Day 5-9 of our Family Trip

The trip concludes, we have arrived home after our nine day trip. The thing that I'm most amazed of during this trip is how awesome Toby has been. He's loved everything we've done. He's been laughing and story telling the whole trip. There is no doubt that we've received over 100 compliments on how cute he is or how good he is. It's so true, he's been great and it's been fun watching his facial reactions to new things are different sites we've seen. If you want to see all 300+ pictures, you may click here.

Day 5 - The Strip District, Kielbasa & Toby's Cuteness

This was one of our few non baseball/non travel days of the trip. Since we spent the day prior downtown, I wanted to do something a little different. We decided to hit up what is called the Strip District. It is an area of town that has fresh markets, restaurants and different shops. The two main reasons we went there was the original Primanti Brothers & Klavon's Ice Cream. We had the hotel shuttle drop us off right in front of Primanti Brothers and we have another fabulous lunch. I will definitely miss those sandwiches. After thinking about it, it is definitely the clow slaw that makes it such a good sandwich.

After eating we walked 11 blocks north to Klavon's Ice Cream. There are two interesting things to this, the first is that it was 95 degrees on this day and all commercial development disappeared. After about six blocks of walking the area become very industrial and somewhat sketchy. I kept look at my google maps app as a reminder that it was actually still there and actually coming up. We did finally arrive, to my amazement because it is an ice cream place in the middle of industrial buildings. Once walking in, I felt like I was in the 1920's. I LOVED it. I told Steph that it reminded me of an old fountain shop. The two ladies that were working were great. They loved playing with Toby and he was having fun with them as well. Steph and I had a banana split. Maybe this is the way they are suppose to be, but this thing was huge. It had a split banana, then it had a scoop of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream. It was topped with chocolate, strawberry & pineapple toppings. Finally, it had three different types of whipped cream that they make on location on it, vanilla, chocolate and some flavor I've never heard of before (but it was delicious). It was quite tasty. I was impressed on how good all those flavors were together. The ice cream in combination with the atmosphere was so much fun. I regret not taking any pictures of the place.

That evening we wanted to do something fun and something very apart of the culture of Pittsburgh. We unsuccessfully drove around for a while trying to find "it". We arrived back to the hotel a little disappointed, but Steph asked the hotel if they had any thoughts and they gave a recommendation to a true German restaurant just 4 blocks away from our hotel. Quick history, Pittsburgh was (and still has the spirit) of the blue collar labor worker and when many of the Immigrants to Pittsburgh were German, Russian & Scandinavian. They all lived segregated from each other. The area that were were staying in was Duetschtown. So we figured that a German restaurant would be perfect. I was a little scared about having only German food (even though I am mostly German). I ordered the Kielbasa, and it was phenomenal! The sides were bland and needed some salt, but the Kielbasa was so good.

That night we retired a little early to try to get Toby to bed closer to his normal time. I wanted to watch the Twins/Pirates on TV. Steph put Toby down, but he kept getting up and looking over this pack and play laughing. He thought it was a game, he would throw this pacifier at us and laugh. It was so stinkin' cute. Steph and I were laughing the whole time. Once the game was over I turned the TV off and he went right to sleep. I guess he didn't want to miss out on any fun or he just wanted to stay up and watch the rest of the game.

Day 6 - PNC Tour, Our Cincy Hotel & A Night Out
This day started with us having breakfast at the Priory for the last time. I will miss their cute breakfasts and eating by the fountain. After we checked out we headed back to PNC for a tour of the ballpark. I was especially excited to take a tour of PNC for two reasons, the first is that I'm very interested in hearing the deep history of the Pirates and was looking forward to learning more about their franchise. The second thing I was excited about was the views that we were going to see. The sight lines at PNC are the BEST. Better than Target Field, and even better than AT&T park in San Fran. I was excited and took a ton of pictures of PNC.

After our tour we headed off to Cincinnati. I was excited for our hotel stay in Cincy because I was able to get a Suite downtown for a decent price. When I went in to check in, I found out that they upgraded up from a one bedroom suite to a two bedroom suite. That means that Toby got his own bedroom for two nights in Cincy. Not only that, but we also were on the 15th floor so we had and incredible view of the city. It was pretty cool to be in a hotel that was bigger than Steph and I's first two apartments that we lived in during our first few years of marriage.

