October 2017

10/31 - We had a fun Halloween.  Kasey was pillow Kase (grandma made her a pillow kase with minions on it), and Landon was a German soccer player.  We all had dinner with friends at the Cracknell's house.  The boys wanted to walk on their own - within a certain area.  The dads decided to walk behind them at a distance which means they went to a few houses to get beer.   :)

The moms walked with the girls and had fun with them.  Only one house was a bit scary.  They all know which house has full candy bars though.

10/29 - Greg got home about 2am so we let him sleep in some.  Landon and I went to sell popcorn at Lowe's. He sold over $100 which is pretty good.   We all had lunch together.

That afternoon Kasey and I had a girl scout meeting.  Its fun to start talking about cookie season with the girls.  We set our goals and talked about some upcoming activities with the parents.

10/28 - A bit of a crazy day but kind of normal for us.   Landon had scouts pow wow from 8-12, then he hung out with Cracknells for lunch and part of the afternoon.  Greg took the bus with Doug to College Station to watch A&M lose to Miss St.  They had fun on the bus.  Kasey and I had lunch and then went to an event where they earned a badge at a girl led workshop.  It was pretty good since we have a few new scouts - they got to sing some songs and learn some of the basics of girl scouts.  They even got to draw some.

After that we went to get Landon.  We hung out at the house cleaning some then we went to Landon's soccer game at 7.  It was a bit chilly but in the stands we had hot chocolate and blankets.   They tied 2 to 2 although the PK was a bit questionable.

I got the kids home and into bed.  A&M was playing so bad I just watched Hallmark instead of the game.

10/25 - Kasey dressed up as a role model - her dad in all under armour.  Hmmm. I got back from business trip to Minnesota and mom and dad brought the car to the airport.  I took a colleague home and then met up with the family.

10/22 - I slept in but Greg woke up early.  I got up to walk the dog and shower and Greg went to pick up the kids.  Landon had early cotilion that day getting dressed up in jacket, khaki's and tie.  

Landon made cookies and pancakes at grandmas.

Kasey and I got to hang out watching Hallmark, Greg went to FC Dallas game.   Then we went to pick up the boys.  They learned to introduce themselves, did some dancing and had a cookie and drink.

10/21 - Landon had a soccer game in Frisco.   He scored a goal, it was set up perfectly for him.   After the game Kasey went home with Grammy and Gramps for the afternoon and night.  Landon came home to shower, we went to Elke's for lunch then he went home with Grandma for the afternoon and night.

I had cookie training for the afternoon then we had birthday dinner with a friend.  Very cool private restaurant - good food and good friends.

10/15 - Kasey got up and did some stuff around 7, but by 8am she had the light on and told me it was time to get up.   We went to Market Street for breakfast and then headed to target to look for boots, bras and pajamas.

We went home to get some laundry done and clean up some.   That afternoon we had lunch with a friend and her daughter and then the 4 of us went to see Princess Bride.  Kasey thought it was ok, but the rest of us really enjoyed it.

By this time Greg was home, had gotten Landon.   Everyone was pretty tired.  We went to an early dinner so we could get everyone in bed on time.

10/14 - I let Kasey sleep in our bed.  She started out on one side of the bed but of course she fell asleep on my side.  She moved back to get under the covers.  Everything was ok until Kasey woke up and woke me up at 6:15 in the morning.   She got up before 7 and sent to do some other stuff.  She got me up because she was starving.   We went in our pajamas and jackets to get drive through breakfast.  We finished watching our hallmark movie.  Then we decided it was time to take Patch for a walk.  

After that we got ready for the day.   We went to the salon first to get our nails done which is always fun.  Kasey really liked the lady that did her nailsWe headed out and got some lunch - Canes which Kasey wants all the time.  We stopped at Grif's for a treat.  Then we headed for some shopping.  We went to Macy's and both found some shoes on sale.  Then we headed to Kohls for some winter clothes shopping.  We both enjoy our shopping together, and always makes me think about shopping with my mom as a kid.

After that we went to Grandmas to get Kasey's halloween costume, and then went by my office to get a few things ready for my WW meetings.  After that we headed home to Patch.  We ordered Pei Wei and hung out at home.  We had a lazy night and Kasey convinced me to let her sleep in our bed again.  I told her she can't wake me up before 7 for sure.

