Tour of Texas - Day Three

On Saturday, we ventured north to Dallas to partake of the food, sites, and food of the Texas State Fair. Yes, yes, yes, it was also the grounds of the Red River Rivalry that day. We weren't so lucky as to score tickets to the awesome OU/UT showdown, but could listen to the game and see highlights as we passed by many TVs on the fairgrounds. What a glorious day of football, and Cooper had the best shirt to say it all.

Since we couldn't get into the game, the day became about the FOOD. Daniel kicked things off with a turkey leg as soon as we entered the fairground gates.

But, we really hit the jackpot when we stepped into the Texas Food building. Free hamburger bites were awesome! They were made with the Nolan Ryan beef, and I've got to find where to buy that stuff. It was delicious! Then, it doesn't get any better than free ice cream. Needless to say, we parked ourselves in front of the free cone line for a bit while we all enjoyed the gift.

We did try the chicken fried bacon and couldn't pass up on the famous Texas State Fair Corn Dogs, but we didn't punish ourselves. Our will power was intact and we were able to pass up on the fried treats, including PB&J sandwiches, moonpies, lattes, coke, s'mores and cookie dough! I have to say, we all gave ourselves a nice pat on the back for that display of willpower.

There were sites other than food...

Abigail showed us her "Hook 'em Horns" sign atop a longhorn.

We were all impressed with the African Acrobats. They danced, made pyramids, and flipped around. But, this guy's limbo skills were amazing. He was actually walking on his ankles as he cleared this crazy-low limbo bar.

The auto show was interesting, as usual. Maggie and Abigail decided they were going to get the 2009 Hybrid Tahoe. I checked out all the new hybrids, and Daniel was happy to find a beer vendor in the second auto show building.

The kids enjoyed the animal displays. Daniel, ever the rulebreaker, ignored the many signs instructing not to handfeed the animals, and led Abigail to do the same.

Cooper was obviously excited about this ostrich.

And, both Abigail and Cooper enjoyed petting the pigs. (Ironically, it was just across from this building that we bought chicken friend bacon. Coincidence?)

We aren't much for the midway, but when the game was over, we made our way into the midway to escape the crowd of very unhappy OU fans and ecstatic (and drunk) UT fans. Abigail was the only rider, as she rode her first roller coaster. Not a bit scared, she waved fromt he second caterpillar cart every time she came around to our view.

To end the day, we took a ride on the landmark ferris wheel. Here, you'll see Daniel looking highly annoyed at me for being afraid of heights and not trusting a 212-foot ferris wheel, most likely not operated by the smartest engineers the state has to offer.

We did make it around the wheel a few times safely, but it was almost a tragedy. When Daniel was the most annoyed with me, he decided to prove to me that I had nothing to worry about. As we were resting atop the wheel, he jostled the door of the cage planning to prove we were safely locked in. BUT... we weren't! The door easily opened, and his point was not anything close to proven. Making me look silly, the kids enjoyed the ride and weren't a bit scared.

We capped the day off with an impressive bird show off with an impressive show of exotic and rare birds. A few even swooped down on the show, descending from atop the massive ferris wheel!

Overall, the day was a success! UT climbed atop both national ranking polls, we enjoyed the sites of the fair and especially the food, and still had some cotton candy left over for the three-hour ride home.

Tour of Texas - Day Two

We took our tour a bit to the South on Friday and visited San Antonio. Of course, we started the visit at the most obvious destination... REMEMBER THE ALAMO!

Aside from the overly aggressive senior citizens tour group we mistakenly got merged into, the tour of the historic 1700s mission was very interesting. Again, Abigail failed to see the historical importance of the shrine for the 1836 battlesite and only saw it as another chance to strike her model pose. Vogue at the Alamo!

From the Davy Crocket and Santa Anna showdown site, we headed down to the beautiful Riverwalk. Although I've visited the Riverwalk many times, it's been at least 7 or 8 years since I was last in San Antonio. Ahhh.... I missed the food, mariachis, food, beautiful scenery, and the food! This time, we took our chances on County Line and were rewarded with scrumptious barbecue! We even felt a bit guilty as we were chowing down on brisket when Daniel called from work to see how we had decided to spend our day. But, the guilt wasn't too overwhelming and we were able to soldier on.

Of course, this was Maggie, Abigail and Cooper's first time to see the Riverwalk so we rode the river on an informative tour boat. Cooper didn't enjoy sitting still for so long, but the ducks kept him slightly entertained.

The kids were happy to be back on land...

... but not too happy to hear our next destination -- The San Marcos outlets! Maggie and I had spied the massive display of outlet stores along the interstate as we drove down to San Antonio earlier in the day and decided we were willing to brave the no-napping kids for a chance to peruse the shops. It was an awesome end to a perfect day!

Tour of Texas - Day 1

Our fabulous Maggie made her way here to visit us over fall break from USC so we took her on a quick tour of Texas, hence the blogging absence. On Thursday, we toured a bit of Austin, namely the Texas Capitol.

It's an awesome historical building built in the late 1800s, with much fanfare for Texas history. Of course, Texans are definitely the most proud of their land than anywhere else we have lived. We didn't get the privilege of seeing Congress in session, but we did see the House...

... and the Senate,

and I learned my favorite new saying from Texas history.

 

For some reason, they didn't teach us this at any point in the three years we had to study state history. I even purchased it on a plaque from the giftshop for a very lucky Christimas present recipient!

The kids didn't enjoy the building so much, as Abigail commented repeatedly that it was "too boring," but she did enjoy the Capitol Grounds. As she did on a previous visit, she enjoyed pretending to be a statue. Here she is attempting to blend into the life-size bronze figures in the Tribute to Texas Children.

