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. 

Shopping Carts

Placing little man in any shopping cart has become quite a project at times.  We start with a brief struggle with him to get his feet through the proper holes.  He doesn't really like to sit he usually wants to stand.  After getting him settled in he almost immediately starts to turn one way and then another and gets loose from the safety strap until he is either facing the other direction or has his legs stretched out on the seat.  We tend to give up on making him face the proper direction ignoring all the safety warnings on the shopping cart.
The other night at Menard's as we headed to the check out he had about all he could handle of sitting in the cart.  He stood up and leaned right into my arms giving me no choice but to remove him from the cart.  As Jynx finished up with the cashier I let him walk around a bit and he wound up right behind the shopping cart.  Little man grabbed hold of the shopping cart with a firm grip and with a short grunt the shopping cart filled with rakes and shovels and other items was on the move out the door.  We both had a good laugh as he pushed the cart out the door and towards the car with a bit of guidance from mom and dad.
Our next stop was at the grocery store where he was able to get his favorite race car shopping cart.  The store only has two of these carts so they are hard to get.  If we get to the store and they are not available Little man keeps an eye out for the car cart.  When he spots the kids who have the car he gives them  the evil eye and watches them the entire way.  The days that we are lucky enough to get it he has a great time laughing and playing the entire time, he makes sure that everyone knows he has his cart.  I wish the store had more of these carts and I also wish the were big enough for me to get in.  Although I have thought about using the motorized cart but the people who drive those scare me.  I make sure to give them a lot room when they come down the aisle.  I'm glad little man likes the store because between the motorized and the creepy stock boy that always want to talk to me it's a very traumatic experience for me.

Lighting the candle

After spending all day Saturday at church we headed back for Sunday service.  Jynx had signed up to serve after Church so sleeping in was not an option.  Little Man may have been a big disappointed when we pulled into the church parking lot and the big bounce house was gone, all that was left was trampled grass as a reminder of what had happened the day before.  We sat down and one of the ushers came up to me and asked if Little Man and I could lite the candles since there were no other kids there.  I think they had worn them all out the day before.  So, I had to agree but I was still hoping another kid would show up.  The first song started and not another kid in the place so I carried Jame and the fancy candle lighter we walked to the front but little man was nervous about putting his hand on the lighter, usually he wants to grab everything.  He watched with wonder and fascination in his eyes as I lit the candle then he ever so gently placed one hand on the lighter as we began to lite the candles.  I had not lite the candles since my youth and that was a long time ago.  After lighting the candles I snuffed the lighter placed little man on the ground and handed him the lighter, he grabbed it and we headed back the usher met us and took the lighter.  It was then that I realized the entire church was quiet, everyone was just watching little man, just then one person clapped and it was soon followed by applause from the entire church.  The minister stood up and said sometime you just can't rush moments.
During the church service they usually have a children's message and kids are invited up to the front.  Last week another kid took little man up and he just sat there happy to be with all the kids.  Sunday it was little man and one other child that had come late, so mommy took him up to the front for the children's message.  Once again he sat there on mommy's lap and listened and even got a piece of candy.
At the end of the service the minister stepped forward and said "I'm going to put Roger and Jame on the spot."  Uh oh, little man had fallen asleep during the sermon and had been resting comfort ably on my shoulder ever since.  I was planning on handing him off to his Grandpa Jim as soon as the service was done so I could help Jynx serve.  "You see Jame is sleeping on his fathers shoulder because he trust and loves him."  the ministers normal steady voice began to crack and my eyes began to water.  "Now if we could all trust and love our father in heaven like that, then one day we will be able to snuggle up on his shoulder and relax in the knowledge that he loves us."   It was beautiful and a great way to end the service, but now I couldn't just turn around and hand off little man.

MMMMM....Pancakes

We had an early start yesterday heading out of the house to our old neighborhood Park Forest for the Kiwanis's pancake breakfast.  They hold the event in a parking lot under a big tent and it usually a nice crisp fall morning a perfect day for pancakes.  When you enter the tent the huge system of conveyor belts catches your eyes and you can't help feeling like a kid again watching the plate of pancakes ridding the belt from the huge griddle up and over the line of people and down to a server who adds butter and hands you a plate.  It truly is like a scene from Willy Wonka replacing the Oompa Loompas with World War 2 Vets.  Of course Little man was just fascinated by the entire system as we were hurried through the line.  He didn't have many pancakes but had about six sausages.

As you leave the tent you have to run the gauntlet of people handing out flyer's for politicians.  This is one of my pet peeves along with the signs all over, I think we could pay off the national debt if we took the money these guys spent on litter (because that's what happens to all those signs) and paid off China.  I wonder if they would accept all those signs and literature as payment?  They could get a good laugh at reading all the lies.  After we ran the gauntlet we met Issac Hayes not the singer but a conservative Republican black man, yes there are some.  Hayes is running against Jesse Jackson Jr. and until a week ago it looked like Jackson would walk away with it but now it's a race.  Allegations have surfaced that Jesse was having a couple of affairs, I guess he learned that from Tiger Woods.  So Little Man got to meet his politician and I had a nice conversation with Issac.

And that all was jut the start to the day after that we headed to our churches block party.  The church had decided to do this a few years ago as a way of reaching out to the community and hopefully getting some more people to join the church.  Unfortunately it seemed like every year we could not attend but this year we were able to make it.  I was asked to take photos and it was all I could do not to just follow little man around.  He had a great time, they had a giant blow up maze thing with slides and blocking dummies.  Yes I know what your thinking and of course I went through it a couple of times with little man.  He provides a great excuse for being able to be a kid again.  I don't think he stopped laughing the entire time he was in there and he even enjoyed standing outside watching the kids go down the slide and every time a kid went down he let out a big laugh.  Several people had to stand around the maze and reprimand the kids they were in an awful mood until they heard little man laughing and they couldn't help but smile.  After all the excitement we went to Pepe's for lunch/early dinner Little man could not even keep his eyes open until the food came and he was asleep in the booth.  Jynx and I got to eat at the same time something we don't get to do often now.  It was great to sit relax and both enjoy our meal but we would not trade it for the world with how much joy little man brings to our lives.

High School Dance

I met Jynx and Little Man for dinner after work, and it was obvious Little Man had not napped very well.  He was on the run with mom all day and did not slow down.  When I arrived he quickly jumped into my arms a nestled in but did not fall asleep.  Every time he heard a loud noise or another child he perked up.  A couple of times during dinner he got a bit restless but this was a blessing for me.  I had always dreamed about walking with my kids the same way my Grandpa Ralph did with me as a child.  I know that I have a lot of both my grandfathers in me, and their love of children.  Getting up from the table and walking around with us was one of my Grandfathers favorite things and now it was my turn.  I picked up Little Man and headed to the waiting area but he was not interested in walking around he just wanted to sink into my shoulder and rest, until he would hear another child.  He was still to tired but he would give them a smile and just look like if I had the energy we would play.  I stood there doing my best to get him to fall asleep, I started rocking back and forth and that's when it hit me.  All those high school dances had trained me for this.  At the dance all we would do was sway back and forth no one dared do anything else.  I had a great little chuckle as I thought back to those days and what I was doing now.