March 2013 updates

3/31 - We had a relaxing Easter morning.  Greg made us breakfast, Kids did Easter Egg hunt, we talked some about what Easter is really about vs the candy and eggs.
We then had lunch with Greg's family for Easter and my birthday celebration.  Had some BBQ and great chocolate cake.

3/30 - Kids enjoyed dying and decorating eggs.  They did some stickers and did some with plastic that we heat shrinked around the eggs.  It was fun and they looked good.  Landon had a friend BDay party that we dropped him off at, and so we took Kasey to dinner just the three of us.  We went to Blue Fish for dinner.  Kasey had tempura and had a good time.  We got to sit outside because it was nice out.  Kasey got to run around out side for  a little while and then we went to Paciugo for some Gelato.  Greg took Kasey home to get ready for bed and I headed to the Roys to hang out for a little bit before bringing Landon home.  We had some homemade Sangria which was great.

3/29 - It was good friday so I was off work.   I for some reason woke up at 4am and couldn't really go back to sleep.  Then I got up for 6am boot camp.  When I got home Landon was up so we snuggled on the couch and read some of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Greg made us good breakfast with cheese eggs, pancakes and sausage.
We all went to Kasey's swim class at noon.  She swam today without goggles and seemed to do well.  Then we went to Snuffers for lunch.  Kids were pretty tired from staying up late for Kasey's game.

3/28 - Kasey had her 2nd tball game.  Her team got 3 outs which is great, the team the played had almost all older girls.   Kasey played well with hits and paying attention in the field.  She asked afterwards if she played well and we told her she did.
It's funny to watch the boys (Landon and friends), there seems to be some flirting with kids on Kasey's team (some of the girls are older and closer to Landon's age).  We had to kick the boys out of the dug out.

3/24 - We had totally lazy morning and a crazy afternoon.  Landon had cub scouts, Kasey had birthday party, and then both kids had birthday party.   Kasey had a great time and her friends birthday party.  They got to make crowns and color and eat and watch a fun video. what more could a girl ask for

At the 2nd birthday party the kids and some of the dads including Greg played broom ball.  Kasey was super excited to be 1 of 2 girls playing.   Greg also had a good time playing defense.  They all got sweaty and had a great time.

3/23 - I got up to get ready for the gym.  It was thundering and lighting outside.   I asked Kasey if it was raining outside.  She brings me my phone with the weather app up and showing the weather map saying yes it's raining.  I said Kasey the easiest way to tell is to look outside.  So she did and said it was raining

Landon's soccer game got cancelled.

Kasey had a friends birthday party at 5pm.  We were able to drop Kasey off with her friends, and so Greg and I got to have dinner with just Landon which was nice.  We went to Mi Cocina.  Landon wanted to sit in the bar area so he could watch basketball.  He said, anyway it's closer to where you can get margaritas :)   We had good dinner, and then went to Bonnie Ruths for a little dessert.
Greg went to FC Dallas game so I had about 6 ladies over for a few drinks which is always fun.

3/22 - Greg took Landon to his soccer camp so it was just Kasey and i hanging at the house.  She wanted to play ring toss.  Kasey asked me to put on the Ricky Martin songs from Glee (I'm Sexy and I know it and La Isla Bonita) which we both like.  Then we turned on hits on TV.  We were really bad at ring toss (didn't make one ring), but we had been listening and dancing to the music.  After a while Kasey said maybe we should play something else.   We decided to play hide and go seek.   We both kept finding good hiding places.  It was fun.  Then we went up stairs.  Kasey played in bath while I put kids clothes up.

3/21 - Kasey had her first tball/softball game tonight.   She was very excited about her game.  The team got 2 outs their first inning.  Kasey got an out, hit the ball twice and ran the bases well.  Girls game is pretty different than the boys.  Overall they are more calm and paid more attention.  The team got 5 outs in all which I think is pretty good for their first game I think.
After the game I took Landon to Yogurtville for some yogurt to earn money for Norton.  His friend Colin was there with his family.

