I went to Courtney’s house to pick up the girls. I went to the back door and knocked. Azure came out on Crutches. I guess she had did the splits the night before and hurt herself. I was bummed. I was like Oh no, she had just signed up for ballet. But she was doing much better by the next day.
The girls and I drove to Sycamore school. Zarah asked Siri for Directions. Come to find out she said the wrong address, Luckily we were only a mile or two off. We still made it before the show.
Yudi had saved us seats in the front row. She show was very good. Deeya had provided about half the outfits I think and half of the stuff from her living room. I noticed all of this while I was watching the show.
During the break at the midway point of the show I talked to Roger and Dawn and Franklin and and Nick and Loos. we had a good time. Why they sell potato chips at the break I will never know. The kids crunching and rattling the wrappers drove me nuts for about 15 minutes but oh well.
I made Pancakes for the girls for breakfast. Azure and Brooklynn wanted chocolate chips in theirs. Zarah wanted hers plain.
Azure, Zarah and I took Brooklynn to Tumbling in Zionsville. While she was at Tumbling We went to Goodwill, I bought Azure a ballet book. The girls looked at the pictures on the drive back .
The girls wanted to play with play doh after we got back.
Deeya told us that Franks Birthday was on Monday and she wanted to have a small party tonight for him. The girls each made a nice card for him.
Deeya said that he is impossible to buy for, so as a surprise she bought him a coconut for his Birthday…. He was surprised all right…. we all got a big laugh out of it.
Met up with Courtney at Starbucks around 5:00. The girls and I stopped at Wal-mart around 5:30. I realized that the Wal-mart Black Friday sale started at 6:00. We walked around the aisles and watched the crowds build up around the the stuff they coveted. I wasn’t planning on buying anything, but then I saw a 4K 55″ Phillips T.V. for 297.00. I was like ugh… that is a good deal. I told them that I wanted one. They gave me a wrist band and I waited to jump in the check out line at exactly 6:00 P.M. We were out the door by 6:02. We drove around to the back of Wal-mart and they loaded the T.V. In the back seat. Deeya’s T.G. Dinner was starting at 6:00 so we hustled back to the house. We should up at the same time as Stephanie. So that was good. We weren’t late.
They are all playing with the “Instagram” faces and having a laugh…
Pataka Loves the Fireplace in the Kitchen.
The youngin’s had their own table.
Claire talked alot about Harry Potter.
THeThe Girls made a fort and watched a movie.
They wanted to be rolled up as human Burritos
We went to Target and several others stores to find Black Friday Sales. All 3 of the girls are obsessed with Hatchimals and The “Star Wars” BB8 Robot.
We went into Michael’s too look for Black Friday Sales on Art Stuff.
I wanted to go to Frys’s to see if they had any Black Friday Sales. Just as we got to 96th and I-69. The Radiator on the Hyundai blew… There was so much steam I could barely see were I was going. We pulled into the Shell station nearby and parked the car. I decided to let it cool down for a while before trying to open the radiator cap. We walked next door to “Cracker Barrel” and had dinner. I was surprised when it only came out to $17.00 + 5.00 tip.
We went back to the car. I bought some anti-freeze and poured it in the radiator. Luckily it made it back to the house without overheating.
Azure bought a Felted Friends kit at Michael. She was super excited to work on it.
FRIDAY: the three girls painted pieces of round glass. I worked on the lights on the driveway AGAIN. and swapped out the stuff in the Hyundai into the Corolla.
They had Pillow fights.
I was too curious about how well my new T.V. would work so I brought it in the from the Barn and set it up in my Bedroom. The girls watched a movie in there and made crafts.
Saturday the 25th of November.
The girls wanted to make Cookies so I supervised while they made and baked them.
Deeya came down and watched “the King and I”. Azure seemed to pay close attention to it.
They painted fake glue on fingernails.
I made Thanksgiving left overs for the girls.
Sunday. The girls decided to make outfits. They got some cloth and a sewing kit from Deeya upstairs.
Courtney and Tim showed up at my work about 10 minutes after 5:00. Just as everyone was leaving the office.
Courtney and I talked for a moment or two with Darren. We were looking at the damage done to Rons scooter when he accidentally laid it down on the way to work this morning.
Darren told me that his dad went to the hospital today so he was not going to be able to make it to the Ace Frehley show tomorrow.
I was going to take Azure to Dave and Busters for a while but the Clouds in the direction of Castleton were looking so dark and I was getting Flood warnings on my phone. I knew that Azure would not like to drive over there.
I had received an email yesterday and decided that would be interesting to check out….
Michael —
Join us for the Grand Opening of the Trump Pence Indiana Statewide Campaign Office
Friday 8/26 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Governor Pence will make remarks at 4:30.
Stop in and sign up to volunteer and pick up your yard signs and bumper stickers.
New Office Location:
12477 N. Meridian Street
Carmel, IN
(Southwest Corner of Intersection of W. Carmel Drive and N. Pennsylvania Street)
So we drove to Carmel to check out the new Office…………….
On the spur of the moment we decided to go see PETES DRAGON.
I got us each a pretzel and we split a large coke.
