Bucket List Revisited

Okay, I've just been looking over my bucket list (click here for Part I and here for Part II), and noticing something . . .

I am in the midst of working on #13! It'll take a while, but the important thing is that I've started it! My two graduate classes this semester (at the U of I) are both English classes: Native American Literature, and Early American Literature I.

Additions to the Bucket List

Livie doesn't go to Pre-K on Tuesdays. So this morning, after playing, eating breakfast, and watching one program on The Travel Channel, I've come up with some additions to my bucket list (you can find that post by clicking here). I'm adding them now, while Livie's busy playing.

43. Go to New York and visit the High Line Park (it's a park built on an elevated train structure).
44. Spend a week at Watervale with Livie and Andrew. Watervale, by the way, has been made famous by fellow LFC alumna, Jessica, through her Little Merry Sunshine blog - just go to her blog and do a search for Watervale; then you'll understand why I'd love to spend some time there. For example, her Watervale Withdrawal Disorder post says it all.
45. Take Livie and Andrew on a drive on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago at night. This is an awesome drive, with the bright, twinkling lights (looking like bling) on the west, and the dark lake on the east.
46. Take Livie skiing out west, in one of the big, square states.
47. Eat a delicious dinner with Livie and Andrew at the Great American Land and Cattle Company on Alabama Street in El Paso, TX. This is down the street from where my grandparents lived. It'll bring a sense of saudade, because I've been to that restaurant with them and they no longer live near there, but it has a beautiful view, and awesome food.
48. Eat another perfect, heavenly filet mignon at Ruth's Chris in Chicago.
49. Take Livie and Andrew for tapas at La Tasca in Arlington Heights, IL. Jessica, you'll need to join us for this one!
50. Of course, since we're talking about tapas, I'd love to take Livie and Andrew to another of my favorite tapas places in the Chicagoland area: Cafe Ba Ba Reeba in Lincoln Park.

Okay, those are the latest additions. I must be hungrier than I realized, since a lot of this is about food. Or maybe I made myself hungry by thinking and writing about lots of great food places.

Additions as of 29 Jan 2011:
51. Take Livie to see an opera in the theater.
52. In New York with Livie and Andrew, I want to see Times Square, as well as a Broadway show, and go to the Statue of Liberty. 

Reminiscing about the 2010 Iowa State Fair, Part I

Here are some pictorial highlights from our trips to the 2010 Iowa State Fair.

Liv and I headed out alone on Friday August 13th. Here's the view when we first walked through the gate:

We stopped at the Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center first. This is where the coloring-contest artwork was displayed. The three pictures off to the very right were the 3-4 year old category's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners (looking, in my opinion like the artists had a lot of adult help). Unfortunately, Liv didn't get a ribbon (I didn't help her color - I let her do it all by herself). Hers is the one on the top right corner of the big group of entries.

Click on the link - Liv's entering an Iowa State Fair Contest! - to see a better view of her artwork, which I scanned before I sent it in.

Fortunately, she didn't seem to mind. There were plenty of baby animals in the Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center to get her mind off the contest results. Here she is, all excited to see the new ducklings.

Here are some sheep and lambs.

Off we go to see other sights, like this big marble globe, which floats and spins around on some water (which is why North America is currently upside down in this photo).

Here's the famous Butter Cow, made of approximately 600 pounds of butter on a wood and metal frame.

It's hard to get a good photo of it when it's behind glass. 

And here's the Green Eggs and Ham butter sculpture to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Dr. Seuss' famous book.

I took Liv to the horse barn and the new AIR CONDITIONED indoor arena to see riders warming up for a western class.

As we headed out of the horse barn, we noticed the weather was starting to change.

We ended up getting caught in a thunderstorm, complete with thunder and lightning. We took cover in a cow barn to wait for a safe time to run back to the car. 

In the meantime, here are some photos of some cows we liked. 

This one was Liv's favorite cow (and mine, too). She's got a pretty coat. I don't know what kind of cow she is.

These are Milking Shorthorn cows.

These are Guernsey cows.

This is a whole lotta bull!

Liv wanted me to take a photo of the cow-colored trash can!

And before we left for the day, she asked if we could go see the piglets.

