Special Events: Our Horses • House Addition • Mustangs 2008/09 • Mustangs 2007/08 • Mustangs 2006/07 • Summer Vacation 2011 • Family Traditions

Posted: December 28, 2012

Melody's birthday arrived and we kept it simple this year. In the morning, she and I headed into Dallas to get her present - a new back up camera system for her van. This included a new stereo deck system with a touch screen and HD radio receiver. Ooooooh. It took about 6 hours to install so we had to kill time by walking around the Town East Mall. We stopped and had lunch/dinner at AppleBee's, picked up the car, and headed home to have cake and presents with the kids. Sometimes I think these birthdays are more for them then us! Melody had a interesting cake with a rainbow center - nice! As you can see, she enjoyed every bit of it :-) Happy 56th Birthday Melody!

Posted: December 25, 2012

Christmas Day arrived - since we didn't have anyone staying over, there was not a great rush to get up in the morning. Rick and Kalyn came in around 10am so we started the festivities with the sorting of the gifts from the tree and the unwrapping procession. Ericka and Alvin and the kids stopped by next and helped out, then we did some lunch and snacks. About that time, the weather started getting worse and we got some slight snow flurries (Dallas and the western part of the metroplex got more) in the afternoon. We ate an early dinner and then Jack, Erik and the kids stopped by and we finished opening presents with them. Everyone made out like bandits of course. It was a good holiday - Merry Christmas everyone!

Posted: December 24, 2012

Christmas Eve this year was a little different - Erik's Mom and Dad from Mexico are spending the holidays with the kids so we have some new family members to meet. They came into town on the 23rd to stay for two weeks. Melody got some home made tamales from Martin's wife and we had a Mexican dinner on Christmas Eve. The kids, Marty and Amy, and Britt and Ken and the boys came over for dinner too so we had a house full. Dinner was really good, I think all enjoyed it. We had some desert as well, and spent time chatting around the table. Once everyone headed home for the evening, we wrapped up ourselves, and headed for bed (early for once!), waiting for the Man in Red to stop by again. This year was the first time we had none of our kids staying with us at home on Christmas Eve, they were all somewhere else for the night. A new experience for us.

Posted: December 22, 2012

Last week we traveled to Galveston, TX and got on a Carnival Cruise ship (the Triumph) headed for Mexico. We left port about 4pm Monday afternoon for a 5 day cruise. This trip was Ken's retirement celebration with his kids so there was a big group of us. First day is at sea, so you spend your time exploring the ship and getting into the flow of cruising. I was surprised at how many things they have going on all the time to keep you interested. 1st port of call was Progresso, MEX - we departed the ship and took a bus ride downtown to the shopping area and the beach. This is a rather new port of call I think, and there was some heavy Police presence which was re-assuring given the stories you hear about. We walked the streets checking out the vendors, and ended up at a Catina on the beach for a couple hours. The girls went and got a massage on the beach, the kids went and walked the beach with the little ones, and the adults sat under the shade and had drinks and chips. We re-boarded the ship and headed back out to sea. Dinners were great on the ship - we had a really good mater-die. Second port of call was Cozumel, MEX. This time we all planned some activities, The kids all went snorkeling, Melody and I went horse back riding in some Mayan ruins, and Ken and Hadie and Mom checked out the shopping mall and all the deals they had. We re-boarded the ship and headed back for Galveston. That night was 12/21 - the end of the Mayan calendar and of course, we hit a storm front at sea so things starting getting a little bumpy. The white caps on the sea where pretty big and ken found out that we were experiencing a 7 out of 10 on the rough seas gauge. We had about 12-18 hours of this before it finally calmed down and the ship could speed up again. Lots of people got sea sickness from all the tossing and turning. But, we pulled back into Galveston port on time Saturday morning, and we disembarked around noon and started the drive home. It was quite and experience - I think everyone had a good time.

Posted: December 15, 2012

After Haley's birthday happenings, we all gathered in our back room and waited for the man in red to make his annual appearance. Sure enough, he stopped by to see the kids and see what they want for Christmas. Alvin and Ericka brought some extra guests with them this year, and Ken joined us as well (Brittany's fiancée'). Santa was in true form as always, and all the kids did really well. Lots of pictures of course, singing of carols, and as always, Santa gave everyone a kiss - Hershey's kiss that is. Get your mind out of gutter would you :-)

Posted: December 15, 2012

Its that time again, Haley's 11th birthday. Jacquelyn got Haley an edible fruit arrangement for her birthday which was neat. Then we took her to the new AppleBees in Canton for a Birthday lunch so she could get some ribs. This was her big ask. In the evening, we had her family birthday in the evening after dinner with all the nieces and nephews (and some friends) stopping by for cake and presents. After Haley's festivities, we had another special guest that stopped by to see the kids - can you guess who?

Posted: December 10, 2012

Haley had a 5th grade project that I helped her with. Her task was to define a Flying Machine using a bag full of random materials. Requirement is that you have to utilize everything in the paper bag (including the bag itself), and you can't add or subtract anything. You can use glue, crayons or paint, tape, to put the flying machine together. I believe this exercise to try and get the kids to do some critical thinking while using their imagination. Other than that, the parameters are pretty open, the flying machine doesn't have to be able to really fly. Again, you use your imagination, as long as you can explain what the concept of the machine is (ie. what you dream up). The kids are given a form to fill out which describes the capabilities of the machine (again, you can use your imagination here) things like speed, fuel it uses, etc. It was a fun exercise - being a McGyver for a day, trying to get Haley to think outside of the box and imagine what is possible.

Posted: December 8, 2012

Tonight we went to downtown Canton to see the 2012 Canton Christmas Parade with Ericka and Alvin and the kids.Landon and Eathan were spending the evening with us so they got to go with us too. We found a good spot down the boulevard and waited for the action to begin. Before too long, the sirens were wailing and flashing lights were spotted off in the distance. The parade included the usual array of tow trucks from Fuller Towing all decorated, multiple floats, cars with city leaders and war veterans riding in them, beauty queens, the Canton HS Marching Band, horse back riders, and of course, Santa Claus. After the parade we went down to the town square and took in all the lights around the county court house and the nativity. its always fun to start the holiday season with this parade in town - some good old time fun in a little old fashion town.

