blog blog blog

2009-07-07T21:40:00.003-05:00

Today we took a little trip to Lake Corpus Christi State Park. We had no real intentions when we went, we were just ready to get out of the house, and it was rainy this morning so it was a little cooler. We just drove around and looked (the lake itself was so low that all the boat docks were closed). Here are a few pictures of us in and around the "old" pavilion.

The Beach

2009-07-04T16:47:00.011-05:00

We finally made it to the beach. This is what we look forward to every year when we talk about our summer vacation. The birds and the waves and the sun! We love it. This post is a summary of the past few days. We did have internet and computers while we were camping on the beach, but there never seemed to be enough time to update posts and pictures.
We left Victoria on Tuesday the 30th. We drove Earlene's car with the trailer that Popi "designed" for last year's trip. Of course, it couldn't go SMOOTHLY, so the trailer lights didn't work for some reason. We decided to try to make it the whole way and deal with it when we got there. We pulled in to our campsite at Mustang Island State Park on Tuesday around 2:00 pm.

We got our tent set up and headed over to the water - it was only about 110 that day! We took enough time at the beach to cool off a little and then came back to the site to finish setting up camp. We had spaghetti for dinner and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Wednesday we just hung out around the beach and the campsite for most of the morning then headed in to Corpus to see where we could stay cool. We tried a mall, but it was dead, so we found a REALLY good Chinese buffet! We did a little shopping and a little hanging out in Corpus, shopping and such. Colton has had some skin issues this week, so while we were in Wal Mart, he was scratching away. We had checked him and he was broken out all around his torso, so we ran over and bought some Benadryl. Of course, this made him PASS SMOOTH OUT on the way back to camp, and he was alseep for hours. Earlene and I used our seperate computers to watch different movies that we had picked up from the Red Box.
Thursday we decided was a beach day. We went to the beach early and set up our shade canopy.

Colton swam and swam. He absolutely LOVES the ocean waves. He could be out there forever!

He did stop to eat sometimes.

This was also my mommy's birthday, so Happy Birthday, Mom!
It's always breezy in the evenings off the ocean, so Colton got to get in a little kite flying! I don't remember it being so easy when I was a kid!

That night we had watermelon with some neighbors and also got some help fixing the trailer lights.
Yesterday, Friday, we got up quite early to start packing things up. We wanted to be done before the sun came up! We made it, with the help of some clouds. We rewarded ourselves with McDonalds on the way out of town! We love McDonalds breakfast. We stopped on the way back at several t-shirt shops and the "big tree". It's a really, really, really, old tree. And it's big!

We were welcomed back at home with some lovely surprises! (sarcasm) Some kind of animal had managed to crawl into a small ice chest on the porch and die. Several days ago. Did I mention it's 110 down here!? Then we figure out there is no electricity in the house. Apparently there had been a storm here while we were gone and lightening managed to hit the pole. Ice chest to the pasture and electric company fixed the electricity and we're all good!
This is the 4th of July. We actually have no plans for the evening. We got up this morning and Colton got to make breakfast for us. He LOVES to cook.

They have these lovely creatures down here called fire ants. They love to bite your feet and toes and they sting like, well, fire! Colton being the "sensitive" boy that he is, does not agree well with these ants. He has about 5 bites on his left foot and it has now swollen so badly it looks like his poor little ankle is broken!

And we've already established that Benadryl knocks him OUT, so today we're watching movies, editing pictures, working on computers and cell phones, and keeping our feet up on ice. Well, one of us is!
Happy 4th Of July Everyone!

We Took The Long Way Home

2009-06-29T11:23:00.004-05:00

Sunday morning we got around in Austin and had a great breakfast prepared by two of the most hospitable people I've met, Pat and Linda, Earlene's brother and sister-in-law. We had decided to take the scenic route back to Victoria. Boy did we ever! We went south out of Austin and headed toward the shore. It was a LONG LONG LONG drive! Colton was restless and Poppy actually got sick once, but we finally came out in Corpus Christi around 5:00. We went across the big tall bridge and out toward Padre Island. We didn't stop at Padre, but went a little further east and found what we were looking for - Mustang Island. We went in and looked around and got information about making reservations for the next week's camping trip. The lady told us to make reservations online as soon as possible (next week is the 4th), so while Colton played in the water for a few minutes, we used the phone and the computer and made our reservations for the only nights they have available, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Got a few pictures of us on the beach and headed back thru Aransas Pass and Ingleside and back up to Victoria. Now we have today to pack and prepare and we will leave out tomorrow morning! We are excited!

Austin Continued

2009-06-29T11:11:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the pool at Earlene's brother Pat's house in Austin:

Colton and Earlene's sister, Michele

Lifeguard checking things out!

Checking farms and fairy lands out on the back porch. Good times.

Austin Visit

2009-06-27T09:15:00.002-05:00

We were sitting at the house COMPLETELY bored and with no plans for the weekend, so Earlene called her brother and sister that live in Austin and asked if they would like some company for the weekend. We threw a weekend bag together (including the suits since "Uncle Pat" has a pool) and headed out. Since we didn't plan so well, this put us going all the way through Austin in rush hour traffic on a Friday afternoon! It wasn't TOO bad though (we only came to a complete stop on I-35 once) and we made it in decent time. We went out to eat with Earlene's brother Pat and his wife Linda and Earlene's sister Michele and her husband Jeff. We ate at a mexican food place that they like to frequent. I personally didn't like the food at all. Made me miss Fuente Grande! But the company was great! Came back to Pat's house to relax on the back porch. Colton, Pat, and Earlene ventured into the water, but the rest of us just hung out on the porch. When Michele showed up, she and I got out the laptops right there on the back porch and got to harvesting our farms on facebook together! Fun Fun! I'm not sure what today holds, but we'll see!! I have pictures of Colton in the pool, but I'll have to post them another time.

Interesting Day

2009-06-25T20:58:00.002-05:00

Today we spent most of the morning just hanging around the house and watching Colton play the Wii. It is extremely hot here during the day, so around 1:00 we decided to go find something to do in the air conditioning. I suggested the library and since Earlene had never been, we thought it would be a great idea, so off we went. They have a really nice library here with alot of cool stuff. As Earlene was getting her library card, we heard alot of talk around about the movie at 3:00. Apparently during the summer they show a movie every couple of days. So we searched around the kids section and looked at some books until 3:00 when we went in and watched National Treasure 2. The seating was rather uncomfortable, but it was nice to get to see a surprise movie in the middle of the day. There aren't many other details to offer for the day. Tomorrow we have some more errands to run, so we'll see where that takes us!

R&R

2009-06-23T16:50:00.002-05:00

The last two days have pretty much been resting days - recovering sometimes as well!
Yesterday we had a few errands to run. Earlene wanted to take a card and picture to the hospital nurses that Popi loved so much. It was nice to meet them. We hit a few other stores and such (yes, of course Wal Mart was included) and ate out at a good Mexican food place for lunch. Back home after all the running around and we all just fell about tired. Had a lite dinner and watched Jon and Kate plus eight. Cried a lil. Sad. But talk about reality TV!
Today we had determined NOT to leave the house and just hang out at home. I have had two VERY hard nights with a sunburn on my back. I don't remember having a sunburn this bad since I was little - and that one came from Padre Island. Alot of pain and of course I can't put anything on it myself since it's the middle of my BACK! Stinks in the middle of the night! I'm sure I'll recover though. Just in time for our next venture to the sea!
The three of us (and the dog) decided today about noon that it was naptime. None of us really even ate lunch (we had a good breakfast though) so we are having spaghetti for dinner and then we'll plant ourselves for Deadliest Catch. Sounds like a good night to me!

Sun!

2009-06-21T20:36:00.003-05:00

Beach today!
We packed up today and headed out to find some beach. Of course, any good day has to start with a trip to SOME Wal Mart SOMEwhere. Then off to the beach. We wound up in Port Lavaca. Even though it was Father's Day, it wasn't too crowded and we had fun floating around and getting sunburned!! Yes, we had sunscreen (bought it at Wal Mart - duh!). Hit the dollar menu at McD's for lunch and took it to the city park under a big tree and had a nice lunch with good conversation while Colton played on the playground. Back home to the AIR CONDITIONING to harvest on facebook (no, not obsessed!) and barely got that done before I keeled over and slept for an hour and a half! Up in time for dinner and now we're chillin' watching Hannah Montana and playing on the web.
Why of COURSE we have pictures!

