The Adventures of Petey and _____

Megan on the "buttflower" at Cobbles Elementary School.  We went over to there with Tachel last weekend and all of us agreed that many kids must get injured on this playground.  And the thing Megan is riding is a physics experiment gone mad!



Judy as Vanna White showing off the copy machine.  Rumors of this copier ran rampant throughout the organization.  Unfortunately, this is just a loaner at this point.  We still get to keep the old Toshiba with over a million copies.  What will the future hold?



Dock and Neville.  Neville has a clean bill of health and a family.  YEAH!  Dock has neither.  BOO!



If only this wasn't blurry.  Maybe I'll have to do something like this to the ol' Nissan Versa. 


 
The newest member of the Lollypop family is Petey!  He's been adopted by Dee (and apparently the rest of the staff) and he could be any breed you could imagine.  Maybe even part Panda...






This is not a real dog.  It's just a stuffed animal...


FINAL WEEK! I'm helping organize the run/walk at Barktober Fest, which is this SATURDAY!  Lots of food, activities, and stuff if you want to come out to Egypt Park (next to Lollypop Farm).  And, if you like to donate to help homeless and abused animals, please visit: http://lollypop.kintera.org/barktoberfest/mike

The Classy Kraus' of Rochester

This is Air Bud.  Who's Air Bud?  We didn't know either.  We just tried to play basketball at Cobbles Elementary and he'd steal the ball...



Genesee Waterways Center in Genesee Valley Park in Rochester.  Megan's work helped fund a regatta called the Diversity Invitational.



While we were waiting for the regatta to start, I saw this crazy tree in the park.  A bit tropical looking for this area.



Crew racing!






Here's my crew boat.















I believe this is the boat Megan's work bought.  I could be wrong though...


 









First of all, there's a "Professional Disc Golf Association."  Second, the "World Championship" was going on.  Third, this guy had a disc golf cart.  If I were in Buffalo I'd say "For Realz?"



We're still celebrating our first wedding anniversary.  This time, we had a free night stay at the Hyatt Rochester because that's where our reception was (if you remember).  We didn't get the Presidential Suite this time, but we still managed to have a good time...



It's amazingly difficult to take a picture of downtown Rochester without getting it full of empty parking spaces.  It's the difficult position many mid-sized cities have.  People won't come downtown unless there is more parking than in the suburbs.  But, people don't want to come downtown because it is boring since they bulldozed all the retail space to make parking lots.  



Thanks Lindsay!  If you ever get the opportunity to work with her, you are very lucky!



Champagne and chocolate covered strawberries.  Oh la la!



Take note, to the Hyatt Corporation this is our official name.  



Goodbye Midtown Plaza.  This was a urban renewal project in the 60s that closed off a bunch of streets and made a huge, windowless superblock indoor mall.  For my Michigan folk, think the old malls in downtown Muskegon and Grand Rapids which met the same fate.  



Despite the whole Paetec situation, I think downtown is still heading in a much more stable and sustainable direction.  



Goodbye Robocop Architecture.



The old Sibley Department Store.  This reminds me of the Merchandise Mart building in Chicago.  Under the right management, this place could be the crown jewel of Rochester.



Dinner at Scene on Main in the Hyatt.  Since we got married, they renovated the first few floors of the Hyatt and it's pretty swanky (and "IT'S OUR WEDDING COLORS!" as Megan pointed out immediately).  I believe this was called "Scene Snax"


 
This is the flatbread 



The filet and fingerling fries.  I know it's in a hotel, but it is really super good food and you should go to it.  And, we happened to be there when the Tall Club had their convention, which meant that Megan and I were the shortest people there.


NOW FOR SOME BUSINESS:
BARKTOBER FEST 2011 is on September 24th in Egypt Park (next to Lollypop Farm) and I'm on The Dirty Dogs team.  So, please support me (and the homeless and abused animals of Lollypop Farm) by going to http://lollypop.kintera.org/ba​rktoberfest/mike to make a donation!


That's it for now.  Megan's trying to make a cake with Rachel...

Self-Parking Cars

So, I'm at the Illinois DMV getting a new license with a picture that makes me look like a fat serial killin' terrorist when I look a bit closer at my birth certificate. My parents were 26 years old when they had me. I'm 26 years old and no where near children. Having children and getting married is what old people do. Spooky and just in time for Halloween! Which, I have lots of Halloween parties to go to before I go on a trip to Indiana this weekend.

I'm putting out another 'zine and need writers. For more info, visit: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=21946350&blogID=180170212&MyToken=dd4ce09e-cf0d-422e-a74b-f8736613d785

Enjoy!

Look what I have to deal with!

Chicago traffic is out of control.

Creepy store displays are my favorite.

The set of Escanaba In Da Moonlight, which I saw at the Circle Theatre in Forest Park, Illinois. I liked it better than the movie since it was a bit more refined. The story was way clearer and more vulgar. Who knew I was this much of a Michigan man?

Storefront in Forest Park, IL

I wonder what the purpose of this was originally? It's not an umbrella holder...

The purpose of this is to make me smile.

Chicago Marathon near Fullerton on Clark. There were 40,000 runners. Way too much for me to do that early on a Sunday morning...

X-Men Unite!

Much love and hope to see you all soon!

Mike