November Update

11/29 - Kids and i got up and went to have Breakfast with Grammy, Gramps, Lorenda and Frank.  Yummy eggs, Bacon, ham and kolaches.   We got to visit for a little while.then had to go.  Landon had a ton of energy and wanted to be super active jumping over things and bouncing things.

Then I took kids to Grandmas house.  Greg and I went to funeral for good friends dad - Jerry Wright in Fort Worth.  Amazing funny man that will be missed by all.  Several sorority sisters were there to support Tracy.

Then we came back went by Party City and Papa Murphys to get ready for Kasey's friend birthday.  She actually lost her friend party for behavior, but we let her earn back having a few friends over for pizza, a movie and going out for ice cream.  The girls had a good time. They watched the movie for a little while then decided they just wanted to play upstairs.  I hung out downstairs with Patch.   Kasey wanted to open gifts and then we went to Pacuigo for some gelato.  After that I let them play for about 5 minutes outside and then I took the girls home.  They all seemed to have fun

11/28 - What a day!  We got up and drove back from College Station.  Then we had to get ready to have 13 people to our house for Thanksgiving Dinner and Kasey's family birthday.   This means we had to clean, get seating ready, get stuff out and do some cooking.  As usual Thanksgiving was great.  We had special guests Lorenda and Frank who came up to visit.  Always fun to see them.    Lorenda was there 17 years ago when everything started with Greg and I.

Kasey got some pumpkin pie for her birthday dessert which she liked.  Then she got to open presents.  She tried to help reading some words on her birthday cards, and she got many American Doll clothes, dog and dog accessories.  She was super excited.  We also got her some stuff she had picked out at the school book fair and at Claires one day shopping.

We were all pretty tired 

11/27 - Kasey woke up in the middle of the night getting sick.  Of course she was fine by morning.  She asked that we go to the chicken for lunch.  Who are we to turn down that request.   We got up, had some breakfast and got showers.  We headed to Aggieland outfitters, to do some shopping.  Got a few things for the kids and teachers.  Then we headed to the Chicken. Greg dropped kids and I off.  We ordered food and got a table while they took Doug's car to the parking lot.

With playing dominoes, pool, watching football we stayed there all day until time to go to the game.  We brought many layers to our last game in those seats at Kyle Field.  Greg and Doug have been in those seats for 20 years and I've been sitting there for 17 years.

Greg and I took a few pictures.  Our relationship started 17 years ago this day.  Greg, Doug, my mom and 3 fun cousins (Lorenda, Courtney and Ashley) came to College Station with us to go to bonfire and hang out.   We spent time then at the Chicken, the Dry Bean, went to Bonfire, Greg had to take me potty behind a dumpster (which he still brings up often)...   

Fun times.  Then we went to the game.  Not a good end to season or our last game in those seats.

11/26 - We decided to go down to College Station a little early so that we could go to Student Bonfire.   We picked up Burger Street and took to Grandmas as we dropped Patch off.  Landon was hungry.  For breakfast he had pumpkin bread, a yogurt and a bagel.   For lunch he had a double cheeseburger and ate it all.

We left a little after noon to get to College Station.  We met Doug at Cory's house to drop our stuff off.   Then we went to pick up Double Daves for pizza rolls for dinner.  We had heard last year that there were lines on the highway getting to bonfire so we went early.  We ate our pizza rolls, had some brownies and drinks.   The boys started playing football.  Kasey was walking around with her ladybug blanket being queen and trying to keep the guys from stepping in manure.       Everyone had fun.  Landon got to run around and loved playing football.  He would run routes and try to catch the ball.  He tried to catch 10 and eventually did.  Bonfire was supposed to be lit about 8pm.  About 7 we decided to walk up to it.

We were able to get right up along the fence to take some pictures and hang out.   At 8 they came on saying that the line to get in was really long so they were waiting some to let more people join.    They had a talk by Hunter Goodwin who is a good friend of one of the guys that Greg and Doug grew up with.

Then they did some ceremony - Walking around with the torches.   Then they lit the bonfire.  Since we were right up front, it got hot really quick.  We moved back and watched it some.  It was pretty cool - probably about 1/2 the height of the last one we had been to, but still amazing and fun.

The kids enjoyed it.  With all the sparks coming off Landon said I want some of the pixie dust.   Kasey was pretty scared but liked watching from further away.

It was late so we went back to leave.  Traffic was horrible, I think we sat there for almost an hour moving very little.  Both kids fell asleep.