2009-06-19T21:53:00.001-05:00

Who says there's no life guard on duty?!

Made it - almost!

2009-06-19T14:44:00.002-05:00

We made it to Turner Falls today around 11:30. Got everything paid for and set up the tent before we could do anything else so that our site would be reserved. Right across the road from us is part of the creek, so we went over and cooled off for an hour or two. Popi didn't like getting wet (he's not allowed in the water here anyway) so he spent the time sitting on me. We chilled in about 6 inches of quick moving water while Colton floated down the river and walked back up. Came back up to the tent and loaded most of our stuff and had lunch. This would be PRIMITIVE camping. We are not used to not having electricity. We will surely live for ONE night, but we will definately have to do some things differently than we usually do! We are going to head down to the creek again with the camera this time and try to get some shots that we can post tonight (before the battery goes dead!). Good news is that we're on top of the hills here, so great reception!

We're outta here!

2009-06-19T07:46:00.001-05:00

Today we leave for our summer vacation to Texas!!! We plan to spend the day and night at Turner Falls before heading across the river. Of course, at Turner Falls you're in a huge HOLE, so I probably won't have service to update, but I'll do my best and if not, I'll update tomorrow!

Coming up.....

2009-06-14T14:06:00.002-05:00

Well, we are back from our first trip to Texas for the summer. The boys and I went to Victoria to visit Popi and Granny. Popi has been very sick in the end stages of cancer, but we got to see him and visit with him for several days. It was EXTREMELY hard to leave to come home. None of us knew if we would ever get to see him again. We won't. Popi died Monday, June 8th. While we will miss him like crazy, we will also always have the times that we got to spend with him and the memories we all made together.
We had to leave Texas to come home for summer school. This year, summer school is only 3 weeks long, but it's always extra money for the summer. Money's always good. The summer school director put me as an aide in the music class this year. This is great to get to work with the kids AND music. However, since there are only 12 days of summer school, we are cramming to get 5 songs with motions ready for a "program" on the final Thursday. They are getting it and I think it will be cute.
Friday after summer school's out, we are headed back to Texas for a few weeks. In spite of everything, it will be great to get back down there. We are ready for some OCEAN! Pics will follow, of course.

Addition

2009-05-17T18:44:00.004-05:00

Naturally, it's been a long time since my last post, but the end of the school year is always busy for us. Lots of bus driving and field trips and such. Three trips to the zoo in the last two weeks, one trip to the Oklahoma Art Museum and one to El Reno with the special ed kids for their "special olympics" day. NOT a part of the "real" special olympics, but still great fun! And we made both newspapers out here, so we must be big time! We got to take the new, big activity bus and watch movies on the way there and back! This was really the coolest field trip I've been on so far!

We also have a new addition to our family. Some of you may find this hard to believe, but we have a dog. A Chihuahua. He is a few years old and we got him from some friends. Colton named him Poppy. He and Colton have totally bonded. As I type, Colton is outside playing with a friend and Poppy is sitting on the back of the couch whimpering because he's not with Colton. As long as Colton's not around, Poppy likes me as well. While he came to us grown and potty trained and such, he's also given us some challenges that we've had some trouble dealing with, but we are trying to make things work. He's really a lovey dog, and I think he'll be a great addition. Of course, I have a few pictures:

There are only 4 days left of school for this year! The following week we will be heading off to Texas with Joe for a few days to visit family and friends. Then back home for summer school until June 18th. Then Colton and I will make our annual trek to the coast for summer fun! We can't wait!

Pictures from our camping trip

2009-03-21T23:56:00.002-05:00

Great Salt Plains

Friend, Dannelle

At "the plains"

The lake around the plains. The water was VERY cold.

Long Time No Update!

2009-03-21T22:27:00.003-05:00

I have friends who keep up with their blogs so well and I feel like such a slacker! It's even spring break and I haven't been able to motivate myself. Well, here I am, much to the relief of everyone, I'm sure.
Our spring break has been somewhat uneventful. We have watched alot of TV and played alot of Wii. Boredom has set in and we are both ready for school to start again!
We did get to go camping for the first time this year. We love to camp. We learned last year that we absolutely cannot camp if the night will be colder than 50! Monday night was going to be right around 50 degrees, so we suckered a friend of ours into going with us. After an earlier trip down many dirt roads in northeastern Oklahoma, we had the inspiration to go to the Great Salt Plains in Jet. If I've ever been there, it was much earlier in my life and I don't remember. So we took out and headed north. We found a decent campsite (with electricity and water of course) and set up overlooking the river. The only downside to the site was the PLETHORA of stickers! We got the tent up and everything loaded and made dinner (electric skillet spaghetti!). There was still a burn ban in the park, unless you built a fire in the grill, so we made a big enough fire to make s'mores (or smears as Colton called them).
The night was pretty cold, but we were prepared, so it wasn't too bad. Pancakes and sausage for breakfast. We packed everything up into the car except the tent (it was still dewy) and went out to explore the salt plains.
You cannot get to the actual plains until April 1st (so the signs say), but we did get to go up on an observation tower and take some pictures. Packed up the tent and headed home. It was a great trip to get us started for the season!
The rest of spring break faded away in boredom. Baseball for Colton starts next week, so maybe there will be more time to update? Maybe less. Who knows!
I can't get a picture to post, but I'll try again later.

Christmas and New Year Fun!

2009-01-04T21:12:00.004-06:00

Thought I had better add at least a few pictures from our trip!

Eating dinner on the river walk in San Antonio

In front of the Christmas tree at Sea World San Antonio

Our favorite! Petting and feeding the dolphins at Sea World!

Posing with Shamu at Sea World on New Years Eve

In a cave in San Marcos, Texas on New Years Day

Plans

2008-12-29T20:26:00.002-06:00

No pictures to post today, just sharing plans that we've made for bringing in the new year. We are headed out tomorrow morning for San Antonio. We still have season passes for Sea World, and since it's still 70 here, we are going to Sea World on New Year's Eve! We have a hotel right on the riverwalk, so after Sea World closes, we can grab something to eat and at least watch the fireworks or SOMETHING! I am excited about our plans! I will post pictures when I take them!

2008-12-26T16:50:00.002-06:00

So now that Christmas is officially over, thought I'd better post an update or two. I'm am currently writing this post from a TRAIN. I think that is so cool! I love my phone. Anyway, "Santa" gave us tickets to ride the train to Texas to visit our friends there for a week or so. We just pulled away from the McGregor, Texas station and are on the last leg of our trip. It is always a long day making this trip. First the 4 hours from the city to Fort Worth, then waiting for a few hours there (where there's NOTHING around) and then another four hour trip to Austin. The last time we took this train we were unprepared and were bored out of our minds!! This time at least we brought food, the dvd player, the gameboy, the computer, the phones, etc. Our only issue is battery power. This particular train actually has outlets by our seats, thus the post! After our movie (Kung Fu Panda), Colton finally crashed. Other than a long day and how horrible it is to get on and off these trains, we really get excited about train trips! I'll post one picture here of Colton at the station in Fort Worth and there are more on my myspace. I'll try to keep pictures up through the trip this time!

It's Upon Me!

