Trick or Treating is ALIVE!!!

Here it was Saturday at five a.m. and my alarm went off for me to get up and ready for the judge show.  It was an unusual Saturday tape day but it was going to be special.  The show was having a trick or treat day for the kids and I had to take Little Man but it meant getting him up early.  Just after I got dressed Little Man heard me get up and stirred a bit and I used the opportunity to wake him up, he got up with no problem but it was mom who had trouble sleeping that night that had a bit of a problem waking.


Little Man sitting in Daddy's chair at work.



We were both a bit nervous about him spending the day at the NBC Studio where we shoot the show but we wanted to give it a try and thought he might enjoy it.  He was his normal shy little guy at first but then quickly opened up to people and became quite the charmer.  My roommate at the Judge show John brought his 11 year old daughter Kaylee and she had a great time watching and playing with him.  Even Judge Mathis got into the spirit and as he walked down the hallway he would hand out suckers to the kids along the way and talk with them for a moment.  The kids actually started listening to the intercom and would head into the hallway when they heard the Judge is on his way. 



Kaylee and Little Man

Little man had a great time at the studio and made his dad very proud.  I feel very blessed to have such a great little guy.
We took time at the end of the taping day to go into the studio and take some pictures on both the Judge Mathis set and the Judge Pirro set.

Little Man handing out justice "Judge Pirro style"

Little Man Doyle and Kaylee



Judge Jame Jack

The Man of Steel "e"

As if that wasn't enough for the day we still had more planned for Little Man.  We headed to his girlfriends house Bayle for a trick or treat party.  There were a lot of kids at the trick or treat party and Little Man who got a bit of a nap in the car was ready to go and loved seeing all the kids and toys to play with.  The real fun started for dad when we got him into his Superman costume and we headed out to trick or treat.  It was great to see a subdivision keeping this great tradition alive.  I remember as a kid we would dress up for school on Halloween and when school was out we would trick or treat all the way home, drop off our school bags and head out for non stop trick or treating.  Tick or treating has gotten such a bad rap the last few years I though it was gone but I'm a big fan of the tradition.  It is the only holiday where you are encouraged to get out spend some time with your kids and meet your neighbors. 

Little Man at his first door

The neighborhood quickly filled with children in costumes all up and down the streets it was a great sight and brought back such memories.  The neighborhood had some great rules for trick or treating first they had hours, not a bad idea since I remember our doorbell ringing late into the evening as a kid.  The second and I wish they had this when I was a kid if you were handing out candy you left your porch light on.  A great way to skip the houses that did not have candy.  I did have to laugh that the kids went up to a house with a democrat sign in the yard and the lights on but no one was handing out candy.  Sorry, but I just thought it was funny. 

Superman-mobile

Little Man was not to sure of what was going on but he got to ride in his wagon and Bayle quickly jumped into his Superman-Mobile for the ride.  We took turns taking him up to the door and getting the candy and then back to the superman mobile to check out the candy.  After a few blocks the kids got a bit cold and were done with the whole thing so we took them back.  Little Man went right back to playing with the other kids well into the evening.  At the end of the night we placed him in his car seat where he did not even make the end of the block before he was asleep.
It was a great day capped off by a great evening and it does my heart good to know that trick or treating is alive and well.

Pumpkins

After a asking everyone on Facebook about a pumpkin patch we found a nice one in Hobart, IN that was fantastic.  We called Wendy and her daughter and Jame's girlfriend Baley to join us at the pumpkin patch.  Jynx's family went with as well so we took their new motor home or should I say bus.  The pumpkin patch had it all and we tried to fit it all in.  We started out riding in a wagon towed behind a tractor to the corn maze.  I was not to sure how the kids would enjoy this but they had a great time running threw the maze and playing with the corn.

Then it was on to the pumpkin patch where the kids had a great time running from pumpkin to pumpkin playing with them all.  Little man had to try and pick up a lot of them.  I'm not really sure what he was planning on doing with them.  We played in the pumpkin patch and I took about a hundred photos before we had to hurry up pick out pumpkins and jump back on the wagon.

We then headed into the petting zoo that was filled with animals and tractors and things for them to play on.  Little Man got a big kick out of the chickens and as always he loved the cows.  Mom even took time to try and teach him how to feed the goats.

They even had a pumpkin easting monster but it only chomps on the weekends, so we did not get to see him in action.  Little Man and his friend had a great time at the pumpkin patch and we may be heading there every fall to spend a day.

