites to to music. I guess that's what dancing on air means!

After the kites, we wandered through the gardens a bit more. We saw birds and bees -- the bees were far more active!

The sunflowers were kinda neat as well. They weren't as big as the sunflower in our family room though. I think that picture is much cooler!

Maybe next year my only official photographer will figure out how to take pictures of kites! But until then...you'll just have to use your imagination and look at pictures of flowers!

Lots and Lots of Trains!

2011-08-14T16:47:00.000-05:00

We went to the gardens. And the gardens mean trains. Um...where are the trains? Trains, where are you? Where are you trains!?!

There you are!

I just love watching trains. There is nothing cooler then trains.

From time to time, they go hide -- and it always gets me wondering where they go. It's more of the "Where are you trains?!? Trains, where are you!?!"

There you are! I love the old steam engine and some of the old passenger trains they have.

Then it's more wandering around, this time, looking for Tommy!

There's Tommy and his friends, James and Percy!

Sometimes, you have to fight with the kids to get in and actually see them! They are quite popular!!

They also have fences to keep me out of things. Like the water, and the trains, and lots of other things!

But there are tons of things to see!

Even Mommy enjoys the trains! Or, perhaps it is just my company!!

But back to wandering...

Lazy Saturdays....

2011-08-13T15:55:00.000-05:00

Get up late. I'm tired and grumpy. And someone named Daddy refuses to give me trains. So I'm grumpy until he gets me something to eat. Strawberries and Cheerios are the usual faire for Saturday mornings when we're not going for donuts. And as you can tell by my expression, we're not going for donuts...

So with that in mind, I'll voice my displeasure.

In fact, I'm going to just lie down and go on strike until I get my breakfast.

Oooh! Breakfast! Now I can be cute again!

Sleeping In...

2011-08-11T15:46:00.000-05:00

Another lazy morning. Sleeping in. Call back tomorrow!

Recovery Update....

2011-08-09T15:39:00.000-05:00

Daddy's cast came off. He's now wearing a brace. His wound looks really gross -- you can see where the stitches were. He's now doing physical therapy. That said, I can now jump on him!! Overall, the recovery is going well. He can now push me on the swings as well!

The Last of the Trains

2011-08-06T15:38:00.000-05:00

More trains! The museum also had an old streetcar running. I didn't feel like riding on it -- it made too much noise and had uncomfortable wooden seats. But Mommy hopped on board and took to the rails for a short run!

The car was quite nice otherwise. I liked the red color!

I watched with Grandpa as mommy waved. Daddy missed Mommy waving, like usual...

I then went and looked at the toy trains! They were fun as well!!

The other thing I thought was kinda neat was these old train logos. Old passenger cars from the Soo Line and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific railroad caught my eye. They were bright, shiny and nicely restored!

I figure that daddy and I will be going here regularly; there is a shopping center a few miles down the road that we can drop mommy off at and I can come play with Choo Choos!

Diesel Power!

2011-08-05T14:04:00.000-05:00

Moving on, the Illinois Railway Museum also had a huge collection of diesel engines. I was quite impressed by several of them, like this Union Pacific X-18!

We wandered around a bit more and came across this beautiful old Burlington Northern engine. The shiny green paint on it had recently been restored; it gleamed like nothing else! But it was huge -- this 3000 horse power monster was kind of scary up close!

There was also this old Chicago and Northwestern engine. It needed a bit of cleaning, but was quite neat!

And also the Zephyr -- the shiny engine was really attractive!

Old Steam Engines...

2011-08-04T13:00:00.000-05:00

In addition to the MN&S engine, they also had lots and lots of steam engines on display. Many of them were quite old and while they had once been big monsters on the rail, they were just shells of their former selves... This old Burlington engine had clearly seen better days!

...as had this old guy...

It's amazing just how big these monsters were. They were bigger and longer then the modern diesel engines -- which are huge! Here's mommy giving a sense of size -- and I know she's not big, the engine is huge!

Really huge. In fact, the main wheels are like half again the size of Mommy!

They are kinda scary these old steam monsters!

The MN&S!

2011-08-03T12:49:00.000-05:00

We started wandering around the various trains that the Illinois Railway Museum had on display. They had this lovely Santa Fe diesel engine. But wait! What's that behind it! It says "Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern" on its side!