We stayed or about 2/3rds of the movie and then decided to leave because Azure needed to be well rested for her meet in the morning.
We stopped at Wal-mart and I got her a couple of Protein Bars.
We got back to the house. I made up the mattress for Azure. Azure took a quick shower and then put in a Barbie movie. She fell asleep about 30 minutes later. I crashed out beside her.
I got up at 6:00 and took a shower. I woke Azure up. We headed to the meet at 7:00
Azure did really good in her race. She ran it in 15:47. She was really tired when she was done.
I was very proud of her for trying so hard and not giving up.
Courtney got parked just as the race started she saw Azure run past her on the trail.
There were storm and flood warnings coming over my Phone just as Azure finished her race.
When the rain did start we all got SUPER drenched.
Courtneys car was closer than mine so she said that she would drive me over to my car.
As I was getting ready to drive away Azure gave me a hug and a kiss and she said “I had a lot of fun with you”….. That made my day.
Chris got me 7 tickets to see Gwen Stefani at Klipsch. So I invited Azure, Zarah, and Tim and Courtney to Go. Tim wasn’t feeling it, so Remi’s sitter came instead. Azure class mate Alivia came with us for the 7th ticket.
Azure and Alivia at Gwen Stefanii
Dad with A&Z @ Gwen Stefani
(Note to Self ) http://michaelbrooks.net/media/video/family/Dad_and_Zarah_at_Gwen.mp4
About 1/2 way through the show Zarah and I jumped over the rail in front of our seats into an empty VIP section. We danced to “Why’d you have to go and make me like you” .
The video didn’t turn out so well but I will always remember the look of sheer happiness on Zarahs face as we danced and twirled. A wonderful memory.
Courtney And Zarah at Gwen Stefani
We left a few minutes early…… and of course as we are out in the parking lot… We hear “Don’t Speak” ….. argh….
Courtney Sent me a couple of videos from her phone. I put them together and added them to this post.
Here is a video of Zarah at Football Practice a week or so earlier. Courtney said that she is the only girl on the team.
Met Courtney at Books a Million on west 86th street around noon on Saturday. She had Taco Bell for Zarah and I.
I took gift card with me this weekend. I wanted to get a Fender Shirt at the Guitar Center with one of my Gift Cards. We headed to the Guitar Center in Greenwood. Zarah was excited. She loves the Keyboard and Drum rooms.
Then we headed to Uncle Bills Pet Store beside Half Price Books across from the GreenWood mall.
I was surprised that, off all the animals in the pet store, Zarah seemed most facinated by the birds. She saw the price on the Parakeets and asked me if 21.00 dollars was a lot of money. ( Not when the price of a kitten was 199.00). There were some really pretty rainbow pastel birds that Zarah loved. They were pretty expensive.
After the pet store we went over to Half Price books. I bought the first two “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” movies. ( the Swedish Versions). They were $2.00 a piece. Then I found a 12 CD Ken Follett audio book “WInter the World” for $3.00. Zarah got a book of Knock Know jokes for $3.99. Around $4.00 we checked into our hotel room (112). It was ok. for 51.00 dollars. Zarah loved it because she really likes staying in hotels. I booked it on Hotels.com. It was called Red Carpet Inn. I didn’t know it at the time but it was connected to the “Fanti-Suites”
There was a Fridge and Microwave in the room. Zarah heated up the Cheese roll up that Courtney had purchased earlier. She thought the big string of Cheese was funny so I took a picture of it.
We watched “Pitch Perfect 2” and chilled out. Zarah changed her clothes around 4:30 and was anxious to go to the party.
At 5:17 P.M. Deeya texted me and asked me if I could pick Yudi up from the Airport. She was back from her trip to Columbia and needed a ride to the house. I thought about asking Yudi if she would come to the party with us for a while, But Brooklynn was so anxious to see Yudi that I decided against saying anything.
Zarah and I went to the party around 5:45 p.m. Turns out that the party was only 2.3 miles from our hotel. We stayed until about 6:40 P.M.
Ava Hartell – The star of the show. Turns a big 1 today
Then we drove to the Airport and picked Yudi up. We made it back to Deeya’s house around 8:30 p.m. Roger and Dawn were there hanging out with Deeya and Frank. Zarah wanted to run into the house and say hi to Brooklynn. We left the house about 8:45
We drove back to the party at “Smock Golf Course”. We arrived at 9:50 just as they were loading the stuff back into their vehicles. Lindsey gave Zarah a gift bag. We went back to the Hotel room.
Around 10:30 we walked over to the Taco Bell that was basically in the same parking lot as the hotel.
I had a mexican pizza with refried beans instead of beef. It was pretty good.
Zarah wanted me to put her flower in some water.
Zoo Boo fell asleep around 12:00. I stayed up until about 2:00
The next morning we went down the Breakfast area of the hotel. Zarah had some Cocoa Puffs. I had a PBJ.
We went over and explored the rest of the Hotel.
One word…… CCCLLLAAASSSYYY!!!!!!
We checked out of the hotel around 11:00 A.M. Zarah wanted to go look at toys at Wal-Mart. So we drove to the one in GreenWood.