3/15-3/17 - We decided a little late, but decided we'd take a short trip for spring break.  Friday i took most of the day off.  i went to Kasey's swim class,  and we headed out of town after that.   We went to Aunt Mary's house.  She now has her room all arranged very nice, has a new guest bed as well.   We enjoyed the visit.   Kids loved being outside with dogs, playing Wii, and eating good food.  We all enjoyed tacos.  After dinner kids wanted to play Bunco with everyone.  We played a short game.   Kasey won, and kept giving Cousin David a hard time that he was annoying her.  It was funny to hear it come out of her mouth.  Later once kids were in bed we played some adult Wii bowling.  We had a good time playing for sure.

Saturday, we had big breakfast at Mary's.  We took our time getting ready in the morning and headed to College Station.  We had lunch at Wings and More which is like a staple for us.  We then checked quickly into new hotel and headed to the game. It was crowded so we ended up sitting in grass area.  this was ok except it was sort of warm, kids were tired.   kids got snow cones, and later got to play on the playground near where we were.  both kids said it was to crowded which I warned them, but they didn't want to leave.

Aggies ended up winning 2-1 against Georgia.  After the game we got to go on the field and throw baseball.  it was Greg's first time on the field - 2nd for kids and I.  Landon and Greg enjoyed throwing ball around.  Kasey was in wine mode and didn't want to do anything even though she had ball and glove as well.

After the game Greg and I decided we were going to the Chicken.  Kids didn't really want to, but we overruled.  We played dominoes, had some good burgers, and Sangria.  What more can you ask for.
Then got kids back to hotel for quick shower and bed.  We were pretty icky.  I took a nice bath and read book for a little while.

Sunday morning apparently the kids woke up at 6/6:30, but didn't come get us up until 8.  Not sure exactly what they were doing, but nothing was broken.  We finally got up and showered and went down to breakfast.  We got to eat outside and the view was really nice.

Then we headed to bookstore for a little shopping and the baseball game.  The kids got asked to go out on the field during the national anthem.   They went down on the field before the game, sang Aggie War Hymn with all the other kids, then as they introduced players they got to go to the position they wanted to on the field with the A&M player.  Landon picked pitcher, and Kasey went with him.  It was fun for them.

Today at the game it wasn't as crowded so we got to sit on the 1st base side. It's great sitting in that section with students doing all the little things that Aggies do during baseball games.   It was also cooler which was nice.   The kids were watching the game more which also made it fun.  

After the game the kids got to run the bases on the field.  They really liked that.  After that we headed back home.

We got home and kids got on camera before the game on the field and we were on TV during the war hymn at the end of the game.  Pretty cool.
It was a great weekend, now back to real life...

3/10 - After Landon's soccer game on Saturday it rained quite a bit so soccer practice was cancelled.  We did celebrate Pops and Nanny's birthdays though.  We took Mexican food down to Grandma and Pops house for dinner.   Grandma made peach cobbler and German Chocolate cake - both which we enjoyed for several days.

3/9 - started the day saying hi to kids in person after a  week.  I also did some Zumba.  Then Landon had a soccer game - he played pretty well and scored only goal for our team.
We went to lunch at Elkas.

That afternoon I took Kasey to princess party.   she got her nails and hair done, got to dress as a princess and play with friends.  She had a good time.

That evening Kasey had a 2nd BDay party at bounce house.  Greg took her, and Landon and I went to dinner with Doug, Dave, Tracy and Elizabeth.  Landon and Elizabeth had a good time - there were even silly comments about Landon and Elizabeth getting married.  We had fun though and enjoyed some good Greek food.

3/6 - 3/8
Wednesday, we met with a partner.    After that we headed to the airport for our flight.
We got to the hotel in Shenzen, which I thought was a really nice hotel (Intercontinental).  We had dinner in hotel which actually took a long time.  We had a few beers to pass the time, and food was pretty good.

Thursday morning I went down to work out.  I ended up doing some stairs and working out some in the gym with free weights.  That day we  met with a potential partner/customer for multiple hours in the morning and they took us for Dim Sum for lunch which was really good.