Last night we took some time from our hectic fall schedule and carved a pumpkin with Little Man.  I was not sure how he was going to react to the whole carving but he seemed to enjoy it.  We had gotten some tools at the store that would carve the pumpkin but he could not cut himself although it still freaked me out at times.  He helped mom sort threw the guts and get the pumpkin seeds out.  As we were carving I showed him how to talk into the pumpkin for the echo and he enjoyed trying it as well.  When it was all finished we put one of the new battery flicker flames in it and he loved the little light.  We placed his first carved pumpkin on the back porch.  It was a lot more fun then I had ever thought it would be.  Happy Halloween.

Too Busy

Wow where did the time go?  So much going on and I just did not find the time to write about it.  The Homecoming Bon fire, The Pumpkin Patch and so much more has happened with little man.  Homecoming for adopted children is the day that the adoption is made official.  We were with Little Man on the day he was born but he was not officially ours until October 21st. 
We were in the line at Babies R Us waiting to buy a car seat and stroller, Jynx's girlfriend Wendy had called asking if we wanted to go to Pirogi-fest as we had the year before.  We told her that we had hoped not to go and told her the story and that we were going to be in Florida for the birth of our son.  Wendy was very excited and came right over, she convinced us that we needed to buy a car seat to bring the little guy home in.  We had an adoption before that had failed and we were trying not to get too excited but we thought if it did not work out we could simply put the seat in the garage.  My phone rang as we stood in line to buy the seat and we were on our way.  We raced home packed up my Jeep and went to drop the dogs off when my phone rang again with a text message.  The message was a picture of Little Man.

I drove threw the night and into the next day only stopping for gas and coffee along the way.  We arrived at the hospital met the birth mom and she took us over to meet little guy for the first time.  The birth mom walked away to give us time with him and the nurses came running asking where she had gone and what happening.  I pointed to our lawyer and she explained the entire thing.  After that the nurses were very nice to us but we did spend the next two days in a conference room with the Little Guy.  

We then had to spend 2 weeks in Florida waiting for Judges from both Indiana and Florida to approve the adoption.  I felt like a fugitive hiding from the law.  We were lucky to be able to stay at Jynx's cousins house for the time.  At the end of the two weeks our lawyer simply sent us a text message saying we could leave the state.  

Even after all of this he still was not officially ours.  Since we were out of state we had to be on the phone with a judge in Florida and a Notary Public had to be with us.  Luckily the couple that lived across the street from me who I consider to be family she was a Notary and was honored to do it for us.  We consider them to be Grandparents to Little Man.  We gathered at their house and got on the phone with the judge, he verified who we were and asked us a few questions.  The Judge asked if we stood to profit from adopting this child?  He asked if the child owned any property?  Then he signed the paperwork and congratulated us.  We hung up the phone and the tears started.  October 21, 2009 the day Little Man was not only in our hearts but he was now legally ours.  Even today as I write this I still get chills.  One day I need to write a book on the entire experience.



The day he became ours.

It was hard to believe the night of the bon fire that it had been a year since all that happened.  We rented a bounce house one of his favorite things for the night.  I took him to the store earlier in the day and filled he cart with ball to put in the bounce house.  As I walked with him sitting in the cart and the cart filled with balls everyone commented on what a lucky boy he is.  He may not of known what was going on but it made me feel good about my dad status.  He had a great time in the bounce house and all the balls inside.  The night was a great night for a fire and little man had fun with all the other kids who showed up.  My only regret from the night was we made him a cake to tear into and time got away and he did not get the cake that night.  He did have plenty to eat and finally fell asleep in his wagon.  Happy Homecoming day Little Man.



Loving the Bounce House



Tyler's Tender

When I was a kid we used to go to a dentist that was a bit of a drive from our house.  The two big things I remember about these dentist visits were he had a treasure chest filled with little trinkets and after you got done with him he allowed you to take a trinket, it was usually something you would get out of a Cracker Jack box when they actually had toys in them.  The other great thing about going to the dentist was we went to the train restaurant afterwards.  the great thing about the train restaurant is that after you ordered your food would come out on a train and stop right in front of you and the waitress would walk over and take your food of for you.  If you completed your meal you then got a visit from sucker train and were allowed to have one.  Needless to say I had no problem getting a visit from the sucker train and my brother, well he usually would cry and pout until they would let him have a sucker.  Over the years I have thought about the train restaurant and it's location but just assumed it had closed years ago.

