African Adventure 2012

Well hello there! Anybody miss me?
It's quite sad when the one thing that you have been looking forward to for over 6 months, comes to an end, and life returns to normal after the fact. No, I am not talking about Nathan and I taking down and packing away our pool this weekend. As you all know, I was referring to the McCarthy African Adventure 2012. The boys were exceptionally well behaved, and endured the 18 hour flights like true veterans! On the African continent, we had a grand time, sharing special memories time with uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers and grandparents!  Spending quality time with all our families was very special for each of us! Also, going to the Chobe Game Reserve and seeing wildlife up close and personal was truly a life changing experience! Some of the animals we saw include: lions, elephants, buffalo, wild dogs, jackals, brown hyena, giraffe, hippo, waterbuck, sable, springbok, impala, kudu, baboons, monkeys, crocodiles, water monitors, fish eagles, kingfishers, and ostrich! After  these safari's, Liesel won't be able to take the boys back to the zoo, where they peer at the animals from a distance through some chain-link fence :(

Well, due to the fact that most of us are still feeling the effects of jet lag, I am signing off early tonight. But I leave you with 60 of our favorite memories from the last 3 weeks!

T-minus 1 week and counting

It's hard to believe that next week this time, I will be in South Africa! Yes, it's true.... the vacation that w have been planning for years is now only days away. Please remember Liesel in your prayers, as she travels alone with the two boys on Tuesday! This will be Josh's first long distance plane ride and we have no idea how he's going to cope with it =/ SO your prayers are appreciated!!

This is really one of our last summer weekends in the USA, so we tried to make the ost of it. We woke up to the sounds of raindrops on Saturday, which was very welcome. Later, the boys and I paid a vist to a dear friend, and afterwards spent some time at a playground. While they were playing, the heavens opened again and cooled us down a bit, so we sought the shelter of a tree until the rain cloud moved away.
That afternoon, I headed to our church, as my band was hosting a praise and worship evening in heir hall. This required a lot of set up, sound checks, rehearsal etc, before our evening performance. When the evening arrived, we had a good turnout and enjoyed praising God together!

Sunday morning came earlier than expected as Nathan came and woke me before 6:30am. He was excited as we were going to see the Cleveland Browns Football team at their training camp with is bout 25 minutes from our house. Their training kicked off at 8:45, but the gates opened at 7:45, and it is recommended that you to early to get a good spot! We arrived shortly after 8am and were able to get a good parking and had time to look around the training camp! Nath scored himself a Cleveland Browns dog tag, and had a chance to throw a few footballs, before the team came out and went through their paces! It was a great experience, and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Meanwhile Liesel and Joshua went to church and also had a wonderful time!

I spent the rest of the day watching the Olympics and especially enjoyed the Volleyball, both indoor and beach, and cheered my home teams (USA) on to victory!

At 5:30, our babysitter arrived, allowing Liesel and I to go on one final date before South Africa. We headed to our favorite restaurant and had those heavenly milkshakes! Afterward, we pulled up a couple of chairs in the shade of some trees in the center of Crocker Park and spent some quality time just talking :) In fact, it was so relaxing, another man in a chair a few meters away had fallen into a deep sleep and was snoring loudly!

T-minus 2 weeks and counting

We are another 7 days closer to our eagerly anticipated Southern African trip! We can't believe how quickly time has flown since we purchased our tickets back in February this year!

This week's blog is brought to you by the complimentary hotel internet. I drove 4 hours northwest this evening as one of my larger customers in Michigan is going live with Google Apps on Monday. A few of my colleagues and I will be onsite supporting them through their major milestone from 8am onwards. We will be here for a couple of days, ensuring everything runs smoothly and if any issues arise, that they are quickly nipped in the bud.
Before embarking on the four hour drive, I spent some time in the pool with my boys! It was another scorcher of a day, so the pool offered a welcome relief after lunch.

On Friday evening, we had friends over for hotdogs and hamburgers. They have children that are in the same age range as our boys and they get along really well. So well, in fact, that while they all played inside, we (the adults) sneaked outside and had some great conversation on the patio, without any interruptions! Our friends provided dessert, which consisted of three different varieties of ice cream, plus a range of delicious toppings, including, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, chocolate chips, different colored sprinkles and more! We all loved the indulgence!
Once they left, I thought it would be a great night to sleep in a tent. Nathan had been wanting to for a while now, but most weekends were too hot. Since Friday was mostly overcast - the air temperature was comfortable and so we got the tent out of the basement and set it up outside. This would also be Josh's first outdoor camping experience. By the time the tent was ready for us, it was close to 10pm, so the boys found their spots and after a few stories from Nathan, they fell asleep. Unfortunately - the padding I chose for myself was not ideal (our patio furniture's cushions) and I did not have a great night's sleep :( But it's still worth it so the boys could have their adventure!

On Saturday morning, since we were all awake before 6:30am, we went back inside where I made a pancake breakfast, and let Liesel sleep in for once! The rest of the day was relaxed, and later that evening, Nathan and I headed to the YMCA for some swimming practice! When we came home, it was time for supper, and then the boys needed to be bathed. Shortly thereafter, it was their bedtime, which allowed Liesel and me to enjoy a DVD together!

