Indianapolis Colts Training Camp Autograph Tips!

I have noticed some hits coming to this site for Colts autograph tips, so I thought I would post some past experiences at training camp.

First, an update, the pregnancy is going well! Dawn is looking fantastic. As a matter of fact, more fantastic every day! Please support our site with the ads/affiliates on this page, they help pay for the kids college fund!

Ok, at Indianapolis Colts training camp, it can be a mad house! It helps to know what to do, so you don't waste time in the wrong line, etc.

The first and most obvious place to get autographs is the autograph tent. This is usually located near the East end of the main football field. It sits just between the main field and the practice field. Here is the need to know about the autograh tent: In years past, they only sign here after the morning practice. I would get in line during the morning practice or earlier ( depending on which day it is...) They will bring the players up on golf carts after practice to sign. You really never know who they will bring to sign, as there is no set schedule that I know of for this. This is how we got Reggie Wayne's and Joseph Addai's autographs. It is worth the wait in line. I have heard from talking to others in line that Peyton Manning is always in the tent on family day. I have also heard that people start getting in line there at around 5:00am........

At the afternoon practice it is all about luck. Some of the players will come over to the bleachers after practice and sign. We have seen Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison do this after an afternoon practice, but we failed to get their autographs there. Nicolas was really disappointed! It is a mad house when they come over to sign. Watch your little ones closely to make sure they don't get trampled!

We have a few more top secret tips for obtaining autographs, we will post those soon! Check back, and please support our site!!!!!

Photography Practice..

I am practicing my photography skills trying to learn as much as I can and improve. Here is a sample of one I took at Washington Park, Michigan City, IN. The two oldest Bolts are getting into photography also. It is fun to share an interest with the kids. Nicolas is especially taking a real interest in it. Even reading a camera manual and trying to learn! We hope to get some photos accepted on some stock photo sites and make a small amount of cash with them. Of course we are going to try our best to be amateur sports photographers at Colts training camp in the coming weeks. Maybe we should start a photography blog also........

Fire Up For Colts Training Camp!

We are starting to get fired up for this year's Indianapolis Colts training camp! The players arrive this Sunday (July 29th). We will head down at the end of that week for autographs and pictures. Here is a picture of all of us at the night practice last year. (Thanks Dan for taking the picture.) It is a great time to see the Colts practice this close. You can hear them yell everything and complain about holding, etc. The two minute drill is awesome! Nicolas has most of the autographs of the players, but this year he really wants to get Peyton and Marvin to sign his Superbowl football. We have not been able to get those autographs in the last few years. We will keep trying. Although, Dallas Clark (#44) is one of our favorite players because he always makes time to sign autographs for the kids. Stay tuned for recent training camp pictures to come in the next couple of weeks.

A Great View

We had an excellent week. We worked very hard on updating the master bedroom. It looks fantastic! I won't post a picture here, but if you really want to see it, send us an email.

The pregnancy is going well and Dawn looks as beautiful as ever! We are all anxiously awaiting little number six!

Over memorial day we took a trip to Cincinnati. It was great to see some friends and do some remembering of the times that we lived there. By the way Frank and Theresa, congratulations on the new little one. What a close call! I am glad that you did not have him in the car! This picture is of all of the good looking people in our family. It was taken at Eden Park in Cincinnati where Dawn and I use to eat lunch together. What a great view of the area from up there! Also, what a good looking bunch! I will ramble more this week......

Home Improvement Time....

This weekend the Bolt family took on the biggest home improvement project that we have done yet. We decided to replace a small window in our master bedroom with french doors. This turned out to be a huge success! This was a big project because we had to tear a big hole in the side of the house (in a load bearing wall) and then re-frame the area to support the doors. We were able to do this with a lot of help. Grandpa Roth came down to help us install the door and put the siding back on. Grandma and Tana help watch the kids. Dawn had to sit much of the heavy stuff out because she is expecting number six, but she did make a fantastic lunch!

This first picture is a picture of before the project. The window is where the french doors are going to go. As you can see the back area of this house was pretty plain and needed some jazzing up. We had to remove the siding and that window. You can also see in this picture that we already have the gravel base down for the patio that is going to be built.



The next photo is a shot of the work in progress. As you can see, there is a huge hole in the wall. We had to build a temporary wall on the inside to support the load bearing wall while we re-framed and installed the header. It is difficult to see from this picture, but the 2x4's are actually inside the house.



The final picture shows the finished door. Thanks Tana for modeling and also thanks for help with the kids. You are the best, I don't care what your parents say about you ;).



This was a very rewarding project. It makes a huge difference with the back area of the house. Of course it was completed with no debt. I'll get more into that later..

Sunday was a nice relaxing day since we finished most of the project on Saturday. We went bowling and watched the NFL Replay of the Indianapolis Colts vs. Kansas City Chiefs playoff game. Just in case you forgot, the Colts won that game! Training camp is in a couple of weeks! Check back for some Colts training camp updates....

After we finish the interior trim around the door, the next home improvement project will involve building a patio outside the french doors.....

Chicago 2007

We recently went on a site seeing trip to Chicago with all of the kids. A large family trip is always an adventure! We all had a fantastic time. We started off with a trip to the All Aboard Diner, which was a big hit with the kids. We had our food served via a model train. There also happened to be a Pro Jersey shop next door so we picked up some more Colts gear. Although, Jakey bought a felt Bears helmet! We forgive him....

We did many of the usual things, Sears Tower, Lincoln Park Zoo, and the American Girl store. We saw the Chicago River about 37 times in a matter of a half hour because I became lost and missed my turn a few thousand times. Every time we would say "Look kids, Chicago River". It became old quick! It was much like the European Vacation line with Big Ben, Parliament......

We are planning a major home improvement project this weekend. I plan to try to document some of that and post here. Also, in the next few weeks, you will see some updates from our trip to the Indianapolis Colts training camp. I am going to check into renting an expensive telephoto lens to get some good pictures this year. Go Colts!

1st Annual 4th of July Flag Football Game

We had our first annual July 4th flag football game. We had a great time. This year the Lightning Bolts edged out the Thunder Bolts by one touchdown. We even painted a football field in the front yard! We are currently on a short trip to Chicago to do some sight seeing. We will update soon with more....