One day while driving I noticed what looked like a crossing signal outside a strip mall close to our home.  I did some investigating and sure enough it was a train restaurant called Tyler's Tender.  Obviously this was not the same place from my childhood, but it had a counter where the train brought your food.  I had to take Little Man.  We set up a day and met my mom there for lunch and it was fantastic even better than my train restaurant.  Tyler's had a place where you could control trains and some of the other features, they had a bigger train that Little man and I rode on and they had an arcade.  Luckily he still just want to push the buttons and doesn't care about the quarters yet.  We sat down at the counter and watched as you would hear the clanking of a signal gate and the food train would roll out of the kitchen to it's waiting customers.  Little man sat there and watched the train roll by with what had to be the same look of wonder I must of had on my face.  It was a great feeling to see him like that.  I also asked my mom about my train restaurant and she said it was in Beverly and it was called Snackville Junction which I looked up and yes it did close but looks to have reopened again in Beverly but in a different location.  I don't think little man will have to go to the dentist to get a trip to the train restaurant but Tyler's Tender is a place we will be visiting again and again.  One day Little Man will take his kids and remember when his dad took him to the train restaurant.

Frightning Weekend

What a great weekend we all had.  Friday we went to Fright Fest at Great America it's an event that is private but we get ticket though friends of ours.  It's usually a great time since the line to the rides are extremely short.  In years past I've done so many roller coasters that I've felt a bit nauseous and had to take a moment.  This almost never happens since I'm a bit of a roller coaster junkie.  My biggest problem is that I yell and laugh so hard I sometimes get a bit of a headache.  I had to work on Friday but was planning on getting done early and sure enough the Judge started to run through he cases and I was going to make it in plenty of time.

I met Jynx, Little Man and Wendy Bailey and the rest of the Johnson clan at Gurnee Mills but we quickly left to head over to the park.  We got to the parking lot and started unpacking our new reality of having to bring a ton of stuff along with little man.  We brought his wagon that I had spent the night before fixing since I had put the wheels on the wrong side.  Baily noticed the wagon and quickly wanted to ride in that instead of the stroller.  The two of them had a great time in the wagon trading sippy cups back and forth.

We found only one of the kids worlds open that night unfortunately it was the Wiggles World, I would have rather the Looney Tunes one was open.  Little man had fun in the planes and driving the cars but his favorite was the slides.  Little Man has no fear and was climbing the rope ladder to get up to the big slide then he would jump down the tube flipping all around down the slide scaring us to death but then laughing and running to do it again.  At one point we stopped him from the big slide but he ran to the little slide and started to run down it I caught him only in time to slow down his fall.  We held him for a few minutes after that just to calm him down a bit. 

We finally left Wiggles World and headed to the food court.  We found a table and I stayed with Wendy and the kids as Jynx went to get food.  Jame kept leaning over in the wagon towards Bailey and he kept pushing him back until Wendy told her that Jame was only trying to give her a kiss.  Once again Jame leaned in and Bailey gave him the kiss he had been seeking.  Wendy and I went back to talking when I noticed the two were back in a lip lock and not letting up.  As any proud father would do I just started to laugh and Wendy after a quick laugh yelled "Okay that's enough!" and then hit me for laughing too much.  I deserved it. 

Later that night the group headed to the Wizard and little man was fading fast.  I told Jynx to go ahead and I would pass since he was so close to sleeping.  Jynx headed to the Wizard and a show was just starting by the old railroad station.  What ever happened to the train at Great America?  I loved the train.  Little man loved the show he sat there and watched as they sang monster songs dressed like zombies.  He eventually gave in near the end of the show and we placed him in the wagon.  Wendy and her sisters took him as we headed for only my second roller coaster of the night the classic Demon.  We ran straight though all the way to the front car.  I remember waiting a couple of hours to get on this ride, I had been through every part of this maze that I now bypassed.  We sat in the front row and the Demon was as great as it always has been.  The light in the tunnel is my favorite part.  Shortly after we got off the Demon the rain started and we headed for the exit.  It was a great night and one I have always dreamed of.  It was not a great roller coaster night but just being able to spend the night with Little Man is better then any roller coaster.

Giddy Up!

One question everyone asks is how are the dogs handling the little guy.  Goofy does get a bit jealous when I come home and say hello to little man before her but all she does is bark.  Outside of that the dogs just kept away from him and would just move away when he would come by.  Since little man has started to feed himself the dogs have discovered that he is a food source.  We will hear him laughing as he drops food from his high chair down to the dogs for some reason he finds this hysterical.  Jynx even has little man giving them their treats when they come in, funny they actually take the treats nicely from him but still snatch it out of our hands, funny how they know to be gentle with him.  He has also taken to petting them gently something Jynx worked with him to do.  Last night after I arrived home little man came running up to my Jeep gave me a big hug and then wanted into the Jeep.  He know thinks the Jeep is his play toy that I'm allowed to drive to work.  He played in it for a few minutes and cried when I took him out.  After getting little man into the house ending the crying we looked over to discover him sitting on top of Goofy as she ate her food.  For several minutes this continued and we heard nothing from Goofy and she was only annoyed with the fact that we kept trying to get her to look up for a picture.