Good times :)

T-minus 3 weeks and counting

This weekend seemed to fly by. Not that we're complaining, because we are now another week closer to our South African vacation! Not too much to report on this weekend. The weather is still hot and humid, so most of our time was spent indoors in the comfort of our air-conditioner, and in the pool!

Friday's Family Fun Night consisted of watching the movie Charlotte's Web. Liesel had recently finished reading the book to the boy's which they seemed to enjoy. So for her family fun night, Liesel picked up the Charlotte's Web DVD from the library. Freshly popped popcorn was the perfect snack to complement the movie!

On an overcast Saturday morning, we paid our local Toys R Us a visit to pickup a backpack for Josh's pre-school starting in late August. We also picked up a new game that Liesel will give to him on the airplane on the way to South Africa. The day remained overcast, and there seemed to be some storm clouds building up. So we decided to make the most of the dry weather, and headed to the Westlake Recreation Center, so Josh could play in the playground, while Nathan and I worked on his tennis skills on their tennis courts.

Church was the first thing on our agenda for Sunday morning. Afterward, we relaxed at home. That afternoon, Nathan and I paid my friend Jim a visit. We had a good visit, sharing smiles and handshakes, before we headed to a sports store, for Nathan to find a mouth-guards to accompany his football helmet. By the time we got home there was just enough time to jump in the pool, before I headed out to a 4 hour long band practice and dinner. I leave you all with a photo of the beautiful summer evening taken from my upstairs window.

The Heat is On in the Land of the Free!

Whoever thought, that we would be thankful for the relief that an 82F/28C day offers! Well today's temperature is substantially cooler than what North East Ohio has been experiencing over the past week. Temperatures have consistently been in the upper 90's (35C+), and even our little pool, which we look to for temporary relief from the heat, is now at 93 degrees (34C). So the only way to escape the excessive heat is to take refuge indoors where the air conditioner is running continuously!

Since I missed the blog last week, let me summarize it in a paragraph.
Friday night was Josh's Family Fun Night, and he opted for dessert at Menchies! On Saturday night, the boys had a babysitter, while Liesel and I went to her friend's surprise birthday party at a restaurant in Cleveland. On Sunday, in 90 degree (33C+) weather, I made use of my father's day gift, and easily removed the railings from our wrap-around porch! Take a look at the BEFORE and AFTER photos below:

That evening, after dinner, we headed out to McDonalds for some dessert, and then found ourselves a great vantage point to watch some Independence Day fireworks. As I mentioned last week, the entire program was running an hour later than scheduled due to an earlier thunderstorm, so the fireworks only got underway after 11pm. It was an impressive show, and my boys manage to stay awake even though it was way after their bedtime!

Independence Day was a few of days later, and was another scorcher. By 10am the temperature was heading quickly into the 90s (33C+). I had to mow, since we were having a bunch of friends over that evening to celebrate with us. Mowing almost killed me as perspiration poured off my body. I even experienced a strange tingling sensation in my limbs, which is not a good sign! Afterward I sought refuge in the air-conditioned house and quickly downed half a gallon of lemonade! The rest of the day, was dedicated to getting the place ready for our guests, laying tables, preparing the food and drinks and last minute cleaning. Our friends arrived later that afternoon, and we had a fantastic time together. The kids spent the whole time in the pool, while some of us sat outside keeping an eye on them, while other's preferred the cooler environment in the house. I grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner, but Liesel's desserts stole the show! Cupcakes decorated in red, white and blue frosting and sprinkles, ice cream sandwiches with red.white and blue sprinkles, and even water melon cut in the shape of stars! A good time was had by all!

This weekend started a day early for us, since I got Friday off for all the extra hours I have been putting in at work. Even though the National Weather Service had issued another Excessive Heat warning, Liesel and I wanted to take our boys for a bike ride. It wasn't your average bike ride, since this one was in a National Park. The path runs along side the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway, which allows cyclists to catch a ride back to their starting point, for a very nominal fee. So we left home at 8am to ensure we'd miss the heat of the day. When we arrived, we unloaded the bikes and headed out on a 3 mile ride to the next train station. The Cuyahoga Valley is really beautiful, and the cycling path takes you through luscious green forests and along winding rivers. We cycled a total of 3 miles, before getting to the train station, where we could sit down and relax while waiting for the train to arrive. The train arrived about half an hour later, and our bikes were loaded into a specially designated car, and we climbed into the comfort of an air-conditioned car and enjoyed the leisurely trip back to the car park!

On Saturday, Nathan and Liesel went shopping for school supplies, while Josh and I relaxed at home. That afternoon, we found the perfect outdoor activity that could keep us cool, washing my car! Nathan and I gave my car a thorough cleaning while enjoying the cool spray! That evening, we dropped the boys off with another babysitter, while Liesel and I went to friends in the neighborhood who were having a baby shower! They are adopting a baby from Russia, and to hear some of the stories about orphanages there made me realize how blessed we truly are!
Finally, as mentioned in the opening paragraph, it was a little cooler today, 82F (28C). It was still warm enough to wash Liesel's car after church, and then to enjoy some downtime with the boys in the pool! You've got to love Summertime :)

Blog delayed due to inclement weather

No really....
This evening we were heading out to a fireworks show that was due to start at 10:00pm. However, a thunderstorm passed through the area around 8 pm and that caused the festivities to be delayed by over an hour. So by the time the fireworks started lighting up the night sky, it was after 11pm! We only got home just before 11:30pm with two very tired boys.... To top it all off, I have to get into work extra early tomorrow, so I do not have the time for a blog :( Maybe tomorrow night (after volleyball.....)

