Crazy About Cali

The 4th of July weekend is coming to an end…………….what a great weekend it was!  We started out on Friday night by taking a walk and going to purchase our fireworks.  Cade is at the age that he really enjoys his fireworks…………he is growing up on us! 

On the 4th we had a great, great day.  We spent the morning and afternoon at home.  We then headed to Boca and Pop’s house for a family celebration and meal.  Quite a bit of our family was there.  It was so good to see everyone.  Cali did very good with the fireworks this year.  She was not bothered at all by the bottle rockets, etc.  That evening we headed in to Platte City to watch their big display.  It was a great way to end a terrific day.  Here are some pics from the big day:



  

Today we spend most of the day cleaning out our garage and washing the cars.  It was a picture perfect day! 


                                    

The kiddos have a new sprinkler.  Earlier this week they spent a steamy afternoon running through it and soaking up the sun…………………ahhhhh, to be a kid again! 

  

See you soon……………………
                  

Today we took it easy for most of the day.  It was absolutely beautiful outside!!  I took Cade out and we played catch and worked on some pop flys.  The whole crew took a very nice walk later in the afternoon.  The kids rode their scooters, did some chalk on the driveway, and just goofed around for quite a while late in the day.  For dinner I grilled some tasty burgers on the grill.

To end our evening we broke out the Wii Fit.  We have had it for a long time but have never set it up.  We set up characters for all 4 of us.  It was a blast!  Kim, Cade, and I took turns doing our workouts.  Each of us did different excercises.  The funny part of it was that Cali tried to do everything we were doing.  Here are some cute pics of our evening with the Wii Fit…………….

     
    

This week we start our post season baseball tournament.  We play Monday and Wednesday for sure.  I will keep you posted on the results.  See ya……………….

I apologize for taking so long to update this blog.  I recently returned from an Alaska Cruise.  I traveled with our Wells Bank Platinum 50 Club.  We did the Caribbean Cruise in January.  I was the bank host/guide once again.  There was a group of 18 of us this time around.  My mom and dad were part of the group again.  We left on Thursday, June 11th and returned to KCI on June 19th.  It was very hard leaving my crew!  I was able to keep in touch through e-mail, text, and a few phone calls.  Kim and the kids stayed busy here.  Cade had some ball games and practices, they visited the water park, Kim attended a wedding, etc. 

Back to the trip………….it was an unbelievable experience.  We flew in to Seattle and spent Thursday night there before boarding the cruise ship on Friday, June 12th.  Seattle was a very unique city.  I would love to go back and spend some more time there.  We cruised on the Celebrity Infinity.  It held 2038 people.  It was a very comfy ship.  The service was top notch once again!   

 

                          
We left Seattle and cruised up to Ketchikan, Alaska.  It was a beautiful journey!

      
   
 
              

After our stop in Ketchikan, we took off to the Hubbard Glacier.  This was another amazing experience.  Our captain pulled the ship within a 1/3 of a mile of the glacier.  We could hear the ice pop and could see huge chunks of it fall into the water.  Those chunks of ice are over 400 years old.  It was unbelievable!



                           
 
The next stop was in Juneau, Alaska.  Juneau is the capital of Alaska.  It was another remarkable city.  We saw Sarah Palin’s home (the Governor’s Mansion).  We also went whale watching and saw 4 Orca swimming through the waters.  It was pretty cool.  We also visited the infamous Red Dog Saloon.  That was quite a treat!

        
  
 
                                 

After our stop in Juneau, we traveled south to Victoria, British Columbia.  Here are some general pictures from the cruise:
 
                                   

We pulled in to Victoria around 2:00pm and left at 10:00pm.  It was a pretty quick stop.  We did take a quick drive through the city and then visited Butchart Gardens.  After the Gardens we went down to the harbor area where we ate our last dinner of the trip.  It was a great restaurant (Milestones), everyone loved it.  We had a terrific view of the harbor too. I would definitely like to go back and spend some more time in Victoria.  Another beautiful city.

         
 
        
 

After we boarded the ship, we all went up to the 10th deck for some ice cream and coffee.  What a great way to end the trip!


                          

Here is our whole group on the 2nd Formal Night…………..we are a pretty sharp looking group!

                                 

Everyone had a great time!  I received many compliments from the group regarding the job I did.  It was a very smooth trip from start to finish………………..I am very glad to be home though.  Back to the real world now!  I might have some more pictures to post that were taken from my dad and some of the others.  Once I have them in hand I will post them for your viewing pleasure! 

We played ball again on Monday and lost again!  The Pirates are on the downslide……………we need a win!  We play again on Thursday and Friday.  Let’s hope that we can pull out some victories!

Kim and the kids are in full summer mode!  They are having a nice, relaxing summer.  That’s what it is all about!  Again, I am so jealous!  Actually, I am very happy for them.

Check back soon for another update.  See ya!

It is officially summer for the McGinness crew.  School is out and the lazy days have began!!  Honestly, the days are far from lazy.  Kim, Cade, and Cali stay nice and busy.  They have rarely had any down time yet.  I can tell you that they are enjoying each and every day together.  The days consist of walks, popsicles, reading books, running errands, playing games, and just hanging out.  How could the days be any better than that?  Cali rode the lawn mower for the first time last week.  She has always had a fear of the mower, but decided to be big and give it a shot.  She loved it!  She helped Kim mow most of the yard and she told mommy that she liked to go fast!  Today, Kim took Cade and a buddy to Coco Keys Water Park.  They enjoyed it until the lightning forced them to close down.  They came on home and the boys enjoyed their time here at the house. 

                                               

We have played 4 baseball games over the past 6 days.  We are 3-1 in those games.  The boys are playing very well as a team.  Cade continues to do very well too.  We are supposed to play again tomorrow night (Wed) and then play in a big tournament this coming weekend.  

Here are some pics from the past few days……………