Then we went back over to Half Price books again.
Then we went to Petco. They let a this pig run around the place ($800.00 btw)
Then we went over to the Greenwood mall and walked around. Zarah wanted to go into Justice.
I had a slice of Pizza from Luca. Then we drove to Toys R us at Zarahs request.
She wants the “Dream Dazzlers Dress up Trunk” for her Birthday.
Then we headed over to PetSmart. This Bird was very friendly and anxious for attention. Zarah wanted to Hold it really bad but I couldn’t find an employee to open the cage. I think this bird is from Australia and was 699.00
It was around 4:30 now. I told Zarah it was probably time to wrap things up. She was sad. I was kinda too. Had a great time with Zarah. We met Courtney at the Costco at 86th and Mich.
Courtney came up to the office around 4:45. We talked about the the girls starting school next week. Azure showed me her new Back Pack. Courtney gave me a copy of Azures School Schedule.
Pat came in and introduced himself. And I introduced Courtney and the Girls to him. Likewise with John.
Then a few moments later Lindsey came in. I made the same introductions. We left work a couple minutes after 5:00.
It was sunny and hot out. I was driving the Hyundai. It has no A.C. It was really really warm. The girls started arguing and putting their hands on each other. I told them to stop. They kept doing it. Again, I told them to stop. They kept doing it. Finally I said “If you touch each other again I am going to take you home”. They did it again. I told them to stop. They did it again. so I said; “Thats it!! I am taking you to your mom”. I called Courtney, she said that she was at Meijers at Whitestown. I told her I was going to bring the girls to her. I told her why. She said ; “Are they being that bad?” I said its not that its just that I warned them over and over to stop fighting. I said that I told them I would take them home if they didn’t stop. They didn’t stop. So now they are making a liar out of me if I don’t stand by my word. She said that she felt sorry for them. I said I did to… But I have to do what I say I am going to do.
We drove the 13 miles to the Meijers. The girls cried most of the way. Eventually Zarah said that she was sorry. Azure eventually stopped crying and told Zarah to stop. She told her that she is only making it worse.
I told them that it wasn’t my fault. It was their fault. I gave them a choice and they called me out. I don’t want to make everyone upset, but I have to do what I said I am going to do. I was sweating, the late afternoon Sun was low, yellow, huge and in our eyes, traffic was slow. The A.C. was broken. All of us were miserable. Finally after about 45 minutes we met Courtney. She was in the Expedition in the parking lot.
I got out, got the girls bag out of the trunk. Put it in Courtneys car. Told the girls to go ahead and get out and get in their moms car. I backed out and started to drive off. Both of the girls started crying again. I felt bad. But I was really upset that they let things get to this. They are both really good girls but I think they have gotten too relaxed about what I say. I told Courtney I was sorry for holding her up for so long but I wanted them to see Courtney so that they knew I was serious about calling the trip off.
Courtney expressed her unhappiness with the girls for not minding. I told Courtney that I thought that they had learned their lesson. Finally we told them that we would go but they have to mind the adults when we tell them to behave. They agreed. They got back in the car, kissed Courtney and we went back on our way towards the house.
The girls were giggle drunk the whole way back and were laughing and playing in the back seat the whole way home. I was exhausted by this point but to hear them being so happy was welcome music to my ears.
We stopped at Wal-mart in Westfield. we got two movies. I told Azure to pick out a frozen pizza. We got back to the house around 8:00. I made Pizza we watched Kung-Fu panda 3. We had a nice time. I packed a lot of stuff in the car while they watched the movie. I fed the Chickens and Brought the Bird in from outside.
I slept in the middle of them on the mattress in the basement.
SATURDAY.
I got up around 7:30, Finished packing the car and woke the girls up. We ended up taking the Corolla because it has Air Conditioning. And after yesterday I was not about to drive the Hyundai to Kentucky. The news casts have been saying for several days that the temp may hit 100 and the heat index could be 105- 110. for the next few days.
Well the weather man was right this weekend. It was a Scorcher all weekend. Every state in the lower 48 except for one was over 90 degree’s (Washington State) both Saturday and Sunday.
We headed out about 9:30 a.m. We went to Costco on Michigan road. I filled up the tank. We we stopped at McDonalds on Southport Road. After we ate we continued on. In Seymour we went to Wal-Mart. I told Azure that this is the town Johnny Cougar is from, she said “Never heard of him”…..lol…. I bought some flip flops and bought 2 pairs of water shoes for the girls. We got a waterproof box for my billfold and Phone. Then we made our way towards Kentucky. The girls read and then Zarah took a nap. It was a beautiful day. We had Air Conditioning. Life is good. I decided to head straight for the park instead of going to the hotel first.
We crossed the state line and over the Ohio River, the girls checked out the bridges and the water and all of the big buildings.
We got to the park around noon. The girls put on bathing suits in the restroom out in the parking lot while I waited. I packed a small bookbag/backpack full of supplies and sunscreen, Asprin, tums, a spare phone battery, Hair ties, band-aids, and we walked towards the entrance. I gave the girls a game plan if we are separated. Stay right where you last saw me. Never go with a stranger. Only a person with a uniform on.After 30 minutes find a security guard. Call your mom or my cell phone if you can find a phone.