Short and sweet

Most of my weekend was spent working on a multi-million dollar deal for my company. Therefore, this blog is not going to be very long... As the saying goes: All work and no play makes Grant a dull boy. I am definitely not dull, so I managed to carve out some quality time with both Liesel and my boys. On Friday night, our babysitter arrived shortly after I got home from work. This meant that Liesel and I were heading out for a delicious dinner at my new favorite restaurant, B-Spot! This time Liesel gave in to temptation and ordered herself a chocolate shake after seeing my Chocolate Expresso shake :) These guys make the world's best shakes, and their burgers are out of this world! After the heavenly dining experience, we stolled around Crocker Park, browsing some stores and checking out some sales. Saturday saw me working in the morning, early afternoon, and the evening until 1am. However, Nathan and I had time to jump into the pool at our gym. He wanted to show me how he can now SWIM! He has been going to private swim lessons, and this week, he was able to swim across the deep end of the pool! I was so proud of him! After dinner, we headed to the Westlake Recreation Center for a bicycle ride in the warm summer evening! After the ride, the boys love playing and climbing in the playgrounds!

Then we came home and it was back to work :( On Sunday, we headed to Church in the morning. The rest of the day I was on phone calls and sitting in front of my MacBook :( Hopefully my work/life balance returns to normal soon!

Fantastic Father's Day Weekend!

The McCarthy household doesn't usually stick to the tried, and trusted traditions of old. And this weekend was no exception! Father's Day celebrations were extended to a weekend which started with a family fun night (FFN) on Thursday night. For FFN, we all went to go watch Madagascar 3 with friends. Normally this is am expensive outing, but we found a theater that only charges $3 per person, so the evening, with a cold-drink came to under $15! Then on Friday night, I came home from work and grabbed a quick dinner, before heading out to my friend's house to load the car up with band equipment for my bands outdoor gig at a local Coffee Shop. Once I got back home, the boys and I enjoyed some time in the pool, while Liesel went out shopping for Vacation Bible School this coming week. On Saturday morning, we were out of he house by 9:15 since today was the Annual Duct Tape Parade, and we wanted to get ourselves a good spot. It was a hot day, and sunscreen was definitely required! The parade did not disappoint, and the floats were impressive. We especially enjoyed the "Safari" theme with elephants, lion, giraffes and zebras aplenty! The boys were rewarded well for their patience and scored a load of candy and some other goodies.

Afterward, their was just enough time to get home and jump in the pool for a quick cool-off before heading out to my band's gig. We were playing at a coffee house from 2 - 4pm, but needed to set up our equipment beforehand and run a couple of sound checks - so we arrived at the venue at 12:30pm. The temperature was forecast to be 88 (31C), and it was HOT. Despite the heat, the band played well together and enjoyed the complimentary iced coffee during the break! By the time I got home after the gig, after packing up the equipment and setting it back up in our practice room, it was 5:30pm. It was the perfect time to fire up the grill and enjoy some hamburgers for dinner, followed by an after dinner swim with the boys. Then came Father's Day! After I woke up and went downstairs for breakfast, my wife greeted me with Chocolate Croissants and coffee! An excellent start to the day. Josh and Liesel made me a card that I got on Friday, and Nathan gave me a card with a customized copper guitar pick, with "Dad, you rock!" inscribed on it!

That was so thoughtful! Liesel also spoiled me with a heavy duty reciprocating saw! After breakfast, the boys headed to downtown Cleveland for a Boys Morning Out. It was Marine Week in Cleveland, which meant that there was a lot of Military hardware (tanks, planes helicopters and more) on display! The boys were able to climb into tanks, and even the cockpit of helicopter, which Nathan loved! We had a great time together doing guys' stuff!

We got home in time for lunch, followed by an amazing dessert that Liesel and the boys made the day before. It was Cookie Dough bites, small rolled balls of cookie dough, with some dipped in dark chocolate! Hmmmmmmmm But WAIT, that's not all. For dinner, Liesel made a delicious chicken in a mustard/maple syrup sauce, accompanied by some incredible roast potatoes!! Thank you Lee! You know the way to my heart :) What a crazy busy, but crazy good weekend!! Thank you family :) I am blessed to have you all in my life!

It's all fun and games, until someone gets stung by a wasp

What a gorgeous weekend! Cloudless skies, accompanying hot, windless days gives us the perfect excuse to spend hours in the pool, which is exactly what we did...
The weekend started on Saturday morning with a band practice for me. The band is playing at the Avon Cafe this coming Saturday, so we needed some extra time to work on a few songs for the gig. While I was strumming my guitar, Liesel took Nathan to our favorite home improvement store, as their kids program was building a wooden airplane from the Madagascar movie that morning. When I got home, it was time for lunch, and then a little later, the boys headed to the pool! It was glorious, especially since the water temperature was 83 degrees (28C)! We stayed submerged until dinner time, which was at Moe's, as per Nathan's request for his family fun night. On the way back, we made a detour to a home improvement store to pick up a gas bottle for my grill, as well as a window screen repair kit. This was the cheapest option to replace holey screens that my youngest made in his screen, the screen door in the kitchen, as well as my bedroom screen! Fortunately YouTube has a DIY video on how to do your own screen replacements!