Can it be?

Yes, it is! It's an old Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern DT 6-6-2000 engine! And here's Grandpa standing in front of it!

..and Daddy too!

Now, this is significant 'cos when daddy was my size, he used to watch this very engine switch cars in his home town of Northfield! (The railway owned 5 of these engines back in the 1970s when he was growing up; there was a big switching yard down the road he used to watch the trains at. How lucky!)

Scary. Sometimes I'm more like Daddy than I want to admit!

Trains!

2011-08-02T10:40:00.000-05:00

When grandpa comes, we always do something really cool. This trip we went and looked at trains at the Illinois Train Museum! It was really neat, as they have lots and lots of trains to see, ranging from old steamers to some sleek, modern ones!

The first train I got to see was the Nebraska Zephyr. It was the Minneapolis Zephyr originally, but once they replaced the Minneapolis train with a newer one, it was relegated to running to Nebraska. I kinda think, "Nebraska? What's in Nebraska?" Daddy says "Warren Buffett, and not much else." Who's this Warren Buffett?

One of the cool things was giving a "Spencer" perspective of the train!

This is me and grandpa with the train -- it is amazing just how big it really is!

I'm not even as big as the wheels. They don't look that big when you're watching them drive by!

I even got to ride on it. I sat at the back of the train so I could watch out the window! That lasted a while, until the conductor had to come and drive it! I really liked the view, it was quite panoramic.

Me, Grandpa and Daddy (complete with his club!) lounged on the Zephyr for a one hour ride! It was really cool...

...which makes me think, why can't the CTA run trains this nice?

Onto August!

2011-08-01T09:45:00.000-05:00

Wow! I'm only a month and a bit from catching up... At this point in time, Daddy is running around with a cast on his surgically repaired hand. I know, I asked the doctor to give him a good meathook and an eyepatch to make him look cool, but no, just a cast. Talk about un-cool!

Otherwise, things are going great -- I'm off to the parks on a regular basis, like, every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and even Sunday. I'm playing almost daily with James who lives 3 doors down. He's almost 4, and I think he's really cool and I love chasing him around! I'm looking forward to learning how to ride a bike like he does, but Daddy said that will have to wait until next summer...

Well, onto August!

Jumping!

2011-07-30T22:44:00.000-05:00

Grandpa is coming for a visit. And you know what that means? I get to jump on his bed!

Forwards!

Backflip!

Funny hair!

Jumping really high!

Oh no! Look out!

Surgery

2011-07-23T16:50:00.000-05:00

Daddy had surgery on his hand today. They removed some bone fragments from when he fell while running a few weeks ago. He's got this big cast on his hand -- which they didn't have on after he broke it 'cos they missed it -- so he can't pick me up. It makes jumping up on him kinda interesting. He can't catch me right now. I don't like it.

It's going to last for a couple weeks...

Funny Hat Day!

2011-07-15T16:37:00.000-05:00

Some people have good hair days. Some people have bad hair days. Me? I have ... FUNNY HAT DAYS! This was a particularly bizarre hat daddy made out of a sheet of packing paper left over from the move. Yea, I know ... he's still unpacking after all this time -- albeit with only one arm that actually works...

It's not quite as good as daddy's hat with a feather in it that is hiding away in a box in one of the closets that hasn't been unpacked yet, but it's still fun!

And the best thing about this hat -- if I think its too embarrassing -- I can always hide!

Morning!

2011-07-14T16:28:00.000-05:00

Emerging from the darkness of the stairway...

Comes a New Hope! Yup, it's me ... SPENCER!

I've become an expert climbing stairs. I'm wondering why I ever thought they were difficult in the first place! And on top of it ... it is a great place to hang out with a cheezy smile for the camera!

..or just to look cute!

Ok, Would Someone Tell Me...

2011-07-08T22:04:00.000-05:00

What the Heck is This and what is it doing at the park?

Climbing and Driving...

2011-07-07T21:53:00.000-05:00

...and there is lots and lots of climbing to be done. The best one for me these days is this chain ladder. It took me a couple tries and a bit of help from daddy to figure it out, but in the end I conquered it.

Now, it's really easy!

There are also these giant steering wheels so one can drive the playground.