Since we arrived in Cincy at around 5pm we decided to take in a little bit of the city. We walked down to Fountain Square which is apparently a well known area of Cincy. There was a live Salsa band playing when we got down there. Toby loved the music, the number of people and of course the fountain. Steph and Toby danced to a few songs. Afterward we walked and had Graeter's ice cream. Graeter's has award winning ice cream in Cincinnati. Their signature flavor is Raspberry Chocolate Chip. I'm not typically a raspberry chocolate ice cream person, but if it's the best, I might as well give it a shot. I'm very happy that I did. It was extremely flavorful and had a great balance of fruit and chocolate. The texture of the ice cream was super creamy. So good! It was a great way to end yet another fun filled day.


Day 7 - Eden Park, Riverfront Area & Ribs
This was our only other day that didn't involve baseball or driving. It was great to have another free day to checkout the city. We slept in and slowly got ready for the day. We game planned our day out and after a brief Target run we were on our way to Eden Park. Eden Park is very similar feel as Como Park, except they don't have a zoo and they are right on the river. We stopped and walked around an area that had an amazing view of the river and Newport Kentucky. We walked along their, fed Toby lunch and watch the ducks.


We went back to the hotel to give Toby a quick nap and we were off again. This time we wanted to conquer the riverfront area. This had us walk down to Great American Ball Park. We probably spent 90 minutes walking around the ball park and enjoying the atmosphere of what it is like before a game. We then walked acrossed a bridge that separates Ohio from Kentucky. This bridge is privately owned and is only a pedestrian bridge. It was a lot of fun, it reminded me of the Brooklyn Bridge, except not as cool or as long. As we were walking we noticed some commotion on the Kentucky side of the bridge as we got closer to saw about 75 people dressed up for a wedding that was about to take place. Toby was just chatting away as we walked by. On the other side of the bridge was Newport Kentucky and they had an outdoor shopping center similar to Arbor Lakes here. Steph was extremely thirsty from our long walk and 90 degree day so we stopped in for a smoothie and walked back to Ohio.

Finally, we meet up again with Jeff & Julie for supper at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse. It is right on the river and is widely known for their ribs & bbq sauce. I got the ribs, Steph got a sandwich with rib meat in it. We were both happy with our meals. At one point Jeff asked me if they were the best ribs I've ever had and to be honest they were really good, but not the best. To me, my Grandma's bbq receipt is still the best on ribs. Overall, the meal was great, the company was fun and the view of the sun setting river was gorgeous.

Day 8 - Twins Game & Chicago Hotel
On this day we took in a Reds Twins game at Great American Ball Park. We arrived at the stadium about three hours early. We got something to eat with Jeff & Julie and then entered the ball park after the gates opened. It was fun getting their early and watching the Twins taking BP. It was cool getting close pictures of the players. The game was a Saturday game at 4pm on what seemed like a 90+ degree day. The sun was scorching, but I was excited to be at the game. I sat by a couple of cool guys from Cincy. They gave me some additional history of the Reds franchise, which was cool for me since I've never paid much attention to their history. I didn't realize that they were the first professional baseball team back in 1869. Such a deep and interesting history. The game itself was boring and somewhat depressing. The Twins played bad and uninspired baseball, but it didn't matter. It was still fun to see them play in another park.

Over the past 6 years I've seen the Twins play at:
1. Metrodome
2. Target Field (My Favorite)
3. Miller Park (Milwaukee)
4. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City)
6. Yankee Stadium (New York City)
7. Chase Field (Phoenix)
8. O.co (Oakland)
9. PNC (Pittsburgh)
10. Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati)

9 ball parks down at 21 to go.

After the game we left for Chicago. We booked a hotel through Hotwire and it placed us at the Swissotel. It was by far the nicest and fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in. Our view was of the Navy Pier, Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. It was so beautiful and such and very breath taking.


Day 9 - Millennium Park, A Long Walk & Our Drive Back Home

The last day of our trip we wanted to explore Chicago and kind of relax. After we checked out of our hotel we walked along the Chicago River turned off onto a side street and had lunch at Al's Beef. This is also a Man vs. Food spot. I've had it a few times in the past, but it is so good. It is an Italian Beef sandwich with peppers dunked into au jus sauce. Soooo good!


