Fiesta Texas

Jacob's last hurrah before school starts...we went to Fiesta Texas Tuesday. Just he and I, while the other kids were in summer camp. He's at that age where the kiddie rides are too "babyish" and the coasters are still too scary. So we spent a lot of time at the waterpark. Of which there are no photos because Water + Phone = Bad Words.





Here's the Tony Hawk coaster I could not talk him into.



For whatever reason, I fell in love with this sculpture. It's a flamenco dancer and the detail is really incredible...all those ruffles out of metal!



And today's activity was going to get a hair cut!

Austin Trip

Just got back from my trip to Austin for the PTA Summer Leadership Seminar. We attended lots of sessions and got lots of ideas and information but I really want to tell you about where we ate!

Over the course of the weekend, we had lunch at Bess Bistro, owned by the lovely Sandra Bullock. It was very quaint. Delicious food. Apparently, she did all the decor herself, picked the music, helped design the menu... check out the pics (even one of my yummy crab cakes) on the web site: www.bessbistro.com

We also had a wonderful dinner at Roy's, a Hawaiian fusion restaurant. Owner Roy Yamaguchi was just on last week's episode of Top Chef Masters (which I haven't watched yet but is absolutely tivo'd and waiting for me!). We had this terrific chopped caesar salad presented in a crouton ring. Also enjoyed excellent sushi and mahi mahi. And lastly - the amazing molten chocolate souffle - which had the capacity to make eight women moan with pleasure simultaneously! I highly recommend you visit Roy's if you're in Austin! Or any of his four other locations: www.roysrestaurant.com

And our last dining adventure was discovered on a back road heading home to San Antonio. We had intended to stop for lunch at Salt Lick - a renowned BBQ joint in Driftwood, TX. Pulling into the lot at 1:30 p.m. it was still packed to the rafters, inside and out, at least an hour wait, and we were starved. So we stumbled upon Creek Road Cafe. A non-descript building on the side of the road - but inside was a darling little place with a wine room and terrific staff. The food was incredible - shrimp bisque, more delicious crab cakes, refreshing tuna sandwiches, artful salads and many other delicious things ordered around the table. Find them at www.creekroadcafe.com or in Dripping Springs!

This year's PTA board also just had a great time getting to know each other better. My face still hurts from all the laughing! Thanks, girls! And I am even more excited now to start the school year!

While Mom's Away...

...the kids will play. At the zoo.



At Best Buy.



Around the neighborhood.

Glamour Girls: Part I

Last week was chaotic. Mark was out of town. Then I went out of town. There was swimming and VBS and I even squeezed in one night of tennis. But one of the most fun things we did was have a Glamour Girl party for Sarah's friend Grace.

Grace had eye surgery about 10 days ago and she isn't allowed to play outside or go swimming yet. So lots of little friends came over Thursday for some lunch and junior spa action!

Glamour Girl Grace



Nail polish station.



Julissa braiding Kelly's hair.



Roxanne braiding Camryn's hair.



Sarah's braids.

Glamour Girls: Part II

Tattoos for girls...



... and boys! This is Ethan's friend (and Kelly's brother), Robert.



Miss Honey workin' the nail polish station!



Some of the Glamour Girls.



Twinkle toes!

Yay, Rah, Rah! Cheer Camp!

Last week Sarah attended a cheer camp at her preschool. It was a fundraiser for the church's youth group - some of whom happen to be high school cheerleaders. For five nights, Sarah and about 20 other girls yay, rah-rah-ed their way through silly songs, jumps, dances and stunts. At the performance Friday night, each girl received a t-shirt and pom-poms and did their routines.



Afterwards, the girls each got to do a stunt for pictures. Here's Sarah being hoisted into the air.



Pop a "V"! Big smile!



And down.



The back of all their t-shirts had a great quote from Mark Twain. "The best way to CHEER yourself up is to try to CHEER somebody else up!" I didn't know he was a cheerleader either!!

You Can Ring My Bell!

Ring my beeeeeh-eh-ell, ring my bell, my bell, ring-a-ling...OK so maybe that's not the most appropriate song for Ethan's achievement, but I can't get it out of my head! Ethan graduated to the next swimming lesson level after only four sessions! The improvement we have seen since last Tuesday is amazing! He can put his face in the water, blow bubbles... now we just need to actually swim!

When you move up a level, you get to stand on the podium, get a medal and certificate and ring a bell! It's really fun and loud and everyone claps!