These three were hungry. The rest of the litter is sleeping.

I'll post Part II of Liv's 2010 Iowa State Fair pictorial tour later this week.

In the meantime, check out which activity I got to check off my bucket list by reading my "I Get to Check Something Off my Bucket List" post.

I get to check something off my bucket list!

The 2010 Iowa State Fair is running August 12-22. Liv and I have gone twice, while Andrew was with us just the second time.

Anyway, there is something on my Bucket List that I could only accomplish at the Iowa State Fair. And yesterday, Liv and I did it!  Check out #36 - "Take Livie on the big slide at the Iowa State Fair."

When Andrew, Livie, and I went to the Fair yesterday afternoon, we'd wandered around taking in all the sights, eating a bit of junk food, seeing the horses (Belgians, Quarter Horses, and Miniature horses, to be specific) and even getting Livie's photo taken with Clifford the Big Red Dog!!

Well, in the back of my mind, I was thinking about my bucket list. I knew that there was an item on there that I could only accomplish at the Iowa State Fair . . . the big slide. I knew it was high up, and that I'd done it once a long time ago, but doing it with Livie was a bit different.

First, I wasn't sure if she'd be up for it. Sure, she'd say "Yes! I wanna do it!" But when it came down to climbing all the way up the steps to the very top (something like a couple stories high), I wasn't sure if she'd actually go through with it.

Second . . . while I'd be a little nervous going that high up on my own, I knew it would be a different story if I had Livie with me. My first concern is always to keep her safe. I knew I'd be worried that she'd be too close to the railing as we climbed the steps to the top. And I wondered about riding the burlap mat with her in my lap, and if I'd be able to hold her next to me all the way down without her sliding away from me.

I really wanted to do it, so I kept it in mind as we walked around the Fair. Then while we were in the horse barns, we looked out a doorway and guess what we saw? THE BIG SLIDE!!

I told Andrew, "Look! We could go do that!" He gave me a wary look.

At this point, Livie was ready to go do something super exciting, so I asked her, "Do you want to go on the big slide? It's as big as a building!"

She said, "Let's go do it!"

So off we went.

Andrew was worried, and said he'd rather *I* take her on it and he'd wait at the bottom, keeping an eye on the BOB (the running stroller). I told him I'd do it if he bought us our tickets.

After he got our tickets, Livie and I went hand-in-hand over to the bottom of the steps. I grabbed a big burlap mat, gave the guy our tickets, and up we climbed.

And we climbed. And climbed. And climbed. My heart started beating a little harder. I felt a clammy sweat on my upper lip. I wondered if it was because I was getting some cardio, and also because it was so hot and humid. I knew, though, that it was because I was getting nervous the higher we climbed.

Livie held my right hand and with her free hand, held the railing on her other side. At some point as we got higher, she let go of the railing and got really close to me. We were definitely high up.

I kept talking, saying stuff like, "Okay, we'll get there soon. We're almost at the top. Keep holding my hand til we get up there." It was more for my sake, though, to keep myself from getting too nervous.

Then we were at the top.

We walked to the far side and the guy at the top put our mat down for us and held it in place by putting his foot on one corner. Then I got down onto the mat as he held Livie's hand. He helped her get down on the mat in front of me, I put an arm around her and he said, "Okay, off you go!" At this point, I pushed off with my other arm.

Down we went! My heart raced with excitement. I smiled at the thrill of speeding down this huge yellow and green slide. I yelled "Woo hoo!! . . . Yee haw!" all the way down. I heard Livie's laughter. It felt like we caught some air as we went over the bumps. We sped down faster than I thought we would. We raced along fast. And before we knew it, we were at the bottom, being slowed down by the carpet at the end.

And that was it! It was fast and fun. Livie and I got up. She had a HUGE smile on her face. It was a blast! I quoted Diego from the "Ice Age" movies and said, "Who's up for round two?!"

Livie told me how much fun it was and asked if we could go again; I promised we'd go again a different day because there was now a big line at the ticket stand.

I then asked if Andrew had gotten a photo of us. No, we'd gone down too fast, and he got nothing but the slide and the guy at the bottom of the stairs.

But we did it, and I can check off #36 on my bucket list.