Posted: December 8, 2012

Haley also started her first game of the year today with her new team. As with every year, there's some of the girls that were drafted together so she's not with all total strangers. There's 4 teams in her division this year, and I think they have a new coach. All the kids have grown since last year, so the competition is heating up more this year. Shooting has improved, and defense. I'm surprised by how quick some of these girls are at this age. It should be an interesting year of basketball...

Posted: December 8, 2012

Ah - Saturday morning and we're in the old gym at school - must be time for Litt'l Dribblers basketball. Yes, Charlie has his first 2 games this morning with his new team this year. He's moved up a division and is one of the older kids at this level on his team. One other kid from his class is also on the team with him (Case). At this age, there's a lot of running back and forth up and down the court, not too much structured play. You're lucky if you can get them to inbound the ball correctly, and fouls are not really called yet. I can see the attempts to get them to play as a group somewhat but who's kidding who, at this stage, its almost everyman for himself. Charlie can shoot, so he gets his opportunities and made a couple baskets. like most of the kids, he needs to work on his dribbling and ball handling, but that will come in time.

Posted: December 7, 2012

On Friday evening we traveled in the Dallas Arboretum to see the Chihuly Exhibit that's been in Dallas all summer. I really wanted to see this and time was running out (the stay was extended through the first of the year so I didn't want to miss it). I chose to go the the Chihuly Nights version where you go after dark and they have the displays all lit up to show off the sculptures in a different setting. Given its winter, and at night, the combination was interesting. Weather wise you couldn't ask for a better evening, light sweater conditions in the 60's. We spent about 2 hours walking around the grounds to admire the different displays (I'm thinking there was 20-30 different ones). I'm a big fan of Chihuly's work - he did the main lobby at the Belagio in Las Vegas and the atrium display they have there. If this exhibit comes to your city, its definitely worth the time and money to take a gander at it.

Posted: December 3, 2012

Next stop this evening was the gym at the High School for the 2012 Martins Mill Elementary Christmas Program. Like every year, each grade (Head Start - 6th) put on some sort of holiday skit or dance routine. They sing Christmas carols, recite holiday stories, and dance to holiday tunes like rock n around the Christmas Tree and such. Its a fun night for the kids and the parents. Its always fun to watch the new little ones come out for their first school performance (and their parents) and also watch the older kids as they participate in the different events for each grade level.

Posted: December 3, 2012

Monday night we traveled over to Van to have dinner with Katie and Autumn and catch up with them. School's been in for quite a while so we chatted about their status and looking forward to the holidays. We had planned to eat at the Dinner Bell in Van but unfortunately, the Dinner Bell did not decorate this year for Xmas. Too bad, that's a tradition we always look forward to around this time of year. So instead, we had dinner at a newer Mexican Restaurant in downtown Van. After dinner we strolled the sidewalks to see some of the shops that did decorate for the holidays and we called it a night - next stop is Martins Mill to see the kid's Xmas program later this evening.

Posted: December 2, 2012

On Sunday we drove over to Hadie's house in Fort Worth for the day. Barry was in town on business, and Chris and Alex along with some friends from Omaha had traveled down to go to a Cowboys game. Gramma Hadie and Grandpa Ken were left to celebrate Alex's 5th Birthday. They rented a bounce house for the kids which got a lot of use, and we had lunch, cake, and presents. Alex is growing up fast - I was truly envious of the Avengers super hero cake - I want one! Happy Birthday Alex!

Posted: December 1, 2012

On Saturday we traveled into Garland to watch Haley at her Gymnastics competition - the first one of the year. She has now advanced to the next level (level 3) so the routines and maneuvers have increased in difficulty for this year. The floor routine has more elements, and the beam, and the uneven bars. The vault is about the same this year, they don't launch from the horse yet. For the first meet of the year, she did really well, scoring all 9's and above on every event. There were 141 girls in her group (level 3) and she came in 2nd overall - way to go Haley!

Posted: November 28, 2012

So it's that time again - Rush is on tour and of course, I need to stop in and see what they're up to. I got pretty good seats stage left at the AAC in Dallas. As always, its about a 3 hour set of music with an intermission, plenty of lights and graphics. They played a majority of their new album, Clockwork Angels which sounded pretty good. They had a backing string section which was a nice addition to the music. I haven't listened to this album a lot so far but now hearing it live, I am more impressed with the sound and diversity on the different songs. Another bonus - they were filming this concert for a video on this tour - so we may be on the video! Melody is really excited about that :-) I believe that Rush has been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year (finally). I'm surprised it took this many years for them to finally make the ballot on this. Good luck, hope you get voted in!

Posted: November 23, 2012

We ended up spending a quiet Thanksgiving at home with just the kids coming over and Mickey. It was a joint activity with Melody, Jacquelyn, and Mom preparing the usual array of turkey and fixins, casseroles, deviled eggs, Waldorf salad, etc. and of course - pies. A feast fit for the Pilgrims if I do say so myself. For levity, we found some Thanksgiving headgear that we all had to model - very becoming if I do say so myself. Then we sat down to watch the Cowboys get the snot knocked out of them by the Redskins - ugh. Robert Griffin III is the real deal it looks like. Oh well, it was still great to spend the day with everyone :-)

Posted: November 21, 2012

So I had to go in and get a hair cut at the local barber in town this week, and I decided to take Charlie along with me since he was off school and needed one too. I was unaware at the time that this was actually the first time Charlie has had someone other than his mom cut his hair - ever! If I'd known this, I would have thought twice about it. He did just fine, letting Mark give him a nice buzz cut over the ears. I guess I got to take care of a milestone for Charlie - way to go kid!