2008-12-15T21:14:00.002-06:00

Here we are on the 15th of December and yes, Christmas has managed to sneak up again. ONE of our family's Christmases is on Friday, and there's still so much to do! This is a very busy week for us.
Today begins the last week of school before the Christmas break. This is good news! This is also the time that most of the classes take their "winter field trips". Usually each grade gets one trip in the fall/winter and then one again in the spring. However, with gas the way it WAS back when school started, the administration cut everyone back to one field trip only, unless the class could raise enough money for the bus gas and the driver. Most have managed to find some spare moolah. Anyway, today was the 5th grade field trip. Since it's FREEZING this week, there weren't too many options, so, like most classes in the winter, they took a trip to Kingfisher to the movies. We saw Madagascar 2. Then on to McDonalds. And then they just came back to the school and watched movies and stuff. Worked the basketball gate tonight.
Tomorrow is the second grade field trip. Since this is Colton's class, I'll be driving that bus too (day off, free movie, free lunch - I'm no dummy!). Tomorrow's agenda: Movies. Madagascar 2. McDonalds. Woo. However the second grade is going swimming! Kingfisher has a REALLY nice indoor pool (I'll try to take a few pics tomorrow) and the younger classes love to go swimming in the middle of the winter. No, it's never cold. Even outside the water. Nice. No, I won't be swimming. FYI. Working the basketball gate Tuesday evening.
Wednesday is our short day (our school gets out every Wednesday at 1:45 for teacher inservice)(sometimes it's nice to be a peon). Teacher "pig out" all day. Yum. Hopefully, Colton and I can finish up our shopping on Wednesday. No basketball. Yeah.
Thursday should be fairly normal. Basketball gate Thursday night. Again. Joe talked about coming down and staying with us Thursday night. Maybe.
Friday is the party day. No work gets done. SUPPOSED to drive a bus after school (like usual) and then work the basketball gate Friday night. HOWEVER, Friday is our family's FIRST Christmas of this year, so I got out of basketball already. Working on that route bus......
Busy week.

Bedlam Birthday Success!

2008-11-30T11:25:00.003-06:00

Colton's 8th birthday party was a great success! It was an awesome party with LOTS of guests and great food and fun!

We got to watch the game on a huge screen (the wall) and played "Bedlam Bingo" with LOTS of winners!

We had a popcorn machine, hot dogs and nachos, and of course, TWO cakes (made by mom) - just to make it fair!

The coolest gift of course was the autographed football! We may be slightly biased, but we are huge Austin Box fans (and hope he recovers quickly!) and this was a great surprise for Colton. I have cake running out my ears, I have popcorn ground into my carpet, and the party was the COOLEST party ever! So worth it!

2008-11-20T22:02:00.004-06:00

Sure seems like it's time to add another post, so here goes......
Right now we are planning for Thanksgiving and Colton's birthday party. Colton will be 8 on November 29th. This just happens to be the date of the OU/OSU game, so we will be having a "bedlam birthday" party. Half the house decorated for OU, half for OSU. Invitations are reversable and cater to either fan. Guests are asked to come dressed as the "biggest" OU or OSU fan (face paint, hair color, clothes, the works). We will be playing "Bedlam Bingo" during the game. I found a version of this bingo online. The squares have things such as: "OU passes for more than 30 yards", "Sees OSU cheerleaders", "Hears the name Austin Box", etc. The commercials are even included with things like "Sees Toby Keith" and "Sees a duck". It should be a blast. We will play flag football at halftime. We will have a popcorn machine and a hotdog machine. All the typical food from a football game. And two cakes of course. One OU and one OSU. We are VERY excited about this party!! Since Colton doesn't check my blog, I can also add that we visited our cousins, the Box's, last weekend. Austin (OU middle linebacker) secretly signed a football and poster for Colton's birthday! He's going to LOVE them!! We also got a few pictures with Austin.
Other than the party, there's not too much going on in our lives. Basketball season has started in Crescent, so that means I'll be working at the gate and Colton will be watching plenty of basketball at least once a week. I like working the gates at the home games. It puts me in just enough contact with "grown-ups" to keep me balanced out!
Reading through some older posts, I saw that I never updated that we did finally purchase a Wii. We love playing the sport games that came with it. We borrowed several games from a friend, and they were... eh. However, we signed up for Gamefly (like Netflix, but with games) and got Wii Music the other day. This game I love and would even spend the $40 or so that Wii games cost now. I want EVERYONE to come play the Wii with us! "Wii would like to play"!
The family tree is still coming along. Several people that we still need to get in contact with, but it seems like there's something going most every night and I just don't want to take the time out to call a "stranger" and ask them all about the last 15 years! LOL I'll get around to it. I would like to have our 5 generations done by the 1st of December so we can send out a list of addresses for Christmas cards. We'll see!

Reunion? Me?

2008-10-26T09:26:00.003-05:00

Last night Colton and I went to Frontier City for "Fright Fest". We had Frontier City passes this year, so we went there ALOT, but it was great last night! Everything was so different. The shows were all changed and the decorations were all out. Even the food was different. They had turkey legs and corn on the cob! We only rode about 3 rides (the lines were longer than we've ever seen them) but we had a BLAST in the "dance party". They would play songs like the Cha Cha Slide and the Cupid Shuffle and the Twist. Of course, this was all lead by dancing gouls. Two of the guys were truely AMAZING! I could have just stood there all night and watched them dance! Colton says he's "got that one guy's moves now". We stayed until they closed at 11.
Someone from school gave me a new program this week for the computer. It's a family tree maker. So I've taken "the book" of family information and started putting in all that I can about the ancestors in "the book". However, this information filters out around my grandma's generation. So there's no information in there about me or my cousins or even aunts and uncles that I've actually MET. We used to have big family reunions around my great-grandma's birthdays. She lived to be 103! After "grandma-great" passed away, we just didn't get together anymore. So that's been my mission. To get on paper the family that I've actually known in my lifetime.
Well that mission blossomed a little this week. We were out of school on Friday, so my mom and Colton and I went over to Kingfisher to find the marker of my great-great-grandfather who died there. It took several hours to find the cemetery even, and then to trek through the stickers and actually find the marker. Thank goodness it wasn't a very big cemetary!! On the way back to Crescent, we talked about the reunions and decided to try to find some of these people. My great-grandma had 7 kids. We are talking about finding all of their kids, and their kids, etc. I did manage to find the 2 kids of hers that are still living. Of course, they gave me numbers of a few of their kids, etc.
Here's the kicker on all of this though. In contacting all of these aunts, uncles, and cousins, they all miss the reunions too! In fact, "oh you should put together another reunion!" (uh, that would be ME??) So now it's a thought. Next summer, maybe around grandma-great's birthday on July 2nd. Hey, July 4th is a Saturday..........

Some hmmmmmmmmm's......

2008-10-07T20:43:00.003-05:00

Ok, time to post again I suppose. First off, let me "thank" Julie for "sending" me to a place with awesome layouts for these blogs! This one happens to be in honor of the Crescent Tigers! Yeah!
So what's new this post? Hmmmm....
Colton decided today that he would like to be a cheerleader. I try my best not to discourage my kids when they come up with things like this, but hmmmm....
We "babysat" for our friends this week. A guinea pig and somethings similar to the everyday mouse. Colton is loving them and I think it's great to have them over for a few days - then send them home! Like grandkids! Hmmmmmmm....
We have made ourselves determined to get a Wii. We finally got to play with one at a friend's house and fell in love. So we have dedicated ourselves to keep from spending ANY extra money. This is now our "Wii money". Colton actually griped at me a week ago for buying toilet paper and dryer fluffies. "There are a few things, son....." We are counting down..... 7 days.......
School is going well for me. Busy is good. Regular work, bus driving, football games, more bus driving.... it's great.
Dieting again........ that's always fun. Sarcasm. Lots of sarcasm.