WOW… HOT HOT HOT…. The heat from the parking lot was miserable hot. I was thinking to myself, this was mistake. There is no way I can do this all day. We walked and walked and finally rounded the corner to the entrance. There was about 100 people in line to buy tickets…. Uh oh….no good. I was having serious second thoughts.
As we got in line behind everyone I overheard an employee say; “People can get tickets at the Season Pass Booth”…. I looked over, no one was at that window. I ran over there and got tickets in about 1 minute…. YAY… that was a good start. We headed straight to Hurricane bay and Immediately jumped in the Wave Pool…..
AAAAAHHHHHH……..Bath water, Music, Summer Sunshine, and a great breeze…. we can do this…. It was crowded, but everyone seemed to get along just fine. We went down several water rides and the “Lazy river”. We didn’t stop, We didn’t eat or drink anything for 6-7 hours. We just had a lot of fun. While we waited on the stairs of several rides Azure confided in me that she “Wished that she wasn’t such a wimp”. She said that she was scared of the big rides. I told her that, her concern was a sign of Intelligence. I told her that she is smart. I told her that she her mind is weighing “risk versus reward”. I said “If you think about it, most amusement park rides are safe….Say they get 1000 people a day for 5 months a year for 10 years with no accidents.. Then you can assume you are probably going to be fine.. but” I told her that “she is smart for being skeptical of being hurled 80 miles an hour into the sky”.
I said don’t concern yourself with what others say. I told her most kids her age brag about being brave on the rides but most of them are really scared too. I told her that she should not try to be like her “friends”…. But that she should find friends that are like her. I told her never to do something she is not comfortable with. And if someone makes fun of you, they are not your friend.
We climbed lots of stairs, waited in lots of lines, put on lots of sunscreen. After about 7 hours I started getting tired of walking, wading, and rolling in and out of innertubes… lol..
We decided around 5 p.m. to get back on the lazy river. I jumped into my Innertube and rolled over backwards into the water. I came back up and tried again. Finally I got on the tube and continued on… About 5 minutes later, I thought to my self “Why is it so bright out?”. then it dawned on me that my sunglasses fell off of my face during my spill…..When we got back around to the beginning again Azure and Zarah and I looked for them briefly. We didn’t find them.
We were all tired by now. All 3 of of decided to head back to the hotel. We started heading to the gate. Zarah wanted me to carry her and Azure was starving. I was really tired at this point. I saw a Pizza place by the entrance. I said well, lets get something to eat, rest in the A.C. and then walk back to the car.
We enjoyed dinner. The girls liked the pizza, and walked back to the car. I asked SIRI to find our hotel. Surprisingly it was only a couple of blocks from the park. In fact we could see it from our window.
We arrived, parked, went upstairs and fell on the bed and basked in the air conditioning. I figured Azure and Zarah would be asleep within 15 minutes. I was wrong…. We stayed up till about midnight watching “Spiderman 3” on Starz… Zarah was sweet and cuddly she watched tv with her head on my shoulder while Azure finally fell asleep on the other bed just before the end of the movie.
Around 4:30 a.m. some guy started beating on the door of the room next to us ( 201 ) …. he beat and beat and beat on the door for about 45 minutes… I got up and sat in a chair by the door for a while. He only yelled through the door once.. but I was concerned that he was a little unhinged…..I could see his shadow past our window several times by the light of the street lights. I got up and made sure the double lock was engaged…. He finally went gave up and went away..( or he got in, I don’t know).****
..
I woke up at 7:30 am on Saturday. I let the girls sleep a while. I took a shower. around 8:30 I woke them up and asked them if they wanted to go get breakfast. They said yes. They wanted Krispy Kremes. I didn’t want anything sweet. We went to the Speedway gas station down the road and got some donuts. I wanted to stop by there anyway because earlier I had noticed how low the incoming planes went over head there.
We parked and waited about 3 minutes outside before one came over our car. Zarah said “Wow that is Humongous!”
After that we went to a Dennys. I got Biscuits and Country gravy. As we were leaving we saw a couple of Jehovah Witness guys in long sleeve shirts and ties. It had to be nearly 90 outside. I told Azure about how they go door to door and witness to people about their beliefs. She seemed to find that fascinating.
My lil Vampire!
The park opens at 11:00 a.m. today. We got there about 10:30 and saw that people were already piling in. We were able to park about 100 yards from the entrance. That was awesome.
We got in right away and the rides were already going. The girls rode about 6 rides in the first hour alone. After a couple of hours we decided to head back over to the water park.
We rode water rides and got in the wave pool for the next few hours without stopping. It was sweltering hot. The water felt like bath water. It was fantastic. They also had free soft drinks and free sunscreen. I got the girls some “Dippin Dots”.
Around 3 or so we decided to go back to Kentucky Kingdom. We went to the Angry Birds 5D ride that was indoors. Azure was nervous about what the ride would be like. I assured her that if she wasn’t comfortable with it we would leave.