Posted: November 17, 2012

On Saturday we signed the kids up to attend their first Build and Grow workshop at our local Lowes store. This is a program where you can bring your kids into the store on a Saturday morning and you work through a small building project with them that Lowes supplies. The kids get a work apron, safety goggles, and some small tools to take home with them. They do this twice a month I think at most stores. Its great PR and the kids had a blast. Today they were making sleighs from the Christmas movie, Rise of the Guardians. We can't wait to sign up for the next one in January...

Posted: November 11, 2012

Rick stopped by on Sunday so we could celebrate his birthday. Nothing too spectacular, just the usual things you do for a 29th birthday - family, barbecue, presents, and a cake. We had a nice afternoon around the house, and for his birthday, Rick got the James Bond 50th Anniversary Collection. I'm pretty sure I know what he'll be doing with all his free time for the next several months...

Posted: November 10, 2012

On Saturday, we traveled into Fort Worth to meet up with Kalyn and Sean and spend the day at the Fort Worth Stock Yards. First up, you have to ride a Longhorn - so I did. They happen to have one parked right in front of the Stockyards building so I jumped on. We then proceeded to find a hole in the wall restaurant, "The Love Shack" on the main drag and had some lunch and refreshments. The Stock Yards is a great hang out destination and motorcyclists use this as a day trip destination as you can see. We then ventured down the boulevard for some shopping - they always have some neat things down in the shopping area by the Tarantula Train. We then closed out the day with some drinks and quesadillas at the Stockyards Hotel and sampled some Buffalo Butt Bear at Booger Reds - yes, it was as good as it sounds. There's a lot of history and charm to the stock yards, a must see for any visitors from out of town. Overall, a fun day all around...

Posted: November 9, 2012

Last Friday night we stopped by Marty and Amy's to help celebrate Landon - he's now 6 years old. Just seems like yesterday he was born. He had a very neat Batman cake and of course, plenty of presents to go with it. His big present was a BB gun, so he can go shooting with Papa Marty. I can't help but think of the movie, A Christmas Story with Ralphie - it was a Red Ryder double-action pump BB gun... Happy Birthday Landon!

Posted: October 31, 2012

For Halloween this year, we adopted (although I'm not sure I know who adopted who in this case) a new 6-8 week old calico kitten and we've named her Mrs. Beasley. Fitting to get a new cat this time of year? She just showed up wailing on the front porch one morning, most likely thrown from a car as far as we can tell. In the evening we were visited by Red Riding Hood, Anakin Skywalker, Capt. America and The Red Ninja Warrior (aka, Haley, Charlie, Ethan and Landon). They all stopped by after Trunk or Treating down at the school and Trick or Treating in Athens. Jacquelyn, coming from a fine witch heritage, cooked up a cauldron of bubbling "witches brew" for all to enjoy. Haley's costume was hand made by Jack and took multiple nights and evenings to complete - the dress as well as the hood and cape - it turned out really nice, something they will always remember. Oh note to self, don't make Anakin mad when's he's got his light saber around, you might loose a limb...

Posted: October 15, 2012

On a whim, we decided we were going to take the kids to the zoo in Tyler, the Caldwell Zoo. We have memberships to the zoo but never go so we decided to reverse the trend. Great weather, and the zoo wasn't over crowded which was nice. Unfortunately the giraffes weren't out this day which was a bummer. October seems to be the off season for the zoo anyway and they were doing some repairs and remodels of some exhibits. One neat thing was we did get to have Charlie stand really close to a tiger that was pacing in his enclosure. Charlie would have made a good snack I bet! It was a good day...

Posted: October 11, 2012

Mom traveled to Georgia this week to attend Mitchell's graduation from Army Boot Camp at Ft, Benning, GA. Mitchell joined the Army in the summer, and will be stationed back on the west coast upon graduation. This is the first Army ceremony that Mom has attended (as far as I know), although Granddad Stepp was in the Army in WWII. Mom met Barry and Paula in Atlanta and drove out to the base near Columbus, GA. I believe she also toured the National Infantry Museum on the grounds of Fort Benning and said it was pretty neat. Congratulations Mitchell - thank you for your service!

Posted: September 27, 2012

So we finally got together with Autumn and Katie to celebrate Katie's 16th birthday. She's now in High School in Van, and is growing up fast. Seems like yesterday she was going to Martins Mill Elementary. We went to the Farm House in Van for dinner, then did the customary cake and presents. We also delivered the special Disneyland pictures from our summer trip with the girls. Happy Birthday Katie!

Posted: September 22, 2012

We went to Maddie's 8th birthday party over at Alvin and Erica's house. Maddie wanted a hot pink and zebra stripe birthday - and that's what it was. There were a lot of friends and family there, kids going every which way. Per tradition, they started with lunch, and then brought out the cake - a monster sheet cake. They we proceeded with presents, and finally to the piñata - Alvin and his friends had to search for a acceptable spot to hang the piñata from, and at one point, Ericka had to climb a tree to get the rope over a branch since there was no low branches to toss over. All in all, Maddie had a good birthday I think.

Posted: September 17, 2012

We celebrated Jack's birthday at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in Canton - Dos Gatos. After a round of chips and salsa and the main entrées, we got down to the real business - cake and presents. Charlie and Haley picked out a zebra cake with colorful flowers at Brookshires for their mom - it was pretty good. Then she opened her presents - a new soda machine so they can make their own sodas and several other special surprises from the kids. Happy Birthday Jack!

Posted: September 15, 2012

Game #2 - So he's still playing tentatively, not sure what's up with this. Doesn't seem to be as confident or something, doesn't want to engage with the other kids to get the ball like he did last spring. Guess its the new level and increased competition. He played forward again for two quarters and goalie for another - the team struggles, and the coach is brand new so this is not really a surprise. They seem to be having fun and that's what's important.

Posted: September 14, 2012

So one afternoon last week we were having a moderate rainstorm in the afternoon so when the kids came home from school, Charlie asked if he go out and play in the rain. Grandma said yes so Charlie grabbed his goggles and headed out the door to play. As you can see, I think he made the most of his opportunity to play Gene Kelly for a day...