10/13 - start of girls weekend.  Greg flew to Florida to see A&M play.  Landon left for obstacle course weekend with boy scouts.   So its just Kasey and I.  We had dinner at home, watched some Hallmark movie and got Kasey to bed.   She told me that she had a hard day at school.  One of her teachers worked them hard to get their work done and I think she was tired.  Kasey also told me that at school she doesn't like to go to the bathroom so she won't miss any instruction - hmmm interesting.   Anyway today she really had to go because they were standing around.  

On our trip last weekend I said something to Kasey like, do you want the pillow Kase?   So Greg looks at me because I just said pillow case and somehow that became Kasey's new nick name.  to the point that she decided that's what she wants to be for Halloween.   Grandma is going to make her a pillow case costume with minion fabric.  

10/9 - The kids had the day off so I took the day off as well.  I got up to work out early - I did deadlift with 155 bls :)  I came home and everyone was still in bed.  I put a towel on my pillow and went back to bed for a little while.

We didn't do a lot, but had a nice day.  The kids put halloween stuff up, we had lunch together, did a little target shopping, we caught up on a few TV shows, sold scout stuff and Greg mowed the yard.   Overall a good day.

10/8 - We got up and got ready to head out after breakfast.  We were headed out of town and I mentioned that we should have gone to see my Aunt because the kids don't have school Monday.   So we decided to head south and go spend the afternoon with family.   We went to my aunts house to hang out.  The kids got to play wii (nicely together), we had lunch, Greg got aunt mary past a candy crush level, and Greg and Gary changed out the water heater.

We were leaving later after noon and the kids said that was really fun they were glad we stopped.  Me too.  We don't get enough family time

10/7 - We slept in some, got up had breakfast showered to get ready.  We left early so we could get a table at the Chicken - when your kids ask to go to the Chicken we go :)   Greg dropped us off at Northgate and went to park.   We grabbed a table, the kids got Powerade and each got dominoes.  They started building stuff, and making them knock them all down.   We had some drinks and ate burgers and Tijuana fries (yum).   Then we headed to Duddley's to hang out.  The kids played pool and some other games.

We left early to go to kids yell and walk in.   We ended up stopping at shiner bar because Landon really had to go to the restroom.   So we got a drink.  We were literally the only people in there so we did some dancing as well.  We had fun then walked over to campus.

We stopped in at the bookstore and found a few things then walked over to kids yell practice.   We got to see the band and the team walk in.   The kids went to play a game and Greg came over so we could walk in together.

We lost the game, but the score was better than expected with Alabama.

After the game we headed back to the house to get the kids to bed.

10/6 - we got kids from school, dropped everything off at home and headed to College Station for the weekend.  Google had us go around town east to get through.   We got to College Station, we picked up Wings n More and took them to the house we rented.  We ate and watched the end of the US soccer game - they won 4 to 0.     After that we got kids in bed and the boys went out to Northgate.  I had some wine and watched some Arrow.  Apparently I was tired and fell asleep on the couch about 11pm.

Kasey got Knight of the Week

10/3 - Landon found out today that he made it to next level of percussion try outs in band.  He's pretty excited.

10/1 - We slept in a bit, stopped by Shipleys and headed home.  We got Patchy and headed home.  Landon and I went out to see some boy scout fundraising stuff and then we went to Roman Cucina for dinner which Greg and I really like.  We were all a bit tired and headed to bed.

September 2017

9/30 - Landon had a soccer game at 8am in Frisco so we all had to get up and get ready early.   The Spartans won 7 to 0.  Landon almost got a goal, at the end you could tell they were having fun playing including the boys getting to play some different positions.

We came home got Landon showered, had a snack and then headed to College Station.  Kids read and played on their ipads, I worked and took a nap.  We got there and got into the house we were staying at and headed to late lunch at Fox and Hound.  Then we headed to Northgate to hang out at Duddleys.  The kids paid Life and had shirley temples.  We enjoyed some beer and football.

We headed to A&M game for the evening.  Aggies won luckily :)

After the game we took tired kiddos to the house for some sleep.   The house had a basket with a bottle of wine and some popcorn - which was a great snack after the game.

