Have you ever had a picnic in your car?
Sunday, September 25, 2005
The big birthday party
So Azx3's big birthday party was today. We invited his whole soccer team and a friend from church (since he was turning 6, he could invite 6 friends). I carefully planned all the details: he wanted Batman, so we had plates and napkins. What to do that was cheap? We decided to go to the Planetarium and see the new star show. (a buck for adults, most of his friends were still 5 and free!) Food: cupcakes. Drink: Hi-C. We were ready. And got there plenty early.
And had only one friend show up - from church. Not one single guy from the team even bothered to tell us they weren't coming. UGH!!! The greatest part of it all: it didn't even phase my son. He didn't care - he was so excited to have his friend Brett come to HIS party that he didn't even notice who wasn't there. (Sure bugged his mom and dad more though...) Anyways, he had a great time! The show was "sooo coool!" and since we weren't running around after 6 boys, we could tour the adjoining museum and their dinosaur exhibit. Then we had a picnic in the car (it was only 100 outside and they don't allow food inside) and he opened his present. Again, he had a blast, so his dad and I just decided not to worry about it. He's still talking about how cool it was to see the stars on the ceiling, so I know it was a home run!!
And had only one friend show up - from church. Not one single guy from the team even bothered to tell us they weren't coming. UGH!!! The greatest part of it all: it didn't even phase my son. He didn't care - he was so excited to have his friend Brett come to HIS party that he didn't even notice who wasn't there. (Sure bugged his mom and dad more though...) Anyways, he had a great time! The show was "sooo coool!" and since we weren't running around after 6 boys, we could tour the adjoining museum and their dinosaur exhibit. Then we had a picnic in the car (it was only 100 outside and they don't allow food inside) and he opened his present. Again, he had a blast, so his dad and I just decided not to worry about it. He's still talking about how cool it was to see the stars on the ceiling, so I know it was a home run!!
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Happy Birthday son!
A big Happy Birthday to azx3!! He's six today, and it just blows my mind. I can't imagine life without him now, and I just marvel at how much he's grown. We've opened some presents this morning, and have a soccer game later today. Then the family is coming over this afternoon for some cake and presents.
Speaking of presents, I just have to share how thankful I am that my sister and aunt were able to be here. They both live in Houston. (insert big audience "ohhhhh") Their adventure started Thursday morning, around 5:30am loading their cars, and then onto the highway, around 8am. As of 5pm, they had made 20 miles. Out of town. Period. So my dad and mom prepared for a rescue mission. I know that sounds silly, but really and truly that's what it amounted to. They were still in the hurricane's path, and would have been in their cars on the highway when it struck. It scared me into tears when I called my dad to get an update, and he told me they would call me back in a minute cause they were trying to get things ready to leave that evening to go and rescue them.
And then, dum-da-dum!! Into the picture comes my hero husband!! After calming me down, he casually announces that Friday is his day off, and did I think he could help my parental units at all? I stared at him for probably a full minute, called my dad back, and all of a sudden there was a plan. My hubby and parents filled the back of my mom's suv with all of the full gas cans they could buy, plus snacks and water, and left literally Thursday night at 8pm. They drove straight to Brenham, and met my sister and aunt just south of there. They met around 4:30am, meaning by that time, not only had my sis and aunt been up for pretty much 24 hours, but they had been on the highway for almost that long. (Thank you Lord they both were in great new vehicles, with no worries about breakdowns, overheating, etc!!!!) After getting everyone a good rest, breakfast, and filling the cars (no thanks to the empty gas pumps there), they all returned back home, with my mom, dad, and hubby now driving the caravan of 3 cars. I have never been so relieved to see someone pull up in my driveway! My parents, hubby and sis made it back driving straight through around 5pm Friday. Unfortunately, one of the victims of the hurricane was my aunt's oldest cat in Gatesville, and she arrived later on Saturday. But hey, they were all safe and sound, and even better, the hurricane didn't directly hit Houston. Phew!