Posted: September 10, 2012

Charlie signed up for soccer again, advancing up to the next level. His team was the "Live Wires", since their uniforms were electric yellow - fitting. All the kids have grown and the length of the periods are longer now which means more running. Plus, the competition at this level is more intense. Charlie was a little tentative out there, not as aggressive as last year - to be expected with a new team and a new coach. He mostly played forward while in the game and he was goalie for one period as well. We'll see how this year progresses...

Posted: September 8, 2012

Our project for this year was to replace the two sheds behind the house with a more permanent structure ans extend the cement parking area off the driveway. The pantry shed was beginning to show its age and had started to leak. Its was only about 30 years old. The storage shed was fine but we decided to move it down to Baby's property for future needs down there. I set up with a local contractor to start the project mid-August so we had the two sheds moved and work started. We had to have a propane line moved and the tank reset to accommodate the cement work, plus some water lines were re-routed as well. The new structure is a 20x20 building, with a wall down the middle splitting the space into two sections: one for our pantry/freezer needs, and the other as a garage, storage, work area. We also planned to add a sink area to the pantry section and run water to the building, and supply it with a heating/cooling system to keep it temperature controlled. The entire project took about 7 weeks to complete, and the appearance of the finished product blends in nicely with the rest of the flow of the main house. I am really pleased with the results on this - looking forward to many years of use!

Posted: September 4, 2012

So we spent the Labor Day weekend down in Austin visiting Kalyn and Socks. Kalyn had to work all weekend so there was not too much going on. Did some shopping for Socks, spent some time (and money) at Lowes looking for shelving for our new building, did some outlet mall shopping, went to eat lunch at the Noodle House, and had dinner one night at the Salt Lick, a really good BBQ place on the outskirts of Austin. Kalyn started school last week so she's getting back into the normal routine of school and work. Plus college football started this weekend in Austin - go Longhorns!

Posted: August 25, 2012

On Day 4 we planned a voyage to Salem, MA on the ferry boats. Its about an hour ride out of the Boston harbor heading north. Boston Harbor is really neat with a great skyline, lots of sailing boats, Logan airport is out in the bay, and along the coast is some impressive beach houses. Salem is a small tour with quite a past centered around the witch trials in the 1690's. They have many different attractions on this subject so you can pick and choose which you want to see. We took a trolley tour around the city to see what looked interesting. Salem has quite a history with there historic homes district where many of the well to do sea merchants lived. Another notable sight in town is the home that inspired the book, "The House of Seven Gables" written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. You can tour the house and see what a 1600 period house may have looked like and the transformations the house has gone through over time. For lunch, we stopped at a local eatery called the Witch's Brew. They wouldn't let Melody cook unfortunately. After lunch we continued walking around downtown since this was Heritage Days and there was an open air bazaar on the main shopping mall. later in the day we chose to visit the Salem Witch Museum on the way out of town and it was OK - informative but not worth the cost. Oh well, live and learn. We also stopped at the oldest working candy shop in the country - Ye Old Pepper Candy Company and had to leave with Lobster Pops! Very neat! After the boat ride back to Boston harbor, we stopped for dinner on the wharf and The Chart House. Perfect spot to wrap up our visit to Boston.

Posted: August 25, 2012

Day 3 in Boston found us starting the day with some additional walking to go tour the Boston Tea Party Museum. This was a nice little re-enactment of the events around the incident that's more geared for kids - but it was still fun. You can actually see a crate that was one of the containers that was thrown overboard from one of the ships back then. Its one of only 2 that still exist from that night in 1773. When you finish the tour, you get to sit down and enjoy some tea and goodies in their cafeteria overlooking the docks - very nice. We then headed back to Quincy Market area and found a Irish Pub to have lunch - the Black Rose. After lunch, we hopped on the trolley and headed over to the USS Constitution, the last commissioned tall ship in the US Navy I believe. What a piece of work - that ship is really neat. its called "Old Ironsides" but there's not a spec of iron on its sides. Term comes from tales of cannon balls bouncing off its thick wooden sides during skirmishes I believe. "Must be made of iron" I think was the saying or something. The weather started turning rainy so we caught a cab back to the hotel. In the evening, we walked down to the market square again and did some shopping, then stopped in for dinner at a McCormick and Schmidt's - good way to end the day.

Posted: August 25, 2012

On our 2nd full day in Boston we planned to take a trolley tour, figuring that would be a good way to see most of the important sites and pick the ones we wanted to stop and spend more time seeing. Boston has multiple trolley companies, and they all basically travel the same routes around the city, you just need to pick the one that best suites your price and interests. The trolley takes about 2 hours to complete a full circle on its track, with 16 stops along the way. the Driver talks most of the way pointing out historical information and other important facts about the city and sites as you approach/pass them. We're weren't on the tour too long when Melody spotted our first stop - the original bar that inspired the hit show, Cheers. We stayed on the trolley for an entire cycle until we returned to the Cheers location, then we got off for lunch at the famous location.

After eating and taking a peek at the made for TV bar (no Norm was not still sitting there) we headed out on foot and into the Boston Public Gardens - an open space in the middle of the city thats a really nice place to walk. There's a statue of ducks in the park that are for the children's book, "Here Comes Ducklings" which was inspired by the ducks in this park I believe (the author is from Boston). So, we went to the lake and sure enough, there were plenty of ducks everywhere. Plus the famous Swan peddle boats that have been in this park lake for decades - a Boston staple so we were told. We then continued walking across the city through the Boston Commons area (another open public space) and saw the Massachusetts Capitol Building and the Copps Hill Burial Ground, where Paul Revere, John Hancock, and the victims of the Boston Massacre are buried. We then toured the Kings Church - where Paul Revere and other important persons such as Samuel Adams attended church services. We closed out our walk with a tour of the Old State House, which is where the Boston Massacre took place, plus, the balcony of the building is where the Declaration of Independence was read from in 1776. When finished, we headed to the hotel for a rest before dinner.