Much About Nothing

2008-09-14T23:43:00.004-05:00

In my effort to keep posting to this blog, I figured I had better post something since it's been a few weeks since the last post.
However, there hasn't been too much to blog about. We have been pretty busy, but just everyday things going on that are too boring to chat on and on about. However, I seem to be doing well at that for the moment......
Tiffy, my charge at school, has been out of school since Wednesday with pneumonia. She gets pneumonia easily and spends at least a few days a year in the hospital with it. Hopefully, this will be the only stint for this school year. She will be back in school on Tuesday. Her absence though, has given me a lot of time to work on the yearbook (I love to work in that class). This class is in the library at the school. Two things have been "abuzz" in the library this week. The "Twilight" series, by Stephenie Meyer, and genealogy.
Actually, the Twilight series has been "abuzz" around several different circles I come in contact with. Not for everyone. Different. And not, in my opinion, as "amazing" as it's been made out to be. But I did read the first one in a few days and I'm anxiously waiting for the next. I haven't read since spring break and it was hard to make myself sit down and read.
On to the genealogy. Several people at school have suddenly become interested in researching their families for various reasons. One main one being the family tree guru that has joined our staff this year. She is really good at what she does and has helped our librarian find some really neat facts about her family. So I told my mom (after our trip to the State Fair!) that I would like to at least write down the family that we have actually known in our lifetimes. Not really interested in going back to Noah, just back to my great-grandmother and her family (she lived to be 103 and had like 7 children). This way I could at least show myself and OU's Austin Box on the same branches!! OK, so librarian traced herself back to George Washington's family, but I'd just like my OU fame! Anyway, my mom tells me that maybe I should take a look at the box she has in her closet. Someone once did a little research on our family. So we got down "the box". Inside were 4 "books" punched with 3-holes and bound with purple yarn. And FILLED with ALL kinds of history about our family! Going way back to the 1700's. I haven't had time to sit and read much of it, just scan over some of the stories included, but it was truely awesome! Nice to know where I came from.
It's midnight now and I'm going to bed. I'll leave you with our menu from the fair........
Footlong corndogs, Dan's indian tacos, Dip-n-Dots, and a fried Snickers! We had a great time. I love the fair. We are also having cooler weather and football started this week. Fall is amazing!

Rest Is Good

2008-08-29T20:10:00.002-05:00

Ahhhhh, a four day weekend! School is out for Labor Day (and a teachers meeting on Tuesday) and I know the time off will be great! We don't really have many plans. May go to the zoo on Sunday. May get to go camping Monday and Tuesday with friends! That would be awesome!
Football started this week in Crescent. We are for SURE a football town! Not sure how well the team will do this year, but that doesn't seem to matter to our fans much. Football brings fall. I love fall. It's the best season!
Enough mush. Will post with pictures if we do anything exciting this weekend!

Floppin'

2008-08-18T22:38:00.002-05:00

So, tonight my son was being awful quiet in his room. I asked (from the living room) what he was doing, and he said he was feeding his fish - which was what he was supposed to be doing. When I went to tuck him in, I noticed the lid to the fish tank was on a little crooked, recalling that it was like that last night too and I had fixed it then. When I asked him about this, my dear son said, "I wanted to see if they really flopped around on the floor"! I could not believe this! I was so appalled and he was obviously upset either by my reaction or by whatever it was that he "discovered" during his experiment. The fish seems fine. He's missing part of his tail. Poor guy. Words fail me....

First Day Of School

2008-08-13T20:47:00.003-05:00

Today was the first day of school. Colton and I both look forward to school every year. We miss our friends during the summer!
Colton is in Mrs. Walker's class. He sits next to his friend, Nash. He came out of the classroom today and said, "I didn't even be bad today! Whew! That was hard!" Too funny!
After school was the bus route. Several new kids and new stops, but we didn't lose anybody and came back with an empty bus!
Then home for an early dinner and some more Olympics! Good day, Tater!

"Pudge"

2008-08-05T01:14:00.001-05:00

That man was yummier than the jumbo dogs! LOL

Take Me Out To The Ballgame....

2008-08-05T00:40:00.003-05:00

What an awesome night! We took Joe to see a Yankees game!! Surprising Joe was most of the fun, but how can you beat an MLB game? Joe was very surprised with his ticket and shirt - he cried! It was perfect. He never suspected it and it was all worth the months of secrets and planning.
The game itself was great too. The Yankees just "aquired" Ivan Rodriguez and I love him, so that made it that much more fun. The game was close all the way up to the 9th inning when it was tied. It was the typical. Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, I don't think there was actually a full count yet, but Marlon Byrd actually hit a GRAND SLAM to win the game for the Rangers. It was truly amazing! Even though the Yankees lost, it was a great and exciting final inning!! I'm posting a few of my favorite pictures! Enjoy!

Lone Star State Of Mind.....

2008-08-04T10:54:00.003-05:00

Well, we are currently back in the car and headed south on I-35 to Texas. Today is Joe's pretend birthday. He will be 20 in December, but I came up with a plan a few months ago on what to give him. We are on our way to Texas for the evening to......... well, it's a surprise. I would tell you, but then, well, you know...
Here's a picture from the now famous scenic outlook about 40 miles north of the Red River. Definitely more pictures and blogging to come!! It will be amazing!!! LOL

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh......

2008-07-23T21:59:00.002-05:00

Well, we made it home today!
We started out the day IN A HURRICANE! Hurricane Dolly made landfall today in South Texas. We woke up to very light rainfall. But hey, it was hurricane rainfall, so we took pictures of us "in a hurricane". How often will that happen??? We were almost all packed up already, but we finished STUFFING the car and headed out from Victoria. (awwwwwww)
As soon as we got out of town, the rain really kicked in. We were tempted to stop at a "hurricane evacuation route" sign, but it was pouring and we already had some pics, so we headed on home. We had to get about 45 miles away before the rain actually quit, but the clouds lasted much longer.
It is a LONG LONG drive from Victoria to home. Of course I couldn't sleep last night, but I really wasn't too tired.
We had planned on stopping and swimming at Turner Falls again, but it was 4:30 before we got that far and we were sure ready to get on home! We finally made it home around 7:30. WHEW!
Of course, we spent the entire rest of the evening unpacking! And we left the stuff in the trunk! Man did we aquire! We got most of that stuff put away and did a few loads of laundry (yes, there's more). We settled down at 10 o'clock and watched a movie in OUR CHAIRS! lol Overdue showers to follow and then to our OWN BEDS! lol
We had an AWESOME vacation! One of a lifetime that we'll never forget. I'm so glad we got to go and do the things we did and stay as long as we did. And we're so glad to be home again.
Since we have very boring everyday lives, the posts on here may slow considerably now, but I'll try to post now and then when we have an extraordinary day. Thanks guys for your interest in our pictures and posts!

Hello Dolly!

2008-07-21T15:38:00.002-05:00

It appears Mother Nature might have other plans for us. Right now we have plans to head out of Victoria on Wednesday morning. However, what with a HURRICANE coming toward us and all, we may have to head out tomorrow just to avoid the "get the heck out of here" traffic. We'll see, but yes, we are aware of the tropical storm/hurricane and yes, some of the predictions at this time have it headed right for us here, but we will be out of here before it makes landfall.

Down Time

2008-07-21T09:45:00.002-05:00

These last few days that we've been back in Victoria have been down days. Colton, Popi, and I really doing not much of anything. There's been alot of TV watching.
However, I'm getting very homesick and now know that we will be coming home this week. I'm ready to be home! I miss my house and my BED! lol
I saw online the other day that Colton's school supply list is ready. School is only a few weeks away! Can't believe that! But I'm excited about it too! I miss my friends and socializing and I miss Tiff too! In that case, see some of you soon!

Horns and Rangers - the shooting kind

2008-07-18T21:55:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we decided to stay somewhere where there was air conditioning, so we headed in to San Antonio on the city bus (that was interesting in itself!). We went to the Buckhorn Museum by the riverwalk. It is basically a shrine to taxidermy, but alot of the things in there were world records or very odd species or whatever, and the sheer number of horns in the place was impressive. There were several exhibits in this museum, such as Texas life, Alaska, under the sea, and birds of flight.
Also attached to this museum is a Texas Ranger museum (the shooting, law keeping kind - not the baseball players). Colton wanted to be sure to go to the Texas Ranger museum in Waco, but when he saw where we were, it never dawned on him that this wasn't the right town. Of course, alot of the displays in this museum were pictures or possessions of a certain former Ranger and their acts of heroism, but there was ALOT of reading - which was quite interesting to the average adult, but to a 7 year old, after the 30 seconds it takes to look at these 5 guns, we should be moving on. They also had an old west type town set up inside with little facts here and there. This was alot more interesting to Colton! However, by this time, it was mid-afternoon and we were starving!
We decided to head down to the riverwalk and see what we might find to eat down there. We did find a place called the Lone Star Cafe - DO NOT stop to eat there. It was fairly priced had the food been edible. However, after showing the waiter the state of our dinner, he did throw in a free Texas brownie for dessert! By then it was time to head out of the heat and back to camp.
Colton had seen some bikes for rent all week at the campground, so this day we finally got back in time to rent one. He got to ride the little bike/dune buggy thing for a while hour, then spent the rest of the evening in the pool with his goggles. He loves them!
Today, we packed up camp early to avoid the heat and headed back to Victoria. It's nice and cool in the house! We are both getting pretty homesick by now. I don't want vacation to be over, but I do miss home. I'll try to get some pictures added to this post. It took all day to add them all to dotphoto!
The last picture is a picture of Colton and his "friend". This guy and his family were camping next to us for the last few days. They are from Venezuela originally and now live in Houston. I think because of growing up with Joe, Colton likes to socialize with kids Joe's age. This kid was a very nice and respectful guy! He and Colton exchanged email addresses before we left.

