Angie and Mike's Blog

Much to our chagrin, Harley is best friends with the cat from next door. The cat, whose name we don't know, often finds itself in our yard, as it did today. From time to time, it will even come up to our front door as if to ask, "can Harley come out and play?"

Labels: Bella Vista, Friends, Harley, house

On Friday, we made the trek to Kansas City to take in a Royals game with The Swearingens. We snapped this self-portrait in the left field stands. Renovations to Kauffman Stadium now allow fans to walk completely behind the outfield fountains. Unfortunately, the new stadium still houses the same ol' lousy Royals.


Maddie is an official Royals fan.


You'd never know the stadium was built in the early 70s. It's slated to host the All-Star Game in 2012. The Royals will probably have one league-mandated representative.


We got to our seats and I started snapping some photos. Angie didn't like her appearance so she grabbed my 17-35 and used the front element as a mirror. $1500 well spent, I suppose, but a bit bulky in her purse.


And Maddie made good use of the camera strap, too. Since we didn't have any chew toys with us she chewed on the strap.


Emily holds Cayden as Brian watches the game. A pitchers' dual for seven innings, the Royals blew their one-run lead in the eighth.


So as we lost interest in the game, Brian and Cayden made faces at each other.


Mommy and Maddie.


Maddie loves baseball!


She even tried to do "the wave."


Before the end of the game, we made our way out to the Kids' Zone where Maddie took her first carousel ride.


And it made her sweepy tired!


It was a buck night with post-game fireworks.


We probably would have had a better view from our hotel across the street.

Labels: baseball, family outings, Friends, Kansas City, Maddie, On Location, Royals

Our neighbors, Andrew and Tori, invited us over for dinner and Wii on Sunday.


I was a bit shy and stayed behind my camera while Angie rocked out with Andrew.


Meanwhile, Tori entertained Maddie.


And Harley tried not to get stepped on by Meeko, Andrew's boxer.

On the way home, Angie reminded me that her birthday is coming up soon. "(Nevermind) a watch!" she said "I wanna Wii!"

Labels: Angie, Bella Vista, Friends, Harley, Maddie, Mike

I've posted quite a few sneak peeks from our recent wedding in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago. And while Karen is back in California this weekend assisting with another wedding, I've been hard at work in Kansas putting the final touches on Jessica and Chris' wedding slideshow.

Click here to see how much fun we had covering their big day. A special thanks go to Jessica and Chris and their families for inviting us to share it in with them!

Labels: Crossover, Friends, Heartland

We would have been in the country tonight (see previous post) but Angie had a prior commitment with a certain group of girls who play bunco which meant that I had a prior commitment to baby sit our little buddy Braden. Though he was here a little longer than I anticipated, we had a pretty good time. He enjoyed looking out the window until the sun went down.


Of course, that was a game that Harley taught him.


He had a bag full of toys to play with, including crayons, cars and books.


He mostly liked stomping around the house in our shoes, though.


The books were put to good use though. He read one to Harley. I couldn't really understand any of the words he said. I don't imagine Harley did, either.

Labels: Braden, Friends, Harley

Our friend Callie is in town this week from Des Moines and she stopped by recently with new baby Delaney. She made friends with Harley while Angie ogled over the baby.


Really, though, Harley did very well with the new baby. She sniffed a lot, but kept a respectful yet curious distance.


I've never changed a diaper and I'm relatively inexperienced with a bottle (well, this kinda bottle at least!). At least it went better than a few years ago when I met Callie's oldest daughter. I just stood there holding her out from my body with her back to me. Nearly paralyzed, all I could ask is, "What do I do with it??!!!!"

Sooner or later I'm going to be ready for my own kid.

Labels: Friends, Harley

Sunday marked the third annual Cooperstorm, a photo gathering of some former K-State photographers at Jeff Cooper's house in Salina. Instead of just having dinner and shooting the bull, as in past years, this year we shared pictures. It was too cold to hang out on the deck like we did this summer when Jeanel came home, so we sat in Coop's newly renovated living room instead.


Coop leads the discussion.


Michael Young, who no one had seen in several years, drove all the way back from Georgia State to share with us his artwork. As someone said, seeing Michael Young is like seeing Elvis.

Labels: Friends, On Location, Salina

Labels: Antonio, BBBS, Friends

Angie and I took Antonio to the corn maze today. Angie and Antonio went last year but I was unable to attend. Both said this year's maze wasn't as cool but I think we all still had a good time. Angie insisted that she make a few frames of Antonio and I on our way out. I'm glad she did!

I'll share a few more frames later in the week.

Labels: Antonio, BBBS, Friends

Angie and I made a quick tript to KC on Tuesday to see a Royals game with friends Brian and Erin. Angie and Brian are friends from high school and recently reconnected after discovering that he had moved back to Kansas following a stint in the Navy. We met up at an Overland Park Wal-Mart and then shared a ride to the stadium, where we follwed our shadows into The K.


Brian and Erin have a daughter, Allie, who's two and about as cute as can be!


A bird's eye view of the field.


Speaking of birds, I wonder if this is the same bird that keeps sneaking into my photos. I have other images (from Florida and Arizona) with a random bird floating through the frame. It's hard to see, but notice a small black spec in the upper left-center portion of the sky. Click on the picture to see it a bit larger.


As for the game, the Royals won! I don't know that I've ever seen a game at The K in which the home team won. It was a nice treat as were the post-game fireworks.


We spent the night at Brian and Erin's cute little house in Lawrence. I had no idea they had a dog! And a big dog, at that. This is Milo, whose head is about the size of Harley. She's sweet as can be, though. Before we left, we had lunch with Nick, a former co-worker from Topeka and a current photographer at the Journal-World but I have no good reason why I don't have any photos from a lunch with a photographer. Maybe next time. Considering Angie has finally come around and will go to Lawrence, there will definitely be a next time.

Labels: Friends, On Location

We've yet to see The Simpsons Movie but we're completely hooked by the Simpsonize Me! web site! It's really a Burger King marketing ploy, as it will clearly tell you on the site, but it's fun nonetheless! This is what Angie, Callie, Aaron and I would look like if we were little yellow people. Angie insists that my Simpson likeness is the best! What do you think?

Labels: Aaron and Callie, BBBS, Friends

Angie and I went to Tulsa on Saturday to celebrate Callie's birthday. We went out to eat at a place called Cheddar's. There's a new one in Wichita, but we hadn't been there yet. After lunch, we went to the Oklahoma Aquarium. One the way out, Callie snapped a picture with her cell phone. Angie nearly cried when she learned that Callie has her in her "fab five" labeled "sis." We're really glad we decided to be bigs so long ago.

To see a slideshow from the aquarium, click here.


Before we dropped her off at her house, we played around with her new puppy, Max. He's already much bigger than Harley and is only a few weeks old!


Max, a puggle.


Our time in Tulsa was great but the drive down and back was an adventure (Attention Oklahoma officials: some of the highways in Oklahoma, especially the ramp linking I-244 East with US412 West in Tulsa, are in horrid condition). There's been an enormous amount of rain in the region lately causing many roads and highways to flood, including this portion of the Kansas Turnpike just north of the Oklahoma border. Maintenance crews were out to warn us as traffic slowed to a crawl. We were hugging the dividing wall and the right side tires were still in the water. Angie shot this image out the passenger side. Notice a pole sticking up; that's where the edge of the roadway is.

Labels: Aaron and Callie, BBBS, Friends, On Location