Sunday was even hotter than Saturday. Nathan showed some Pink-eye symptoms, so we opted not to go to church. Instead we had a lazy morning enjoying the air-conditioning in the house! After watching some of the Men's Final in the French Open, Liesel headed out to do some grocery shopping. While Lee was out, I was checking on the pool, and on the way in I felt an intense pain in my knee, Instinctively my hand went to my knee to brush away the source of the pain. Unfortunately, the source was a wasp that stung my knee, and then subsequently stung my thumb! It's been decades since I was last stung, and I obviously forgot how intense that pain is! I immediately put my thumb under cold running water, before looking up how to treat stings.... Once the stings subsided, the boys and I ventured outside, and headed back to the pool for some cool fun! For dinner, I fired up the grill and we ate a delicious dinner outside on the patio. After dinner, we played outside some more, before going on our second bike ride around the neighborhood that day! You've got to love summer! Now only if we could get rid of the "useless" insects that can ruin our fun.........

Hey, where did my weekend go?

After having a three day weekend last week, I kind of feel short-changed by this past one. So with limited hours to enjoy ourselves, we made sure to enjoy every minute! On Friday night, we headed to a local home improvement store to stock up on some supplies for the weekend activities. So on Saturday, my work was cut out or me. Jobs included: additional landscaping with stepping stones and marble rocks, repainting and re-attaching a window ornament, and cleaning the pool. The air temperature was cooler this weekend, so no-one made use of our pool. After the DIY tasks were taken care of, it was time for family fun night. Josh chose to go to Crocker Park, which turned out to be a wonderful evening! When we arrived, Nathan and I sat down at the outdoor chess tables and enjoyed a game together.

At the same time, Liesel and Josh headed to Barnes and Noble, where Joshua entertained himself in the Children's section with their new train table! Once Nathan and I finished up, we headed into Barnes and Noble to find the other's and spent some time indoors with them. On the way back to the car, we were stopped by a policeman in his car, and when I approached his window, he offered the boys a couple of police badges. Another reason we love it here!

On Sunday, we headed to church a half hour earlier than normal, due to a summer schedule change. For lunch we headed to a new playground for a picnic lunch with Liesel's MOPS group. It was an enjoyable outing, and the boys loved the playground, and I loved the dessert :)

Another good weekend - just not long enough!

Memorial Day - the unofficial start of Summer

In the USA, three day weekends are few and far between. Monday is Memorial Day here, so I am looking forward to being able to spend some extra time with my family, since my work has had me doing quite a bit of traveling recently! My most recent trip sent me flying to San Francisco on Monday afternoon, to spend two days of training at the YouTube headquarters, before making my way back on Wednesday night. I had a good time in San Francisco, but due to my current workload, I did not have the option to explore the city. The course ended roughly at 8pm on Wednesday, and immediately afterward, I made my way back to the airport for a 10pm flight to Las Vegas. One advantage to flying so late, is that the airports are generally quiet and there is no wait to pass through the security checkpoints. My flight took off on schedule and I landed in Las Vegas just after midnight. Bear in mind, that I had been awake since 5:30am the previous morning......
This was the first time I had been to Las Vegas, and as soon as I came up from the jetway in the airport, I was greeted by a huge welcome sign and row after row of slot machines!

Considering I had 6 hours to wait before my next flight, I took a shuttle from the airport to the (in)famous Las Vegas Strip. I got of at the MGM Grand Hotel, which was indeed Grand! The foyer consisted of mostly marble and gold and could easily accommodate large crowds of people! Then came the casino section, which seemed never-ending. I was amazed how many people were still gambling at around 2am. Also, coming from Ohio where all smoking indoors is banned, I was disgusted to see how many people were sitting at the slot machines and tables, puffing away at their cancer sticks! After wandering around aimlessly in through the maze of slot machines, I managed to make my way out and onto the Strip. The temperature outside was a pleasant 80 degrees (27C) at 2am - so I was still working up a sweat as I walked between the hotels. I walked past the Excalibur and Tropicana (where the finals of Dancing with the Stars is being held), before a saw a familiar skyline. Diagonally opposite me was the Empire State Building, Chrysler building, Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty! I had stumbled upon the New York New York resort, which was my next stop.

I went inside, but once you've seen one casino in Las Vegas, you've pretty much seen them all! Basically there were thousands of slot machines, with hundreds of gaming tables all around (with people smoking and drinking as they emptied their accounts...) I made my way outside again and looked for the Bellagio, home of the famous fountains. My eyes caught the hotel's signage in the distance, and I determined that it was way too far for my weary legs to get me there and back. Shortly afterward I caught a shuttle back to the airport where I could relax for a couple of hours before my three and a half hour flight back home!

This weekend was spent mostly at home, enjoying the record breaking heat, and relaxing in our pool! On Saturday evening, we put our bikes on the bike rack and drove to a local park for a family bike ride which is always enjoyable. Liesel and I worked in the garden on Sunday, pulling out a tree and two shrubs, before getting cleaned up and going on a date night! We chose this restaurant that is owned by a renowned chef, Michael Symon,  and specializes in hamburgers. It is called the B-spot, and the variety of hamburgers is amazing! I also ordered myself their Chocolate Expresso milkshake, and it is by far, THE BEST MILKSHAKE I HAVE EVER HAD! Liesel agreed with me! It was thick, creamy, and had chunks of chocolate and expresso beans that added texture to the delectable flavor. The hamburgers were also out of this world - so it was the perfect end to another good weekend!