I know it sounds overly dramatic and probably goofy reading it, but until it's your family that's in harm's way...We were all glad they made it, and it was nice to have something positive (Azx3's birthday) to take our minds off of everything!
Speaking of presents, I just have to share how thankful I am that my sister and aunt were able to be here. They both live in Houston. (insert big audience "ohhhhh") Their adventure started Thursday morning, around 5:30am loading their cars, and then onto the highway, around 8am. As of 5pm, they had made 20 miles. Out of town. Period. So my dad and mom prepared for a rescue mission. I know that sounds silly, but really and truly that's what it amounted to. They were still in the hurricane's path, and would have been in their cars on the highway when it struck. It scared me into tears when I called my dad to get an update, and he told me they would call me back in a minute cause they were trying to get things ready to leave that evening to go and rescue them.
And then, dum-da-dum!! Into the picture comes my hero husband!! After calming me down, he casually announces that Friday is his day off, and did I think he could help my parental units at all? I stared at him for probably a full minute, called my dad back, and all of a sudden there was a plan. My hubby and parents filled the back of my mom's suv with all of the full gas cans they could buy, plus snacks and water, and left literally Thursday night at 8pm. They drove straight to Brenham, and met my sister and aunt just south of there. They met around 4:30am, meaning by that time, not only had my sis and aunt been up for pretty much 24 hours, but they had been on the highway for almost that long. (Thank you Lord they both were in great new vehicles, with no worries about breakdowns, overheating, etc!!!!) After getting everyone a good rest, breakfast, and filling the cars (no thanks to the empty gas pumps there), they all returned back home, with my mom, dad, and hubby now driving the caravan of 3 cars. I have never been so relieved to see someone pull up in my driveway! My parents, hubby and sis made it back driving straight through around 5pm Friday. Unfortunately, one of the victims of the hurricane was my aunt's oldest cat in Gatesville, and she arrived later on Saturday. But hey, they were all safe and sound, and even better, the hurricane didn't directly hit Houston. Phew!
I know it sounds overly dramatic and probably goofy reading it, but until it's your family that's in harm's way...We were all glad they made it, and it was nice to have something positive (Azx3's birthday) to take our minds off of everything!
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Grammy & Papa's visit
We had a nice visit from Grammy and Papa this weekend. They flew in Friday night, and flew out Sunday morning, so it was quick, but nice! Mainly, it was for Azx3's birthday next weekend, but I know Daddy and Papa had some good "guy" times together doing stuff around the house, as well as the grandkids OF COURSE being the apple of their grandparents' eyes!
We had lunch at Burger King on Saturday and then went to Azx3's soccer game. Unfortunately, they were playing against a much bigger and faster team, so you figure out why the score was so lopsided, but he still had a great time. Then we all crashed at home, and later went to TRU to get his big present from them - a Batman scooter! (the kind that requires foot power, think Fred Flintstone). He loves it! After a wonderful dinner at Olive Garden, we all came home to get ready for Sunday. Baths for the kids, more projects for Daddy and Papa, and Azx3 got his last present. It was so cute - it's a personalized Dora the Explorer video for him. Titled "Who's Birthday is it?", Dora says his name throughout it, and his picture is used as the head for his character. Even better, they find at the end it's his birthday! The best part was watching his face each time she said his name - it was a combo of surprise and excitment.
We had lunch at Burger King on Saturday and then went to Azx3's soccer game. Unfortunately, they were playing against a much bigger and faster team, so you figure out why the score was so lopsided, but he still had a great time. Then we all crashed at home, and later went to TRU to get his big present from them - a Batman scooter! (the kind that requires foot power, think Fred Flintstone). He loves it! After a wonderful dinner at Olive Garden, we all came home to get ready for Sunday. Baths for the kids, more projects for Daddy and Papa, and Azx3 got his last present. It was so cute - it's a personalized Dora the Explorer video for him. Titled "Who's Birthday is it?", Dora says his name throughout it, and his picture is used as the head for his character. Even better, they find at the end it's his birthday! The best part was watching his face each time she said his name - it was a combo of surprise and excitment.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Busy Saturday
I think it's always interesting to see when the calendar says Fall starts. Usually it starts earlier at my house, because I can always tell by how busy we suddenly become on the weekends. Have you ever noticed how many more things happen in the fall than in the spring? Well this was our first busy Saturday, so I decided it's Fall now.