11/25 - We started off the holiday week (meaning me being off work) by having family portraits.   We had them at JC Penney.   We drove separately so Greg took the kids, my makeup and headed home while I picked pictures.  As I finished I discovered that my keys were in my makeup bag.   Greg, the kids and patch brought them back up to me :)

11/22 - There was a thunderstorm overnight, and guess who ended up in our bed - Ms Kasey.  This means none of us slept very well.   At 6am Kasey says mommy you said we could get up early and do zumba or hip hop.  Yes Kasey but not at 6am on SAturday.  AFter several can we get up nows, we got up about 6:45 to do some zumba.  We all got ready.  Kasey and I were going to get our hair cut.  Greg was taking Landon and a friend to Allen Eagle High School playoff game.

Kasey and I got tea and hot chocolate on the way to getting our haircut.  After that we met Grammy at the salon for manicure and pedicures which was fun.

After that Kasey and I argued about where to eat lunch.  We settled on going to Collin Creek mall to the food court.  We got Chick fil a.    After lunch Kasey really wanted to go see Santa so we did.  She was very excited and told him she wanted an American Doll.  

Then we went to do some shopping for family gifts which was also fun.  Got Kasey some last minute birthday gifts.

We had a fun day.  Kasey even thought so :)  We came home and rested some before the boys came home.

11/21 - Landon is staying at friends house for birthday party so Greg and I went to dinner with Kasey and Mi Cocina.  Then we had dessert and Pacuigo.  I've started reading a book to Kasey called Angel Tree.   I haven't read it before but I think it will be a good book.

11/20 - I had been in Denver since Monday.  It was cold but good trip.  I got back Thursday afternoon.  Mom and Dad picked me up and brought me home.  I got to go with Greg to pick up the kids.  The Daisy Troop went to ACO to deliver our holiday food and get a quick tour of the food pantry.  Then I took one of Kasey's friends home, and then took her to dance.  Kasey threw one of her fits saying her stomach hurt. The teacher had to drag her into class crying, but she stayed and did pretty good.  Not sure if she gets nervous with me there or just thinks I'll let her get away with it.  Silly girl.  We came home and went to early dinner with the boys at Spazo.   Then came home Kasey got in the shower, and Landon and Greg went to cub scout pack meeting.

11/16 - We had our 2nd daisy scout meeting.   The girls brought holiday food for ACO.  We had a couple girls drop and a couple new friends join.  The girls are fun and seem to enjoy it.  The moms had a cookie meeting, and I worked with the girls to plan their holiday party.   They chose a Frozen theme, had lots of ideas for food, and wanted to do a winter art activity.   It should be fun.

11/15 - We got up and headed to College Station with our several layers of clothes.  We went to get the key, drop our stuff off and went to Wings and More for lunch.  We got luck and found 3 chairs at the bar so we just sat there to eat.  Some friends from the neighborhood were also there.  After that we headed to North Gate.  We went to Duddleys.   Our neighborhood friends came by a little later.  Greg helped their two kids (same age as ours) play pool.  We joked with their son that if he became friends with Kasey he could come over and play pool at our house.  We went to put on new clothes and headed to the game.  It wasn't to cold, but rained almost the entire game.   Aggies unfortunately lost :(

11/14 - I ended up working from home for the day.  I got to have lunch with Landon which was a surprise to him.  Greg packed us both a Twix so we both got a surprise.  Then we went to the book fair so Landon could let me know what he wanted.  That afternoon we took the kids to the grandparents for the weekend.   We then went out with friends to Mi Cocina to celebrate Juan's birthday.   After dinner we went to have some wine at Cru.  It was fun!  Doug stayed at our house because we were headed to college station the next morning. 

11/11 - Kasey and I had a quick girl scout meeting with new Daisy Mia - she's from Kasey's class.   We met at Market Street and had a hot chocolate.  Kasey and I stayed for a few minutes talking about her birthday

We went home and then got ready for Landon's baseball tournament game.  it started at 7:30pm so we had a sitter for Kasey.  Boys started off good in the field, then had some bad plays and got down 8 to 1.  They came back in the 4th inning to 8 to 6.    They weren't able to score after that so lost, but they played hard.

11/9 - Since Patch was locked up most of Saturday we let her sleep in our room vs in her crate.  Of course this means we didn't sleep great.  I woke up at 3:30 with patch right next to me her head on the pillow.  It was hot, I guess that she puts out heat like Greg does.