9/22-24 - All: We had a fun weekend at camp. We started off with quick dinner at Wataburger and headed to camp. We got everything unloaded and into the cabins as it was getting dark. We all enjoyed a brownie thanks to Tara. It took the girls a little while to get to sleep but they settled down.

Saturday the girls started getting up about 6:45am - little early. We got up to get going. Girls prepared breakfast food and got it ready for everyone. We ate breakfast outside and then the girls washed dishes and cleaned up.

They spent the morning at a badge workshop earning their letterboxer badge. They got to observe things, solve codes, create a stamp of their own, and create a troop letterbox to leave for others (like simple geocaching). Ask them about potato 7888 :)

Then we went back and the girls got lunch stuff out and we all ate lunch together inside. They had a little bit of turtle time (free time) in their cabin to listen to music and hang out. We got to call the cowboys on property to help us again (they had helped earlier with Michelle's flat). This time there was a red hornet on the girls porch - it stung Carol already (ouch! - thanks for taking one for the team). Anyway the girls had to stay in the cabin while they took care of it.

Next we headed to horseback riding. We went on a trail for 30 minutes or so which was nice, but a little dusty for some. It was shaded so the weather was nice and it was relaxing. I rode Dodge and I think Kasey got to ride the same horse she has previously.

After horseback riding we came back for a snack and to get ready for swimming. Of course there was another red hornet on the porch so we had to walkie talkie our friends again.

At the pool the girls took three second rinse off shower (they were excited about this for some reason), and they did quick swim test to see if they could jump off the diving board. They all did great. Most of the time they were jumping off the diving board and having a good time.

After that we headed back to work on dinner. We prepared desserts (cherry and peach cobbler), started fire in pit, and got stuff out for dinner. All the girls lit matches to practice and they all at some point over the weekend practiced cutting with a knife with food preparation. They also helped clean up.

The girls made their nachos or tacos, and we all enjoyed the cobbler. After that the girls headed to the showers while we cleaned up since it was getting late. We had a visitor at camp who smelled our cobbler - Hope the deer came right up to me and wanted something to eat. I gave her some off the spoon and then she headed on. We got the girls to bed and I think we were all pretty tired and slept better than the first night :)

Sunday morning the girls slept in a little. We got up for breakfast, and then had to pack and clean. Hope the deer came back to see the girls. They got to pet her and feed her some bread.

After packing we had to clean everything and the girls helped a lot. We had to take trash out, sweep all the buildings, fully clean the bathroom (each girl cleaned a shower or toilet :)), and make sure everything was clean.

Then we packed up and headed back. We took a quick stop at Buccee's in Terrell. Fun weekend for all. Hopefully the girls aren't to tired.

Landon stayed home with Greg, went to his soccer game Saturday morning (they won), and then headed to camp with his other soccer team mates. The boys had set up Landon's tent on Friday but left it open so there were several spiders in his tent. A little scary and he didn't sleep well. Overall it was good.

Greg was home all alone. He went to Oktoberfest in McKinney Saturday and got to sleep a little bit.

We all came home and decided to head to the Greek festival. It was very crowded and warm. We got some food and hung out for a bit. The kids made sand art. We were all pretty tired so we headed home. Kasey, Landon and I all fell asleep on the way home.

9/17 - we slept in some and then got going.  Lots of drama and not much of walk for the dog.   Landon and Greg went to help set up scouting event, then we went to lunch as a family.    We hung out in the afternoon.  Landon and I are trying to watch a season and a half of Arrow in a few weeks.    

Landon had his first Cotillion class this afternoon.  He has to wear khaki's, dress shoes, button down shirt with tie and a jacket.   Needless to say he wasn't overly excited the the boys looked so handsome.  They started learning about dancing and some on etiquette.   He'll survive whether he likes it or not :) 

9/16 - Today Landon had a very busy day.  He had Scout merit badge activities from 8-12.  I brought him lunch so he could eat on the way home.    He had a soccer game in Frisco at 2pm.  They tied 2 to 2.  It was on a turf field and it was pretty warm so it was really hot on the field.    It was a bit rough.   