While we were waiting Zarah was clowning around and knocked one of Azure’s earrings out of Azures hand. We couldn’t find it. Azure handed me the other one and I put it in my tee shirt pocket. Azure and Zarah ended up really liking the Angry Birds ride.
Azure wanted to ride the Hurricane but she wasn’t tall enough. Then we saw that people were getting their pictures take with Sea Lions so we did that.
We were hot again by now and headed back to the water park. I got in the Wave Pool I couldn’t believe how warm the water was. I dunked all the way under a few times then I realized I had my debit card and Azure’s earring in my shirt pocket. Ooops. I hope my card still works… Then just for the heck of it I pulled the earring out and tried to stick it in my ear. Amazingly it went in. I haven’t had an earring in for 20 years. I turned the side of my face towards Azure and Zarah and told them to look. They didn’t like it. LOL… I left it in for the rest of the day anyway…
We continued to ride water rides and then we found one we really liked. We dubbed it the toilet bowl because you would spin round and round down like a drain. We rode that 5-6 times in a row. Hurricane bay closed at 7:00 so then we walked back over to the other side again and squeezed in 3-4 more rides before that side of the park closed at 8:00 P.M.
Yes I actually wore this hat in public……
We got back to to the Hotel and I ordered Dominos online. We got a large Cheese Pizza, Lava Cakes, and Bread sticks. There was a “Watch the progress of your order” on the website. Zarah got a kick out that. It went from Order received, order prep, order cooking ,order being delivered… then a short time later a man knocked at the door with the food. Zarah thought that was cool.
We watched the last half of Tomorrowland. I slept in the middle between the girls.
MONDAY….We got up Zarah and I went down to the lobby to get some breakfast. We made Azure a bowl of Raisin Bran. Zarah got an Eclair and I made two pieces of toast. We carried it back up to the room.
We ended up catching the first half of Tomorrowland. I loaded up the car and we all took showers.
We got out of the hotel around 10:30. I listened to NPR as we drove. I hadn’t been on the internet for the last few days so I was just now hearing about the DNC email leaks. We got out of Louisville and back into Indiana. We stopped at a Love’s Truck Stop. Zarah called Courtney to find out what time Zarahs football practice was that day. She said 6:00 p.m. While were were looking around in the truck stop Azure and Zarah saw a huge stuffed dog that was $39.99. I said that wasn’t a bad price but not today.
I decided I wanted to stop and visit Aunt Deanna on the way back to Indy. We stopped at an “Antique store in Hanover. Zarah found that exact same stuffed Dog for $2.99. I was like. Cool we can get it. Then Azure got some yarn and a Horse Backpack.
We got into Madison around 11:45. I pointed out a lot of sites I remembered as a child. We arrived at Aunt Deanna’s she met us on the front porch. We sat in the living room and talked for a while. She showed us around at some of the remodeling and painting that she had done. Some of it was done because a tree fell on her house about 5 years ago.
Aunt Sonya came over and the 5 of us walked over to a small restaurant around the corner Aunt Deanna paid for our lunch. That was very nice of her. She mentioned a book she had read called “Magellian – Over the Edge” It sounded very interesting. I may read it. Azure had a huge Salad that she couldn’t finish. I had a veggie wrap. Zarah had a Grilled Cheese.
Robot Check
I told Deanna and Sonya that Azure and Zarah really like antiques stores and that they would love it down here because there are so many of them in the area. Deanna Suggested that we walk to the one across the street. They had some interesting stuff. I got Azure a Black Plastic Horse and Zarah got an Annie T.V. tray.
We got back to Deannas’ house and talked a little more and then decided we better hit the road because of Zarahs football practice later. We took a couple of group pictures and said our goodbyes and got in the car.
The car wouldn’t start…. ugh…. I think the A.C. was running ( even though the engine had been off). Sonya and I went to Wal-mart to get some jumper cables.
Azure and Zarah played with toys in the house while we were gone.
I got the car jumped around 3:00 and we headed back towards Indy. When we were driving out of town we went past the huge power plant with giant smokestacks. It was pumping out plumes of white smoke…. Zarah said in kind of a dreamy voice…. “That makes all of the clouds in the world”. That cracked me and Azure up. Kids make amazing connections sometimes.
We stopped at a rest stop on the way back. I got Azure and Zarah each a free map of Indiana. They had fun finding Cities on the map for the next 100 miles. I told them that was what we had to use to get directions before SIRI.
We were way out in the sticks when we passed a few Long Horned steers. You don’t see those very often in Indiana. I said “Look at their long horns” … Azure said “Wow”. Zarah said “..Jesus!!!”…. Again me and Azure started laughing.
I listened to “The Chicks on the Right” the last 75 miles. Azure and I talked about politics for quite a while.
We got to Azure and Zarah’s at 5:00. Tim met us outside. We talked about the DNC Wiki-leaks issue that just came out and the fact that Debbie Wasserman Shults stepped down today.
I told Tim I was anxious to get home to watch the first night of the DNC tonight. I hugged and kissed the girls and left. The 3 of us agreed: WE HAD AN ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL TIME TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Courtney and the girls arrived at my work around 4:35. They came in to my office. I showed them around the place and introduced them to everyone.