We finally got up about 8, had a breakfast sandwich.   I did laundry while Greg went to get kiddos.    Greg had to run to work.  Kasey and I went through artwork pile to document when she did them.   Then we got ready and headed to scout meeting.  After that 10 families all headed to Allen Americans hockey game.  The boys got to do color guard for the National Anthem which was pretty cool. They got to go onto the ice.  Landon held the Texas flag.

Then we all sat together to watch the game.  Kids had fun dancing, eating and being kids.  They got to give high 5s to the team as they went off the ice.

11/8 - We had another busy day as usual.   Baseball tournament game got rained out so they rescheduled for Saturday at 8am.   That's really early for a Saturday.   Greg and Landon left to get there to warm up and Kasey and I took a little longer to get ready.  The boys started out pretty rough after three innings, they were down 7 to 2.   In 4th Inning Landon was pitching.   He did pretty well and they went into bottom of the 4th 7 to 2.  The boys bats were pretty hot.  They came back and scored 5 runs.  Since that's the run rule, we went into overtime.   In overtime they start with 2 guys on base and 1 out.  Top of the inner Yankees held them to 3 runs.   In bottom of the inning, Landon started out on base and got a run.    They guys got 4 runs to win the game.  They were so excited.  Landon got 2 hits, an out at 2nd, and did pretty good pitching in the 4th inning.  It was a nail biter.  I couldn't sit down.

Then we went to Rudys for Yankees end of season party.  We had some breakfast tacos, the kids had cupcakes.  Coaches got cool gifts Lyn made with Yankee symbol and picture of the team on it.

We left there to get ready for Landon's soccer.   Bengals were playing the top team in the league.  The boys played really hard.  They scored on a corner kick that was awesome. They tied 2 to 2.  One of the other teams goal was a penalty kick in the box on a bad call.  Everyone was really excited

After the game the team went to Braums to celebrate.  Everyone had ice cream.   The coaches were recognized and we ended the season with our heads up.

A&M was playing Auburn at 2:30, the way they were playing we assumed it would be a blow out.   The boys went to get basketball uniforms squared away, and Kasey and I went clothes shopping.    We had fun finding clothes, and we tried some on as well.   When we got home I checked A&M score and they were ahead 14 to 0.    At that point I didn't want to jinx it so I didn't start watching.  We did other stuff still checking.   Greg took kids to Grandmas house.   It got to the point that Greg had to turn on the game.  We saw the very end of the game - A&M beat #3 Auburn which was pretty unexpected.

That night we went to Bobs with Doug, JJ and Wayne to celebrate Doug's birthday.   We had fun talking, enjoying great wine and food.   We even got some dessert!  Fun night.   I wanted to go out for a drink, but I was the only one.  We went home.  

11/7 - Kasey got Knight of the Week for the first time.  She was very excited and we were proud of her.  Rounded out a good week for all.

11/6 - Landon came home and told Greg he didn't have written math homework.  Later he told me the story that they are starting to have timed multiplication table tests.  3 minutes to do I think 1 through 10 times tables - not a lot of time to think. This was the 2nd one they had taken.  Landon got all of them correct and finished everything in time so he didn't have written homework.   He was the only one in the class to get them all correct.  He was proud and so were we.

11/4 - Today was 3rd grade mayoral elections.   All of the kids had to write a speech with something they think should change, something they want to improve and something they like about their school.  Most of the parents were there and each kid got up and did they speech by memory to the class and parents.   They all did really good.  It's tough presenting in front of people.  I had fun working with Landon on his speech, we wrote it together.  He had some good ideas about the speech and ways to make presenting more dynamic.   His "platform" was that he wanted to have PE every day, play on the playgound every day, and he really liked the computer lab.  At the end he said - I'm Landon and I'm here to Pump You Up (Like Hans and Franz from Saturday Night Live - they have a new commercial so it got a laugh).   We were proud, Landon got all the way through his speech, used hand gestures, and presented his points well.    The kids voted on who the class mayor would be.  They narrowed it to 7 kits, then narrowed it to 2 and then elected a winner.   Landon won class Mayor - he was so excited and surprised.  Fun experience.  As Class Mayor they are going on a field trip in December to the Mayors office.  As class mayor he gets to shake the Allen, TX Mayors hand and ask him a question.  I hope I get to chaperone and be there.

11/3 - Landon had a late soccer game that was a make up game.  It  was at 7:30pm.  We had a sitter come stay with Kasey and get her to bed so everyone could go to the game.  Grammy, Gramps and Pops came to the game.  We thought it would be cool, but ended up being pretty nice.  They boys ended up winning 3 to 0.  They were so excited about winning and had fun playing.  Landon had an assist.

