Weekend Highlights In Review ……. 4/25-4/26

It was a busy weekend for the Nelson family…..

Friday night, Kris and I went dancing, with friends of his from work.  The Dance Club of choice was The Level Nightclub on Rush.  It is a small nightclub which featured dance and top 40.  We had a good time.  (It’s been along time since we been out that late)

 

Saturday…..  Since we new it was going to be nice out.. our plan was to go to Busee Woods, go skating, then go to Woodfield, but the weather put a damper on that plan, , therefore we went to Potbelly and Jamba Juice for lunch, and then Woodfield.   After Woodfield we went to the grocery store where it poured and the temp dropped 40 degrees within a half hours time.  In the evening we picked up Kris’s mom and Went to Buffalo Wild Wings dinner and watched the Blackhawks become victorious over the Calgary Flames.  It was  a great playoff game to watch.

 

Sunday…..  Today was a day of running errands, and a family dinner…   Temp wise it went from 40 lows to rainy cloudy morning…  to temps in the lower 70’s in the afternoon.   In the afternoon we ran our errands, then we picked up Kris’s mom, and went to Maggiano’s  for a family dinner.  After dinner we came home and relaxed before we have to get ready for the work week.

 

Till next week,  have a good week………..Cindy

Rainy Lazy Sunday Morning

Good morning from Niles, IL where the sun isn’t shining, there isn’t blue sky’s , not nice outside, but it is damp and rainy….  A day where you want to stay inside and do nothing, or you could try out new software for your computer like I’m doing…

Door County 04/16/09- 04/19/09

First off I can't believe the last time I blogged about something was this very same trip to Door County in December of 2008...... I do apologize for the Cindy, in Kris and Cindy's blog to have neglected the site......

4/16/09

" First of want to send birthday wishes to Kris," We're heading back up to Door County, WI this afternoon for an extended weekend, so I thought I would kick off this mini blog, by saying we're staying at Edge water Resort, in Ephraim this trip, and although we never stayed there before we've driven passed it numerous times...

The town of Ephraim is a picture of classic Door County elegance... While you are staying in Ephraim or driving through, you get a great view of the bay.. Ephraim is a wonderful place to walk along the shoreline, check out the sunset, lady's if you want to pamper yourself has great spa to go to....Spa at Sacred grounds, it's minutes from Peninsula state park.. were you could walk, bike.. or enjoy just enjoy the scenery.

So it is a 4 hour drive from Niles IL to Door County... Drive included bright sunshine, nice weather, listening to the cubs game on the radio.. Kris and I made our traditional stop in Sheybogan, where we stopped at the Starbucks, and even Cold Stone Creamery... We continued on with our journey.. We knew we were going to have a late check in, but we didn't know the lobby closes at 5pm Mon -Thurs.. we arrive at The Edgewater Resort, to find an envelope taped to the lobby door with our last name, on it.. it had our room key and what room we are staying in..

We had a beautiful view overlooking the bay..

Our plan was to get settled in then to go to, Jo Joe's Pizzeria and gelato bar, for dinner, they have awesome, pizza and awesome gelato, drive up to find it closed.. the owners are on vacation from 4/16-4/22, we were going to go eat at the Old English Inn, but it was to formal, so we ended up at Husby's bar& grill. After dinner we came back to the room and, believe it or not we were able to watch the Blackhawks game.

4/17/09...

Good morning, from the beautiful Edgewater Resport, where the sun is shining, blue Sky's, this is were i would say have beautiful view of the bay.. this morning little set back.. work is being done on the resort, aka outside our room so we have a nice view of the trucks and a ladder outside our window....

First thing we did was check in, because we couldn't check in yesterday.. After we checked in our plan was to go into Fish Creek, stop at this deli, pick up some deli sandwiches, then go Peninsula State park. We drive down there and the deli shop is closed, and will re-open on 4/24Th, we would try this other small deli, place we know, the sign said closed, but turns out they are closed for good.. We ended up at the Main Street Market, to pick up deli sandwiches, then we drove to Peninsula State Park...