That evening we went to a huge buffet.  The table mats were maps of the buffet it was so big.  We ended up trying some different fruits.  Both of them were really bad, but several of us tried them anyway.  We had some good laughs.

Thursday evening we had foot massages at 9pm, and then we headed back.  A few of us went to the ship bar at the hotel.  It was a wooden ship attached to the hotel.  They had live band and local beer which was great.   We enjoyed ourselves having a few beers and dancing a little bit too.   I ended up staying out til 2:30 in the morning, but was fun.

Next morning we had 2 customer meetings so we met for breakfast then off to meetings, then back to hotel to leave for the airport.

We had to wait in line for a while to get into hong kong.   It took longer than expected so I didn't have much shopping time in the airport.  I grabbed some lunch and a few small things for kids.
I got to LA after how ever many hours.  We get into long customers lines, and then to get through immigration hey have us walk around entire luggage carousel to get in line.  This line took forever as well.  Luckily I made it in time, and of course when I get to flight area my flight is delayed a few hours.  Pretty tough when you've pretty much been up for 24 hours.  I will say that I flew Cathey Pacific from China to LA - their entertainment system and food is much better than American.

I got home few hours late, and mom and dad got me from the airport and took me home.  I think we were all a little tired.

3/4- 3/5  - Got up to work out, had breakfast with the team, and headed to the office for day of internal meetings.

We left the office at 4:45, went to hotel to pick up our luggage, took an hour car ride to the train station, sat at station for over an hour - I guess traffic is sometimes very bad, took 1 hour train ride, and then took crazy 30-40 minute car ride to the hotel.   We had to rush to the restaurant because it was closing quickly.

In the morning I met 2 colleagues to go for walk around the river in Hangzhou at 6:30am.  It was beautiful and nice to get out for a walk before breakfast.
Tuesday we had meetings most of the day then headed to the airport for a  2 1/2 hour flight.

3/3 - We had to get up and take me to the airport for my China trip.  My first flight to LA had a mechanical issue so we left over an hour late.  Luckily my connecting flight wasn't far away and I got there in time to board the plane.   LA to Shaighai is over a 14 hour flight, which is really long.  I watched a few movies - go to see Argo, and I watched Lincoln again which I had slept through quite a bit the first time I saw it.  I did some work to get ready for my week and actually slept for several hours.

Luckily when I got to Shanghai there was a driver and car waiting for me.  So I got to ride in nice car for the 45 minute drive to the hotel.  The hotel we stayed in by the office was pretty nice.  Asian theme, but trendy as well.

3/2 - Landon had his last basketball game.  He got 1 basket I believe, but played pretty well.  He got his 3rd white start for being most Christ like.  we are very proud of him.  He told the coach he had not gotten a red start for defense so the coach said he would give him one of those as well because he played some good defense.

We went home to work on projects and get some lunch.  Then Landon had his first soccer game of the season.  He scored the only goal for the team and played a good game.  It was pretty chilly so we were all bundled up on the sidelines.

After that we went to Liam's birthday party which was at his house.   For some reason several of us decided that it was a wine afternoon.  A few of the neighbors went home to get wine and we all had a few glasses which was fun.  The party was cute with Hex bug theme, and the kids had fun playing with Hex bug kits.

That evening I got the kids to bed a little early because they were tired from a long day.   I opened a bottle of wine and had to do newsletter, pack for my China trip and get a couple things done around the house.  I didn't even have time to turn the TV on.  Greg went to FC Dallas game in the cold with Doug.

3/1 - I had a big event at work I was planning.  We ended up setting up and having the event most of the day.  After that we had a happy hour for one of my team mates that is leaving the group.  A few of us went to Wizards. I only had an hour because I had to go to Landon's Blue and Gold Banquet, but when I left I smelled horrible.

Anyway, Landon had his Blue and Gold Banquet where he got his tiger badge for completing first year.   It was at middle school near our house so we walked to the event.  It was still light when we walked there, but when we left if was dark.  Landon and Kasey were both unsure that we could get home in the dark.  I guess they haven't been out much at night.