11/2 - Guess who came down  right at 7am.  Both kiddos had been up a little while and came down at 7.   We hung out for little while, had some wrestling, and then we had breakfast and hot chocolate.

We went to friends birthday in the afternoon.  Kids ran around outside and we talked with adults inside.  Fun!

Greg had coaches meeting and went to FC Dallas playoff game.  Kids and i went to BJs for dinner together.   they were tired so it was a little long and had some complaints from both.

Landon has been working on his speech to try and become class mayor.  Kasey stood up at the end of dinner to give her own version.  Wish I had recorded it.  She started like he does saying her name, that she wants to introduce herself (play, pretend).  She talked about what she wanted to change.  It was perfect!

got the kids in bed a little early which they needed

11/1 - We started off November with a rough sports day.   We started with pictures for the soccer team.  Landon played for first 15 minutes or so until we left for baseball.  Soccer team was playing a good team.   They played hard, and ended up losing 3 to 2.  At baseball the team ended up winning big, but Landon had a tough game.  He pitched an inning and had a rough time, and struck out twice.   All the grandparents and I left baseball early to see Kasey play soccer. Grandma took her to the game, she had to go potty.  Then her tummy hurt and she decided she couldn't play soccer.  We all sat there while she didn't play trying to convince her to play.  Nothing worked unfortunately.  

Kasey and I met Greg and Landon at Elke's.  Landon and Greg were sitting with Landon's classmate Katie.  So Kasey could sit with her family with her sister Lizzy who she used to play softball with.  She wasn't sure but sat there.   Since her tummy hurt we just let her have soup - she also had few carrots and a little fruit because of course as soon as we left the soccer field her tummy magically felt better :-/

We came home watched the end of the A&M game - they won, but should have won by more.   We got Zorbas for dinner, ate at home and the kids watched at least part of Rise of the Guardians before bed time.  It was night for time change.  We told the kids they weren't allowed to come downstairs before 7am

October 2014 Updates

10/31 - I was out of town, had to get up 3:30am Dallas time to fly back.  Worked most of the day.  Left work early, went to vote, and then headed home to get ready for Halloween.   We went to the Cracknells with several of the neighbors.  We had pizza, drinks and friends.  We got some pictures of the kids and headed out for trick or treating.  Kasey was Elsa and Landon was  a Texas A&M baseball player.   We had fun going around the neighborhood.  I brought Kasey back to get her in bed.  I let her have 1 piece of candy.  So then she wanted to go outside and see if trick or treaters were coming, she had to go potty, her tummy hurt, several things to keep her from going to bed.  So much for 1 piece of candy.

Landon and Greg went back to the Cracknells.  The boys sorted their candy, did some trading and then came home a little later.  We all had a good time!

10/26 - We got up and got ready.  I went to pick kids up.  Landon had to work on writing his mayoral speech.   We worked on what he would talk about.  His platform is about exercising more so I suggested that he use the Hanz and Franz - we are here to pump you up as catchy slogan.  He didn't really want to use it so Greg suggested saying it the same way but saying I'm here to change, our school.   He came back monday and wanted to do pump you up.

The boys went to soccer practice.  Kasey and I played work.  She was my boss telling me what to do.   She had me learn how to draw a human.  She would show me how to do it and ask me to do it.  We drew a person, wrote the name and then drew dog and labeled it.  then we turned the paper over and we drew whatever.  Kasey drew a dragon and castle.  I drew tree with grass, flowers, butterfly and sun.   We had fun.

10/25 - Another crazy day.  We got up for next baseball game.   Kasey started the day with throwing a huge fit, she lost a few birthday parties and decided to quit soccer (she didn't play in her game, but next day she decided to at least finish the season).  We'll see how this attitude issue goes.

Landon played in soccer game and lost 3 to 1, for some reason the guys are struggling to score.

I left a few minutes early to catch elementary reunion.  I got there at the end, but got to say hi to several people which was fun.  I went home to say goodnight to kids.   I got to tell mom and dad who was at reunion.

Then it was time to get ready for my 20 year high school reunion.  it took place at Rough Riders ballpark in Frisco.   Greg drove Rebecca Hughes and I up there on his way to FC Dallas game.   We were one of the first people there.  As people started arriving and checking in.  most people were having a beer.  Sarah and Rob showed up and shared a beer with us.  It was fun catching up with everyone.  Friends from elementary school, middle school and high school.  