And this random shot is from Wednesday. Playgroup was at our house - 19 kids and six adults. It was a costume frenzy with kids big and small coming downstairs in funny outfits. Ethan came down like this: half Vader, half ninja... the mask so tight you could read his lips through it.



Which reminds me of a funny story. Mark was talking to the kids about the things we might do in NJ, including going into NYC and seeing the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Bldg. Ethan screams "The EMPIRE!?!?!" because he thinks we are going to see Darth Vader and the Emperor from Star Wars!

T minus one

Mark leaves for RAGBRAI tomorrow (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). Today was a frenzy of home improvement - installing light fixtures, replacing the toilet, painting, scraping privacy spray-on 'snow' screen off window, replacing it with proper privacy adhesive film, rug purchases...

He might finish his projects but mine ... the painting ... is soooooooo tedious. I forgot how tedious. So many doors, edges, obstacles. It will probably take me the whole week he is gone to finish two coats. Especially with all my "helpers."

I'm waiting for Ethan to get home from swimming. I'm guessing he passed his current level and got to ring the bell...we'll see. I have to get ready for tennis!

Fun with Tots

Tater tots, that is. Letters! How cute are these? Probably best that Sarah is at a cheer camp tonight because I couldn't find the letters to spell anyone else's name. I'm sure that she would have found that melt-down worthy.



And curiously, there seemed to be a disproportionate number of Xs. Kind of weird for a product aimed at kids. "Hey look, Mom! XXX!" haha!

Master Bath Tile Progress

I missed the opportunity to take a picture of the bathroom when it still had the carpet down. Suffice it to say, you're not missing much. Great tile guy came today to dry fit and set...tomorrow will be grout and finishing. Check it out!

That's Hot!

This is for all you folks who emailed me pics of your cars' temps at minus 24!



And some answers to your "burning" questions:

1. Tennis is going fantastic! Thanks for asking. I wish I could go to clinic every night. I'm definitely not the worst and the rust is coming off slowly.

2. The baked potato bag? Oh yeah. I love it. Or rather, I love the ease of cooking potatoes in it and the way they turn out.

3. Our dates for NJ are 8/8-15.

4. Ethan's swim lessons are going well. I'm thinking he will "ring the bell" soon to move up a level.

Stay cool!

Date with Jacob

With all the younger ones at summer camp, Jacob and I had a fun day. We went to Malibu Castle that has go karts, mini golf, an arcade and more. We spent several hours there and Jacob had a blast. It was nice to do something just for him since he usually gets dragged to places that are geared toward younger kids.

First Day of Summer Camp

Sarah, Ethan and Lucas are all attending summer camp at their preschool. Even though Lucas is technically not old enough, they wanted him to come to the summer session to make the transition in the fall a bit easier.

The first week is all about camping. They painted the back side of oval chinet plates brown and glued a stuffed paper fish on there to make it look like a mounted bass. Apparently, someone in Ethan's class mistook him for a paper plate.


Lucas had a GREAT DAY! Wore his sunglasses into school and when I picked him up five hours later, he still had them on. I asked if he wore them ALL DAY, and indeed, he had! Through craft, playground, lunch... whatever make him happy they said!



The latest in his shoe fetish collection.

Rain!

Wow! It finally rained here today. For maybe 30 minutes. Even a bit hard at times. I was tempted to run around outside in it but the lighting put a stop to that idea. And even though we need more, more, MORE!!...I'm seriously hoping my first tennis clinic doesn't get rained out tomorrow night. Selfish, I know.

I was also feeling rather selfish this afternoon when I saw a scorpion in my kitchen. I gently laid a paper towel on top of it and then proceeded to smash it to smithereens with one of Sarah's shoes, all the while thinking, "This is my house! Don't you dare come in here! Ooohhh, you're gonna be sorry!"

Yeah, there's no pictures either.

Happy 4th of July

I celebrated by buying a new tennis racquet. Something I haven't done since ... ummm, 20 YEARS AGO!?!?! How depressing is that? But it is exciting that I have signed up for a women's league and that I will play Tues & Thurs nights for the rest of the summer.

We also celebrated by cleaning out the toy room. The boys lost a DS about a week ago and Mark started going through every little box, nook and cranny. Didn't find the DS, but did throw out two bags of garbage and pack up three boxes of stuff for Goodwill.

Next week is jam-packed with stuff: preschool camp on Tues and Thurs for Sarah, Ethan and Lucas; swimming lessons for Ethan, tennis for me, two birthday parties and a baby shower! And we hope to tile the master bathroom floor, paint it and change the light fixtures. Maybe I'll post Before & After pics...if it gets done.