Now we can look forward to doing it one more time at the 2010 Iowa State Fair!

Here's the photo Andrew took. The fence post is in the way.

Here's the photo I took of the big slide so you can see how big it is.

It's taller than the horse barn with the tall roof!

Okay, so Little Merry Sunshine gave me this idea . . .

Some of you may know that I enjoy reading a blog called Little Merry Sunshine, authored by fellow Lake Forest College (LFC) alumna and classmate of mine, Jessica Gardner, LFC Class of 1993. I know I've mentioned her (and her blog) before, but I have to mention her again, because she gave me the idea for this particular blog post.

A few days ago, she posted her "Bucket List" - a list of things she wants to accomplish in her lifetime. Click here for her "Bucket List" blog post found on her Little Merry Sunshine blog.

Well, after reading her post, realizing I'd accomplished a few things on her list, and wanting to accomplish a few other things on her list, I decided that was a sign I'd better do my own bucket list.

So here's my list, in no particular order - keep in mind, it's a work in progress, so I may have to add things as I go along, and definitely check things off as I go along:

1. Travel to Italy (specifically, Positano, among other Italian destinations), Spain, France, Greece, England, Scotland, Wales, and other European destinations with Livie and Andrew. See the sights, eat some tasty local cuisine.

2. Travel to Mexico (Oaxaca, Puebla, and other locations) with Livie and Andrew. Again, see the sights, and eat some tasty local cuisine (mole poblano comes to mind).

3. Travel to National Parks around the country with Livie and Andrew. The Grand Canyon, Acadia National Park, Minute Man National Historical Park, Bryce Canyon, Glacier National Park, Carlsbad Caverns, and Guadalupe Mountains National Park are at the top of the list.

4. Take a cross-country family trip with Livie and Andrew in a nice RV.

5. Take Route 66 from Chicago to L.A. – maybe this one could be in an RV.

6. Learn the ins-and-outs of Santa Fe and learning it by heart by spending lots of time there. Same with other Southwestern locations.

7. Get reacquainted with Tucson, with Livie and Andrew.

8. Take Livie and Andrew to the Hoover Dam.

9. Record our travels in photos and writing.

10. Buy a horse that I can ride (hunters/jumpers/trails) and show.

11. Swimming lessons for Livie.

12. Take photography classes.

13. Earn M.A. in English or Creative Writing.

14. Write a novel (preferably a mystery) and have it published.

15. Earn a “living” by writing novels.

16. Run the Army 10-miler.

17. Become a better cook.

18. Figure out how to make my grandmother’s tasty, homemade tacos.

19. Successfully grow my own garden, so my family can have fresh fruit and veggies in the summer.

20. Be completely debt-free.

21. Have a vacation home in the Southwest.

22. Get reacquainted with the Chicagoland area with Livie and Andrew.

23. Take Livie and Andrew to “Viva! El Paso” in McKelligan Canyon in El Paso, TX.

24. Spend a long weekend with Andrew in Las Vegas, NV, while Livie spends a fun long weekend with her Abuelita.

25. Take Livie to a Blackhawks home game.

26. Take Livie to watch a big horse show.

27. Be Livie’s groom when she rides in a big horse show (if she wants). 

28. Go to Disney World with Livie and Andrew.
29. Take Livie and Andrew to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
30. Ride in a helicopter.
31. Ride in a hot air balloon in Albuquerque.
32. Take a Grand Canyon helicopter tour.
33. Have a "herd" of Pembroke Welsh Corgis.
34. Take a ride with the Hurricane Hunters in one of their WC-130s.
35. Take Livie to an air show to see all the aircraft and watch a Thunderbirds performance. 
36. Take Livie on the big slide at the Iowa State Fair.
37. Take Livie to Concord, MA, where she was born.
38. Take Livie to Mike's Pastry in Boston's North End for some tasty cannoli.
39. Play polo again.
40. Have a great 40th birthday party (November 2010).
41. Take Livie and Andrew to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. As a veteran, it would be nice to see my name there. Plus, we can see the other memorials - like the WWII Memorial, in honor of my grandfather and great-uncles and take a few moments for quiet reflection.

I'll stick with this list for now. The number of items on this list will fluctuate as I accomplish things and add others.