I received a message from a friend on Twitter last night letting me know that I need to stop attending Reds games.  He couldn’t have been more correct, as the Reds went on to lose their third straight game to the Colorado Rockies.  I attended last nights game and the previous night as well, not to mention the loss I saw in Cincinnati just over a month ago.  I thought that maybe the Reds hat I wore on Tuesday night was bad luck, so last night I switched up it to another Reds hat that my friend Ken gave to me as a gift.  Unfortunately my superstitions didn’t help.  I won’t be attending the day game today that will wrap up the four game series, so I hope the Reds can get back to winning.  Actually the rest of the season should be filled with wins as I won’t make it to another game this year.  Go Redlegs!

While back in Cincinnati I also got the chance to see the WEBN Fireworks for the first time in a while.  My family used to head down to the Serpentine Wall early each Sunday morning before Labor Day with blankets, games for entertainment, and a bucket of chicken.  The seating on the wall is a prime location for watching the fireworks which are launched from barges on the Ohio River.  From this viewpoint, you are seated just over 500 feet from the fireworks launching position on the barges.  Needless to say it is very loud, but well worth it for the gorgeous view of the fireworks.  Here is a video I shot with my iPhone during the finale of the show.

You know it’s loud when the microphone on your phone stops working! I didn’t have anything other than my camera phone, so I left the real picture-taking for my mom. Also included in this photo set are photos from the second baby shower over at Kim’s parents’ house.

Kim and I traveled back to Cincinnati over the weekend.  Our families hosted a couple of baby showers for the ladies on both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday was at my parents house, while Sunday was at the Hais’ house.  Many of the guys got together on Saturday afternoon to play a quick round of golf before heading over to my parents for a mini Pig-Fest party.  My parents decided not to have their annual summer blowout this year, and instead had a small family gathering with pulled pork sandwiches, cornhole, and a giant TV screen to watch videos and football. 

 

Despite not having a band, wiffle ball, or other Pig-Fest staples, we had a great time.  It was definitely way more low-key than past parties, but I think many people enjoyed that.  Time will tell if my parents will go back to having a big “Pig” but I’m hoping that they do.  How can our future child never experience one of these legendary parties?  Here are some pictures my mom took from the baby shower and mini Pig-Fest. 

Harvest season is here and we are finally reaping the rewards of our vegetable garden.  So far we have picked a half-dozen or so tomatoes as well as tons of kale.  The kale is used to feed Amstel, our pet rabbit, while we have really enjoyed the tomatoes.  There is nothing quite like a fresh tomato.  So far we had BLT sandwiches last week, and I made a delicious Arrabbiata pasta sauce last night with the remaining tomatoes.  The recipe I followed was one that I have used many times before, but I substituted all fresh tomatoes instead of the can.  I think it turned out the best yet.  I’m still holding out hope for some green peppers, jalapenos, and squash before colder temperatures set it, but I’m not sure it is going to happen.  Next year I may have to move the garden to a different location.

Besides going out to eat, I spent the majority of the weekend playing in a hockey tournament.  It started off on Friday afternoon, but I had to skip that game since I was still at work.  I later found out that we had lost that game with a score around 14-0!  Needless to say, the team was not very good, or at least not playing in the right level.  This team was assembled quickly to fill an open spot in the top division of the tournament.  I didn’t have high hopes for our second game on Friday night, and those expectations were met with a 12-1 loss.  We were making improvements, but not quickly enough.

We had two more games on Saturday, one around five in the evening and the next at around nine.  The game at five was even better than the other two the day before, and we actually had the early lead!  We managed to skate pretty closely with this team, but ended up losing 8-3.  Keep in mind that it was much closer than the score indicated, at least through the end of the second period.  And for the big finale, well it sort of ended the same way we started.  We were easily beaten once again, making our tournament record 0-4.  Needless to say, we missed the championship game on Sunday.  Besides the results, I had a good time and enjoyed some weekend exercise.  Our next season should start-up in a few weeks, and I’m ready to get back on the ice weekly.