Def Leppard and Billy Idol

We had actually purchased tickets to see Def Leppard, Styx, and REO Speedwagon back in April. But the lead singer of Def Leppard was sick and the show had to be cancelled. It was rescheduled for August 15th at Van Andel Arena except Billy Idol was now the opener instead of Styx and REO. This was Nathan's first real concert (besides Drake Bell at the Muskegon Summer Celebration last year). Billy Idol was decent although he took awhile to warm up the vocal cords. Heidi thought his first song (Cradle of Love) sounded a little too much like a lounge act. Nathan didn't care much for him because he only knew one of the songs (Mony Mony). But Dancin' With Myself and Rebel Yell were pretty cool. As always, Def Leppard put on a GREAT show. They've got so many hit songs they could probably play for 3 hours straight if they were so inclined. But Pour Some Sugar On Me defnitely brought down the house. A guy in front of us was laughing at Nathan because he knew the words and was singing along with EVERY song. He goes to sleep at night listening to either Def Leppard or Poison's greatest hits album... go figure. It makes me laugh to think back and remember when I first heard a Def Leppard song back in 5th grade when Ms. Jacobs (a student teacher at the time from CMU) played some songs off the Pyromania album for the class. Don't ask me why she did or why I remember. But I remember thinking she was the coolest teacher ever and loving that music. Now Nathan is going into 4th grade and he's listening to the same band... Crazy.

Here's a picture of Nathan in front of the band's tour buses after the show behind Van Andel Arena... Mom splurged on a shirt for him. (And get a load of the jeans. Those were decorated last Halloween when he dressed up as a rock star... very appropriate for the evening!)

3rd Annual Has-Been Whiffle-Ball Tournament

Today was the 3rd year of the all day whiffle ball tournament at Joe McDaid's house in Ithaca. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me so I don't have any pictures. But it was great to see a bunch of old high-school friends and have a little friendly competition. In the end, the Founding Fathers took the crown again and our team ended up in 2nd place for the second year in a row. Congrats guys!

Camp Geneva

Nathan has been at Camp Geneva from 8/7-8/9. I have to admit I was a little jealous when we dropped him off that I didn't get to stay too. It brought back a lot of memories of staying at different summer camps while growing up. Nathan was a bit nervous but he was also very excited. He and cousin Noah Weiss were bunk mates and had a great time at their first overnight summer camp. Uncle John and Cousin Ryan (their cabin counselors) were a lot of fun and kept the boys busy non-stop. Nathan's favorite things were free time (playing box-hockey) and all-camp games like capture the flag. He also met a whole cabin full of new friends. On the last day (pick-up day), Allison got to go along to pick up Nathan and enjoy activities throughout the camp such as swimming and archery. Something tells me we'll be sending two kids to this in a couple years... Here are some snapshots from our camera and from a disposable Nathan took with him.

Nathan and Noah being dropped off at their cabin on the first day (nervous but excited)...
Cousin Ryan, Uncle John, Noah, and Nathan on the last day...
Soaking up the sun at the pool...
Allison at the archery range...

R.I.P. Michael McDaid 3/23/1978-8/5/2008

It's with a very heavy heart that I write this... My younger brother, Mike, passed away yesterday at the age of 30. Thank you to everyone who has expressed their sympathy and well wishes. Please keep his daughters, Breanna and Kelsey, and the rest of the family in your thoughts. We'll be scheduling a private family memorial gathering in Ithaca in Mike's memory in September. The obituary can be viewed here.

A trust fund has been set up for the girls. Memorial contributions may be made to The Breanna and Kelsey McDaid Trust Fund.

Mail to:
The Breanna and Kelsey McDaid Trust Fund
5410 Azalea St
Portage, MI 49002

Mike, I'm so sorry. May you finally rest in peace little brother...

Ludington Vacation - Part III

So, when we weren't fishing, swimming at the state park beach, floating down the river, or riding bikes.... we were at the new skate park, playing on a secluded dune on Hamlin Lake, or searching for treasures! We went geocaching for a "treasure" that we've found the past 5 years or so out on a point in the woods bordering Hamlin Lake. To the right is a shot of the kids looking through the treasure after finding it. It's standard practice to take one thing out and put one thing in. Then sign the guestbook. We looked back in the guestbook and found the last few times we signed it. Then Zoe and the kids played for a little while on the "cliff" down to the lake.
Since Papa Weiss left the boat for the week, we took the kids tubing on Hamlin Lake and then dropped anchor at one of the dunes on the north end of the lake. It's great. We anchor the boat in about 2-3 feet of water and have an entire dune and beach all to ourselves. We had races from the top down into the water, the kids built a "beach hut fort", Zoe chased her retrieval toy, and we all soaked up some sun.

Below is a video Allison and Nathan made while on the dune. They built a "fort" and wanted to do a video like MTV Cribs (Dad is working the camera...). This was the second take. Ally froze on the first one.

The new skate park, called "The Plaza" was the highlight for Nathan. He skated there with his wave board four or five different times when we went to town. Our last day in town, we went early in the morning and had the whole place to ourselves. Ally and I even took took a crack at riding the big bowl (think of an empty swimming pool...). It was actually pretty fun. Below are some pictures from the skate park.