Welcome home Summer!

Wow! What a week! It all started with me flying to Google's office in Chicago on Monday, for a two day workshop with the government, our largest customer. From Monday to Wednesday, I spent over 30 hours working in the Google office, so no sight-seeing this time around. I did manage to get this photo on my way from the train to the office.

On Wednesday, after a day of meetings, I headed back to the airport and flew back to Cleveland, arriving around 10pm!

When I came back, the weather welcomed me with wonderfully warm days. The temperatures climbed into the the mid-eighties (30+ C), and on Friday it was time to go into the basement, and emerge with our above-ground swimming pool! Nathan and Josh were very eager to help out, which made the job a little easier. We quickly had the frame set up and soon had water flowing into the pool :)

On Saturday, another beautiful day, I spent the afternoon with my band, The Remnant, as we had been hired to play at a retirement party. We got to the venue at 11:30 and set up our equipment and ran through a sound check. Later that afternoon, we hit the stage, and everyone seemed to have a great time! Mission accomplished!

By 6:15pm I was back at home and in time to jump in the pool with my boys! We had a blast in the icy water. The 86 degree (30C) weather helped keep our minds off the cooler liquid!

On Sunday, the family and I headed to Church. By the time we got home, the temperature had already risen into the eighties (27C+), which meant it was pool time again. The boys played in the pool before lunch. Today, both Lunch and Dinner were enjoyed outside on the patio! After dinner, we stopped at the boys' favorite dessert place, Menchies for some delicious FroYo. We love this time of the year! Can you tell?

Happy Mother's Day!!

Sunday was another glorious Spring day in Cleveland. Blue skies, birds chirping and everything seems so green! It was the perfect day to celebrate mothers! The McCarthy family were able to enjoy a laid back mother's day, as the boys and I gave Liesel her main gift yesterday. We've all heard the analogy: Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day, but teach him how to fish, and he eats for a lifetime. So we've slightly modified that for Mother's day to : Give a mom's some flowers, and she'll have them for a week, but plant her a garden with her favorite flowers, and she'll have them for a season!
So the first item on our agenda for Saturday, was a stop at our local Home Improvement store, where we stocked up with garden soil, top soil, and some of Liesel's favorite flowers!
Next item on the agenda, was to rehabilitate and re-shape an existing flower bed. We made the bed bigger, and gave it a new semi circular shape. This was no walk in the park, and I had to use more than 6 bags of fresh organic soil to revitalize the bed. But eventually it was ready for the new lilies to be planted!
Now as long as we water them regularly, Liesel should have a good supply of her favorite flowers for a while :)

The hard work did not end there. During the day, I also did a couple of home repairs. and then trimmed the bushes and shrubs along our wrap-around porch.

Liesel and I enjoyed a date night out at a local restaurant on Friday night. We had been to the restuarant before for my company's annual Christmas party. But there we have a set menu, so we thought we would see what else they had to offer. We were pleasantly surprised, and we had one of the tastiest meals we've had in a long time! Liesle had a stuffed rainbow trout, and I had a Surf & Turf special which consisted of 3 tiger prawns on two medallions of beef! Absolutely delicious!!!

Now jumping back to our laid Sunday, even though most of the boys woke up late (with Nathan emerging from his room at 8:15am) we managed to leave the house before 9am to get to Church on time. After church we had a leisurely lunch. Nathan and I headed to a local crafts store while Liesel and Josh had afternoon naps. We couldn't find what we were looking for so we headed home, and I installed some shelves in Nathan's room. We also found some time to play outside before dinner! Liesel made a delicious dinner for all of us, which consisted of a steak (that I grilled), garlic flatbread, and potato bake! For dessert she made an amazing cheesecake, with a chocolate cookie dough crust, and strawberry frosting! What a wonderful wife and mother to Nathan and Josh!

Happy Mother's Day!

Spring = Spring Cleaning

We have been blessed to have beautiful weather again here in North East Ohio! Nathan has been going to school in shorts and t-shirts as the skies have been mostly blue and sunny of late. No complaints as we have our windows open day and night. In fact, last week we had a couple of days that were in the upper 80s (30C+), which forced us to turn the air conditioning on to cool the house down!

On Saturday morning, I headed off for a two and a half hour band practice. Afterward, I stopped at a home improvement store, and bought myself a hedge trimmer. We have a number of overgrown bushes and shrubs around our house that need to be tamed. A few minutes after firing up the trimmer, I had a professionally-finished, neat-looking bush! I can't ever remember having so much with a power tool before! So I went and gave the other bushes a makeover in about 15 minutes! To tidy up, I offered Nathan and two of his friends a couple of dollars to put the branches and leaves in to some garden refuse bags!

