Trip to Texas August 2011, Houston

Andrew found a flavor he really wanted to try.

 After leaving Austin, mom and I decided to stop in Brenham, TX to tour the Blue Bell Creamery.  One of those things you talk about doing but always put off.  We had a great time. After a tour of the factory you get to sample one flavor of anything they make. We all got something different and it was a huge scoop.  I recommend it for those long trips between Houston and Austin.

 I love this old delivery van.  It makes you wish things were still simpler.

 When we got to Houston, we stayed with Kathy and Dan for a few days.  We spent a day at the beach in Galveston.  Meghan and Andrew loved it.  They built a sand castle and played on the beach.  For once we didn't get burned in Galveston, a first for me.

Andrew expressing his joy!

 

After playing on the beach we explored the town and had dinner at a restaurant in Old Galveston.  This sailing ship is actually still being sailed. It was tied up outside the restaurant.  Andrew was in a goofy mood.

Kathy and Dan had their pool all ready for us.  Once we arrived at their house, the kids jumped in and pretty much stayed wet the whole time.

We had a very good time in Texas seeing everyone. We were gone from Ohio for nearly 2 weeks.  That is a pretty long time for us.  

Texas Trip August 2011 Austin

We had such a great time in Texas this summer.  We flew in to Houston and drove up to Austin with mom the next day.  Here the cousins modeled their tie dyed shirts that Stephanie made for them.  It was Sarah's birthday and she had an ice skating party.  Being the northerners that we are, I thought the ice rink would be of a bearable temperature for us. Wrong!  It was so cold I went next door to Walmart and bought the kids jeans and knit gloves.  But they had a lot of fun.  Andrew fell down a few times but bounced right back up.

 Stephanie took us all to Barton Springs to swim one day.  The water was cold because it was spring fed.  But once we got used to it...no it was still cold.

 These two were getting tuckered out.  The springs have been in Austin for a long time. It has been a gathering spot for students and locals alike.

 There is absolutely nothing like a red popsicle on a hot summer day.

 Meghan got a chance to feed Luke.  She never did want to change a diaper though.

 They had a picnic lunch inside because, well just because.

 We all went to The Main Event for some serious bowling and video games.  Here Nathan got to use the ramp thing for more accurate bowling.  We had the bumpers up as well.  That saved me a lot of aggravation.

 Do you think we are getting ready to move on?

 They took turns driving some sort of vehicle.

 Later Kevin took us out to eat at a B-B-Q place near their house.  It was pretty good, but Kevin's is better.  What a motley crew.

 It is always so nice to get my kids together with their cousins.  We live so far away and they are growing up so fast.  Next stop, Houston.

June 2011

This year both Meghan and Andrew got braces. Can you say, "What tax refund?" They are handling them just fine.

Just when you think you have had a really bad day, look around you. Sadie got a pretty bad cut on her foot and had to wear the thing that makes her look like a daisy for a while. Very humiliating. She did not adjust very well. She kept bumping into door jams and getting caught on the carpet. She refused to eat or drink with it on so we had to monitor her a lot. I was so glad to get it off. I'm sure she was too.
The fourth of July in Dublin is always celebrated with the parade. This guy is called Sparky or something like that.
The boy scouts always march in the parade. This year they got to ride bikes or scooters. So we decorated Andrew's for the parade.
Here are some happy parade watchers. We do a lot with this family. They live next door and the kids have known each other since we moved to Dublin.

This past June Andrew had a thrill. We signed him up for a week long camp with a group of British soccer players. They travel around the U.S. giving these soccer camps. The kids get a free t-shirt like the one on this guy. Plus they get a free cool soccer ball. He had a great time.

They were taught some special techniques as Andrew demonstrates. I wish I had video here.
He was so proud of himself. He got his ball signed by his coach. It will be in the family for a long time.

Back in June, Terry and I got to travel by ourselves, without kids, for the first time in a very long time. We went to Santa Barbara for the annual BEMA association meeting. We have taken the kids with us in the past when we were able to go. But this location seemed less kid friendly than past years. So we decided to combine the trip with our 25th anniversary celebration and go alone. Terry's mom came up from Texas to watch the kids for us. Thanks so much to her for being so generous. This is a dock in Santa Barbara that we stopped by before heading on to our hotel.