After lunch we walked to Millennium Park, took our picture at & in the bean. As we were walking through the park, we decided to stop by Fountain Park. It has 2 50 foot fountains separated by about 75 yards. In between the two fountains are about 6 inches of water that eventually drain on the sides like an infinity pool. It was really hot again his day and we decided to let Toby walk in it. Steph was holding onto him as he was walking. Toby then decided that he didn't walk to walk anymore, but that he wanted to crawl. So Steph let go and he went absolutely crazy. He loved it as you can see. That was definitely the highlight of Toby's trip. The most depressing part was 20 minutes later after we took him out of the water. He cried and cried. He was really upset by it, but at least it let us know that he had a great time and that he definitely isn't afraid of the water.


We then walked to Buckingham Fountain (famous from Married with Children). This was the first time I've seen the fountain during the day. It was peaceful just to stand there and look at it. It didn't feel like I was in the 3rd largest city in America. I could of stood there for an hour. Toby was sleeping, so he didn't remember any of it. We then walked along lake Michigan then the Chicago River to our favorite bakery Magnolia Bakery. We were introduced to it 2 years ago when we were in New York and we fell in love with their banana pudding. Trust me, this is the greatest banana pudding you've ever had, even if you don't like banana pudding you'd love this. About a year ago they recently opened a store in Chicago and every time we drive through Chicago we grab some for the road. Since we were there, we grab 2 containers for ourselves and 2 for my parents & Mike & Em. That was our last stop. We then walked back to the hotel, grabbed our car and headed back home.

Overall it was such a cool and memorable trip. I can't believe that we were gone for 9 days. I'm glad we did it and that everyone enjoyed themselves. I'm glad I took all 392 pictures and took a little time to document our experiences. It will be fun going through this with Toby someday when he is a little bit older. Our first Schwarz Family Vacation.

Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati

PNC Park in Pittsburgh

View from our hotel on the last day

First 4 Days of our First Family Vacation

Here we are, on our first family vacation. We are currently in Pittsburgh and we are about to start our 5th day of our nine day trip. So far the trip has been a blast as you can see here by our pictures (I will be updating this link as we continue on with our trip). 
So far we've had an absolute great time. Toby has been a really good road tripper. He's enjoyed his hotel stays, he's even sleeping in. I wanted to quickly summarize what we done each day so far.


Day 1 - Lena, Zeke & Driving to Chicago
Before we could start our trip we were greeted with the news that Mark and Katie had little Lena that morning. So we headed over to Waconia and celebrated with Mark and Katie and their new miracle. It was fun to see how excited Marky was. I know how uncomfortable he is around babies, but it was great to see how in love he is with his new babe.

Next on the pre-trip checklist was Zeke's first birthday party. Toby was excited to attend this cousin's birthday, he was bummed that mom wouldn't let him eat any frosting though. Zeke is the first of five "1st" birthdays that we will be attending this summer/early fall. It was amazing to not only see all the people that Mike and em had over, but that almost everyone had at least one kid with them. Parties multiply fast when kids are included. I can only hope for a nice weather day for Toby's party, because not everyone will fit in our house other wise.

At a little after 2, we hit the road. The destination was Chicago. We stopped in the Wisconsin Dells for supper. We just did Subway, but this wasn't any Subway, this was some sort of magical Subway. This Subway had the regular restaurant area, but then it had additional seating on the opposite side of the restaurant. This section had tall ceilings and ceiling fans. Those two features are favorites of Toby, so through the entire meal he would shout in order to hear his echo and then he would stare at the ceiling fan. So needless to say that was Toby's highlight on the trip down.

At 9 we arrived at our hotel which was just outside of Chicago. We met up with Jeff and Julie, chatted for a few minutes and headed off to bed.

Day 2 - Lincoln Park Zoo, Navy Pier & Driving to Cleveland
Our day began just north of downtown Chicago at the Lincoln Park Zoo. I guess I've heard people talk about it before, but never paid much attention to what they said. I thought visiting a zoo would be fun for Toby, since we haven't taken him to the Minnesota Zoo yet. Honestly, in my mind I was picturing that this zoo was going to be similar to Como Zoo: small, dirty and depressing. It was none of those three. It was tons of fun for everyone. It was fun watching Toby as he was learning new animals. I could only imagine that he thought most of the animals were more fun and playful than his lazy beagle at home.