Peninsula State Park, was established in 1909, it's Wisconsin's most popular camping destination, 8 miles of green bay shoreline, wrap around Northern hardwood forests, wetlands, meadows, and 150ft cliffs.

There were numerous stops, and picture opportunities.. Kris and I climbed 70ft Eagle Tower.. you have great views of the shoreline, and other areas of the park. We stopped and ate lunch at Nicolette Beach. It was a nice day.... nice weather+ nice pictures= able to enjoy the view..

We stopped at Eagle Bluff lighthouse, I sat and enjoyed the view while Kris took some pictures. We spent a good 2 hours in the park.. It was a beautiful day, beautiful day to be walking around the park.

After we left the park, we drove into fish creek, there is this coffee shop I like to go to, we stopped there, then we drove back to our resort.

We went to Moja Rosa's for dinner... little diner with a Hispanic feel to it, but we had Hawaiian Pizza, for dinner, and chips& salsa along with cheesy garlic bread for an appetizer,

After dinner we walked north along the shoreline in front of our resort, took pictures of the beautiful sunset, even though it was little chilly, I still enjoyed the view.

4/18/09.......

Good morning from the Edgewater Resort, where the sun is shining, blue sky's and temps going to be in the upper 60"s It is a beautiful day to go to the spa, and go site seeing..

Going to the spa is how I started my day.. I had a spa session , this morning at The Spa at Sacred Grounds in Ephraim. This is the first time going to there spa. I first heard about the spa when we came in Sept, I even booked the session, then I cancelled, I booked a spa session when we came in December, but I canceled it for a second time. I don't know why I cancelled the sessions but I did... I booked the appointment two weeks before we were going up to Door County, therefore if I wanted to cancel the appointment ( again) it would give me plenty of time. I would definitely go there again, staff is friendly, small and quaint.. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed my one hour facial, and one hour Sundari facial, and I will definitely incorporate in my weekend stays up to Door County, but something was off, I don't know if it was because my last two spa experiences were in Maui... (need I say more))...

After I pampered and embarrassed myself at the spa. Wondering how a person could embarrass themselves at the spa. long story short, my BOA card wouldn't work so Kris had to come in and pay for my spa session. We drove into the town by Bailey's Harbor, and had lunch at Espresso bar, it's a small cafe that overlooks Lake Michigan and other small shops. We sat and enjoyed the nice weather.. although along the Lake Michigan side of Door County it was little cooler..

After Lunch we drove along the harbor.. did some site seeing, drove by Kangaroo Lake, We walked to the Cana Island Lighthouse and enjoyed the view of the light house and scenery along Lake Michigan.. If you like to sit and enjoy the view of the lake, there are some great rocks you can sit on and enjoy the view..

Cana Island Lighthouse... Walk the 50o' rock walk way to Cana Island and its 1869 light house.. The gr0unds are maintained much as the 19th century. The waters surrounding the island were once the scene of numerous shipwreckers'

After spending time in Bailey's harbor' we drove south toward Sturgeon bay, where ate dinner in Downtown Sturgeon bay, even though the shops were closed , and not to many people visiting, because it is still early in the season, things won't open until may 1st it was still nice to walk around. We had dinner at Pudgy Seagull After dinner we drove to our resort.

The best way to cap off a good day, and great weekend is by watching hockey, aka Stanley Cup Conference finals. Boston Bruins Vs Montreal Canadians on TV and listening to the Blackhawks game via Internet. Tomorrow we are leaving it's been a great weekend. the weather was great.

Another Great Weekend in Door County, it was quiet, but we knew that before we planned the weekend getaway. , Most of the shops and restaurant s are closed until may 1st, but the weather has been great. Temps in the upper 60's, great weather for us to go site seeing. Till we come to Door County again.

Round One Updates

Over the weekend, I posted the picks Cindy and I made for the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now that all 8 matchups have at least played 2 games in their respective series, I thought I’d recap how well we’re doing with our teams and highlight a few surprises.