Courtney gave me a Stainless Steel Insulated cup that said “#1 Daddy” on it in sort of a childs writing. She said that it was from the girls for my birthday. Pretty cool.
Kyle offered me two Indianapolis Indians tickets. But I had to decline because there would be 3 of us needing tickets.
Brad and Summer were showing some items to the girls out in the warehouse. I spotted an old rotary dial phone. We showed that to the girls. I said this was the kind of phone we had when I was little. They were amazed by it. No texting on that phone.
5:00 P.M. rolled around and everyone left. Azure and Zarah and headed up 465 north. I sort of wanted to go into Half Price books at Traders Point on the way home because Dana Loesch was going to do a book sighing there at 6:00. I accidentally missed the 86th street exit. and had to drive all the way around to the Michigan Street exit and take 86th street back across.
When we went in there were about 25 people. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stay or not. While I remained undecided about 75 more people showed up. I finally thought “what the heck” the girls are enjoying the book store and we are here. The line ended up going all the way around the inside wall of the store. WIBC’s Tony Katz was there he said the next day it was 1000 or so people.
On a strange note….. .. The lady at the bottom center of this picture…… I saw her again in the Wal-mart in West-field about 15 hours later. She saw me too…. Small world.
Azure kept saying she was hungry so I gave her $10.00 and told her to get something from the “lounge” area to tide her over. She got a big Chocolate Chip cookie with M&M’s in it.
For the longest time the line didn’t seem to be moving at all. I was about to give up when it started moving at a pretty good pace.
We got our book signed. She was nice. I still can’t tell exactly what she wrote. lol
We left and got back to the house around 7:45 p.m. Azure ate some cereal. I mowed the back yard while it was still daylight.
The girls spent the evening playing with their dolls. I went down to the gas station and got a gallon of milk for Brooklynn’s breakfast.
We went to sleep around 11:30 or so.
Saturday.
I got up at 8:00 the next morning, I left the girls asleep in the basement. I went to the gas station and got some gas for the mower. I weed wacked the yard by the street and sprayed about two gallons of weed killer down on it. I mowed the front yard and sprayed weed killer on the driveway. I got done around 11:30 am. Deeya left about 9:30 to do some errands. I wiped of the door to the garage, did my laundry and took a shower. Then I ran down to West-field to get a haircut. I stopped at Huntington bank and got a little cash because I lost my ATM card last Saturday and the new card still hasn’t arrived. I ran into Wal-mart to get some stuff for Camping….. I got back around 2:30
I got back to the house and the girls were watching Doll video’s . It is a perfect Summer day and the girls are in the basement on the laptop. I was like, nope. So told the girls I wanted to go out and do something. I decided that I wanted to Camp out tonight. Zarah helped me set up the tent.
I asked them if they wanted to go to a park for a while. They said yes, but at some point Yudi had to take Brooklynn to get a meningitis shot. So we decided that Yudi would drive and I would drive, In case they had to meet Deeya while we were out.
When we got near Highway 32 Yudi called me and said Deeya wanted to meet at CVS. So we went there.
Zarah opened every single Musical gift card card in the place I believe.
It took over an hour I think. Before Brooklynn got done, Azure, Zarah and I walked over to the Hotbox pizza to get bread-sticks.
The girls watched a MTV show where people fail while doing stunts while we waited for the food. Deeya got done at CVS and left. She tried texting me but it didn’t appear on my phone until after I walked out of the Pizza place. Yudi and Buku came over to the pizza place.
We decided go to the park in Noblesville.
After about an hour we left the park. We were about 1/2 way home when Yudi called me and asked me if I had any money. She said the girls wanted Ice Cream from Alexanders. So we stopped in Cicero and did that.
We got back to the house about 8:00 p.m. Brooklynn is going to “Camp Tecumseh” Sunday morning and had to pack, So Azure and Zarah and I went on out to the tent.
Yudi and Brooklynn came out and visited us for a few minutes. Deeya gave us some snacks for our adventure. We watched “Help I’ve shrunk the Family” It was pretty lame.
After it got over Zarah and I got out of the tent and started trying to catch lightning bugs.
Azure came out and we made a bon-fire. The girls danced around trying to draw fairies out of the woods. They laughed and danced and had a lot of fun.
We stayed outside for about 2 hours until midnight or so.
We put in another movie but we all fell asleep. I slept like a baby. I always do when I sleep outside. I love hearing the birds chirping outside the next morning. My Iphone alarm went off at 8:00 a.m. ugh.. I didn’t want to get up yet, but my phone was outside the tent ringing.
Deeya and Frank and Brooklynn left around 9:30. I asked the girls if they wanted McDonalds for breakfast. They said Yes. I dropped the movies off at the Redbox there on our way in.
We got back to the house and the girls were anxious to play outside by the tent this morning. It is a perfect morning outside. The girls took a quick bath first and Azure played a song on the keyboards that she learned last week while she was in Pennsylvania. It was good.
The girls played with their dolls. Azure pulled the dolls and Zarah around the trail in a red wagon several times. I started removing the stuff from the tent.
Zarah offered me a Purple Skittles.