There are so many monuments on the Capitol Grounds that we weren't able to make Abigail replicas of all of them. Some we did see, but they posed heigth challenges for her. In this one, she choose her "model pose" instead of trying to imitate the 1951 bronze soldier from the Spanish-American War.

We also had some time to show Maggie the "splendor" that is 6th Street in downtown Austin. 

I wasn't brave (or awake) enough to venture down there on a late night outing when it's alive and bustling, but we did find a bar in Maggie's honor!

All Busted Up -- Pinatas and Mommies

I have nothing of humor or importance to post after this busy weekend, but thought I could at least share some pics and details of the last few days. Friday night was spent sewing two pillowcase dresses for a birthday present to give to Abigail's friend, Skylar. I attempted to guide her in fabric choices, but she was in charge of the selections. I did put my foot down when she selected the Dora fabric, but her final picks were cute. She was eager to model the dresses, as you can tell from her posing, but they were much too big for her, as Skylar is 6.

I wasn't too sure about the butterfly fabric, but it turned out okay. The trim helped cuten it a bit, but it's certainly not my favorite. 

But, before the birthday she-bang, we had a t-ball game. Unfortunately, the Indians were not near as entertaining as last week's Pirates. The Indians never once tried to field the ball while running the bases, nor did they have any unwilling players being drug through the game by moms. Oh, well. The kids played well even if they did not bring the laughter.

Abigail played third base in the first inning and shortstop in the second. She still seems to think she's playing some type of football/t-ball combo game and makes a diving tackle if anyone gets to the ball before she does. The young man playing shortstop (in the above background with his father) cried every time someone other than him fielded a hit. Unfotunately, that was every hit of the game. (I attempted to cheer him up and help him, but his lack of English speaking and understanding caused a problem in that.) 

Abigail's hitting improved tremendously this game, and she's a a speed demon on the base paths. Here she is running towards me at third base.

Okay, so she's not a speed demon.  You can see the runner coming from first to second has already arrived, and she is just halfway between second and third base.  But, she made it. That's all that counts.

In the meantime, Cooper was safely strapped into his stroller and unhappily watched the game from the sidelines as Sissy and Mommy took on t-ball while Daddy fulfilled the American dream -- at work.

Once t-ball was completed, we raced to the next event which had been highly anticipated all week: Skylar's birthday party. I was pleased to see Abigail quickly toss the cleats and stirrup socks for pint corduroys and some girl chatting in the park.

Of course, the party was not complete without scooping up candy from the busted pinata...

And, now that the weekend is over, I'm certainly feeling what that pinata feels. From sewing to t-ball to party to church -- I'm thinking that next weekend I'll go to work and let Daddy manage the carpool.

Does It Matter?

I'm pondering the question these days and am now asking you, does it matter who gets elected? Don't get me wrong. I'll still vote. (In fact, this will be my first time to actually vote in a voting booth. I have never voted anything but absentee by mail, since I maintained my Texas residency/voter registration, but didn't live in Texas. I'm a bit nervous and don't want to look like a bafoon, but will be at the polls with bells on.) 

But, I can't help but wonder if it really matters. Over the course of the last week or two, I've watched George Bush exercise a wide (or in my opinion, illegal) range of his Constitutional powers and push for spending that I never thought he was capable of supporting, much less instigating. (Oh, how I wish I was in a Conn Law class now instead of 10 years ago.) It makes me wish the George Bush I voted for in 2000 was the one currently at the helm. He's just not the same politician these days. Does Washington do that to all of them? 

  

Will it matter who gets elected? I've decided it won't matter. Whomever Sen. Obama or Sen. McCain says they are now, I don't think either one will be a spittin' image of that person in eight years, or even four, from now. 

So, I'm sticking with putting God at the helm. As Rich Mullins sings, "You have been king of my glory. Won't you be my Prince of Peace." Instead of putting my faith in the hands of politicians in this time of "crisis," I'm choosing to live in peace and not worry, fret or debate over what the right course of action is, whether the issue is financial or presidential. Isn't that what all the hippies have been saying for years? Peace, man. 

Wheaties Box in 2024

My great friend Emily, or Mrs. Morgan if you ask Abigail, used her wonderful skills to teach Abigail how to swim early in the summer. Then, Abigail proceeded to spend the rest of the summer pretending she was a fish. While we stayed with Gran & Grandad for five weeks during our move, there wasn't a day that went by without Abigail in their pool. Some days, she was in there on more than one occasion! If she spent the morning swimming with GiGi, she was still eager to spend the evening swimming with Grandad. 

It was obvious that once we were settled here in Austin, we had to find a pool for Abigail. Yes, we have a neighborhood pool, but that isn't open year-round.  So, she swims once a week at Nitro Swim Club. 

Every Monday morning, we race over there after school in time for her lesson. She has mastered her freestyle and even makes pretty turns at the end of each lap, but she's now been working on her backstroke for a few weeks. She says it's too many things to remember all at once. After this week's lesson, I discussed with her in the car about listening to the instructor and letting her tell you what to do instead of worrying about remembering so many things. Smartly, she said "Well, Mom, my ears are in the water and I can't hear her when she's talking if I'm swimming."

A co-worker of mine commented to me recently that swimming is his favorite sport for his kids. I assumed it was the year-round availability or lack of expensive equipment or even the healthy aspects for their bodies. It was none of those. He loves that it tires them out! 

I'm thinking the money will be my favorite part. You know, when Abigail becomes the female Michael Phelps in 2020. She's told us several times that she only wants to join a swim club that's on TV, so she's set her goals in the right direction. Can't you just see it now...