We had one other destination in mind for the day, so we left the zoo after exploring slightly over half of it. It is definitely on my list of things to do again in Chicago and I highly recommend for families. As I mentioned, the other destination that we had in mind was the Navy Pier. Jeff has never been before, so we headed south towards the giant Ferris Wheel. We walked up and down the pier like every good tourist. We took pictures at the edge of the pier like every good tourist and we got some good pictures of the skyline like every good tourist.

Since we were in tourist mode, we finalized our trip by getting something to eat at The Goat Head. Interesting name I know, but it is fairly famous. President George H. W. Bush ate their while he was President and SNL created an sketch based on the restaurant's theme. The restaurant is essentially a burger place, they have other things on the menu, but at any given time there are hundred or so patties on the grill. The guy at the counter says "Cheeseborger, Cheeseborger, Cheeseborger. No fries, Cheeps". So we all figured that what we should get, except Steph, she got the single patty Hamborger. Boring! I got the quad patty! One we sat down and started eating, I opened my Serra Mist that I had with me and the bottle fizzed and exploded all over me. My shirt was drenched in Diet Serra Mist (thank goodness it was diet or that would have been soooo sticky). I laughed (after being embarrassed, then angry and then irritable), because everyone else was. Maybe the best part was that no one else in the restaurant saw it happen.

We headed off to Cleveland to spend the night. On our way there, we took I-80, which is a turnpike/toll road. I was amazed on how few exits there were along this road. Typically when I drive down I-35, or I-94 there are exits with towns every 10 miles or so (or so it seems). Here there was none of that. There was maybe 10 exits from Chicago to Cleveland and that is a six hour drive. To me it was amazing on how little civilization there was for such a long period of time of a major interstate.


Day 3 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Progressive Field & Driving to Pittsburgh
This has been the casual day of the trip so far. We slept in and slowly got ready for the day as we only had 2 things to do for the day. Before tackling the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame we decided to grab some lunch. We walked to an office building about 2 blocks away with a food court. I didn't recognize any of the restaurants and to be honest most of them looked shady. We decided to take the sit down restaurant on the second level. Place looked nice, so we entered. We must have caught them off guard because, one wrap, two salads and a cheeseburger took them over 1 hour to make AND there were MAYBE 8 people in the place. UGH! The important thing was that we had time, so we laughed and joked at how Jeff's ceaser salad was holding everything up.

After our interesting lunch we tackled the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was fun, but the bummer of it all is that you aren't allowed to bring in cameras. While it was cool and I'm glad we did it, that part wasn't cool. Either way, I enjoyed walking through the history of Rock and Roll. To me what stuff is fun and interesting. It is also interesting to see how music shapes and reflects how society is. You go from Chuck Berry and Ray Charles to Elvis & the Beatles to lot of the 70's hippie music. I knew it would be something that Steph would enjoy and I don't remember a lick of it when we were there 12 years ago on our choir trip.

We then headed to Progressive Field to watch the Indians take on the Reds. It was pouring when we walked over to the game. It rained really hard for 90 minutes and I was thinking to myself, self, I hope it stops raining soon so we can watch a few innings of baseball before hitting the road.  It wasn't a few minutes later that it did stop raining, so we took a few pictures of the stadium, Jeff and I each had a 1/2 pound hot dog. It reminded me of the big shots that the Metrodome used to have from Hormel. To be honest, it was delicious, but it still wasn't a Hormel dog. Hormel how I miss you.... In Progressive Field they have the Indians Hall of Fame in the stadium, very similar to Yankee Stadium, except there aren't any really good Indians. Looking through the list, they had some REALLY bad teams and didn't have exceptional talent until the mid 90's. Shortly after seeing that, the game started. To be honest, because it wasn't the Twins it was hard to care or get really invested. Each team scored runs early, so that was exciting at least. Toby was starting to get tired and we still had a two hour drive to Pittsburgh, so we left early.

Then we headed off to Pittsburgh and on our way, we talked about how dirty and "eh" feeling we both had about the city. Outside of coming to watch the Twins play, I don't have much of a desire to go back to Cleveland.