I told the girls I would pull the dolls around the trail with the golf cart and they could act like they are giving a tour. They liked that Idea.
After that we headed out to the Antique Mall in Carmel. On the way we stopped at Meijer’s. I wanted to get a hand Vac for my Bedroom. the girls pushed a cart with their dolls in it. I got a Johnny Cash t-shirt. It was regularly $12.00 it was marked down to $7.00. There was no tag on it so the girl sold it to me for $4.00…. Awesome.
By the time we made it to Carmel we were all sort of hungry again. We decided to eat before we went “Antiquing”…
We went over to Bubs. They said a table outside would be about a 25 minute wait. I decided that we would wait.
But 30 minutes later when the called us, they seated us inside. That kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I told Azure I really didn’t want to eat here now. We left and went across the street to Bazbaux’s Pizza. We ordered a large cheese pizza.
Zarah took a drink of Sprite and a Drink of Root beer at the same time. She made a real funny face afterwards. I started laughing. She said “That tasted like Pool water!!!” That cracked me up . We talked to 3 girls from Michigan who were wearing Dance T-Shirts and too much red lipstick about Dancing. They said that they had just won a national contest earlier in the day.
Azure was excited about that. Azure reminded me that the last time we ate at Bazbeux’s ( downtown Indy) that we had talked to dancers there also..
Scott Burke and I are going to this…………….
We finally made it over to the Antique mall. The pointed out and played with every single rotary phone in the place. They both kept saying they wanted one.
We went to McDonalds.
We passed a Petco and I asked the girls if they wanted to go in and see the animals. They said yes….. While were were pulling up I made up a jingle with the words;
don’t pet the pets at Petco,
don’t pet the pets at Petco,
don’t pet the pets at Petco or they’ll bite your hand off”.
Azure and Zarah thought that was hilarious. They sang it the rest of the day, over and over.
The moment we walked into the store a little girl about Zarahs age came up to me and said
“Would it be O.K. if your daughter played with me at the craft table?” … She was so extroverted it was pretty funny. I said O.K. They played together for about 1/2 and hour while Azure and I Looked at the fish and ferrets and kittens.
Finally I told Zarah to wrap it up. We went and looked at the Kittens again.
I told Courtney we could meet around 6:30 at Half Price books again. She said O.K. We got there at 5:30 p.m.
I got Azure a Fairy coloring book and a Rush Revere book. Zarah got a Barbie book.
Courtney came in and we talked for 10-15 minutes about the weekend.
Wow…………………………………..What a fantastic weekend that was….
Courtney and Yudi met and then the 4 girls went swimming at 5 seasons. They got home at around 7:45 PM
I got home at 7:55 PM. I went to Scott Burkes house after work and put a guitar solo on one of his songs. Or at least most of it. When I got down to the basement the girls were playing with Azure’s Ashton Drake Doll.
Deeya asked Frank to get pizza for everyone. Buku polled everyone as to what they wanted.
Azure Pepperoni, Zarah Cheese.
8:10. I set up the Card table because Azure told me that she wanted to finish her Pictures for Melissa.
Zarah put in Spongebob Seaside Capers. When the “Bandit Strangler episode came on”
8:34 – Zarah said ” That would be fun riding in someones eyes”
She is a nut case.
.
I got up Saturday and went to the lake house and mowed the front yard around 8:30 a.m.
Scott wanted me to come over and put a guitar solo on a song he had written.
So I called Scott around 10:30 and told him I would be over in an hour and a half.
I spent a little while creating a guitar solo. I took a shower and the A,Z, and i went to Indy.
Azure looked cute with her sparkly red sandals and her doll baby. So I took a couple of pics before we left.
It is hot and Sunny out today. No A.C. in the Hundayi.
After we left Scotts Azure said that she was hungry. She couldn’t decide what she wanted. We finally setteled on Subway. We got it to go because Buku wanted to play with Azure and Zarah at the house.
Zarah had asked me countless times in the last 24 hours to open my Birthday presents.
The girls all went upstairs and worked on homemade cards for me. That was sweet.
Deeya and Frank went to Roger and Dawns around 6:00 for a musical performance.
The girls and I made smore’s over a bonfire.
After all the smoke and bug spray the girls took a quick bath in the Jacuzzi.
Then they watched the latest Spongebob movie.
They heated up the leftover Pizza King for Dinner.
Buku went to bed at 9:45. I think she read a book for a while. Deeya and Frank got home around midnight.
Sunday.
Frank Worked, Deeya left for a while.
I mowed front yard
and blew off driveway
I fixed the water leak in the kitchen
I moved a bunch of limbs from the recent storms
Girls played in the basement. and made rooms for their dolls.
We watched a Ballet Documentary called 1st position.
Azure practiced for Elise got Frustrated.
Frank went and got Indian food at 4:45
Girls played with their dolls in the piano room
I took a shower.
We had a Birthday Celebration, and ate Indian food.
I got some really nice cards and gifts.
The girls played in the basement
Azure and Yudi watched “First Position” again.
Zarah laid on the Bar counter and watched “Barbie Charm School”.