A Post From Colton

2008-07-17T21:47:00.002-05:00

The last time we went to Shamu, we got soaked! My mom was still calling Shamu. She keeped saying "Oh no Colton! You are always getting me into this wetness!" When we go to the Shamu show she says "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Colton, oh my gosh!" And then I think it is cool but she thinks it is COLD after he splashes little becomes BIG splashes! Then we went to the Viva and that guy was so dangerous. He went to the roof and then the other guys with suits went to the roof. Those three guys, the crazy one, jumped off the roof and so did the other guys with the suits on. And then we went to the Steel Eel. She was screaming and then when we got our pictures taken at the end of the hill, she was smiling! I was like circle on my mouth and then we saw our pictures. She laughed and I cracked up. Then we went to Lost Lagoon. We went to the relaxing pool. And she was scared. She was afraid. Because the squirtin things, and I was jumping up and down cause of the rapids. Then you know what the rapids did to us? Made us jump. There was little holes what blowed up! Then I was scared because I was walking ALL the way up those big, big, big slides. And then I got to the top. I was safe. And I went down the slides, and I was going backwards. I WAS AFRAID! That's all I can think of.

A Few Pics From The Water Camera

2008-07-17T10:54:00.001-05:00

Agua

2008-07-16T23:02:00.002-05:00

Today was water day at Sea World for Colton and I. They have a whole quarter of the park that is alot like White Water, and Colton and I had made plans to spend the day in this part of the park.
Of course, since they're on the way, and since it's now tradition, we had to stop at the dolphins first and get a few pets in. The girl next to Colton really had one enchanted, so Colton got alot of touching in today. Still way too cool!
Then off to the Lost Lagoon. We started off buying a waterproof camera that we could take with us all day. We went in their version of the lazy river and floated around at least 5 times. Colton wore his new goggles (his 4th pair this summer) and had a ball swimming/floating face down through the whole ride. Their lazy river has fountains that spray you and even some rapids - that was interesting. But we really enjoyed playing in there. Then we went off to ride a slide. Now, for anyone that may know about my last slide-riding adventure, you'll understand why Colton rode down and I waited at the bottom with the camera! He said it was "freaky" because it was covered all the way down and you couldn't see ANYTHING! Then off to the wave pool. I have horrible memories of nearly drowning when I was pre-teenish at White Water's wave pool, so I was RIGHT beside Colton the whole time. Of course, he's an expert at the waves because he's spent so much time with the REAL ones, but I got beat up trying to stay beside him in case he started to drown in the 3 ft of water. Hey, those waves are BIG!
During the past two Shamu shows that we've seen, they've chosen a child at random from one of the gates before the show opens and this kid gets to go up on stage and share their "dream" and Shamu comes right up to them on the stage. Well, yesterday we had to hang back after the show so he could ask one of the trainers how the kids got picked. So today Colton wanted to make sure that we were out in front of the gates in plenty of time to possibly get picked out of hundreds of other kids. So we left the Lost Lagoon and headed ALL the way over to the other side of the park to the Shamu show. And since we have the waterproof camera, we might as well sit on the front row again. What the heck, we're already in our swimsuits! So we did. And like last time I only HOPE the pictures are half as good as the views we had.
We also caught the end of the Viva show again (with the dolphins and beluga whales) and the end of the "critter" show with all kinds of critters. It was cute.
Then back to the Lagoon for a little more time swimming. Mind you, I'm already burnt to a crisp, but hey, I tan out pretty well.
Once we decided to leave, we went ahead and made all of our souvenir purchases (now we're broke!) and headed out. We had been so busy today we hadn't eaten lunch, so we stopped for Chinese food on the way back. We made a quick trip downtown (nightmare)(thank God for Garmin!) to pick up Ed and Earlene who spent the day on the riverwalk, and headed back to camp.
Earlene had a few things she needed to pick up from Wal Mart, so we headed to the nearest (thank God for Garmin!). I asked the photo lab person what time they stopped taking things for one hour developing. He/she (I couldn't tell) said 7:45. It was 7:50. Shoot! So I left the camera there to pick up at 10 am tomorrow and got those pictures on disk so I can share them right away. I did get to add pictures from yesterday this evening, so be sure to check those out. I have NONE to add from today because my camera decided not to work for some reason. Right when Colton got the chance to take a picture with the Shamu character. Boo. But leave it to them, they were right there to take one for us (with both of us in it). It was expensive knowing that I could have done just as good, but SO beautiful, and such a great memory picture. I'll have to wait a few days to get to a scanner to load that one!
About the title: I decided today that I've never been in a more culturally diverse place than in the last few days. Our little campground here has had a tourist company come in with different groups each night with all of these different people (most of them Joe's age or so) from everywhere around the world! First night was the French people. Yesterday alot of Sweedish and German. Today seems to be alot from South Africa. Interesting listening to them while you're all crammed in the bathrooms together waiting. And then there was Sea World. SO many cultures. So many languages. And the people working at Sea World (and at the Space Center too) - lots of different accents and names on the name tags that you could never say right if you tried. Was funny today... there were about 4 different people working at this one stand and these were really different names that I had never heard of. Then there was the obvious manager of the stand off to the side. Obviously American. Name tag: Big Mike. It fit. LOL

Big Thrills... No, Really Big

2008-07-15T23:25:00.003-05:00

Today was another day at Sea World. Colton and I took off on our own today, and he started out with no holds barred and went straight for the huge roller coaster! Now, I'll post a picture or two of this thing, but when I say huge, we can see it 7 miles away on the highway! We bit the bullet and rode and it was pretty cool! And, we survived.
Then we went to the penguin exhibit. We happened to walk in while they were giving a demonstration. We got to see them bring out the new King Penguin chicks. They were "babies" but they were huge! This whole exhibit was cool, pun intended, and we went back twice today to watch them.
Then we went to have a way over priced lunch of pizza and a turkey leg. And then we headed back to the dolphins. It was so neat yesterday to get to touch and feed them that we just had to go back again. Colton and I both got to touch and pet again today. You just can't get enough of stuff like that!
Of course, we went back to see the Shamu show again, this time from a little higher up so we could actually take pictures and videos. Still very cool to watch these huge animals do things like that. And pretty cool to watch those poor suckers on the front rows get soaked! haha!
We headed back to camp for some spaghetti and a little evening swim before bed. I had to use my computer time to pull about 75 pictures off my phone from the last few weeks, so I don't think I'll post any pictures on dotphoto today. I'll try to get most of these and tomorrow's on tomorrow. But I'll post a few pics here tonight so you guys can better appreciate our stories!

Awesome

2008-07-14T22:14:00.003-05:00

Today was a great and extraordinary day! We went to Sea World for the first time ever!! The first thing that we did when we walked in was come up upon a viewing of the bottle nosed dolphins. They had fish you could buy and feed them and it wasn't all that expensive for the experience, so we did. Colton and I both got to feed a dolphin that came right up to us! It was so cool!
We also saw 2 of the shows there. The "Viva" show which was very awesome because it had synchronized swimmer, high divers, trapeze girls, music, beluga whales, and dolphins. It was so cool to watch! And of course, Colton wanted to sit in the splash zone, so we were on the second row. It made for some cool pictures and videos, but I couldn't take as many as I would have because I was afraid to have the camera out!
Then we went to see the "Believe" show with Shamu! It was as neat as the other show and as exciting as you would think. Of course, we were on the front row again. I'll just say, we were SOAKED. Totally and truly SOAKED. It was so worth it! Again, I got some good pictures and videos before the show started since we were right in front of the tank (below sea level), but couldn't chance the camera being out of the baggie during the show!
Colton and I also rode the huge "log ride" called Journey to Atlantis. It even goes backwards for a while! We had fun.
We were TOTALLY pooped out by the time we got back to camp. We took a short swim to try to cool off and ended up not eating dinner until almost 10! I'm going to TRY to load some pictures on dotphoto, but my phone internet connection is actually faster than the campground's, so we'll have to see how many load!