In the evening we met Pete (a colleague from work) for dinner. he took us over to Harvard Square - the campus of Harvard University. Yes, I felt I gained 15 IQ points just by walking around there. We walked through several of the courtyards of the campus, one in particular Pete pointed out the famous "Statue of 3 Lies". Look it up sometime, very interesting story about this statue of John Harvard. We ended up at a nice little bistro off the main drag which had some really good food. It was a great evening weather wise so we ate on the patio which provided some great atmosphere. After dinner, we continued walking around the campus for a while, then returned to downtown to the hotel. Harvard turned out to be a fabulous way to end the day - great food, great company, in a great location. Can't ask for more than that!

Posted: August 25, 2012

After touring the JFK Library, we took a cab across town to Fenway Park to watch the Rangers take on the Red Sox in an afternoon game. All around the ballpark there were food vendors, souvenir shops, and all kinds of activity. We walked underneath the bleacher seats on the Green Monster, and went into the park over on Yawkey side. I had purchased tickets in the bleacher sections trying to get out of the sun (guessing it would be hot during a day game) - the seats were great! Right off 3rd base, totally in the shade, what a view. This year is the 100th year of baseball at Fenway, and I must say, the park has a lot of charm - its a great place to take in a game. Old time organist, bricks everywhere, wooden seats that are small based on the dimension standards from years gone by. The rows are really tight, when someone gets up - the whole row has to get up :-) We sat next to some Sox fans who were great - we sparred back and forth throughout the game in good fun. The game itself was very entertaining, lots of runs scored, some great defense, back and forth - and the game didn't get decided until the 9th inning - with the Rangers squeaking out a 10 to 9 win.

Afterwards, we took the T back downtown and ate dinner at a Chipotle - which was housed inside a 300 year old building - amazing. Modern meets historic to say the least. Then a stop at Starbucks and off to the hotel for the night. For our first full day in Boston, not too bad of a start!

Posted: August 25, 2012

Flying from LA to Boston is a 5 hour marathon, so we jumped on an early morning flight and arrived around 4pm EST - just enough time to check into your hotel, get some dinner and walk around a little. The hotel we stayed at had a Pub downstairs connected to the lobby so that was convenient. After getting dinner, we explored around the streets and found that we were staying close to the Old South Meeting Hall - a 200 year old building, the place where the plans for Boston Team Party were discussed prior to the event. We turned in early for the night and planned to start our adventure in the morning.

In the morning, we got up and took a cab over to the JFK library and museum. Very interesting museum - they've done a good job outlining the mood and events of that period of time in our history. To date, this is the oldest presidential museum I've toured. Its amazing how those 4 years of the JFK presidency impacted our country and the world. Maybe its because I recently toured the 6th Floor Book Depository Museum in Dallas for the first time so this was all fresh to me as well - I found the library to be excellent. Next we headed for Fenway...

Posted: August 25, 2012

The first week of August I took a week off and Melody and I hopped on a plan and headed for the west coast to spend a few days with my family. We spent Saturday with Lee, Karen and Lindsey walking around downtown LA and Hollywood, seeing some of the famous sites like the Hollywood sign, Ghramman's Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood walk of fame, and Universal City-walk. Very cool places in deed. On Sunday we traveled out to Lynette's and spent the day with her, Laura, Monti and Shane. Boy has he grown! Lee Karen and Lindsey came out as well and we all had a great dinner together. The next morning we had breakfast with the girls and Shane, and then toured the Warner Bros. Studios. Gotta love all the movie history there - saw two actual Batman cars, the General Lee, - and the Friends stage - very cool. In the evening we met up with Amit and had dinner in Hermosa Beach at a nice outdoor restaurant. It was a whirlwind weekend for sure - we packed in quite a bit for 3 days - now onto Boston...

Posted: July 14, 2012

So Jacquelyn has been having issues around her house for sometime with stray ferrell cats from her neighbors. They leave cats roam around their house, don't get them fixed, and viola - we have tons of kittens running around. She and Erik decided to start trying to do something about this and have been trapping them in their yard. So one day, they had caught one female, and took care of it - later that day she heard a crying kitten in the car port. A small black kitten, maybe 2 weeks old, eyes weren't even open. Jack and the kids started bottle feeding him and we all started taking turns nursing him for the next several weeks. After about 6 weeks, we found him a home with Mrs. Brantley and her family - so this cat is one Lucky Duck (thus his name)!

Posted: July 6, 2012

The last day in Orlando, we spent the day at Disney world's Hollywood Studios park. This is Disney's answer to Universal Studios with a mixture of Disney's rides, and movie making magic all centered around Disney based characters, Pixar, and general movie making that the Disney Enterprise is involved in. Most of the attractions are film or movie based. We started the day off with the girls riding The Tower of Terror, and we continued on to Star Tours, and had an up close and personal sighting of Storm Troopers! We then walked some of the Disney back lot and took their back lot tour, and had some lunch. Afterwards, we continued on and met with Mike Wizowski and Sully, and then Buzz and Woody. We saw the Muppets in 3D, and a great historical tribute and movie outlining the life of Walt Disney and his accomplishments. To end the day, we went and saw the Ariel show and did some shopping in the downtown area to make sure everyone had their prizes to take home. tr was a good ending to a good week of fun. On Saturday, we checked out of the resort and headed for home - a two day drive. This was a really good vacation - something the kids will remember for a long time.

Posted: July 5, 2012

Day 4 in Orlando found us up early and heading over to Kissimmi to take an air boat ride and try and see some alligators. Melody had done this on a previous trip and had some great luck finding gators on her excursion. We were hoping for the same experience. Didn't quite turn out the same but was fun anyway. On the air boat ride we saw a shore where the gators laid up for the night but none were to be seen. We boated around for about 45 mins and only saw one baby gator, no adult. When we returned to the pier a woman called us over to close out our tour and low and behold, she had a gator with her! We got some fun facts about them, got to touch it, and the kids even got to hold it and have their picture taken so not all was lost on this adventure. Afterwards, we headed for Disney world and spent the day at the Epcot theme park. Its a combination of Disney park, ecological displays, and a quick trip around the world touring through all the different cultures of the world. We found characters and got autographs, and went on some really good rides like Soar'n and Mission Space. Quite an adventurous day if I do say so myself.

