Josh took off for a 6 week overnight camping trip in Michigan at Camp Wooden Acres. Most of the time he was out hiking and camping with the group, but here he is throwing strikes at a near by alley.

Jim busted out the oldies and goodies! Click here for more reunion pics.

This group makes up the Mueller and Bebar families. The Lakotas and Pluths were up next. The photographer stitched the 2 pics together to make one giant group photo. I will post it soon. Click here for more reunion pics.

Lakota Family Reunion Golf Outing at Wedgewood in Joliet. We played best ball and because Kari and I were a bit late in teeing up we actually did not get a chance to visit with all of the other golfers on hand. The course was in great shape and the weather was perfect.
See more pics at http://www.erikari.info/lakota/golf/

Temps got up to around 100 degrees and this fire plug on 69th and Carpenter was opened up to cool down. I was tempted to join them but had to get to football practice at Simeon HS.

Ben is overwhlemed with grief when the Gatorade run out... meanwhile Sofie says just try some water from the garden hose! See more pics of us chilling out in the back yard and in the kiddie pool on a very, very, hot Sunday afternoon.

Coach Dewalt's son...

Lisa and David had a fun Bastille Day BBQ at their place near China Town. The grilled vegtables were delicious, as was the green bean salad. Everything that was cooked was done so on the grill. See more pics here.

Yup... I had the honor of witnessing Sammy Sosa's 61st and 62nd homeruns during the 1998 season. Of course McGuire had hit 61 about a week earlier, but it was exciting to say the least. Were they juicing? Back then we had no clue... we were just loving baseball in Chicago. The Cubs won that game with a Mark Grace walk-off homerun in the 10th inning! I came across this ticket stub while finally cleaning out my black file cab inet, something I promised my wife I would do 2 months ago!

Little Roland (Trey) has a sense that his team lost the game... even tho no one keeps score at their age. He had some good cuts and tuff collison with a teammate going for a ground ball. The temperature at 9am was already in the 90s... summer in the city! Loyola Park Field House in Rogers Park is about a block my from old place on Estes Ave during my Northwestern days. See a few more pics here.

Check out the vintage transistor radio this old-timer was using to track the game's play-by-play! Classic! He and his wife were from Normal, IL and his wife was even scoring the game. Of course the Cubs lost yet again. 6-3 to the smoking hot NY Mets. After a 45 minute rain delay some knuckle head streaked the field toward 2nd base. I thought he was going to strip off his clothes but security pounced on him quickly. Sadly I missed the photo opp!

Shrimp Salad from Cooking Light magazine.

2 of Mike's lady's. Actually the little one is the niece of the bigger one. We were at a July 4th BBQ on the south west side of the city. The neighbors were literally lighting off quarter sticks of dynamite as well as a variety of other fireworks. See more pics here!

Click here to see pics from the Edgebrook 4th of July Parade!

Laurie and Kari had no chance against Ed and I in Euchre. We beat them handidly, and looking forward to the rematch.

Kari and I went to see a production at the Balliwick Theater that my friend Jesse is performing in. Interesting story about a HS wrestler who comes out of the closet. Nice theater and a well done performance. Read more here.

See more pics at: http://www.erikari.info/friends/thuy-ken/

Southside Hitmen took it to the Cubs in the 1st game of a 3 game series at Wrigley. Shaz and I took off right after work and were slowed down by a fire dept HELICOPTER crash near 35th street, but we still managed to miss only the 1st inning. This was also the 1st game back for thug Michael Barratt after his 10 game suspension for punching AJ. Notice the drunk and dejected Cub fan sitting behind us. Thanks to Jon for the tix!