…. Skanking out with my 4-year old Spencer to "The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Mighty BossTones while doing the dinner dishes and drinking a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale ….

Saturday (Day 14)

• Last half-day at the lake.  We need to drive into Chicago at around noon, and then fly back to San Diego this evening.
• Very busy cleaning and getting in some last minute boat rides.

Friday (Day 13)

• Pretty good day.  Listened to mostly the latest TheBitterestPill podcast on the morning run.  Great job Hudson.
• The weather was pretty hot in the morning but cool in the evening. We did a lot of JetSking until 2 p.m. when the battery failed and we had to return it early.
• I finally got to play a little Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.  They have done a great job in upgrading this game.
• Nana’s (Christy’s mom) B-Day!
• I had a great beer from Groose Island Beer Co. out of Chicago.  It was the 312 Urban Wheat Ale.  Highly recommend it for hot afternoons.

Thursday (Day 12)

• Much better run today.  Listened to the Daily Source Code and TheBitterestPill.  Boy do I have a new bone to pick with Mr. Klass.  That "tech podcaster" comment at the beginning of the show wasn’t very nice.  And then he had an "audio tech" problem.  I hope who ever helps you fix them charges you extra. 🙂
• The weather is much cooler today and we might get rain.  I think the JetSki rental has been cancelled.  Maybe tomorrow.
• Watched per suggestion by Michael G @ Reel Reviews "The Limey" (I agree with Michael … great movie)
• We got the JetSki at the end of the day, and will get to ride it all day on Friday!
• Marty’s (Christy’s brother) B-Day.  The home-made cheese cake was fabulous.
• Conrad got to go to the movies with his cousins.

Wednesday (Day 11)

• Even though I had my Superman t-shirt on, I didn’t feel like Superman during my morning run.  Boy was it hot!!  I listened to a "new" podcast from Terry Storch.  Pretty good.
• Finished Tom Clancy’s "Red Rabbit" (a very good book … just what the doctor ordered)
• Christy’s cousin Kim visits along with her two boys for fun on the lake.
• Uncle Tim has to go back to Ohio in his truck with no air conditioning. 😦

Tuesday (Day 10)

• We continue to fit in morning skiing, and boat driving.
• I cooked omelets for everyone for breakfast/brunch. They were great!
• Podcaster Andy McCaskey (Slashdotreview.com) and his wife  visit us for a boat ride on Lake Tippecanoe and pizza dinner.  It was very cool to meet a fellow TechPodcasts.com member, and I have been listening to Andy since Oct04 so that was an even better treat. I now think I know two tidbits about Andy that others would find very interesting. 😉
• My friends Lorraine and Daren gave me a great beer which I tried last night – Mad Anthony India Pale Ale (IPA) out of Fort Wayne, IN.  It was a very good IPA.  Highly recommend it.
• Continue to read Tom Clancy’s "Red Rabbit" (almost finished)

Monday (Day 9)

• More early morning skiing, and boat driving.  Hayley was able to get up for the first time.
• Sara returns from Ohio with Uncle Tim (who is going to stay for a couple of days with us)
• Continue to read Tom Clancy’s "Red Rabbit" (which is really good, even though the reviews on Amazon aren’t that friendly)
• I think we are renting a jet ski for Thursday.
• Tonight we have plans to have dinner with Lorraine and Daren (some old friends that moved out here a couple of years ago from San Diego)
• Dinner was great.  They also brought in some local micro-beers from Fort Wayne, IN which were excellent. Luckily we did not break Duck On A Bike.

Sunday (Day 8)

• Family trip into North Webster and Syracuse with the kids voting out the adults for lunch at McDonald’s. They played on the playground equipment and at the Lego table for almost an hour. Dave Winer is right, the ice tea at McDonald’s is pretty good.
• I ended up getting some pretty good "BBQ" from a roadside setup, and we found a park to play at for another hour or so before coming back to the lake for swimming and boat rides.  The temperature is rising.
• Continue to read Tom Clancy’s "Red Rabbit" when I get a chance.
• Christy’s Mom (Sara), Aunt Jenn, and Matt take a road trip to Ohio.  Sara to visit a nephew (Uncle Tim to our kids), and Jenn & Matt to visit the prison where The Shawshank Redemption (1994) was filmed.

Saturday (Day 7)

• Made a trip into town (Warsaw) to visit the local Walmart to pick up supplies.
• I picked up Tom Clancy’s "Red Rabbit" to read for $6.
• Aunt Jenn (Christy’s sister) and Matt(Jenn’s boyfriend) are here from Yosemite for the rest of the stay (through next Saturday)

Friday (Day 6)

• If the MidWest always had weather like the last two days, it might be worth living here.  We could buy two lake houses for the price of our new house in El Cajon, CA that we got last August 2004.  I probably couldn’t get the same job though.
• We managed to tow the ski boat over for gas without any damage but the launch was pretty comical.
• We spent $150+ on cheese. 😉 [one-third of the cost was overnight FedEx shipping]
• Water gun truce is still sticking.

Thursday (Day 5)

• Great weather again.
• Ski boat got so much use we ran out of gas, and need to get it towed to the gas station.
• Great Grandma Jordon and Uncle Dallas/Aunt Sandy visit from Muncie, IN (and stay until Friday evening)
• Conrad and his cousin Hayley had a major water gun fight with Uncle Dallas (it lasted nearly all day until a truce was called).
• Today was really a great vacation day.  I am so glad we are taking two week off, because today would be the day I’d start worrying about coming back home on Saturday.
• The "girls" (Christy and Carson) went to get haircuts from our friend Lorri (who moved to this local area  from San Diego)

Wednesday (Day 4)

• The weather is great (not too hot nor cool)
• Ski boat is fixed and working!
• $7 got us two large home-made ice cream cookies, two ice cream cones, and one big serving of cheese nachos. 🙂
• I had a great run today (mostly because all of the podcasts I listened to were entertaining).

Tuesday (Day 3)

• Temperature is getting cooler
• The neighbor said it was OK to use their broadband WiFi 🙂
• More fishing and goofing off with the kids.
• Also playing a lot of cards!

Monday (Day 2)

• Still very hot and humid, but the lake water temperature is nearly perfect.
• Ski boat isn’t working and needs to get repaired.
• Our two boxes of UPS boxes showed up at 12 noon.
• Spending a lot of time fishing and playing in the water.
• I have never taken a two week vacation from work.  So far so good.
• Kids slept great.  We are all sharing one room which had us a little worried.
• We had a major thunderstorm.  I have to post a podcast I recorded.

Sunday (Day 1)

• Travel day from San Diego to Chicago via Southwest (24Jul05).
• I recorded a short podcast interview with Spencer.
• Rented our car from Budget and drove to Costco to pick up supplies
• Arrived at Lake Tippecanoe (near Leesburg, IN)  around 6 p.m.
• It is very hot and humid!
• The stuff we shipped via UPS came on Friday but the renters at the house wouldn’t sign for them so they should be delivered tomorrow.