Posted: July 4, 2012

On the 4th of July, we decided we were going to take it easy, and not fight the crowds at the parks. We ended up going down the road to the souvenir shops to get the goodies to take home from the trip. After shopping, we headed for Kissimmi, FL to locate an air boat charter company - we found the pier where the boats were located, but weather conditions in the area prevented the boats from going out for the rest of the day. We ended up making reservations for the next morning. Then we stopped in at the cafe across the parking lot to have some alligator and frog legs. On the wall was a mounted gator, it was huge. It's foot was bigger than my hand and my head could easily fit within its mouth. Yikes. After lunch, we drove over to Downtown Disney to walk around for a bit and shop. I think the Lego shop and the T-Rex Restaurant were the big hits. We then headed back to the resort and spent the remainder of the day taking it easy and resting.

Posted: July 3, 2012

Day 2 in Orlando found us returning to the Magic Kingdom to finish up seeing all the sights we didn't see on Day 1. Our immediate target was to get the kids over to Frontierland and on Thunder Railroad, one of the more popular rides at the park. While the kids were in line, Melody and Mom partook in lemon chills, a good way to pass the time next to the Disneyland lagoon. We spent the rest of the day criss crossing the park to see any of the rides we missed on day 1 (mostly Fantasyland rides) and also visited some of the classics again for another go round. We met more characters and go their autographs. Autumn had been after Ariel's autograph for 2 days and we finally got them in to see her. We closed out the day a little early and went outside the part for dinner at a local eatery. I would say we covered the Magic Kingdom pretty well!

Posted: July 2, 2012

We got an early start from the resort which is about 6-8 miles from Disney-world and headed for the Magic Kingdom (can you start your visit anywhere else?) Once you find parking, you have to go through the ticketing process, then attempt to board a monorail to get to the main entrance, then get through security, then your day begins in the park. Given the number of people they have to funnel through this process its pretty impressive how its organized, but still - you burn a good hour and and half getting into the park. Once in, we immediately had to do the obligatory pictures at the park entrance. I really like the fact now that they have photographers all over the park that can snap picts for you at key points of interest. Yeah they cost money, but I think the memories are worth it. We continued through the tunnels into the park and immediately we were hit with a parade - how Disney. The kids wanted to go meet with Mickey and Minnie so we ducked into the photo area for them off Main St and waited in line. Then we started our adventure through the park. The park was pretty crowded (of course). First stop - Adventureland where the kids had to ride Aladdin's carpets. Watch for the spitting Camels! Then we continued on to the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Ride, Jack Sparrow made an appearance, and we stopped for lunch. Tomorrowland was next, and then we visited part of Fantasyland. As evening approached, we had fast passes for Splash Mountain, so we headed back across the park. After Splash Mountain, we got some dinner, and it was almost time for the Main St. Electrical Parade to come through. I'm so glad they are still doing this, I remember this as a kid. Following the parade, we headed for Main St. but didn't get there in time for the nightly fireworks show, but we did get to see a repeat of the Electrical Parade from a different vantage point. By this time, its getting late so we head out for the night. All in all we spent almost 14 hours touring the sights - quite a long day!

Posted: July 1, 2012

Day 2 in Atlanta started with an early breakfast at the hotel, then a short drive over to the Carter Library. On a Sunday morning, its was not too busy. We quickly got in the library and started our tour. I had forgotten about many aspects of Jimmy Carter's background and presidency. Around that time is when I was becoming aware of the world and how things work, and seeing the displays reminded me of many of the events of that time period. I remember the tight election between Ford and Carter, and watching the conventions that year. I remember the gas lines from the energy crisis, and of course, The Israeli-Egyptian Peace Accords, and the Iran Hostage Crisis. Jimmy Carter is a rather interesting individual, he was only in office for 4 years, but he has done so much outside of the presidency - and his library reflects that. It seemed that over half of the space was dedicated to his efforts for the Carter Center, and his global humanitarian efforts after Washington. The ticket person said that Mr. and Mrs. Carter still come up from their home in Plains, GA to the Carter Center for two weeks every month to work - quite amazing. I may not agree with all his politics, but I do have a great admiration for the man, Jimmy Carter and what he has accomplished in his lifetime.

Once we finished, we jumped back in the car and started the 7 hour drive south for Orlando. This being a holiday weekend, the traffic wasn't too bad. We pulled into Orlando around 9pm and found our Holiday Inn Resort and checked in. I must say, I liked the accommodations - it was a condo like duplex with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, enough room for all of us. We all settled in for a good nights sleep - it would be a big day tomorrow.

Posted: June 30, 2012

We ended up staying in Atlanta overnight and found a hotel in a downtown neighborhood. It was around dinner time so we headed down the street to an interesting looking place called the Atlanta Fish Company. There was a 40 ft fish jumping out of their parking lot - who wouldn't want to eat at this place! Reminded me of The Fish Market from the west coast with a sea faring atmosphere and decor, and a similar menu promising a wide variety of fresh fish. Of course - the kids all ordered chicken strips, their favorite kind of fish. After dinner, we returned to the hotel and the kids spent a hour in the pool before bed. It was a good end to a long day of driving, and sightseeing. Target for the next day, was to return to the Carter center and visit the presidential library.

Posted: June 30, 2012

Our sumer trip over the 4th of July work shutdown this year was a trip with the grand kids to Orlando FL and a visit to Disney world. This would be the first visit to the Florida Disney world for all of them. We left on the afternoon of the 30th and spent the first two days driving. The night of the 30th, we struggled to find a hotel with a vacancy over in Mississippi - I waited to long to try and stop for the night, everything was booked up. We tried sleeping at a rest stop but it was too hot and no one was comfortable. We continued driving and finally located a hotel with rooms available over near Hattiesburg around 2:30am. On Saturday we continued on into Georgia headed for Atlanta. We arrived in the city around 3 pm (later than I had hoped) and went to the Carter Library. It was too late in the afternoon to tour the library in depth so we made plans to spend the night in Atlanta and return in the morning to take the tour.