Then came Sunday - the day that changed the garage forever! As part of the Spring Cleaning program that Liesel is sticking to, it was time to go through the garage. Liesel, Nathan and I took everything out the garage. Then we attacked the shelves, throwing away the stuff that will never be used, reducing clutter and bringing some form of organization back to the garage! With that done, my next job was to wash out the garage with my pressure washer. This is another power tool that I love, as you can immediately see the difference as you spray the high pressured water onto the concrete floor, instantly lifting up the set-in dust and grime! The result looked as follows:

But wait, there's more!! Not satisfied with the current (lack of) storage options, we headed back to the home improvement store and bought a variety of storage hooks that I secured into the wall. Now each power tool has it's own hanging space, the winter sleds have a place of their own, and there are some bonus hooks for electric cords, folding chairs and leaf blower accessories! 

While we were at the home improvement store, Liesel also bought our first batch of vegetables that she planted in the vegetable garden that Nathan and I made for her a while back! 

So all in all, we had a pretty productive weekend! We love Spring!

Fun having and Fund Raising

This Thursday, Nathan took part in his school's First Grade Concert! He told us that he was a little nervous, but once he came out on to the stage, with the rest of his class, he seemed relaxed. We were so proud of him, as he sang every word of every song. His actions were also perfect and he seemed to be having a great time! The first graders were led by their music teacher who did a fantastic job with them! The performance was a huge success, and afterward, to celebrate, we stopped at our favorite dessert place, Menchie's, for a decadent frozen yogurt, with all kinds of delicious toppings! For your enjoyment, here is a the first grader's singing Do Re Mi!

The next day, Liesel started cooking up a storm in the kitchen, baking cutie pies, fudge and brownies to name a few! She was in charge of the Bake Sale at the fund-raising dinner for our friends, the Muth family, and was busily adding to her inventory!

That evening we all headed to the church that was hosting the Spaghetti dinner fund-raising event. As I mentioned last week, Olive Garden, donated most of the food, including bread sticks and salads. The food was pretty darn good! In addition to the main meal, Liesel had two tables, and the floor beneath, stacked with cakes, cookies, and plenty of other dishes piled high with sugar and/or chocolate! By the end of the evening,  most of these dishes had been bought by people attending the dinner. But wait! There's more! Children from the two schools that the Char and Jim taught at, provided gift baskets that were all being auctioned off to raise additional funds. Other sponsors offered orchards, box tickets to some of Cleveland's professional sporting events, rounds of golf etc, to make a huge variety of packages to bid on! The event was very successful, and apparently over 400 spaghetti dinners were dished up! 

We love living in a community that rallies around those that need help. Thank you to all who came out and supported our friends!

Flights, Friends and Fund-raising

I was fortunate enough to spend a day in Chicago this week for a whirlwind trip to Google's offices. This was the first time I had set foot in this impressive city, so I took a couple of hours to savor it. I embarked on a two mile walk from the city center to the world famous Navy Pier, an entertainment precinct that juts out into Lake Michigan. After taking in the impressive skyline, and majestic boats, and the ferris wheel, I headed back downtown to meet up with a Googler. She took me to the Google Cafeteria for lunch which consisted of shrimp, pesto chicken and white pizza! Afterward, a colleague and I attended a Google Hackathon from 2-8pm before heading back to the hotel to call it a night.

On Saturday, good friends of ours that had moved down to Pittsburgh two years ago were visiting Cleveland, and chose to spend the afternoon with us. Liesel got to spend some quality time with her friend, while Nathan and Josh had fun playing with her two boys! Then a little later that evening, our friend Char, dropped off her son Josh to play while she went to visit her husband in the Assisted Living facility. Nathan and Josh were loving spending time with friends for the majority of the day. After her visit with her husband, Char and her daughter joined us for a delicious dinner made by Liesel. The cherry on top was her dessert which consisted of Cutie Pies - very similar to an eclair, filled with custard and covered with a dark chocolate topping!

On Sunday evening, Liesel attended a fund-raising meeting for our friends, the Muth family. This Friday evening, there is going to be a Spaghetti dinner held for them at $15 per head. They are expecting around 350 people to attend! In conjunction with dinner, there will be a silent auction, baskets to be raffled, as well as a bake sale which Liesel is organizing. One of the amazing things that we have learned is that large corporations in the USA have a heart! The entire spaghetti dinner, along with bread sticks, pasta sauces and salads are all being donated by a large restaurant chain, Olive Garden. Not only are they providing the food, but also any equipment necessary to prepare the food! We are looking forward to Friday and pray that enough funds will be raised for the Muth family as they continue through their difficult journey. 

Reasons we love the USA:

1. On Friday night, our local library was kicking off National Library week with a fantastic Magician's show. WOW, what a show it was! The magician, Rick Smith Jr, is nationally known artist, and has appeared on show's such as America's Got Talent, The Jay Leno Show, the Ellen Degeneres and Ripley's Believe It or Not! So definitely not your standard amateur magician!! He holds a record in the Guinness Book of Records for the person who can throw a playing card the longest distance! That said, Rick was B R I L L I A N T, and had the kids engrossed while keeping the parents entertained! At one point, he had a child hold up a stalk of celery, and then from about 10 feet away, he threw a playing card that flew straight through the vegetable, cutting it in half! The best part about the evening, was that it was FREE OF CHARGE!! 
2. Earlier this week, Liesel spotted an online coupon for a furniture store, that if you bought it for $35, they will give you a credit for $125! It just so happened that Nathan needed a new mattress this week, so we stopped in to the store on Saturday. We found a Sealy mattress that cost $200. The store gave us a 20% discount on the spot, dropping the price to $160. After Sales Tax and applying the coupon, my final bill was $45! So at the end of the day, we paid a total of $80 for a $200 mattress! Kind of makes Morkels (a South African furniture chain) look pretty stupid!
3. Spring is in the air (again!) after a cooler week. It was a gorgeous day here with temperatures in the upper-seventies (mid twenties Celsius). We started the day by going to church. Afterward we came home, changed out of our Sunday clothes into shorts and t-shirts and played some football outside! The weather was wonderful, and so tonight we are sleeping with our windows open, listening to the sounds of frogs and crickets, until they are replaced by the early bird's chirping!