Surprise in the West
The Western Conference has perhaps the biggest surprise of this year’s playoffs so far, with the Ducks winning the first 2 games on the road in San Jose. Remember that the Sharks are not only the top team in the West, but they won the Presidents Cup trophy for the best record in the league during the regular season. They also managed only 5 regulation losses at home during the season, so how could they be down the first two games at the Shark Tank, to the Ducks no less, with the lowest season point total of all 16 teams in the post season?  Everyone seems to be giving kudos to the young Anaheim netminder Jonas Hiller, but whatever the reason, the Sharks are in the precarious position of becoming the next victim of the Presidents Cup curse that bit the Red Wings in recent memory.

While both Cindy and I chose SJ to come out on top of ANA in round one, we’re not at all against the latest Duck, and most recent ex-Hawk, James Wisniewski advancing to the second round. Our hearts go out to Jeremy Roenick, a childhood idle of mine, as his post season hopes grow dim in the process. From a Hawks perspective, should we advance to the next round, we’d wanna see the Ducks advance over the Sharks anyway.

Rest of the West
The rest of the Western Conference seems about par with what we expected. Our hometown Hawks pulled off two HUGE wins at the UC, although the series turned more interesting after a loss in Calgary. One more game (Game 5) at the UC couldn’t hurt. :)

Detroit makes the trip down south to Columbus for game 3 tonight leading the series 2-0. Not the start that the Blue Jackets wanted for their franchise post season debut, but it is what it is. Vancouver also looks to be the first team to advance in this first round, and can do so with a W over the Blues tonight in St. Louis.

The East
We’ve always been more focused on the Western Conference, but I’ll run down the East for completeness.  Boston and Montreal have been slugging it out in the only Original Six matchup in Round One.  Boston has not surprised anyone by jumping to a 3-0 series lead at the expense of the Canadiens’ young goaltender Carey Price. They shoot for the sweep tomorrow at the Forum.

We picked the Capitals in their race against the Rangers, who in turn had their own plans. Whether we like it or not, Sean Avery has been making an impact for NYR as well as playoff veteran Scott Gomez. The Caps lost both of their home games, but took one back from the Rangers last night to cut the series deficit in half. Pittsburgh has the advantage against Philly in the battle of Pennsylvania, which is probably the best first round rivalry (next to BOS and MON). We just wish we’d been able to see more of those games thus far.

Wrapping up the Eastern Conference is the one series that Cindy and I didn’t agree on, the Devils and the Hurricanes. So far, Cindy’s Devils are up 2 games to 1 over my Canes, but there’s plenty of hockey left in this one. Of all the matchups, I think this one has the best chance of going to a game 7. Although, if Carolina doesn’t even the series tonight, I think they’re in a heap of trouble.

5 Games Tonight
While our Hawks regroup in Calgary for Game 4 tomorrow, there are 5 other games tonight. Only the Canucks have a chance to sweep tonight, but both San Jose and Columbus are in virtual must-win situations if they want to keep their post season hopes alive. It should be a great night of hockey, and will be interesting to see where everyone stands this time tomorrow.

Enjoy the games tonight, and GO HAWKS!!!

Our 1st Round Playoff Picks

It doesn’t take the fact that our hometown Blackhawks finally made the post season for the first time in seven years to get us excited about the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It doesn’t hurt, though, either.  Cindy and I have been tracking the playoffs for the last few seasons now, making our own picks as to who’s going to win in each round. We each have our own ways of picking our favorites, and they don’t necessarily match up against who’s the better team. We also don’t always see eye-to-eye in our choices, so that makes following the games that much more entertaining.

Seeing that we now have our blog more active than in years past, I thought I’d share our picks for the 2009 playoffs. Unlike last year, our picks for the first round were pretty much the same except for one match-up.

Western Conference

San Jose vs. Anaheim – As much as we’re happy that the Ducks ended up with the 8th seed in the West, mostly for the sake of former Hawk James Wisniewski, Cindy and I both are picking San Jose to take the first round.