On The Road Again

2008-07-14T08:08:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted for a few days, and even this one will be short, but I will make sure to post tonight! Yesterday we loaded everything up and headed out to San Antonio. We will be here for almost a full week. We are staying at a KOA which is nice and has a pool that Colton and I enjoyed last night. It's MUCH less humid here than on the beach, so the night actually got cool last night. The internet connection here is spotty, so pictures may be few and far between.
Today we are going to Sea World!! I will post again tonight and HOPEFULLY post some pictures too!

A Long Drive and A Litlle Rest

2008-07-10T15:23:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we packed up the tent and headed back to Victoria. Sad to leave the ocean, but sure glad to be back in air conditioning! It was a REALLY long drive back to Victoria, but Colton and I slept alot of the way, so it passed quick for us.
It was nice to get back and sit in the cool. We had a great dinner of fried shrimp, crab meat, and a whole lot of corn on the cob. Stuffed!
Today we lazed around and headed out to WalMart to get our waterproof camera pictures developed. I was of course a little disappointed, but just because none of them captured the hugeness of the waves that we were playing in! I added these pictures to the Moody Gardens album on dotphoto cause that was the day we took the pictures. I hope you can tell that Colton was up to his little waist and the waves would come and they were WAY over his head! It was fun.
I think the next few days will be hanging around the house (unless Colton and I get to head out to a beach for the day), so we probably won't have many pictures or blog material so to speak, but I'll do my best to update.

Rain Forest and Oceans

2008-07-08T21:34:00.003-05:00

Today we got up and Colton made us all pancakes and bacon for breakfast. He decided to wear his official Waffle House hat since he was the official cook. We got around and headed back into Galveston.
Today we visited The Moody Gardens. This is not a garden per say, but has several buildings and attractions that you can choose to visit. They are all pretty expensive, so Colton and I decided to go to the aquarium. It was a great time since they had a special exhibit of sharks, but still not as cool as Tulsa in my opinion. We also watched one of those 4D movies that surround you and the seats move. It was WAY to short for the money, but Colton enjoyed it.
After that, we went to the Rainforest Cafe in Galveston. We all thought the one last year in San Antonio was much better, but the food was good. And we got to have a VOLCANO since it was Ed and Earlene's 24th wedding anniversary. Yummmmmmmm!
Then we headed back to the campground to play in the ocean for the last day (we head back inland tomorrow). Colton and I got to go out to the BIG waves and boogie board and body surf. I used the waterproof camera for those pictures, so we'll have to wait until we get back to Victoria to develop and post those. I hope they turn out HALF as good and I saw through the viewfinder. Colton got the sunscreen and I didn't so I got a burn, but it will be OK. It was worth it. We had hours of fun in the ocean. Back to the tent for some spaghetti for dinner and now it's time for bed! Whew, what a trip!

Hello??????

2008-07-07T22:15:00.002-05:00

I know you have to sign up to comment on here, but if you're reading this blog, at least send me an email! I have had almost NO communication with you Okies!

Out Of This World

2008-07-07T22:01:00.002-05:00

Today was a great day! Colton and I got to go to the Johnson Space Center in Houston ("Houston, we have a problem..") Anyway, it was really neat! We got to tour the building where the astronauts train with all the actual size training modules. They had the real sized space shuttle, most of the living areas of the space station, and some of the new moon rovers that will be the next vehicles to drive on the moon - the "chariots". We got to drive around the entire facility and see rockets, etc. The inside of the museum part was a kid's DREAM. The biggest play center I've ever seen. All kinds of little things to stand in line and wait to do with a bazillion other kids (ha! spell check didn't check me on bazillion!) There was also alot of information that was just cool to know. We got to see two movies on the big screens. One was of a blast off and even shot out smoke at us! Colton had a ball and was VERY tired when we got back, but perked up just in time to hit the beach for a short swim. Tomorrow is our last full day here, so we have only a few things planned and time to get back to take one last swim in the ocean. LOTS of pictures on the dotphoto site!

Waffles and WalMart and Ferries, Oh My!

2008-07-07T06:57:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a long day with endless driving (it seemed) to see a few cool things.
We got up yesterday morning and went into Galveston. We stopped for a very loud but good breakfast at the Waffle House. Then we just headed North up the coast. Galveston was cool because we were on "Seawall Drive" which is just what it sounds like - a road that drives right along the sea wall. There were all kinds of hotels, places to eat, and tourist gift shop type things. We decided to hit one of those early, so we went in to the first one on our side of the road. It was CRAZY packed, and had Colton not found the "most awesome shark necklace in the whole world" (and it was pretty cool), we would have skipped it and ran. But now we've got to stand in line to check out, literally for 30 minutes, so might as well get a shirt or two, too.
We left there and headed for the ferry. Of course you wait forever in line to get ON a ferry, but last year we got to see dolphins from the other ferry so we were excited to test our luck this year. This year's ferry was a much longer ride across an international port with the big boats. One, very quickly for a big boat, crossed our path, so that made for some fun in his wake! Boy did we rock! We did get to see a few dolphins - they're quick out of the water and back in. You just have to look for the fin!
After the ferry ride, unless you turn around and get back ON the ferry, there wasn't much to do or see unless you went ALLLLLLLL the way around and through Houston to come back down to Galveston. We did stop and have lunch on a beach through there, but other than that, it was a long ride and Colton and I slept most of it.
Came back to Galveston Island and hit the WalMart. They have their own touristy section, so we hit that too. Bought another t-shirt and Colton got his boogie board. Then back to the beach! We went out and Colton got to test his board and goggles until the sun set. I used up my entire memory card in my camera taking pictures of him. Then he and I walked down the beach looking for shells. It was great! Back to the tent for a movie and bed.

Oceanside

2008-07-05T21:38:00.002-05:00

Today we got up from the hotel, had their breakfast, and headed out for our adventure of the day. We had a general direction, but really didn't know where we would end up. We headed up the coast, following the Garmin (which Earlene finally succumbed to), and had a beautiful drive on the back roads. After getting on to Galveston Island, we came to Galveston Island State Park, so we thought we'd try our luck. They said they had ONE site left open because someone left out early this morning, so we took it! Our site is all but ON the beach! There is a fence between us and the beach, but one site over there is a boardwalk over to the water. The breeze from the water is nice and cool and, unless it STORMS, we will have a great spot for the next few days! Plans to travel around again tomorrow too, so be sure to check back!

July 4th Continued...

2008-07-05T09:12:00.005-05:00

Well, after the car ride we wound up in a town called Palacios. We wound through town and found a bunch of people gathered around the edge of the bay. Earlene asked them if there were going to be fireworks tonight, and they said yes - around the curve by the CARNIVAL. On the bay. It was very cool and really special since we just happened upon it. Colton spent about an hour to ride 2 rides and then the fireworks started. It was really neat to get to watch them over the ocean and get to see Colton experience that too.

Change In Plans

2008-07-04T19:38:00.004-05:00

This is a post that is actually coming FROM THE CAR while DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD!! Of course, I'M not the one driving, but how cool is it to be cruising down the highway ON the internet!!?? I guess while I'm at it, I'll try to add a picture that Colton and I took today while we were matching in our July 4th outfits.
Earlene had to work today, so our plans were to drive to Corpus when she got home and watch fireworks. Well, go figure, it's raining in Corpus. So she said let's just get everything packed into the car and head out for Galveston tonight! So we made the mad rush and loaded everything into the car and trailer and headed out. Of course, we hope to catch some fireworks shows along the way and I'll post and add more pictures later too!