Christ, the Lord, is Risen today!

Happy Easter to all my friends and family! I want to start off with something I saw in church today, and found it extremely powerful! I also shared this on Facebook earlier today.

Early this morning, the McCarthy's were all outside in their pyjamas (except for Nathan who got ready for Church extra early) in search of the Easter Bunny's stash that was hidden around the front and back yards! Josh, obviously taking after his father, started devouring the chocolate alost immediately upon finding it, where as Nathan built up quite a colorful collection of eggs, and still has most of them intact in his bedroom somewhere.

After the hunt, the rest of us got dressed and ready for church. The church was packed! It's unfortunate that some people only set foot inside the church on Christmas and Easter. At least today, they were presented with a great message! Not only did the Twitter video speak volumes, but the message was great too!

For Easter lunch, Liesel prepared a delicious roast lamb with mint jelly, my favorite! There wasn't much time to savor the meal, since we had to hit the road. Liesel and the boys were joining me on my business trp to Grand Rapids, MI, with one pit stop along the way, IKEA! After two hours of driving, we pulled into Liesel's favorite home store, checked the kids into the supervised play area, and then walked around the showroom, finding some great deals. Carry-on luggage for Nathan and Josh, a kitchen light, a summer duvet for Nathan, were just some of the purchased made today. What made this trip better was that there was a special on today that if you spent $100 or more, then your entire meal would be free! So we treated ourselves to an early dinner, that was "on the house".  After checking out, we drove another 2 hours west to Grand Rapids, and checked into te hotel for the night. Before climbing into bed, the boys went down and swam in the heated pool before relaxing in the whirlpool! Not a bad way to end the day!

All's well

It's 10pm and all's well in Cleveland, Ohio.
This weekend was a regular weekend in the McCarthy household. Nothing special to report on, and no photos to display. On weekends like these, I don't have enough material for a full blog, so unfortunately this is it for this week! Stay tuned for new adventures next week!

Productive!

The record-breaking high temperatures we've been having of late, seem to have come to an end. This weekend, the temperatures returned to their seasonal norms, which was perfect for what we had in store! On Saturday morning, the awesome foursome headed to a couple of stores. Liesel found exactly what she needed at the first store, while Nathan and Josh earned some prizes for shooting some basketball hoops! Win-win :) The next stop was Home Depot, where I bought our weekend project, a raised garden bed for our very own vegetable garden!
When we got home, Nathan and I started working on our project. We soon had our 16 square foot garden bed assembled. Since it looked a bit too small, we turned it into an 32 square foot bed. But wait! There's more! After some creative thinking, we managed to turn it into a 48 square foot bed! Once the bed was in place, Nathan and I had to go back to a garden store to buy the soil to fill the bed! We stacked around 800 pounds of bagged soil into the back of my Nissan and headed home to finish off the task. We ferried the bags of soil to back with the use of a wheelbarrow, with Nathan lending a helping hand moving the bags of soil that weighed 2/3 of his total body weight!
We cut up a weed cover and laid that at the base of the bed, then covered that with topsoil. Next, we got a healthy load of home-made compost and threw that in, followed by 400 pounds of fertilized garden soil! Nathan was a great assistant, and literally got his hands dirty! Here is a picture of the finished result.

On Sunday, we all were healthy enough to attend church. Afterward, Liesel and I rearranged Josh's bedroom, another thing off my honey-do list! Later that afternoon, I played some basketball and baseball with the boys, before being called inside for supper! By this time the sun had come out after being hidden since Friday morning, so we decided to go for a post-dinner bike ride around the neighborhood! A great way to wrap up a productive weekend!

Spring has sprung..... EARLY!!!!

While this weekend is officially the last weekend of winter, these past ten days or so seem to have made the case for Global Warming! For our family, this has been the mildest winter since moving to Cleveland, and we are loving it! In fact, this was the hottest St Patrick's Day ever recorded here, and in  hundreds of other cities across the USA. The temperature peaked at 77 (25C) which is a typical Summer time temperature in North East Ohio!

Look at the blue sky!

Even with these warm days that we've been experiencing, germs are still doing their rounds, and Nathan became their unfortunate victim, as he was diagnosed with Strep throat. Luckily we picked it up early and he was soon on anti-biotics and back to his normal self. However, we decided to play it safe and kept him indoors most of the time. I, on the other hand, was out in the front yard removing a thorn bush. This was my weekend workout, and after a hour of cutting, chopping and digging, sweat was rolling off my face! Later that afternoon, Lieel took Josh out with her to a playground to use up some of his energy, and on the way back, stopped at our favorite frozen yogurt place and brought us all back our favorite flavors and toppings! What a wonderful wife!
Later that evening, I started working on my band's website. It's still in it's infancy, but I have made two sites some slight differences. Feel free to take a look at it at them: Remnant Band Site 1 and Remnant Band Site 2 . Both sites have videos of all the songs we performed last week! Click on the >| button when you hover over the YouTube player to move to the next song. Enjoy!