Day 4 - Our Hotel, Hanging out Downtown Pittsburgh & Twins Game
Yesterday was definitely the best day yet. We started the day off by checking into our hotel. We are staying at a historic place about 3/4 miles away from PNC & downtown Pittsburgh. I can't quantify it with words other than it is really cool. The set up of the hotel is bed & breakfast (which we will be partaking in as soon as I finish typing or if Toby wakes up), with a lot of old charm and character. I love how friendly the staff here is. Last night after the game we bought some frozen lemonade popsicles from the grocery store and offered them to the staff. They loved it. It will be a bummer to leave here in tomorrow.

After checking into our hotel and getting settled, we walked into downtown to have lunch with Jeff & Julie. They were staying at the Wyndom hotel, which is extremely modern hotel. It was fun to see how different of places we are both staying in, but how we both enjoyed it. They are on the 12th floor with an amazing view of the bluffs. After marveling at how different our two hotels are, we went out for lunch. My buddy Matt Finley & Man vs. Food host Adam Richman told us that Primanti Brothers is the place to go. Primanti Brothers is known for their sandwiches. Let me paint this picture for you. They have thick, soft & fresh bread, then is your meat, I naturally got roast beef. Then they pile on their clow slaw which is a very sweet slaw. Finally it is topped off with provolone cheese and tomato (I wanted my sandwich to taste good, so I had the tomato removed and onion replaced instead). In my opinion, this was one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. I loved the flavor of the roast beef in combination with the sweet of the slaw to the melted provolone cheese. DELISH! I'm not sure if Jeff and Julie were as impressed as I was, but I definitely want to go back before we leave Pittsburgh.

After lunch we wanted to go to the top of the bluff. In Pittsburgh they have these cable cars or trolleys that take you from the bottom of the hill to the top and from top to bottom. It's like a cable car mixed with a ski lift. Once we got to the top we were able to see some amazing views of the city. I maybe took 50 pictures trying to capture the view, the skyline and overall how cool it was.

After that we went back to the hotel and got ready for the Twins Pirates game at PNC Park.We arrived at PNC early to watch the Twins take batting practice and to get some close up pictures. Toby loved crawling around on top of the dugout. He was just a singing and a laughing the whole time. We also got to meet FSN's own Robby Incmikoski. We got to chat with him for about five minutes or so. He gave Toby his first baseball. Robby's a super nice guy and wanted us to have a great ballpark experience. I felt bad for the guy because game time temperature was about 90 degrees and he has to wear a suit and tie for the broadcast, but I guess those are the struggles for a guy who gets to travel around with sports teams for his job.

I was really impressed by PNC Park. I loved the view of the city from our seats. I liked that part of PNC better than Target Field, but overall, Target Field still gets the nod from me. Overall, I really liked the park and would like to go back again. Even though the good guys lost (and played terrible baseball), it was so much fun to come watch them play. Maybe we'll come out six years from now when the Twins play in PNC again.

There you have it, our first four days, very quickly summarized. Take a look at our pictures if you have a few minutes. I will get one or two more posts in before we arrive back in Minnesota on Sunday night.

Two Months, Moneyball & the Apple Orchard

 At this point in life time seems to being going by so incredibly fast. Tobiah is turning two months tomorrow, work requires me to be better than my best and the seasons are changing so fast that I thought summer just started. Add that all up and carry the one equals a great life with tons of excitement going on.

As I already mentioned my little Tobuddy is turning two months tomorrow. TWO MONTHS! Wow! It is literally hard for me to comprehend that he's been a part of our lives for two months. When I first think about it, I feel like he was just born yesterday, but as I continue thinking about it I can't really remember what life was like before him. I know that's weird and probably doesn't make much sense (heck I would of called me crazy if I heard that 3 months ago). To think back on all the things we've brought him to and experienced with him. He's went to his first (of MANY) Twins games, we did the State Fair, he's been to bonfires, birthday parties, a drive-in restaurant and he's got to meet hundreds of people that are so very special to Steph and I. Of all the things listed above, I enjoy most when Tobiah gets to meet or spend time with people that Steph and I respect and have developed good relationships with. To me, its another area that Steph and I can share our lives with people.