Rain and McDonalds

2008-07-03T16:18:00.002-05:00

Since most of you don't know this, I will share a little background from our trip to Texas LAST year. We left a few days after Joe graduated and came down to have fun in the sun on the beaches of the ocean (the boys had never seen the ocean before). Of course, last year was the year of RAIN here and in Oklahoma, so it rained almost the entire time we were here. We did swim in the rain a few times and went on our touristy adventures in the rain, but it did get old. And of course, as soon as we were back in Oklahoma, it dried up down here.
Well, they kept telling me this year that it was so dry down here. Texas was bordering on a drought and they probably wouldn't even be able to do fireworks because of the severe dryness around here.
Then we showed up.
I'm pretty sure it's rained a little bit at least every day that we've been here. It follows us too. If we go to the mall, it rains there and not at the house. It's sad, but true. I even heard the news anchors the other night talking about how amazing it was. It was the FIRST of July. They had already had more rain in the month of July than they had in the whole month of June! However, it's supposed to clear up this weekend. We are leaving town Saturday for Galveston/Houston. They have rain predictions for the next week....... Sad........
The rain does however cool the temperatures though. The afternoons here have been in the 101 to 105 area. This morning while it was raining, the outdoor thermometer got down to 75. It was nice!
I did have pity on Colton today and took him to the McDonald's with the big play place. He had a great time with his new "friends". I have to remember those days that I had a home daycare and would spend days with no adult interaction. It was pathetic when I got to see grown ups! So I guess I know how he feels to not be around children for a few days. I will keep this in mind.
Tomorrow is Corpus!

Just Cause...

2008-07-02T19:41:00.002-05:00

In case any of you all have a myspace or facebook, I decided it wasn't that good of an idea to let everyone know that I wasn't home, so I won't be posting any vacation info on there anymore. I let just the "important" people in on this website, so you guys can still get updates, but if you see that I'm "at home" on those two sites, you'll know you're all special enough to know better.
Today we didn't do much. Went shopping a little at the mall. Bought nothing. Well, double doozies, but that was a given! LOL
Tomorrow should be another around the house day, getting ready for our jaunt to Galveston. You know I'll add more pictures then. Until then or unless something picture worthy happens, I'll talk again soon.

Relaxing

2008-06-30T09:45:00.000-05:00

Well the last two days have been lazy days. Vacations should have days where you don't do anything. Most times vacations for most people are planning and running and trying to make this time for that reservation, etc. It's great to have time to chill. We have a short trip planned on Friday to Corpus to watch fireworks and then we will be going to Galveston next week.

Tattoos, Scallops, and Gold

2008-06-29T14:43:00.004-05:00

I have added this post at least twice now and it still hasn't posted yet. So here we are trying AGAIN! At least the picture posted this time......
Each time, the post gets smaller and smaller, so know that last night the information here was really impressive. Now, possibly not so much!
Yesterday morning we drove the remaining hour or so to Victoria to our friends's house. We met them and dropped our stuff inside their door and headed out to Port Lavaca. They were having a crab/shrimp festival there. The festival was not so impressive, but Colton got a really cool shark tattoo. They said it could last for 2 weeks!
We then went to eat seafood which was good but overpriced (shrimp, scallops, catfish, and oysters - not me), and after roaming around for a while, came back to their house and chilled for the evening. We sat around and watched Fools Gold.

First Day......

2008-06-27T23:26:00.005-05:00

Today was the first day of our vacation and it was everything a vacation should be - beautiful sights, fun experiences, and driving until you can't stand it anymore! But today was awesome! We saw waterfalls and dragons and castles and mountains and a bear cave! Of course I'm posting pictures of all of this on my dotphoto space as fast as my little connection here will allow.
We had to leave a little late this morning because it was actually raining when we got up. We left around 9:00 am and headed South. It rained on us through Norman at least. We were in no hurry to get anywhere (since we had no plans on where exactly we would wind up!) We took the scenic turnouts and piddled. We decided to turn off and headed to Turner Falls. I don't remember ever being there and of course Colton's never been there. It was very cool! Beautiful! Colton got to swim around a little and chase minnows in the pool with the big falls. We will definitely be stopping there again on the way back to Oklahoma to spend more time.
We actually started looking for a place to stay while we were still in Oklahoma. We stopped at Lake Murray, but they had no place to stay. It was very late before we ever found a place to land, but we are not far now from where we will be staying. Tomorrow we will meet up with our friends and they have plans to attend a shrimp festival in a nearby town. That sounds like my kind of festival!!
For now, we're going to bed! Driving so much wears you out! Nighty night!

2008-06-26T00:07:00.000-05:00

The boys and I at Frontier City
Monday, June 23, 2008

Anticipation

2008-06-25T23:58:00.000-05:00

Now that it's midnight, we will be leaving for Texas tomorrow officially. I just sent out the mass email to friends and family about this blog and the dotphoto site, so I figured I should post something to let everyone know that I do actually post here (just haven't so much... well, ever). Sooooo, with renewed effort (which is just about what every post on here says), I will be keeping track of our vacation this summer right here. However, right now, I'm going to BED! Goodnight!

Pre-Trip

2008-06-20T15:07:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are on our "trip-before-our-trip" trip. The summer school took a field trip to Roman Nose Park on Thursday and Colton and I decided it would be the perfect time to pack up and test our wings before our big trip next week. We couldn't find any campsites we liked at Roman Nose, so we drove up to Canton Lake and found a nice one. We had a little rain last night, but everything held up well and we watched our movie right through it. Yes, we are tent camping, but we do it with style (or technology)! Dinner last night was spaghetti. We got up this morning and drove down to see Joe for a few hours. We went to lunch at a BarBQ place that was great! We are on our way now to the beach for some cooling off! I'm sure I will post again later or tomorrow! And pictures (if only a few) will follow!

Summertime

2008-06-15T11:54:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are in the middle of summer vacation. For us, summer school is still going on and it gives us something to keep us busy. Summer school is Monday thru Thursday, so we still have a long weekend - time enough to be bored by Sunday and ready to go back to school. I have decided that I will update this blog more often for the rest of this summer. We will be going on vacation to Texas in July, so I should have plenty to blog about. I'll even include a few pictures now and then! Wooo!

2008-05-05T06:53:00.001-05:00

Wow! I should really try to update more often!

Maybe soon.... this last two weeks of school is crazy! Not that summer will be any calmer.....

Step In To My Office......

2007-10-17T23:05:00.000-05:00

Just thought I would share my latest accomplishment with everyone! I just got my CDL (with air brakes certification mind you) and I'm now a bus driver for our school! Go me! Of course, its not a passion of mine to drive a 15 ton bus down muddy roads with 70 screaming kids on it, but the extra money will help me out a lot and the kids are tolerable most of the time! It took a lot of time, studying, and work to actually make it through the process, so I'm quite proud of myself for actually getting this far! Now for the driving part......

THE WAVE

2007-10-05T22:21:00.001-05:00

Now, doesn't that look like fun????

Grace..... no, not the forgiving kind

2007-10-04T22:34:00.000-05:00

I'm never really sure if anyone ever reads this blog, but if they happen upon it, this should serve them some entertainment.......

I was on the playground yesterday at school. We just got a new teeter-totter on Monday. A really cool one that looks like a giant M. When you teeter on it, it changes into a giant W. Max height off he ground would only be about 4 feet, but still fun when there's about 20 kids on it (I'll have to post a picture of it soon). It's called THE WAVE.

The kids were having a great time. Teetering and tottering. These things should always be tested by a competent adult. Since there wasn't one around, I thought I'd better check it out. It was great. Until......

I've never had to use workman's comp before...............

I'm sure I will be fine. There appear to be no broken bones. Maybe it is true then that things hurt worse and longer when you get older. In spite of bearing my entire weight and that of a child, my elbow has not turned any colors.... YET. It does hurt to move, but is fine if I just hold it to my body. Surely I can do most things this way.

I work with wonderful people. Quite funny people actually. "Ride a wave lately?" Haha "There is a sign on that new toy that says 'ages 6-12' " Haha "Teeter tottering you say?" yes doctor.... Haha And you KNOW I will never live this down. Ah well, all in the name of fun. Come on, you know you would have tried it too!