On Sunday, I took Josh to church with me, while Liesel and Nathan stayed at home. It was another low key day, with a beautiful thunderstorm late in the afternoon to round off the weekend!

Beautiful weekend!

One of the final touches to our master bedroom's long-overdue makeover was completed on Friday. The final coat of our brand new color was applied to the walls, giving our bedroom a much more intimate, and color-coordinated feel! The full makeover so far includes new bedding, new window blinds, new lamps, a new TV and now the new wall color! 

Waking up to bright sunlight and bird's chirping set the tone for the weekend! The weather has finally turned the corner and is heading directly to Destination Spring! In fact, I left the house in shorts as I headed for my gym workout! However, the bright sunshine was deceptive, as when I pulled into our driveway after gym, I offered Josh a bike ride around our neighborhood. He, of course, said YES (probably because he had a nice warm tracksuit on!) I should have checked my dashboard to check the outside temperature beforehand, as the temperature was 34F (1C). But being true to my word, I fastened Josh into his backseat, and I mounted the bike and headed into the near-freezing air. By the time I got home, my legs, hands and face were frozen!

Later that afternoon, I had to get ready for my band's first ever "concert". Our church had graciously offered us the use of their hall for the "Praise and Worship Night". The band I play in, The Remnant, had been rehearsing for this evening for months! The idea was simple, choose our favorite praise and worship songs, and then invite our friends and families and whoever to come and worship along with us. We had a wonderful turnout, and the evening was divine in all senses of the word! We felt God's presence amongst us, and felt really privileged to lead so many in worship. We had so much positive feedback, with many people asking us to do this on a regular basis! The possibilities are endless, and we will go wherever God leads us! 

My favorite part of the evening, was when Liesel said to me: "Your dad would have loved this, and I know he was looking down at you, and he must have been so proud!"

I will be uploading video of the songs that we performed video YouTube in the near future, but until then, enjoy this clip that Nathan took from his vantage point in the audience!



If you want to see more photos and videos, search for The Remnant on Facebook and like us :)
 

Wind, wind, go away!

As most of you have heard by now, the USA has experienced some severe weather recently. One day last week alone, more than 40 tornadoes were reported, which is a record for the most tornadoes in a day! Fortunately, there was no severe weather reported in northern Ohio, other than gale force winds.
This entire week was a roller-coaster of extreme weather! On Wednesday, the temperatures got up into the mid 60's (18C to 20C), which is unheard of in February! In fact, after dinner that night, we all went on a bike ride around the neighborhood! Usually in February, the ground is covered by two feet of snow (60cm) and even the maximum temperatures stay considerably below the freezing mark! Thursday was considerably coller, yet still above freezing, but Friday again reached the sixties, and although it was raining, it was pleasant! It was also the day that the wind picked up and it started howling! Strong gusts blew continuously for more than 24 hours as another cold front was ushered into the Cleveland area. As I type this blog, heavy snow is falling outside and we are expecting tomorrow's temperatures to be sub-freezing (even the maximum). But, strangely enough, after living here for a while, you get used to these crazy meteorological cycles and learn to take advantage of the good days!

Friday night was date night for Liesel and myself. We wanted to go to a restaurant, so we decided to try a new restaurant for the first time. Considering that this restaurant was situated in a three star hotel in Westlake, Liesel and I didn't think it could be that bad. As we walked in, we actually made a list of signs that indicated the place was not nearly as classy as what we had hoped for. Some of these signs included:

1. An entire menu printed on one side of a single laminated page.
2. A waitress that seemed to have come straight out of a 1960's style diner.
3. The restaurant at any time had no more than 5 people, and that included the staff!
4. The padded booth benches that had lost their padding.
5. An advertisement for Pizza Hut Express on the table.
6. The furnishings might have been better suited for the 1980's.

Nevertheless, the food was quite good, and Liesel and I had plenty of time to talk, laugh and find the lighter side of the restaurant that we will never venture into again!

On Saturday night, it was family fun night! Liesel had found that the Cleveland Aquarium was staying open later for their annual pass holders (which we happen to be!) So after the venue had shut its doors to the general public, we were allowed in and were free to explore the magical underwater world with a few other annual pass holders. Liesel, who had been there a few times before, said she had never seen it that quiet. It was awesome! No crowds, and plenty of space around the touch pools, made for a very enjoyable evening out with the family!

On Sunday morning, it was KidStuff at Church. This happens the first Sunday of every month, and parents are asked to join their children for a hour's production put on by the KidsStuff team. These are always so well done and well rehearsed! I love that one of our associate pastors always gets dressed up and plays one of the funnier characters and keeps the children entertained! After the production, we have the "family huddle" time, where parents sit with there children, read some bible verses together and then discuss what we saw and learnt during KidStuff that morning! These are some of my favorite times at Church!

Below is a photo of the Associate Pastor wearing a kilt for St Patrick's Day :)