Not far from the Carter library, we came across the MLK National Historic Site. We stopped in and toured the museum and the grounds. Martin Luther King's birth house was here, and the church where he preached and some of the de-segregation movement started. They have built a research center in the area and he and his wife's graves are also nearby. MLK has an internal flame near his tomb as well - similar to the JFK memorial in Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC.

Posted: June 11, 2012

Last week Melody and the kids went down to Austin for a few days to visit Kalyn now that school is out. Kalyn is working but they still get to spend quality time together - plus, Aunt Kalyn has a pool (ours is out of commission) which is a definite plus! Sleeping spots are at a premium at Kalyn's house so Haley and Kalyn were forced to share the couch - nice. As I understand it, they also visited Barton Springs with Sean (Kalyn's boyfriend), an naturally fed watering hole in the Austin area. its quite a popular hangout spot in the summer when the temps heat up. Looks like a good time was had by all...

Posted: May 31, 2012

At the end of the school year, Jacquelyn took both kids west to the Magic Kingdom in California for 5 days. This was Charlie's first time going to Disneyland and Haley's second I believe. We got nightly update calls with the latest adventures and sights. They found many of the princes and got the signatures of a whole bunch of the characters during their stay. One day they spent over in California Adventure and the other two days they were in Disneyland. They even got to have breakfast with the characters - and who was there to say hello? None other than Stitch! Oh to be that young again!

Posted: May 28, 2012

Over the long Memorial Day weekend Jacquelyn and Melody headed for the Big Easy for a couple days of chicanery and relaxation. They toured the French Quarter, took a horse and buggy ride, ate some Cajun food, and I'm not sure what actually happened on Bourbon St - I'll let them tell you about that tale... All I know is they got back from the trip and the van needed a new tire (had a huge bubble in the tread). Lucky they weren't on the road and that thing decided to blow. Got it to the tire shop just in time...

Posted: May 25, 2012

Well it happened, Charlie actually graduated from Kindergarten with a ceremony and everything. Martins Mill takes their promotions very seriously so this milestone is recognized as well. Part of the ceremony is for the kids to announce to the audience what they plan to be when they grow up - this is pretty cool since it can range from cowboy, to baseball player, to princess, to fireman to DR. - you name it. I seem to recall that Charlie wants to be a fireman I think? They even have a procession and they get handed their diploma so they can get their picture with the principal and their teacher - pretty neat. It will be something to look back on one day...

Posted: May 19, 2012

On Saturday we took Mom to Love Field for a trip to California, and we had Autumn and Katie staying over. We dropped Mom off pretty early in the morning so we thought while we're in Dallas, we should do something. So, we decided to take the girls to downtown and show them the Book Depository Museum and Daley Plaza in downtown Dallas where Kennedy wad assassinated. We toured the museum, then walked down to see the "grassy Knoll", then walked another few blocks and viewed the JFK memorial, plus the old red courthouse and other buildings. Melody or I have never went to the Museum before either - it was really neat - well done presentations and discussions about the events and the state of the country during that point in our history. We ended the day eating at Spaghetti Warehouse where we had a great waiter who played the kids and their drinks (note the size on the re-fills they got). It was a fun and educational way to spend a Saturday - I think we all learned something...

Posted: May 15, 2012

Mamaw went with Haley on a field trip up to Edgewood, TX to see their Old Town museum. Its a plot of land near the downtown square where several old period buildings have been moved and renovated as historical landmarks so people can get and idea of what it was like back in the late 1800s and early 1900's. There's all kinds of buildings so kids get an idea of what life was like.

Posted: May 9, 2012

Haley's been working on her first big science school project. She has to do a report and presentation board on Giraffes. Its taken a couple weeks to get all the information and materials gathered for her report and the art board. Jack, Erik and Haley all worked together on putting this art presentation board together using some neat paper that looks like a Giraffe's spots. Haley can now tell you multiple interesting facts about Giraffes- just ask her...

Posted: May 1, 2012

Mom and Hadie traveled up to Wisconsin for Gramma Schaefer and Uncle Tony's funeral. Gramma became ill in late April with heart failure and a virus, she moved from the nursing home to Athens EMTC hospital and passed away on the 29th. Uncle Tony suffered a massive heart attack in his sleep in San Jose back in March. We were in the process of making arraignments for Tony's burial when Gramma took ill. Given the close relationship they had through their lifetime, it only seems right that they both exited this world around the same time and ended up being together for eternity up in Wisconsin. The service for Gramma and Uncle Tony was very nice, Gramma looked very good and she had a really nice casket. Mom and Hadie got to spend time with Aunt Mary and Donna, Uncle Joe and Marie, and Jerry and his wife while up in Wisconsin, traveling around Kakona and seeing all the places Gramma used to reminisce about. Its been a hectic journey, but they are both at piece now.

Posted: April 25, 2012

Baseball started up again this month so we decided to stop in and check out the Rangers for 2013. Coming off a heart breaking loss in the World Series last year, there's high expectations again for the Rangers who are basically fielding the same team again, with the major addition of a new star pitcher from Japan, Yu Darvish. The Rangers allowed CJ Wilson to bolt to the Angels so they could sign Darivsh, a highly touted (and costly) addition given the ransom you have to pay to sign these Japanese players. So far though, Darvish is living up to the hype - he's pretty good. I tried to buy some good seats for this game (vs. the Yankees) in left field and of course - it was hot (for April) and the sun is shining right in Melody's eyes which was not good. Once the sun went down things got better and we had a great evening with the kids. The Rangers ended up winning the game 7-3 - yeah!

Posted: April 23, 2012

Charlie decided he was going to play T-Ball again this year and he ended up on the Canton Eagles team. He's a little older than most of the kids on the team so he has an idea of what he needs to do - and he takes it pretty seriously. I'm impressed with how this year he has a pretty good idea of what he needs to do with the ball when fielding, and his batting is coming along as well. And of course, you can't leave the ball field until you get your snow cone!