The Great State Fair Of Oklahoma!

2007-09-16T15:23:00.001-05:00

For my friends who have moved abroad, an Okie staple:

And we're off......

2007-09-11T21:57:00.000-05:00

Of course, everyone (or at least the 2 people who happen upon this blog) knows that school is now in full swing. We are really enjoying it, too!
The weather has been BLISSFUL the last few days (highs in the 70's)! I love fall. I think it's my favorite season. And as I was walking across campus today and got that "woo-hoo" feeling, I couldn't exactly tell you what created it, other than I just love fall.
Anywho, school is going great and Tiffany and I are busier than ever! We move from class to class to music/band/P.E. to special ed to yearbook........ You would think I would be shedding the pounds, wouldn't you?..........
Colton is just getting in to the meat of first grade. They got issued their "tiger binders" last week with specific folders inside for math, spelling, and reading. Today they got their first real spelling list (to, she, but, that). I love first graders. They're really starting to learn and they still WANT to be there!
As for Joe, he's been struggling at college. He went of with his days and nights mixed up (too many late summer nights) and hasn't seemed to be able to get out of that funk. He's already missed classes - not that this is a surprise to his MOTHER, but still..... If you read this, pray for Joe, please.
This week also begins the Oklahoma State Fair. It's suddenly the perfect weather, too! Since the few people who might stop here would be former Okies and now living afar, I'll have to post some pictures of the fair next week (we are going on Thursday).
The weather has also given me the urge to go camping. Colton and I love to camp, and do so whenever we can. I really would like to go somewhere this weekend with the weather in the 70's, but next weekend is parent weekend at SWOSU and we will be driving to Weatherford to viisit Joe for the first time. They will have a day of activities, and then Roman Nose is just a few miles North of SWOSU, so we had already planned to spend the rest of the weekend there. Maybe I'll just have to be patient........ Yikes!

Put me in, coach!

2007-08-21T22:07:00.000-05:00

Well, our family is once again off to school!

Colton has started first grade and is loving it. He says he's going to stay in first grade until he's an old man. I'm hoping that means he's going to teach......

Joe starts his first college classes tomorrow. He's been in the dorm for a few days now and is such a socialite that he's already going and doing. I'm glad, but being a mom, I always worry. Right now? I worry that his poor roommate will have as much trouble waking him up in the morning as I did. I'm sure he really won't, but I worry.......

I have been promoted to the fourth grade this year (along with my charge, Tiffy). We are busy little bees and buzz between 2 campuses and 5 buildings on a normal day. But we like it that way. Tiff is still getting adjusted to school schedule. She has only had one day so far that she didn't try to fall asleep on me! Scheduling is still crazy with trying to figure out who wants us where and when. Between occupational, physical, and speech therapists, music, band, P.E., special education and LUNCH, there's not even much time in the classroom! But hey, she will not be a child left behind!

Other than that, things are settling in. We did get a lot of rain from the leftover "Tropical Storm Erin", so the yard is flooded - AGAIN. But hopefully this time the sun will dry it out in a few days. Kingfisher didn't fare so well. I think they will be under water for some time.

I bought a new (to me) car before school started. It needed some things done to it before I would take it, so it's been in the shop (or somewhere - who knows) for almost 2 weeks, and I've been driving a "hooptie" loaner. They didn't even scrape the "Buy now - $695 down!" off the front window. But I got to go pick up my "new" car today. I'm very excited, as are normal people when they get a new vehicle, but when you haven't owned your own car in a few YEARS, it's a real treat!

I've also taken the coach's offer to sit at the gate and collect money for whatever games we happen to host. It's a staff job, but not many like to do it. And it does pay, so since I'm not hanging around this year chasing a senior, I have time to spare and a wallet to fill. Heck, I'm even going to get my CDL and drive a BUS! Oh boy! We'll let ya know the developments on that one!

Ok, since pretty much only one or two people actually READ this, I'm going to go to bed now. Night!

Pictures from Enid trip

2007-08-10T11:45:00.001-05:00

On A Roll

2007-08-10T11:20:00.000-05:00

Well now, this makes for TWO posts in the same YEAR! Wooooo Watch out, she's on a roll!

Colton and I just got back from a visit with my best friend from high school (not AT, but FROM) Laurene. She and her family live in Enid, so we thought it would be a good short visit right before school starts. And it was.
Laurene had to work most of the time, but Colton and I and her 13 year old daughter did a little running around during the day. I saved the big "surprise" for Colton that we were going to get to go to Leonardo's on Tuesday. I told him it was not a pool, but he would get to get wet. Well, AFTER we've paid to get in, the lady tells us that the water part of the castle had to have new flooring installed and takes 48 hours to dry, so no water. Bummer. It was HOT. So we played inside Leonardo's for the first part of the day, and found some sidewalk fountains outside one of the buildings downtown there (apparently NOT for letting kids run through, but we didn't get asked to leave), and so, Colton got to get wet after all. And we got some great pictures (hey! I'll post some)!

School will start for us on Wednesday, the 15th. I have to go in on the 14th, so Colton will get to spend one last day with Joe. Joe leaves for college (Southwestern Oklahoma State Univ) on Saturday, the 18th. I'll have to make it a point to let you know how that goes. I'm not really sure what I'll do. You know, I have discovered why God makes them teenagers. It's so that when they DO leave for college, you're not quite as heartbroken as you would be had they stayed cute and innocent!! We'll see what happens......

Colton and I are very excited about school though! Wednesday is our short day (our school doesn't have the days out for "teacher's meetings" like most do, but we get out of school every Wednesday at 1:45 for teacher's inservice). And of course, football isn't far behind. I do love high school football - always have. But, this year, I can see myself working alot at the gate for most of the games, paying my dues for NOT helping at ALL last year!

Ok, there's a little post for ya. I'll try to be sure to write sometime in the next week to let you know what the first day of school was like and what it's like to send a kid off to college.

Hey! It's a new blog!!

2007-07-27T10:29:00.000-05:00

I am finally posting another "blog" on this ... blogger. It seemed to have really bothered "Olyvia" that I never posted here and she actually said (notably, before she was probably STANDING on her own) that I had the worst blog in HISTORY! Sheesh! Slammed by a drooler!

Anyway, since I only use this blogger to keep up with Tim and Brandon (and Olyvia (and Jamie)), I thought I would put up a yearly post! Maybe I'll even post quarterly, but let's not get too eager.

2007 has been a great year for us - one of the best actually! Joe was a Senior in high school and it was really great watching him live the "American dream" senior year! The football team went to the state semi-finals, we got to watch close friends make their commitments to college, every sport that Crescent has got to play in the snow this year, which, if you think about it, is pretty incredible in itself. There were of course highs and lows, but graduation was definitely a high. It was truly a pride that swelled up through the whole ceremony until when they threw their hats up in the air, I found myself unconsciously jumping up and down. And I didn't cry. It was too exciting! Like a winning home run made in the last inning by your own kid! Can't describe it. Yall will see.

Colton amazed me all year with his reading. He was only in Kindergarten, but the way he could put things together just blew me away. It's really wild too, having them so far apart. I get to see the things I did with Joe that made him the person he is today, and I can put that into action with Colton to develop who he might become. It's cool.

As for me, the 30's are so nice. Of course, the whole physical thing is horrible, and apparently isn't going to be improving anytime soon, but the 30's have me at a place in my life that I would NEVER go back to the 20's. I don't even know how I made it through them the first time sometimes!! I like who I am now. And I'm figuring out that I'm good on my own. I'm now what I make me.
I got to pay off my house this year, which, was very anti-climactic, FYI. No one was there when I mailed the last payment. No party. No recognition. But all the same, I can say it's paid for! This was also the first summer that we got to stay home and still get paid! That was very cool!

Since we're all involved in school, our "year" is usually from August to August. I guess that's why I decided to blog (that and the boredom). Right now, we're all excited about getting back to school!

So there, Olyvia, now you have an updated blog.... well, for now anyway!

Just for Tim

2006-07-15T14:14:00.000-05:00

Since NO ONE else has a blog on this blogger thingy, this one's just for you Tim! Do ya have an email address or do ya just BLOG??? lol