Trip to ABT

So I've heard about store called ABT. It's an appliance store, or I thought it was.  O.M.G, the entire store is like a mini mall.  It was just Graham and me as Bobby and Charlie were in Florida at this time.

We walked through the side door and find these old dryers. Can you imagine using one of these? I suppose it's still better than actually having to wring-dry everything by hand!

There were also some other old things in this little section - definitely a section Graham enjoyed:

And then, into one of the main parts of the store:

We're looking for another dryer.  How about this one with quarters??! LOL! This one totally reminds me of my college days!

Oooh, wouldn't one of these be nice :-)

Found Graham - in the drone section, of course:

Oh wow, the store even has quite the decent size fish tank.  Look at this eel!

OMG, looks like they stuffed one of the old ones. Ha!

Check out the size of this TV!

And here, we've walked into the "plaza"? And there's like more stores - like a mall!

Here's a quick preview:

The kitchen show-room downstairs was pretty fancy, to say the least:

Check out this TV - the first ever transparent TV. Isn't it so cool?!!

Although, I'm not so sure if it's like $60K cool!!???

Remember the Golden Tee? There were all sorts of games in "The Cave" store:

Upstairs in the showroom section - so fancy!

Looks like Graham has found a chair that he likes:

I liked this one :-)

Wow, what a store!  We spent a lot longer time in that "mall" than I had anticipated.  Okay, time for dinner!

Figured we'd try something new.  Graham ordered a fried chicken but did you notice the bun? It's actually a donut!

A fun outing for me and Graham! :-)

Charlie goes to FL

We decided to send Charlie out to Florida recently as an unaccompanied minor.  Bobby was already there for work and spending the long holiday weekend with his brother.  And since Graham had Tech Crew and I had work, we figured Charlie could go on a mini-vacation to play some golf.  Lucky Charlie!

I was actually able to get through security and walk Charlie to his gate.  So nothing too stressful!

And looks like some dinner first. I guess this counts as a road trip? That's the only time we really allow fast food:

Happy Charlie!

I was trying to take a photo of Charlie heading into the gangway, but I was too late! He was escorted by one of the airline staff:

In the meantime, while Charlie is on his flight - Graham and I go out for dinner. No cooking for me!

Graham is not in a smiling mood when it comes to photos now. LOL!

Another night of going out for dinner. It's actually Valentine's night and so glad it was quiet at this BBQ restaurant:

In the meantime, Charlie and Bobby are enjoying some sunshine in FL:

I'm so jealous - hitting off real grass.  Aaaahhh!!

Looking pretty good with that back swing there, Charlie!

Oh no, this spot - maybe not so good. Ha!

Glad they are having a good time!

A few days later, time to get back on the plane. But first, steak dinner. Seriously?!

Hopefully Charlie gets on the right flight!

Charlie's flight was delayed for almost 3 hours, but so glad he finally got on the flight!

We didn't get to bed until about 3:30AM the next day.  I ended up getting a 3-hour nap before having to wake up around 6:30AM to get Graham to his orthodontist appointment.  Yikes!

Charlie is totally hooked about wanting to go back to Florida again!

How to change a golf grip :-)

My first experience on changing a golf grip.  It took me over 7 minutes, but thankfully I've managed to put the video in a hyper-lapse :-)

And PS, don't ever skimp on solvent!

Random photos

Here's a few photos from February!

Graham has been printing up some pretty cool 3D things.  This one actually winds up wool into a little ball:

And he's able to actually use a drill to speed up the process. You have to watch this video :-)

Graham also printed these red hearts and put them on keychain rings. He was so thoughtful to give them to his friends in Tech Crew and the cast of the school play for Valentine's Day!

By the way, here's all the costumes needed for the show Cinderella.  Pretty amazing how many costume changes were needed!

Another cool print, trying to make it look like that infamous Mission Impossible pose:

Doing a little project to see how well it works for the Girls' Golf program at work.  I think it's rather cute!

I can't remember what Charlie is eating now - but it's full of cream and chocolate chips. I don't see how this can't be yummy!

Window-shopping... Charlie is never too afraid to try anything.  He said this hat was super cozy :-D

I really like this dragonfly!  I'll have to learn how to make one:

Okay, underneath that big pillow and blankie, there's a kid sleeping. LOL!

Charlie is not going to like it once he knows that I've posted this video of him! 

Kids and their phones, I tell you!

Lovely sunrise on the way to work one Sunday morning:

Yes, still so much snow around us (early Feb) and lake is still very frozen!

Still trying to find those elusive extra yards.  I put a new shaft in my old driver and it seems to be working out??

Check out these numbers!

And it's a good feeling to know that it doesn't take me 10-15 swings to warm up to this number.  The GolfForever Swing Trainer is definitely making a difference!

Poor gloves

I can't believe it's already end of February, and I am just updating my blog tonight.  Trying to get a few February postings in for the month!

Like fixing up my gloves.  These are probably one of my favorites and I've had them for so many years. It was like pre-Bob and we've been married for 19 years!

As you can see, I've tried to stitch these up more than a few times now - with thread.

But I think the thread is not going to do it anymore!

Figuring out how to patch everything up with wool yarn instead. Seems to be working?!

I'm not sure if these will last for another 19 years, but it's a start!  Another part of the glove is starting to rip.  So looks like more wool "stitching" to come!

In the meantime, also trying to teach Charlie how to sew:

He's also doing a great job cooking:

His specialty is Spam fried rice.  I'll know for sure he won't starve ;-)

Medieval Times experience!

We finally made it to the Medieval Times! The "castle" is actually not too far from the house and so we see it quite regularly.  Glad we're able to scratch off one more thing in our "to-do" list for the Chicago area!

Family we-fie!... while the boys are still tolerating me doing it. LOL!

And of course, one more - now that we have our crowns!

The color of your crown is what determines when you can enter the arena.  We were close to knocking a few smaller kids over to grab their VIP crowns :-P

Wow, quite fancy inside!

And quite a lot of people today - full house, supposedly!  

Pretty cool arena. The colors do make it quite lively:

We were told not to bang the soup bowl with the plates.  Ha ha, I guess it was happening a lot in previous shows.  Menu was printed on the napkins. Clever!

And the show begins! There were 6 colored riders and each rider was assigned to a section of the arena.  Here's the master of the ceremony:

Yup, no utensils - drinking right out of the bowl:

Soup of the night was tomato soup, and can you believe it - both Graham and Charlie drank it! They both actually enjoyed the tomato soup. Who would have thought!

Graham and Charlie are also happily digging into the roasted half chicken with their hands :-)

Some jousting action:

Here's our Yellow Horseman!

He actually ended up being the bad guy!

It was quite the drama!

Well, at the end of it all, our Yellow Horseman did not end up being the hero.  But there were lots of cheering and jeering. And Graham went home with a lot of flags. LOL!

All in all, a fun night!  Thank you, Grandma and Pop-pop for gifting us with the tickets! XOX