We started out leaving the house at 6:30 am to get to the Balloon Festival just south of town. Yep, we left at 6:30....meaning we were up muuuuuuuuuuucccccchhhhhh earlier. We were all glad we went though - it was small but a blast! The kids got to see up close how a hot air balloon and basket are assembled and inflated. Literally, the edge of the balloon was only about 10 feet away. I think they really got the idea after the first one went up, as all of a sudden we were running around the field to find where the next one to go was. While I only counted about 7 or so that actually made it up, we still had a great time watching and looking. I know the kids had a blast!
Then we went south of that field to a street where the same little town was holding a harvest parade. Not really anything to get excited about - the town's less than 5000 strong, but it was great for the kids. (and doesn't that make it worth it all?) It reminded me of growing up when I would go spend a week in Dumas, Tx, with my maternal grandmother, and they would have a parade for the high school homecoming. You know the kind, homemade floats, homemade costumes, and the best part for the kids: everyone's throwing candy from them! Aiken only brought home literally a pound of stuff.
Since we weren't finished yet with our crazy day, we then went to the National Cowboy Symposium downtown. We weren't going to pay admission, but we did catch the end of the Parade of Horses. Then we wandered around the grounds outside looking. I'm so glad we did - we found the carriage rides. Of course we had to wait for the Cinderella coach to come. Daddy wasn't really interested in riding (gee, why not?) so the kids and I hopped on and he met us at the next stop. Azx3 loved just riding, and kept craning his neck around to see the horses. Azx4 was just in AWE that she was riding in "Cinderella's coach!" I mean it made her day. Then we all walked around the chuckwagons, getting ready for the cook-offs, and found the Native American pow-wow.
After that, Daddy had to go to work, Azx4 went to GrandMommy's for some play and a much-needed nap, and Azx3 and I went to his soccer game. Then we came home for a nap! Phew! It was a great fun, but busy day!!
We started out leaving the house at 6:30 am to get to the Balloon Festival just south of town. Yep, we left at 6:30....meaning we were up muuuuuuuuuuucccccchhhhhh earlier. We were all glad we went though - it was small but a blast! The kids got to see up close how a hot air balloon and basket are assembled and inflated. Literally, the edge of the balloon was only about 10 feet away. I think they really got the idea after the first one went up, as all of a sudden we were running around the field to find where the next one to go was. While I only counted about 7 or so that actually made it up, we still had a great time watching and looking. I know the kids had a blast!
Then we went south of that field to a street where the same little town was holding a harvest parade. Not really anything to get excited about - the town's less than 5000 strong, but it was great for the kids. (and doesn't that make it worth it all?) It reminded me of growing up when I would go spend a week in Dumas, Tx, with my maternal grandmother, and they would have a parade for the high school homecoming. You know the kind, homemade floats, homemade costumes, and the best part for the kids: everyone's throwing candy from them! Aiken only brought home literally a pound of stuff.
Since we weren't finished yet with our crazy day, we then went to the National Cowboy Symposium downtown. We weren't going to pay admission, but we did catch the end of the Parade of Horses. Then we wandered around the grounds outside looking. I'm so glad we did - we found the carriage rides. Of course we had to wait for the Cinderella coach to come. Daddy wasn't really interested in riding (gee, why not?) so the kids and I hopped on and he met us at the next stop. Azx3 loved just riding, and kept craning his neck around to see the horses. Azx4 was just in AWE that she was riding in "Cinderella's coach!" I mean it made her day. Then we all walked around the chuckwagons, getting ready for the cook-offs, and found the Native American pow-wow.
After that, Daddy had to go to work, Azx4 went to GrandMommy's for some play and a much-needed nap, and Azx3 and I went to his soccer game. Then we came home for a nap! Phew! It was a great fun, but busy day!!
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