Downtown Cleveland OH

Here in Cleveland, I had some free time today and walked from the hotel at the Tower City north to Lake Erie where the Cleveland Browns stadium, the Ohio Science Museum and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are all in a row, left to right, on the lakefront. In front of the science museum is a 150-foot-tall turbine that generates wind energy - pretty cool.

Trip to Cleveland

I arrived this afternoon in Cleveland Ohio for a work-related trip and was surprised to hear the complaining about how hot it was. Everyone went on and on about it - the cab driver, the others around me. These folks were complaining about 86 degrees and low humidity! So anyway, the group I was with was being hosted by a big insurance company that sponsors (owns?) the baseball field locally, so I tonight's big activity was the Cleveland Indians game against the Detroit Tigers. We had a box suite with a buffet, beer and a bonus dessert cart that was wheeled around in the fifth inning. After the game, we walked back to the hotel past the Hard Rock Cafe guitar on the riverfront and new friend Tom took a photo of me with Jovanna, one of my counterparts from Florida, in front of the guitar.

Courtney in the Walker

She can really GO now in the walker. Mainly the walker is just a control device at this point, so I can dry my hair or empty the dishwasher without her bumping her head crawling under the dishwasher door, or picking up an old cheerio off the floor and gumming it, or cornering the cat to grab its tail.

Southern Miss All Star Party 08

The Southern Miss All Star Party was held tonight at the Mississippi Trademart and there was a huge crowd! We got there at 6:10 p.m. (it started at 5:30) and they said there were already more than 600 people there, and plenty got there after us. Courtney wore her pink Southern Miss onesie and she had a great time hanging out on Todd's chest, talking to everyone and meeting new people. I saw her laughing and giggling, and now I look at the photos we took and she is not laughing in a single one! Anyway, I made sure she got to meet Seymour (2nd photo) because next year she may be afraid of him. Laura also helped us out a bit when Courtney was getting a bit testy and jabbering loudly during Coach Fedora's speech. Luckily they managed time well and we were out of there by 8 p.m. - at that point we had to leave because Courtney was being so loud. So everyone there had Fedora Fever (brand new USM coach) and there was a great atmosphere.

Pool & Beach Time

We've enjoyed spending time at the pool and the [man-made] beach here at the Grand Hotel this weekend. I snapped these shots of Courtney enjoying the pool fountain, and sitting in sand for the first time.

Total and Complete Delight

Courtney's first hotel room has produced total delight, and it has been fun to watch. She loves crawling around the hotel room, looking out the sliding glass windows, playing with the curtain shears, exploring the full-length closet door mirrors. She has just giggled and laughed and been so excited.

Grand Hotel

The Marriott's Grand Hotel is where we are staying for the weekend. The massive oak trees were not felled by Hurricane Katrina, and the property has been restored better than ever. They do a cannon shot each day at 4 p.m. and a speaker discusses the history of the property. I was in a meeting but Todd and Courtney went to the Friday evening cannon fire.

Trip to Point Clear

Our trip to Point Clear AL today was the first vacation Courtney has ever taken. This is a work-related trip for me. Courtney has only stayed overnight at our home or at a grandparent's home, so traveling 5 hours in the car was a new experience for her. She cried most of the way from Mendenhall south, and we pulled out the big gun - the portable DVD player and the Baby Einstein video. This actually kept her interested, and stopped her crying, for the latter part of the trip. Here's a shot of Courtney watching the DVD in her car seat.

Courtney Standing Unassisted

So she's starting to stand alone for longer and longer periods of time. The longest I've counted was about 15 seconds. This video is about a 10-second standup. She does not seem very interested in walking, but standing is very important to her. And she doesn't really want to pull up on something - she wants to stand up from a seated position.

Chronicles of Narnia

We watched the 2007 movie Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and were enthralled. Each of us read the book when we were kids and we meant to see it when it was in theatres. Anyway, we loved this movie and stayed up late to finish it. The sequel is out now - Prince Caspian - and now we can go see that.

Weezer's Red Album

What we're listening to this week - Weezer's new Red Album, released a couple of weeks ago. Love it - especially 'Troublemaker,' 'Dangerous,' and the ubiquitous 'Pork and Beans.' (Link to Pork and Beans video on Youtube.) I used an itunes gift card I got for my birthday to buy the album. I am a huge Weezer fan and have all their albums. I actually share a birthday with lead singer Rivers Cuomo - he is exactly one year older than me.