Detroit vs. Columbus – It’s painful for us as die-hard Hawks fans to choose Detroit over Columbus in this series, but neither one of us thinks the Blue Jackets can pull off the upset.

Vancouver vs. St. Louis – I think we’ll be secretly cheering for the Blues, but ultimately Cindy and I are sure that the Canucks will make it through to Round 2. Luongo is just too good of a goalie to tank it against a #6 seed.

Chicago vs. Calgary – Duh! Cindy and I are pulling for the Hawks, of course. Not sure they can do it in four games, even though we swept the season series against the Flames, but we’ll be happy with a series win in 5 or 6 games.

Eastern Conference

Boston vs. Montreal – We both became fans of the Bruins right around the All-Star break. If not for our Blackhawks making the charge in the West, we probably would be routing for the Bruins more. Montreal just isn’t the team they used to be.

Washington vs. New York – Cindy isn’t a big Ovechkin fan, but neither one of us likes to see Avery in an NHL sweater. We’d rather see the Capitals take it into the second round.

New Jersey vs. Carolina – Alas, we can’t agree on everything.  Cindy is pulling for Brouder and the Devils, and I think she has a crush on Parise (shhh, don’t tell her I’m on to it).  I, on the other hand, want to see the Hurricanes get closer to the finals after they missed out on the playoffs last year.

Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia – Cindy and I are pulling for the Pens in this first round rematch from last year’s playoffs. Other than the finals last year with Pittsburgh and Detroit, their series against Philly was the best one to watch last year. This year aims to more of the same.

So those are our picks for round one. I think we’ve played it safe on most of them, but that just means if there are any major upsets, we’ll be happy with their outcomes. Be sure to share your thoughts as well as tag along here for updates as Round One progresses.

Thanks,
- Kris

What The Heck’s New?

Boy, this blog has really been neglected lately.

I’d say we’ve been very busy, but that’s sort of a given and sounds too much like a cop out anyway. It was certainly a full-schedule weekend, though, with little Zach man’s 2nd birthday party on Saturday and Easter dinner with Cindy’s family yesterday. In fact, other than getting a haircut, I can’t even remember what we did Friday. :)  I’ll let Cindy fill in the blanks about the family stuff this past weekend.

Short Week
We’re pretty much set for a short week, seeing that we’re leaving Thursday afternoon and heading up to Door County for my b-day. We’re pretty much taking it slow this time, and other than stopping at Jo Joe’s for pizza and gelato on Thursday and Cindy’s spa session Saturday morning, I think things are pretty much wide open. The kicker is that we’re finally expecting to see some nicer weather here in Chicago this weekend (it’s cold and rainy right now), and we’ll be up north another 250 miles and about 10 degrees cooler. Oh well, it will be nice to have a fireplace at least.

Random Stuff
As long as it’s been since the last post, there hasn’t been really anything major that would normally be mentioned here. Our favorite Blackhawks made it to the playoffs for the first time in way too many years, so we’re all hyped about that. Baseball season started again, and so far it’s been very underwhelming. I picked up a new digital camera during the latest Dell Days of Deals promotion, but haven’t really had too many chances to play around with it. And not only did Cindy get sole possession of my previous camera (the Canon SD890), she also picked up a Sony Webbie camcorder to play around with. With as fast as she’s getting the hang of Facebook and uploading photos from her Mini, I don’t think it will be long before you’re seeing more here at the blog rather than reading.

After our Door County trip, we’re hoping to break out the bike and skates again and get back out on the bike trails. Other than the weather no cooperating, we haven’t had much holding us back from getting out there and shaking off some of these winter pounds (at least the ones I put on). Not only skating at lunch out by the office, but also after work and on the weekends, too. Seeing as though we didn’t get started last year until around June, getting out there in April is going to be a big head start.

As far as everything else, I’m probably leaving out a few other minor things. That’s okay, though. Should we eventually get back in the swing of things and keeping this blog updated, there will be nothing that falls through the cracks.

Thanks