On Friday night my parents graciously volunteered to watch Tobiah so Steph and I could watch Moneyball. Before the movie (I have to give a plug for my Husband of the Year Nomination), I made a nice supper for Steph. I grilled two different types of steaks, the first was a bacon wrapped sirloin and the second was called a canoe. It is a thinly sliced (probably 1/4" inch) sirloin with mushrooms, onions and swiss cheese on top of it. Then the steak is folded up so the steak acts as a canoe for the mushrooms, onions and cheese. Quite delish! I also make jalapeno poppers and broccoli with cheddar cheese. After supper we were on our way to the movie. Overall it was a wonderful movie and I strongly encourage people going, especially if you love baseball. I won't give to much of it away, but the movie does a good job of sharing actual baseball lingo and gives an actual depiction of what happens behind the scenes at the front office. Afterwards my dad asked what I thought and I shared my feelings and shared a little bit more of the storyline with him. Then he asked would it be in my top 10 baseball movies, I said absolutely, but then he asked me something I wasn't prepared for. He asked what are my top 10 baseball movies. I sat there frozen, with no real good answer for him. So below is my top 10 baseball movies of all time.

1. Field of Dreams - I talked a lot about it in my Tobiah's First Twins Game post.
2. The Rookie - An emotional story about a man's dream of playing major league baseball.
3. Fever Pitch - Jimmy Fallot's character reminds me of a cross between Scotty & I.
4. Moneyball - Probably the best pure baseball movie made. Real good, I can't wait to own it.
5. A League of Their Own - Such a quotable movie. "There's no crying in baseball"
6. For Love of the Game - Chick flick & a great story of his past and recounting important memories
7. 61* - This is a great movie about Maris and his 61 home run season
8. Bull Durham - Lot of bad language, but hilarious and a lot fun
9. Major League - Again some inappropriate language, but love the line "Just a bit outside"
10. Eight Men Out - A good rendition of the 1919 Black Soxs and how they were banned from baseball
Honorable Mention - Pride of the Yankees - I recently saw this movie and learned a lot about Lou Gerhig and his remarkable streak, but then also his rapid decline because of ALS. Emotional movie.

Then today we took Tobiah to the Minnetonka Apple Orchard. It was such a perfect day for it. The weather was 65 degrees, but the sun felt so warm. It truly was a beautiful fall day. It was Steph, Tobiah, my parents, Mike, Em & Zeker that all went. Tobiah and Zeke were so good. They both were looking around and smiling. I know they don't understand where they were or what they were doing, but it was fun for us to take them there and enjoy such a nice day. The orchard was set up real nice, there is a lot of open space for people to walk around, they have a petting zoo with llamas, goats, rabbits & chickens. Finally they had a really cool and fun corn maze. The corn was probably 8.5 feet tall and they did a good job of creating routes and dead ends. I was really impressed with the maze and the whole orchard. The weather was a big piece of it, but I would strongly recommend anyone with kids should take them there and let them run loose. I know someday Tobiah will enjoy that.

It's Been A While....

It's been a while since my last post. I honestly don't like that fact that it has been such a long time, but sometimes life gets in the way and laziness over takes ambition. A lot has happened over the past month that I need to share and give updates on.

My last post was about Tobiah's first Twins game and how special that was. Unfortunately, not much has gone well from them since that day. They are in a stretch of losing 35 out of their past 44. Not only are they playing terrible baseball (situational hitting, fielding, baserunning & pitching....to think about they aren't doing any one thing well....UGH!), but they aren't even putting a MLB team on the field each night. The Twins would be fined by MLB if they had this lineup playing in Spring Training games. At the end of the game tonight, only Michael Cuddyer was the true major league hitter and to think I  (and 39,000 other people) have paid for these games and are receiving such a poor product in return. The only thing that can be said is it's embarrassing. I hope Mr. Pohlad and the Dave St. Peter have the guts to fire Bill Smith, the training staff and potentially Joe Vavra. Paul Molitor needs to be some where in Ron Gardenhire's coaching staff, preferably as hitting coach. To say the least, the Twins have many offseason moves ahead of them and it will be interesting to see what they do. A slow start next April (and a difficult schedule they have) could lead to a lot of open seats in Target Field throughout the rest of the summer.

