State Fair of Texas - October 2009

Howdy Folks! Welcome to the State Fair of Texas....
My sister brought her kids with her for her 20th high school reunion and left them with my mother so that we could all visit while she attended her reunion functions. John has been itching to go to the State Fair so we made a day of it with the kids.

Kroger had a really good deal where we could buy our tickets along with Dart fare for a bit of a discount so that's what we did. We rode the train (the new Green Line) to Fair Park where the train dropped us off right at the entrance.
Here's everyone waiting for the train.

I don't know if this is Harper's first train ride or not but I thought it was very sweet that her big brother was holding her hand.
When we got to the fair, we had to rent a stroller. Best $15 we spent! Uncle John ended up pushing most of the time.
After a pit stop, the first destination was lunch! Who can go to the state fair and not get a corny dog?
You'd think we'd be full after seeing the size of that corn dog but no. Nachos were next on the menu.
The kids haven't learned how to appreciate some really good chili nachos yet. Maybe next year.

The first ride of the day, the kids talked us into going on the "swans", which were basically paddle boats that you could ride around the lake. Harper & I got the first one. She didn't even help with the peddling!
She seemed quite unimpressed by my captaining of the boat so I took us back to the dock after one round.
Uncle John had more of a helper. Atticus was all about riding the rides with Uncle John.
Mom & Harper waiting for the boys to be done with their swan ride.
As the boys were getting off the boat, Harper decided she wasn't shy around Uncle John anymore and she ran straight to him so that he could pick her up.

The next ride was Grandma, Uncle John & Atticus. Harper & I sat this one out. The others went on the Ferris wheel. Here's a view of the Ferris wheel looking straight up while standing underneath.
Mom & Atticus on the Ferris wheel.
View of downtown Dallas from the top of the Ferris wheel.
Me and my new best friend, Harper, skipping and singing to our next destination...
Which was a roller coaster ride that Atticus & Uncle John went on. Then we decided that Harper needed a ride so we asked her if she wanted to go on the Carousel. She was stoked! So, we get on and as soon as I put her on the horse and we started moving she gave me the snake eye!
I don't think this is what she was expecting..
Grandma & Atticus on the last ride of the day - the Pirate Ship. This is the one that swings back and forth. After this, Atticus was ready to go home. He looked a little green.
On the way out to the train station.

We were all exhausted but we had a good time.

Excellent Weekend - Part 2

So now, it's Saturday morning. We've had breakfast with Atticus and Mom and now, we're headed down to Houston. It's my sister-in-law's 40th birthday party and it's a surprise.

We've driven down to Houston several times and we always pass this huge statue of Sam Houston right outside of Huntsville. This time we made a point to stop.
It was a very nice little state park.
So we're walking out to the statue and off to the side, we see this. I guess this is an extra in case...what?
So this is the actual statue. When you are driving TO Houston, you don't really see it until you are upon it but driving home FROM Houston, you can see it along way off. It's right off I-45. We've driven by at night and it's very cool because it's all lit up. It was a nice side trip.

Now, on to the good part. That night, the families and some of Dave & Tanya's friends all gathered at this restaurant to celebrate her birthday. We're all up in a private room upstairs away from the dining room. As soon as she comes in - we all shout surprise! And she is surprised. (see the video below).

David has set this whole thing up and began planning months ago. He did a great job!
Tanya - enjoying herself.
Mia, stopping by to say hello before she goes back out to play with her cousin.
Me and my two sisters-in-law, Michele and Tanya.
The traditional singing of Happy Birthday.
Tanya & Mia. Mia's all hot because she's been out playing with her cousin, Silver.
Tracy and Silver.
Tanya with her family - Mom, Tanya, Mia, Dad, Tracy and Silver.
Tracy & her boyfriend came up from Austin so they had to leave a little early to get back. Here's Tanya with her sister.
The Moms. Brenda and Judy.
The Dads. Dan and Pete.
The view from our hotel room. Houston at night.
The same view the next morning. (Which came way to early for me!)
John with a little pick me up from Starbucks.
We went back to Dave & Tanya's for lunch. Here's Miss Mia walking around in Gransy's shoes. She loves the heels.
One of all of us: David, Tanya, Mia, Michele, me and John.
A family photo. (with a little bit of Dad's elbow...).

It was a great party and fun weekend. Below is a video of the "surprise" and another quick one of Mia walking around in Gransy's shoes. Enjoy.

Excellent Weekend - Part 1

On Friday afternoon, my mom and Atticus came over to visit.
Atticus brought his Pokemon cards and he's showing them all to Uncle John.
We watched SpongeBob and iCarly and then we had pizza and chicken wings for dinner. I think Grandma is his personal cushion. He's always laying on her.