I think we made a cute couple.
It was cold and foggy often in the mornings. I was cold pretty much the whole time. But it wasn't too bad. Hey, I was away from home on a much needed vacation - no complaining here!
The hotel for the event was the Four Seasons in Santa Barbara. It was pretty incredible.
The hotel grounds were amazing. Everything was green and well manicured. This is a croquet court. I beat Terry 2 out of 3 times.
I love how big this tree is. The plaque said it is over 150 years old. There are roots hanging down from the branches that you can just see are going into the ground.
There is always a team-building activity for the BEMA board members. This year it was a softball game. Terry was back in his element. They let some of the people's kids play. There were kids from 9 yrs up to college.
There is also a theme for each meeting. This year it was Peace, Love and BEMA. People were encouraged to dress up in the sixties style for a party to be given on one of the nights. Some of the attendees went all out.
I think some of these people had their costumes stored away in their closets from when they actually used to wear them.
That is really a guy dressed like George Harrison from the Sgt. Pepper album. He looked great! Some of the guys wore wigs since they used to have hair and they looked pretty good.
Terry and I played it safe. I looked better without my jacket, very flower child like. But it was SO cold. I had a flower painted on my cheek. We had such a nice time. While there, we got to go kayaking on a tour out in the open ocean. The trip took an hour each way by ferry to some channel islands. We did take pictures but they are on another photo source and I hope to get them on here some time. We saw a lot of sea creatures. Namely, there was a huge pod(?) of dolphins swimming by our ferry on the trip home.

Our trip was so relaxing. I got to read a lot and walk in the mornings on the beach. I enjoyed myself but it was really nice to get back home to see Meg and Andrew.

The end of 5th grade

At the end of Meghan's 5th grade year, the parents organized a special day for all the 5th grade students. In the past kids would go spend the morning at a sports complex where many of them would just sit around because they don't all like sports. This year we put together a Survivor event. The kids were all randomly put on teams of 4. They went to the sports complex but they were required to participate in a lot of different activities, not all sport related. There was a tug of war, a puzzle building competition, some unusual relays... The thing the activities had in common was that the kids had to work together to make them successful. Terry and I had an obstacle course activity. The kids had to ride a tricycle, roll a huge ball to a goal, play a big bean bag toss and a couple other things. It was exhausting but a lot of fun.

This is Meghan and her team. I helped to sew the head bands the kids wore. I know, seems like I have been doing a lot of sewing lately. After spending a few hours at the sports complex, we all went back to the school where the kids had a cookout lunch. No school food! The winners were determined based on how many events the teams won. Meg's team didn't win but they had a great time.
Finally, the kids are sitting here watching a slide show of pictures that parents had been sending in all year. It was definitely tissue time. Some of the photos were from when the kids were in kindergarten. To see how much they have grown and how far they have come was very moving. On to middle school!

Easter 2011

Ah Easter. A time for renewal. A time for putting on new clothes.

A time for stuffing the chocolate in while you wait for dad to compose the shot.
We had a nice Easter. It was very wet. We had so much rain there was flooding all over Ohio this past spring. It is always cold up here in the spring. But it wasn't tool bad this time. I think the kids looked very nice.

Last year in the spring, Andrew's 2nd grade class had a famous person project where they chose a famous person to study. They presented their research in the cafeteria. Parents were invited to come see their work. Here Andrew, aka Thomas Jefferson, stands with his good friend Ben Franklin. I was amazed to learn they wore crocs way back then. I made the costume. I didn't think it turned out half bad.

One of these nice girls is Doctor Jane Goodall. The one on the right is the first woman doctor in the country. I can't remember her name but she was a great woman!

The reports were very good. The kids really worked hard on them. I love these kinds of school projects. The coat Andrew is wearing was first made for Meghan when she did a report on George Washington in her 2nd grade class. We recycle where we can.

New Year 2011

Each year for New Years we have spent the night with our friends Terry and Linda Bauer in Sidney. We either go there or they come here to Dublin. This year we went to Sidney and Meghan and Andrew got to spend time with their friends Kaiyah and Kameron. They have known each other since they were babies. They always get along really well.

The girls were trying on Linda's old prom dresses and the boys were just bugging them. Typical stuff.

They were very happy that night.
They always let us bring Sadie because she is well behaved, so of course Sadie has to get in on the festivities. She doesn't look too happy about it though.