Also since my last post the political environment has heated up. President Obama gave his Jobs Bill Act Speech (which should be passed, Right Away. Right Away Congress should pass this bill) last week and even though it was delivered OK (he's a great orator, anything he says will sound good), he knows that it will never pass because of the tax increase that are attached to it. I would bet that most House Republicans would  support the bill if instead of income tax increases for the top 2% wage earners, he cut spending somewhere to pay for this bill. If you look at the proposed Act from a very high level, it is government spending and taking money from one group and redistributing to another group. Raising taxes is never a good idea in the midst of a slowed/stalled economy. Capital and cash needs to remain flowing in order for the free enterprise system to fully function.

As far as a Republican Presidential candidate for 2012, the field doesn't look quite as weak as it did just a few short months ago. I watched parts of the first two debates and even though the field is missing a few key names such as Bobby Jindal, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, Paul Ryan and Jeb Bush, the current candidates are getting the attention of the American people. In my mind the party has two legitimate candidates, one that I fully support (Rick Perry) and the other I don't want to see get the nomination (Mitt Romney). Below is a list of the top 5 candidates and a quick summary of how I see each of them:

• Michele Bachmann - Tea Party Republican. Outspoken, adds tons of energy to the party and I agree with most things she believes, she is unelectable. She's too polarizing and has too many gaffes, the media would destroy her just like they did Sarah Palin in 2008.
• Newt Gingrich - Former Speaker of the House. Great leader, good speaker and has outstanding insight and experience. Unfortunately for him he has marriage issues (mainly he can't stay married) and a large majority of his close campaign staff left him this spring. Newt could be a good VP candidate or even a good cabinet member, but not President.
• Ron Paul - Libertarian. Has good grass roots support and not all of his ideas are bad. Let's be honest, he's too extreme, polarizing and isn't likeable. The longer he stays in the race the more he hurts the party.
• Mitt Romney - Moderate Republican. Successful businessman and in a time when the country faces its most difficult financial challenges. He's become a career politician and plays the game well. Unfortunately for him he's known as a flip flopper (John Kerry) and for me way too moderate and doesn't have the conviction and leadership that this country needs.
• Rick Perry - Conservative Republican. He's added a lot of energy to the party since he announced he was running. Has stolen a lot of Bachmann's support and has catapulted to the top of the polls. There are a lot of unknowns about him and what he would do as President, but initial thoughts are he is the best candidate and has a really good chance of defeating President Obama in the 2012 election. 

Also, in the last month has been the rise (and fall) of Target.com. As mention earlier, Target has taken their website back from Amazon who supported the website for the last several years. The transition from Amazon to Target hasn't gone that smoothly. There has been several issues with getting the Amazon system and orders history to sync and transfer to the new Target platform. In addition to that, there have been the expected system issues that come with launching a brand new website. Finally, Missoni (right, I didn't know what that was a week ago either), has been successful beyond Target's wildest imagination. The craze was not only like a Black Friday day at the stores, but the traffic overloaded the website. All this means is that I've had to work more hours than initially anticipated. While it has been fun and exciting, it has come at a time when I long to be at home. This has put a lot more pressure on Steph to take care of Tobiah while I tend to matters at work. Thank goodness Dana (Steph's dad) has decided to move in and be an extra set of hands around the house. The important this is that Target.com has learned a lot and should be in great position come the Christmas season and beyond. The growing pains should end shortly as well as the long hours.

Finally, my new favorite subject, Tobiah! He's such a good little guy. He's starting to smile more and more. He's not nearly as fussy as he was two weeks ago. He truly is a happy baby and it is so much fun watching him and wondering what he's thinking. When he's sitting in his bouncer he will usually be looking around at what's happening and then he'll just start talking. I've added "The Great Communicator" as one of his new nicknames because he'll just start talking and he uses voice influctions like he is actually speaking! It really is amazing! It's fun taking him out when we run errands or when we go on family walks. He'll just be chatting away. Between him and Steph there won't be room for me to say anything. I continue to make progress on being a dad, for example, the other day I was holding Tobiah and he spit up on me. Previous Darek would of freaked out and gotten a new shirt, but not that day, I embraced the spit up and continued to burp him and clean him off before changing out my shirt.


That's all for today, I know it was a ton, but I really wanted to give an update on how things are going. Stay tuned for more posts and adventures of Tobiah!

