Day 148

Had a nice weekend in Detroit. As you know, I was there for Jace's 5th b-day party. The weekend did get off to a great start with Friday night's big Cavs game 6 win over Washington to advance to the Eastern Conference Semi's and a Tribe win over the Mariners. Its always a great day when that happens. So Saturday at noon was the party. It was held a a park in Royal Oak, Michigan. The day was chilly, but the sun was out and as long as we stood in the sun, we were all good. The park had a big playground and a little train that had 4 different cars that went pretty much all the way around this large grassy area and with the way Jace and his friends love trains, this was perfect. The kids spent the majority of the two hours taking turns riding the train. It was so cute. The picture here is of Jace in the back of the train car with his friends Josh, Augie, and his best friend Asher (right to left). This Thomas the Tank Engine phenomemon is crazy. Every kid 5 and under is obsessed with Thomas and his friends. Jace had a Thomas birthday cake. We ate the cake off of Thomas plates. Everytime a different color train would go by the kids would say "Percy is the Green train" or "Gordon is the Red train." It was very cute. For me, it was an interesting thing to watch. the lifestyle difference between the mid-30's married couples who live in suburban Detroit compared to the same people I know who live in Chicago. I also enjoyed watching some of the parenting in action. The other interesting dynamic was the Dery and Vernick camps at the party. I will say that things went as well as they could go. Lisa's parents could not have been nicer to us and it wasn't uncomfortable at all. There were as always a few vintage Lisa moments, but now you just sit back and laugh at them.

After the party, my mom, MD, and I had the kids for the rest of the night, so we went back to MD's pad and hung out. The cutest was when we arrived back and both kids were dead asleep in their car seats in the back. I played with Jace a little bit, read him a couple of books, and fell asleep for about 40 minutes. We then had a little family dinner at Buddy's Pizza. Jace played some video games and I held Reese for a while before sitting. At dinner, Jace buried his "chicky and fries" and we played a game where we went around the table saying a word that starts with every letter in the alphabet. Jace was faster and pulling words than we were. It was very cute. We played a little "I spy" and told a few Knock Knock jokes, eat some bad pizza, and headed home. We capped off a fun day by watching the Tribe/Mariners west coast game that started at 9. Even though they lost, watching Tribe ball with MD while mom read the paper was old school. What I got most out of this weekend is that my brother is a great father. Watching him handle both kids on his own with ease was amazing. It was on full display when we went to dinner. The place was packed and loud, and he was so calm. He shows incredible patience, the kids love him, and he is a positive influence on them. Very soon, the kids are moving and it is going to be unbelievably tough on him, but one thing I know for sure is that he will do everything he possibly can to be the best father he can be to those kids. We as his friends and family will need to be there for him more than at any time in the past two rough years. I know he will get through it, because his personal growth has been astounding, but he will need the support more than ever. I hope he knows how proud of him I am.

Two quick sports notes: The Cavs got absolutely smoked by the Pistons in game 1 yesterday. That is what I expected. If we win more than one game in the series, I will be thrilled. Its all a learning process for Lebron. The thing is the closer we are to the Pistons in the long run, the closer Lebron will be to staying long term in Cleveland. That is the most important aspect of this whole thing. If he were to leave Cleveland, the franchise might as well fold or move.

The recruiting saga of McDonald's All-American PF Darrell Arthur continues to defy logic. Kansas has been at the top of this athletic big man's list for months, yet he still hasn't made up his mind on where he wants to go to college. Three months ago KU was his leader with Texas, Baylor, and SMU on his list. He was supposed to be in Lawrence for the Kentucky game in January, but never showed. He was supposed to be in Lawrence for the Oklahoma game in February and never showed. Then SMU was eliminated and word was out he was about to commit to KU because that is where his mother wants him to go. Nothing came of it. Then Arizona came into the picture and he was supposed to visit there and never showed. Texas and KU were his final two going into the McDonald's game, but he never committed. All of a sudden, Texas was out, and LSU was the leader after he spoke with the coaches there three weeks ago. Yet last week, the LSU coaches were quoted as saying they hadn't spoken to him in weeks. So now his final three are KU, LSU, and Baylor. Today at 12:30 was supposed to be his press conference to announce his choice of school. In classic Arthur fashion, the man appropriately known as "Slim Shady," cancelled his press conference and re-scheduled it for tomorrow. Memo to DA - get over yourself and make a decision. He has been acting like he is the end all, be all, of college recruits. If we don't get him, I hope he ends up at Baylor so we can pound him every year and laugh when he plays on a 10-20 team.

Song of the Day: "Brothers Gonna Work it Out" by Public Enemy