Posted: April 21, 2012

Last night after dropping Katie and Autumn off, we stopped in to see Gramma Schaefer and spend some time with her. It was around dinner time so we decided to take her out on the patio area for dinner. The nursing home she lives in serves pretty good food, and Gramma's no worse for it. Gramma needs help eating these days so Melody helped her out. The weather was really nice this evening and the plants are starting to fill out for spring. Gramma really doesn't know where she's at - we talked about this place being a hotel - she was ok with that. Hindsight being 20/20, this was the last time we saw Gramma and she was in good spirits and good health.

Posted: April 21, 2012

Autumn and Katie spent the night with us last night so we decided in the morning to go to the Spring Arts Festival in Edom, TX. We stopped and had breakfast/lunch at the Shed, then we walked the streets to check out the vendors. Not so many this year as previous years for some reason. I saw some interesting things (arts and crafts pieces) on our first pass around but when I went back, they had been snatched up - darn. The girls each got some handmade jewelry so I think they were happy. They had some neat old cars around the street as well, plus a petting zoo which was fun. Its always a good time when the Arts Festival comes around. Can't wait till Fall...

Posted: April 14, 2012

I spent about 10 days in San Francisco for work this month so over one weekend, I took a day and went to the Zoo with Jeff Ahlquist. Never been to the SF Zoo so it was fun. San Fran is an older zoo, with quite a bit of character. Looks like there's some renovations going on in several places across the zoo. I have to say, they have a great gorilla exhibit, and the lemurs were really neat as well. After the zoo, I hung out and had dinner with Tom Barclay and his family - it was a good way to spend a day in the city by the bay!

Posted: April 8, 2012

Easter is always a fun time around the house - with the coloring of eggs, and the anticipation of the Easter Bunny stopping by and dropping off goodies. This year was no exception. Kalyn came down from Austin, so we went to breakfast over at the Dinner Bell in Van. After noon, the other grand kids and nieces and nephews stopped by. We had cakes, and baskets, and had an Easter egg hunt in the back room (whew - we found them all!). For dinner we BBQ'd some hamburgers, hot dogs and brats for the army. After dinner the kids played twister - an obvious Easter game, right? After dinner we went into town and spent some time with Grandma Schaefer. She's doing well, although she still doesn't know where she's at for sure. We always try to re-assure her so she does ok.

Posted: April 7, 2012

Haley was chosen for the Lit'l Dribblers all-star team again this year. Many of the same players from last year's team are also on the team this year. They started off the play-offs in good shape winning their first matches. For the quarter finals, we had to travel to Nocona, TX - home of the famous Nacona Boot Factory. At this level, its a bracket tournament style so 2 losses and that's it. The tournament started on Friday and the girls won their first game, but lost their second for the day. WE traveled up their that night and met up with Haley, Jack and Charlie. Saturday morning they had their next game and it was a touch one. They battled throughout the game but could not get the upper hand and continued to loose ground. They made a run and made it a game for a while in the second half, but the other team pulled away and won it - ending their quest for a repeat Lit'l Dribblers Championship. Better luck next year girls!

Posted: March 25, 2012

We celebrated Mom's 75th birthday last weekend - all the kids, grandkids, etc. came over. With this many around the birthday girl didn't get to open her presents - there were plenty of helpers! The Brookshires cake we ordered didn't quite come out the way we thought - we'd see a pretty fancy one earlier in the week and ordered one. Obviously, the baker was different because the decorating job was not the same. Oh well - it still tasted good :-).

Posted: March 22, 2012

This week Ken officially retired from the Air Force after 20+ years of service. The ceremony was held over in Dallas as the place he works today (AFIES?). Lots of suites and speeches, story telling, remembering, recognizing, thanking, begging (yeah Ken), laughing, and celebrating. Ken even proposed to Hadie again (what if she'd said no?) Matt and Charlie did a formal flag folding and all the kids were present and accounted for which made it that much more special. The ceremony was followed by a reception where they served a light lunch. it was a nice way to end Ken's career. Thank you Ken for your service!

Posted: March 17, 2012

Yep - its time for soccer again. Charlie is still on the Shock waves but he's now one of the older kids on the team. For today's game, Aunt Kalyn was present to see how Charlie handles himself on the field. Charlie played goalie, and also was a striker (I believe). It was a tough game with lots of running going on.

Posted: March 16, 2012

Melody, Kalyn, Mamaw and the kids spent a day at the Tyler Zoo today. The animals were in rare form (sleeping of course) but there were some that were out and active. Today's big discovery - what makes a flamingo pink? You'll have to ask Haley or Charlie - or you can look it up...

Posted: March 15, 2012

Selections were made for the Litl' Dribblers All-Stars for this season and Haley was lucky enough to be chosen. They've been practicing for a couple weeks and had a warm up game today for the upcoming playoffs. Haley is pretty fast out there, and she's got quick hands. I just wish she shoot more - she's not too bad at it.

Posted: March 8, 2012

So Melody and I took in a Sharks vs. Stars game from the second row behind the net. It was awesome. There's nothing like sitting there and have a 218 lbs. forward come screaming into the end at full speed and check someone into the glass. Reverberates enough to knock the drink out of your hand. It was a close game throughout - and went into a shootout. Unfortunately, the Sharks came up short in the shootout. But the seats were great!

Posted: March 5, 2012

My 47th Birthday came and went without too much fanfare. Jacquelyn made me a Darth Maul cake (she hand created the candy emblem on top. The writing was a last second addition (can you tell?). I made out like a bandit on the underwear front and also got a Lego X-Wing fighter. Some shirts, and my favorite candy (Hot Tamales) - who can beat that!

Posted: March 1, 2012

We went and picked up Autumn and Katie for dinner to celebrate Autumn's 17th Birthday. We went to the local Dos Gatos Mexican restaurant which everyone likes. After dinner, we did the normal cake and candles, and opened presents. The kids are all growing up so fast.