Afterwards, we went to the park for a little fun. This is the same park where, three years ago, I fell off the slide and hurt my backside, much to the amusement of my sister. I'm back to face the demon that is that slide!
Atticus came over to help me out, just in case. Luckily, this time, my trip down the slide was uneventful.
The merry-go-round. I was running trying to get some speed on this thing. Then, in the old days, I would jump on and ride it out. Well, I guess my jumping skills have really gone down because I missed and banged my knee on the metal. Yeah, that left a mark. Atticus & I are laying down because we were getting a little dizzy.
Next we got on the swings. I was showing him how he needed to pump his legs so that he could go high. Huge mistake on my part. Riding on the swing really makes me nauseous. At this point, I had to rest.
Grandma jumped in and became the merry-go-round pusher. She must have learned from my mistake - don't jump on!

Finally, we decided to work on something a little calmer. Atticus decided to build a sandcastle. He spent quite a bit of time filling the bucket and tamping down the sand. Then he asked me to turn it over. I lifted the bucket and....
Nothing. The sand wasn't wet enough to stay packed together.

After this we went back home to take nice cool showers. Then, Atticus and Uncle John were playing MX vs ATV - Untamed! It's a video game for the Playstation that Atticus' papa did the animation for.

Atticus was really good at this game. Uncle John, not so much. But we enjoyed watching Atticus play. Mom and Atticus slept over and we all went to breakfast the next morning. That was so fun!

4th of July 2009 in Arizona

This year for 4th of July, we went to see my sister in Arizona. Why do we always pick the hottest time of the year to go there??

We really had fun. The kids are a blast. Atticus is 6 and Harper is 2 and they were both very excited to see us.
We can't go to Arizona and not bring something from Grandma. Harper shows off her new tinkerbell jammies.
Atticus is going to be toothless. He's got ANOTHER loose tooth!
Tres & John just hanging out.
Harper seems to have remembered me from the last visit. She came over to me immediately and climbed up on the couch to draw on etch-a-sketch with me.
They boys watching tv.

Later that night, Brad made us a wonderful dinner of trout on the grill and arugala & beans. That was better than a lot of meals I've had out at supposedly "fancy" restaurants. While it was a light meal, we were all so full that we went for a walk.
Not sure what that tug of war is but initially, the kids were full of energy. They were running way ahead of us. The adults were still stuffed and logey and just trying not to fall over. It was a really nice walk.
At the end, we all wanted to be carried. The two lightest, Harper and Simon, won out. The rest of us had to finish the walk.

When we got home, Atticus and John wanted to play on the wii. So, Atticus made Uncle John a mii (an avatar) to represent him in the games. I think Atticus liked doing this more than the actual games. He was very precise. This was the final version.
Not bad...
Meanwhile, Miss Harper has gotten ready for bed and is now wearing her new princess jammies.
Let the games begin! They start out with Tennis. They went through the entire list (golf, boxing, baseball, tennis and bowling). Then someone pooped out.

The next day, everyone went to the movies. The Doan's went to see Ice Age 3 and the Chaney's went to see the Hangover. When we met up after the movie, we all went for an ice cream treat. Brad stayed home for a little Brad time. It's probably not often he has the house to himself.

The rest of us got an ice cream treat at 31 flavors. I tried convince Atticus that there was only one flavor left but he didn't believe me.
Harper is very focused on her chocolate chip.
Atticus got some sort of Sundae.
Even mom & Uncle John got a treat.
Harper wanted to make sure she didn't leave any in the cup.

Later than night, we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Macayo's. I almost choked to death on a chip. That was unpleasant but the dinner itself was very good.
Tres & Harper.
Brad & Atticus. That's Atticus' "confused" look. I think it looks more "pensive" than confused.
Harper was sharing her salsa with mom.
Uncle John was celebrating with a little adult beverage.
The last day we got up a little early. Miss Harper is still a little sleepy.
We played with the etch-a-sketch almost the whole weekend. She really liked drawing the hearts.
Atticus just hanging out.
Harper playing with her mama's hair. It's kind of funny. Her mama didn't have much hair when she was little either.
The game of choice this time around was "airplane". The kids wanted me to lift them into the air on my feet. Talk about a workout! They both waited patiently until the other "crashed".
Atticus & Uncle John watching Tom & Jerry.
Harper giving Elmo some hugs.

It was a very short trip but we had a lot of fun. It's always a treat to visit.

Below are a couple of videos. One is of Harper dancing. She takes a bit to get going but she's dancing to Journey. The other is of Uncle John & Atticus playing on the wii. It's a little dark but you can tell what's going on. Atticus is really getting into it.