From there we went straight to Oktoberfest in Addison.   We had some Spoetzl, Schnitzel and of course some beer.   We saw some friends there which was fun, and the kids got to ride several of the small roller coasters.  We finished the night with some Helmuts Strudel.  Yummy

9/13 - Landon got another baby tooth removed as recommended by the orthodontist and dentist.  Hopefully its his list one to get pulled out.  After that he had piano and soccer practice then had to study for 2 tests.  he's been a little tired

9/12 - Kasey got braces today to take care of her under bite.  They put balls on her back teeth so the front teeth can move forward.  That means she can't really chew anything.   So we have to cut up food really small like with did when she was a baby and puree other stuff.  She hasn't been in to much pain which is good.  

9/5 - I went to Cleveland for work conference on content marketing.  We got to go to Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and House of Blues for an 80s dance party.   Both were fun and the conference was really good

California Vacation

9/4 - we got an uber to the airport and headed home.  The kids will take a while to recover from lost sleep and what Landon missed at school, but we still had fun and enjoyed our time.

9/3 

Game Day - Texas A&M vs UCLA.  We got to visit the Rose Bowl.   We drove to an area, found a place to eat - mainly breakfast stuff, but they had a buffet with several things.  Service wasn't great - they kept saying all the Texans were  wiping them out of sparkling wine and other stuff :)

After that we walked to the Stadium.  Kasey had to go potty so we went in, and everyone else got a picture with Rose Bowl Sign.

We found our seats for the game.  The first half was pretty good.  We had some offense, defense was playing well.  Somehow the 2nd half was totally different.  The quarterback went out with broken ankle and others went out as well.

It was 44 A&M to 10 UCLA with 4:08 left in the 3rd quarter.  Somehow UCLA came back an won the game.   UGH!!!!!!!

Needless to say we headed back after the game and got kids to bed.   We had morning flight the next day

9/2 

This was kind of a rest day.  We hung out at the house in the morning, went swimming,    The boys went to get burgers to cook for lunch.  Then in the afternoon we headed to Disneyland one more time.  We got there a bit early, had some yummy ice cream (daily ritual at Disney), then we got Kasey a Destiny stuffed animal that she really wanted,  then we waited on main street to watch the Aggie band walk and play before the big Disney parade.   Kasey and I stayed for both because the parade is magical.  Greg and Landon watched the band then went to tomorrow land to do Star Tours and Buzz light year again.   After the parade we met up with the boys and went to ride the railroad roller coaster again.   We went on safari ride which is funny ride through pretend jungle with silly jokes.    

That night we went to Roy's for dinner.  We had quick showers and were a little late so we had to wait some.  Still good dinner though.   The kids enjoyed it as well.

After dinner we got kids to bed, Greg and I ran to the store for a few things, we enjoyed some wine then it was bed time.  

9/1 

We headed to Disneyland first thing in the morning - it opened at 9am.  We went to ride Star Tours a first time and rode it a few times.  The first one Landon was the spy they were looking for :)  We went to see Star Wars Path of the Jedi - cool overview of Star Wars, always fun to see.  Then we headed to our character breakfast.  The kids got signatures and pictures with several characters including Rafiki, Captain Hook, Winnie the Pooh, Max, Eeyore,  Chip and Dale (I got pictures with them too), Tiger.  Fun yummy breakfast and the kids enjoyed it.

Next we went to the auto ride where kids can ride.  Landon rode in his own car, so did Greg and Kasey drove me (oh my).  It was warm but fun.  Next we went on Splash mountain which Kasey loved.  Then the Mountain railroad which we all enjoy.   By that time it was for Mickey ice cream.  Always yummy with vanilla ice cream and chocolate cover (no chocolate ears like in China).  Next we decided for the no wait AC It's a Small World.

Landon and I went and did a few things.  We did car ride again,  saw chewbacca and Darth vader.  The girls got to ride tea cups and walk around some.

That evening we went to dinner in Downtown Disney at Ralph Brennans Jazz Cafe.  Nice dinner.  After dinner we headed back into Disneyland for the fireworks and Fantasmic show on the castle.  It was a good show even though we were pretty tired.   We walked back to the house from there.  Luckily we didn't have to be up early the next morning.