The girls stayed all night again. We went to bed about 10:30.
I got up Monday at 6:00 took a shower. Woke the girls up.
Made them each a bowl of “Frosted Mini-Wheats”.
I went to work.
Courtney came up around 4:00 p.m. and picked the girls up.
Courtney left a gift card on my Keyboard from Missy and Danny.
Azure went to Horse Camp this past week. Courtney Texted me a couple of Pictures.
Azure Sent me a nice card. I am glad she was able to go. I am glad she had fun.
Friday June 17th 2016.
Took a pic of my office on Friday
Yudi met Courtney at Starbucks around 4:30 P.M. I stopped by Scott Burkes house on the way home from work to listen to a song he had written.
On the way to the house I stopped at Lowes and bought some black “Steel Hardening” duct tape. It said on the label that it is 100 times stronger than duct tape. I used it to fix a leak in the shower in the barn. We had been doing some work to open up the bathroom in the barn for all the party guests that were coming on Saturday. I got home around 7:00 P.M. I went out and applied the fix to the pipe and let it dry until the next day. Then I weed wacked the yard.
The girls played tumbling and they played with their doll.
I worked on the songs that I wanted to play at the party. We went to sleep pretty early. We watched some of Home Alone I slept on the mattress between them.
I got up early on Saturday to try and get the yard ready for the party.
I made cereal for the girls.
Zarah apparently not ready for the day….
The Girls Played in the Basement After breakfast.
I Went outside and tore down all of the my gear and moved it out side. I ran a bunch of extension cords and set up a “cover” for the band. I set up the P.A. System
I was hot from working out in the backyard. It was in the high 80’s probably. I went in and asked the girls if they wanted to ride with me down to the Speedway gas station and get a Freezy. They said yes.
Roger and Dawn and Nik all came over and started getting ready for the Party. They brought in massive amounts of Food and Drink.
I worked on my computer que system for songs and changed the strings on my Strat
About 3:00 I heard the 3 girls playing lost boy in the basement and I suggested that all 3 of them do the song together. Deeya came down stairs and heard it and agreed.
Brown Eyed Girl.
I didn’t tune my guitar or do a sound level check before starting my “Set”. So afterwards, while sitting on the back deck I asked Deeya how it sounded. She said good. I didn’t realize but Zarah was standing right there and said to Deeya.” I have heard him play those songs a thousand times”….lol… Deeya said to me as a joke “Aren’t kids wonderful”….lol
The Party went on until Midnight. The girls played in the yard and did cartwheels and stuff until about 11:00. Deeya and Frank stayed outside hosting and helping breakdown the food and tables until about 1:30.
Azure and Zarah and I went downstairs. The girls finished “home alone” while I laid on the mattress between them. Azure actually fell to sleep instantly.
Sunday. June 19th
I woke up at 6:30 a.m. wide awake refreshed and happy. I let the girls sleep in for a couple more hours. I went to Wal-Mart and Deeya a Birthday card and some Flowers.
Frank had to go to work. I went outside and wound up all the extension cords and cables and stuff from the night before. I packed up the Keyboard that Deeya had rented from the Guitar Center.
I rode with Frank on his way to work. He dropped me off at Eslers in West-field to Pickup the CRV. I went back to the house and got Tools and a ladder. I needed to turn the water on at the lake house and also to take some awnings off the side of the house. The house is being painted tomorrow on Monday.
The Girls watched a Movie while I was working
Zarah Made PBJ Sandwiches for the 3 of them
When I got back the girls wanted me to help them make a baby crib for their dolls.
Then Azure, Zarah and went outside and opened my Fathers Day Gifts and Cards.
Deeya said that she wanted to take Brooklynn to get hers ears re-pierced around 4:30. She asked us if we wanted to go and then all go out to dinner for Fathers Day. Sounded good to me.
Deeya Brushed Zarahs Hair Before we left. ( you can’t see it though)
We went to Claires in Clay Terrace. Brooklynn got her ears re-pierced. Deeya let each of the girls pick something out. Azure got a Bracelet. Zarah got a Diary and Buku got a big stuffed animal.
Then we left Clay Terrace and Headed over to “The Cheesecake Factory”. Deeya called Frank and asked him to meet us there when he left the Hospital.
We walked around in the Mall while waiting for a table.
Frank met up with us. We had a great time
Azure and Zarah and I headed to Brownsburg. We stopped at Half Price books on the way.
Zarah got a “Frozen” Diary for $2.00.
We got to Missy and Danny’s house around 8:15.
Everyone was sitting outside, celebrating Fathers Day.
Danny, Jessie, Tim, Missy, Jessica, Courtney.
Howard and Phyllis were here from Florida.
All all the kids were playing in the Yard.
We had a nice time talking. I told everyone what a great job Azure and Zarah did performing last night.
Missy gave me an Amazon Gift Card for Fathers day.
Jessica announced to everyone that she was expecting her 3rd child.
I talked to Phyllis and Howard about my new job.
I stayed about 45 minutes, and drove home. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Azure and Alivia at Gwen Stefanii
Dad with A&Z @ Gwen Stefani
Courtney And Zarah at Gwen Stefani
