Congratulations to Levi who is New York City's "Pet of the Month"! Every month the magazine City Scoops crowns a new pet of the month, and Levi is the man, er dog, for the month of July.

If you read Levi's blog on May 14th, you will see the actual story that we submitted. It's quite different than what they wrote in their magazine, but we did give them the rights to print whatever they wanted. Levi wanted to make it clear that he was not really born in a trailer park. I guess that's just what people up here think of Alabama.

Other than appearing in the magazine, Levi won a $50 gift certificate to discountdogs.com. He hasn't decided if he wants a new dog harness or a load of dog bones. Congratulations Levi! Let’s just hope this prestigious honor doesn’t go to his head! I wonder what the other dogs from the dog run will say once they realize they are running around with a celebrity. He’ll probably get quite a few more butt-sniffings at the least!

So Jill and I are looking for tickets to the Subway Series against the Mets. We really want to see Clemens pitch, but we can't find tickets. We can't find any good seats for the other games. And then, my phone rings - it's Kim, my old neighbor that I grew up next to. She is in town with two of her kids, Jason and Carley. Jason is in town for a baseball tournament - congratulations for making it this far!

Kim just so happens to have two extra tickets to one of the games against the Mets - and not just any game, but Clemens is pitching! We met her and her friends and we all went to the game together. We got there early enough to see some BP (batting practice) - that was pretty cool. One of Kim's friends, Ben, was Andy Pettitte's old roommate. He gets his attention during BP and we got to go down under the field in the tunnels and meet him. Pettitte is a great man and incredibly friendly – we were honored to shake his hand, get his autograph, and get a picture with him. It was really neat to meet him this day because it was on his birthday.

We had a great time at the game. Kim, we can’t thank you enough. It was great seeing you, Jason, and Carley, and it was great meeting all of your friends. Ben, we thank you too for hooking us up with Mr. Pettitte.

My mom got quite a present for her birthday this year. I flew in from New York and my sister and her kids flew in from Texas to surprise here. Shae and her family live in Birmingham, so my mom had all of her kids and grandchildren in town to celebrate. Needless to say, my mom was incredibly surprised. Jackie met us out for dinner for my mom’s favorite food – Mexican!

My mom said it was the best birthday she has ever had - and not that she's old, but she has had a few in her time... Here are the new pictures.

It was great seeing my parents, sisters, niece, nephews, and grandmother, and mother-in-law. But I sure did miss my wonderful wife and favorite dog, Levi! Mom, I'm glad you enjoyed your birthday and I love you very much! Happy birthday again!

The next day was the Fourth of July, and we spent our holiday at Coney Island (the first permanent amusement park in North America – Brooklyn – that opened in 1895). The original Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs stand is here, and they are delicious (or maybe that’s because we were starving after waiting in line for an hour and 20 minutes). We witnessed history when we watched the Nathan's International July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest. Joey Chestnut set a new world record by eating 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes. We also rode the world famous Cyclone roller coaster – this year is its 80th anniversary.

We had dinner at Red Restaurant on Fulton Street that night, and then we watched the Macy’s fireworks show at South Seaport. It’s the nation’s biggest show and it lasted more than half an hour. It’s comprised of more than 30,000 shells (that’s over 1,000 shells bursting per minute). A computer with 10 miles of wire controls the show by synchronizing everything with the music. With 63,000 feet of pipe, this show uses 55 times more fireworks than the average show in the United States.

We all went to see the Yankees beat the Angels on Friday night – lots of action in this game as the final score was 14-9. A-Rod hit a home run for us. We went to Times Square after the game, strolled through Central Park a bit (and got scared by a raccoon), and finished up with some food and drinks at Chevy’s.

On their last day, they met Jill and me on Canal Street after they went to the Empire State Building. Jacob and I don’t like to shop, but we had a good time playing “the game” of seeing how much we could knock off of the original price. If you are anywhere on Christie’s family tree, she bought a present for you. If you even have a family tree at all I think she got you something. We had a nice lunch in Little Italy, saw the Broadway play Avenue Q (great show - I’ll never look at puppets the same way again), and finished up with dinner at In Vino (glad it didn’t take us long to find it).

We had a great time with you guys! We’re so glad you came to visit and we hope you will be able to come back again in December. Here are the pictures - NYC, Coney Island, Yankees game. Oh yeah - Jacob, the girl from across the street came over to borrow a couple jugs of milk and she told me to tell you hello.

We got to see some very historical sites – Philadelphia was the Capital of the United States from 1790-1800. We toured the Supreme Court Chamber in Old City Hall (1791-1800), Congress Hall (where the Bill of Rights was implemented), Independence Hall (where the Constitution was signed and George Washington’s chair is still present), Congress Hall (where John Adams was inaugurated), we saw Ben Franklin’s grave, and last but not least, we saw the Liberty Bell (crack and all).

It’s worth mentioning a little bit more about the Declaration of Independence (written chiefly by Thomas Jefferson). It was an act of the Second Continental Congress, adopted on July 4, 1776, which declared that the Thirteen Colonies were independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain. It was actually passed by Congress on July 2nd. The Declaration is considered to be a preceding founding document of the later formed United States of America, where July 4th is celebrated as Independence Day. At the time the Declaration was issued, the American colonies were "united" in declaring their independence from Great Britain.

We also toured the Eastern State Penitentiary, the world’s first true penitentiary. It was designed to inspire penitence – or true regret – in the hearts of criminals. It actually had running water and central heating before the White House. “Scarface” Al Capone was once held here, but he was treated much better than the other inmates as he had a phone and nice furniture. The bank robber “Slick Willie” Sutton and some other inmates escaped here by digging a tunnel to Fairmount Avenue. The tunnel was equipped with supports, fans, and lights and took at least a year to build. Most were caught within a few hours though.

No trip to Philly is complete until you go and see the Rocky statue and check out the “Rocky Steps” that lead up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This made us want to watch all of the Rocky movies again – just in time for the newest one, Rocky Balboa.

We had some outstanding food at both Bookbinders (first opened in 1865 now lined with photos of famous people dining there) and The Melting Pot. We saw a great fireworks show and a Blue Moon (the second full moon to appear in a calendar month). So this is where the phrase “once in a blue moon” comes from. We celebrated at a pub by drinking one of my favorite beers, Blue Moon. Love Park is really nice and holds the famous “Love Statue”. But even nicer are the people of Philadelphia – some of the nicest overall that we have been around on any trip. Check out the pictures here.