We got up for an early start as my dad wanted to go up to Blackhawk and do some low limit degenerate gambling. My mom is always up for gambling since she has a "system" that she uses on the one armed bandits. Since I've been known to place a bet or two I was all in to head up to the hills.
Our first stop was one of my parents favorites, The Saratogo. We decided to get some food at their cafe. This place has the best chili I have ever eaten and I always make it a point to get me a bowl when we come up. After some food my dad and I left my mom to her so called "system" and headed off in search of a good blackjack game. My dad likes blackjack and understands basic strategy to a T! He never waivers from it and is quite impressive to watch play.
Unfortunately the Saratoga only had one table open and it was full. I'm not one to want to wait for a seat, so I suggested a little walk down the hill. We went next door to the Gilpen where we found a table with no one on it. My dad sat at third base as he usually does to protect the table as I sattled up next to him at shortstop. The card gods were shining on my dad as he was on a roll with blackjacks and winning every double down his way. I, unfortunately was not nearly feeling the love that the gods were bringing my dad. My buy-in dwindled down to zero with only winning one hand one and I was out of the action.
With my dad still hitting the game hard, I went for a walk. It is amazing how beautiful the mountains are. It was nice just to walk through the town and see all the cool stuff Blackhawk has to offer. I met up with my dad and he cashed out his respectable profit. We headed back to meet up with my mom to see how the "system" was treating her. Evidently the "system" needs some work because she came out with empty pockets just like her favorite son.
We decided that we would eat at home and I would make them some homemade tacos. Not the crappy store brought taco shells, but the kind with the corn tortilla that you have to fry. My dad claims he never has had tacos this way and he loved them. In fact he enjoyed them so declared me the all time greatest taco maker ever!
We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and talking about the girls and all the activities they are up to. With the start of school, AK's social calendar is in full swing. She has enjoyed her first two days of junior high and getting to meet new kids. Little D is still happy as a lark because she just happens to agree with AK that Mrs. Walls is one of the greatest teachers ever. However, when asked if Mrs. Walls is the greatest teacher ever, Little D quickly reminded me that it was only the second day and that she would have to wait until the end of the year to compare her to Mrs. Terebessy, who Little D claims to be the all-time greatest kindergarten teacher ever!
Day 2:
It was another early start to the day as my mom needed to run some errands to get ready for my dad's birthday party. We headed out to Sam's Club, King Soppers and Baskin Robbins to get all the supplies to throw a feastive event fit for a person turning 70!
The plan was to get come back and get my dad to take him out for a birthday breakfast. We returned to find him not ready as he decided that it was his birthday and he could move at any speed he wanted. We waited, and waited, and waited some more until he was ready. Breakfast time was more like lunch time as my parents munched on their meal from a place called The Bistro. They are regulars there and the owner is always happy to meet and greet them at the door when the arrive!
After breakfast it was off to Bill's Sports Collectibles to find a present for my dad. I suggested it to my mom that she might be able to find something Cubs or Bears related. I was personally excited to go as I have not been there since Brett, Tony and I took the bus back in the good old junir high days in search of the coveted Billy Ripkin error card. We were at Bill's for a grand total of three minutes when my dad decided he didn't want anything. Since it was his birthday we loaded up in the car and headed back home!
We relaxed and enjoyed the afternoon until it was time to get ready for the evenings feastivitis. Uncle Denny was the first to arrive with Cousin Hildy. It turned out that Cousin Hildy was not very happy to discover that the girls didn't make the adventure north with me. She decided that a protest needed to be put in place and stood outside for 10 minutes with refusing to come in.
The rest of the family showed up and a good time of food, drinks and storyes were shared. Cousin Garrett once again won the award for most food eaten as he stuffed his face with two sauage sandwiches, two heeping helpings of pasta salad, half a bag of chips and washed it down with a tall boy of Peace Tea. It was a spectical to watch the boy eat his dinner only to have a nice large slice of cake a few minute later!
My dad enjoyed the evening, and had a great time watching the kids run around and do their thing. It was a good party. Our only regret was not being able to stream our Cousin Johnny football game in from Chicago. He is a senior this year and his team got the honors of playing at Soldier Field for their first game! Unfortunalty too many people were trying to do the same and it kept kicking us off.
We had to settle for watching our beloved Cubs and had the bonus of getting to listen to Vin Scully call the game for the Dodgers. I love listening to him. He truly is a master at what he does!
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