Tobiah's First Twins Game

Four weeks ago today Tobiah William entered the world. I'm still amazed and in awe that I'm actually a dad. The thing is that I'm absolutely loving it. Tobiah is such a good little guy. I know that every parent loves their kid and think they are the best, but I really think he's a little stud. One of the things that I always imagined was taking by boy to "the game". I think James Earl Jones said it the best in the movie Field of Dreams

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again." Terence Mann - Field of Dreams

I love that movie for so many reasons. It's about a man foolishly chasing his dream and following voice that ultimately will become his destiny. I love that it is about the game of baseball and how nostalgic the game has been. It looks back to the past when towns would recruit players to play town team baseball. I love that its about old players coming back one more time to relive their dream. The dream that was stolen from them from the commissioner of baseball after the black sox scandal in 1919. I love all the twist and turns that the movie gives us. I love that quote by James Earl Jones and how it describes the game and how baseball has been the only consistent thing in the history of our great country. The thing I love most of all is how Ray sees his dad on his field and how Ray realizes that everything he went through in building the field was to give Ray the opportunity to make amends with his dad. The quote below is the end of the first conversation that Ray has with his dad.

John Kinsella: Well, good night Ray.
Ray Kinsella: Good night, John.
[They shake hands and John begins to walk away]
Ray Kinsella: Hey... Dad?
[John turns]
Ray Kinsella: [choked up] "You wanna have a catch?"
John Kinsella: I'd like that. 

That's gets me so emotional. To me there isn't anything more special then a son playing catch with his dad. I think back of the hundred maybe thousands of times that I've played catch with my dad. I love and treasure every throw, the sound of a ball crisply hitting the glove, that feel of the ball moving through the air. Today as I sit typing this, I wonder how many times my dad had to hold back the tears as him and I were playing catch? I bet Ray felt the same way as he had a "catch" with his dad and I look forward to the first time that Tobiah and I play catch. I say all of that to properly set up how special it was for me to take Tobiah to his first game. I know that he didn't understand where he was at or what he was doing or even how monumental that moment was for me. I've always dreamed of having a son that I could enjoy the game of baseball with. The reason I desire it so much is because I know the bond the game can create. My dad and I are best friends today and a major driver is because of the bond we have for baseball. It was my dad's first love, my first love and hopefully it will be Tobiah's first love.

 It was giddy all day because we were to Tobiah's first Twins game, but Steph was also going to bring him to my work and give my coworkers an opportunity to meet them. Tobiah was a little hungry when he arrived and was a little fussy, but there were plenty of "moms" there to hold him and have him stop fussing. It was so much fun for me to watch my coworkers hold him or even stop down and meet him. At about 5:30, we were off to the game. I never really took time to think about all the extra time it takes to get around with a baby. Not only do you need to feed and change him, but you need to pack his diaper bag (diapers, wet wipes, extra clothes, bibs, pacifiers and burp rags), get him into his car seat, placing him in the car, taking him out of the car, strapping on the Bjorn, loading him into the Bjorn, adjusting the Bjorn and grabbing his diaper bag. That is quite a few more steps then go, park, go.

 We did not sit in our normal seats behind home plate, we sat in the 2nd row of the Powerball Pavillion. The seats were a lot of fun. I love getting a different perspective of the park. Attached are the pictures I took from our seats. The weather was absolutely perfect. The game time temperature was 78 degrees with a slight breeze. Tobiah was such a trooper during the game. He was super good. He slept for the first two innings, with the exception of one time when the announcer said "Baseball fans, your Minnesota Twins". He jerked himself awake gave a big smile, yawned and fell back a sleep.

It was such a perfect night (except for the Twins losing), the best part of the game was Ben Revere making one of the best catches I've seen in my life. He chased down a ball hit to dead center and with his numbers facing home plate, he lept and caught the ball as he crashed into the 411 sign in dead center. The ball was crushed on a line and Revere chased it down 50 yards and then lept and caught it. It was honestly a great catch. I later heard Gordo's radio call of that play and Gordo even said that Revere won't catch this one. That kid plays with heart, Twins style, now only if we can get him to ground out to the pitcher so much.

Even if Ben Revere didn't make that catch it still would of been a memorable night for Steph and I. This is only the first of hundreds of Twins games that I will be taking him to in his life. I'm so happy that we had the opportunity to enjoy it outside at Target Field. Tobiah will never be subject to the confines of the Metrodome. He will only know outdoor baseball, the way God meant it.