We went in at 7:30 - Patrick Floyd and Amy Hendry planned it.   Patrick had Sarah Martin Wolff sing God Bless America to get it started.  Everyone was getting drinks and food and catching up.  I won't remember everyone but some people there.  From Elementary - Anne Lenhard, Nick Thrash, Mark Williamson, Christa Dean, Allison Giddens, Delana Thompson, Linda Dedo, Christy Apple, Christy Lavendara, Lori baker, Mike Oneal, Jeff Neyart, Jason Boslow, Kevin Sendry,Mike Cihock, Traci borcetino, Yong Lee, Lee Worley, Patrick Floyd, Jaime Folkert, Sarah Martin, Abby Farmer

Then from middle school people like David Walton, Andy Chun, Cory Koop

High school friends like Mike Eaton, Steve Falk, Brian French, Amy Hendry, Leith, Rob Worley. Kristen Buttram, Kirsten Knipp, Josh Gibbons, Gary St John

Anyway there were many there.  We had a great time catching up.  At the end we all went on the field for a big picture of everyone.   Greg was able to get in at the end when he came to pick us up.  Then several of us headed to Henry's at shops at Legacy for a few drinks.

We left about 1am after a very fun night.

10/24 - Landon had a make up game.  He ended up pitching 2 innings.  It was a tough game.  Our team was visitor, and we ended up losing by 1 run.   Team lead most of the game.  It was bummer.  Landon did pretty well pitching, some good and some bad.  he did get a game ball for it.

I brought home Kasey right after the game because it was late

10/23 - We had parent teacher conferences this week.  Both went well. They seem to be doing well and are liked by teachers which is good.  We are proud of them.  Landon is reading at early 4th grade level.  

In addition to Kasey's friend at school another little boy gave her a necklace and made art for her.  We are in so much trouble.

10/19 - We had 2nd daisy scout meeting.  One part of it I was asking the girls to decide if they wanted to go to a theater performance or plan a holiday party. It was kind of quiet.  Kasey says, can I say something.  I said sure.  She asked the girls to vote.  Who wants to do theater performance - no one; who wants to plan a party - everyone.   That's my girl :)

Afterwards Kasey and friend Violet played at the park while we waited for Landon to finish soccer practice.   We went home and kids and I decided to go to dinner.  We went to small place near by called Spazo.    They were playing the cowboy game so Landon was ok.  We had some pasta and got to spend some time together.

10/18 - Greg got up at 6:15 to get ready and head to the airport.  He was day tripping Alabama for the A&M game.   Kids and I got up, made some english muffin breakfast sandwiches.  We got kids ready for their soccer games.  Landon's team lost 2 to 0, struggled with scoring.   Kasey played pretty well at sweeper.    After games we headed to Elke's with Grammy and Gramps for some lunch.    After lunch we went to Dairy Queen.  Landon is much like me that we don't like vanilla.  We got a snack, and I had Landon taste their vanilla.  He agreed it was better than most vanillas.   

We got home and chilled out some.  We started watching A&M game, but it got ugly fast.  Then we went to the school so kids could ride bikes and play some with Cracknells.  I took Patch up there but didn't get to walk to much.

We headed home. After our late lunch and snacks we weren't really hungry.  We decided to have movie night.  Kasey and I watched Dancing with Stars and Landon watched the first Harry Potter movie since he finished the book.

Greg got home close to midnight.

10/17 - We had school fall festival.  We all had BBQ - Landon wanted to sit with his friends instead of us.  He sat with Travis, Andrew, Austin and a few others.  We had some good BBQ and some homemade desserts.

Then we went to walk around.  Spent some time outside doing some games.   Kasey decided she wanted face paint so we waited in line for a while.  She got a princess crown.  After that we went back outside.  Kasey found Bryce.  They had glow necklaces, and were walking around in field.  They walked around talking for about 30 minutes.  It was cute.

10/13 - I had to work some in the morning. Kids were off school  Then kids and I had lunch with Grandma and Pops.  Then we did some shopping.  We went to party city to finish out Kasey's Halloween costume.   Then we went to cake carousel looking for Frozen castle with no luck.   Then we went clothes shopping at Kohls.  We walked in and I saw a dress for me I liked.  Landon asked - are we shopping for dresses or looking for robes (which is how I convinced them to go clothes shopping).   We had fun.  Landon finally found some long sleeve and pants he liked.  He also got a full pullovers that he can wear with his tshirts as it gets colder.  Kasey found some Frozen stuff that she loves.  She would try them on and dance around saying stuff like oh yea, I'm Elsa.  Kasey got a Olof robe and Landon got a sports one.

We got home and kids wanted to put on all their clothes.  Kasey had a dress, sweater and her robe on.  She was dancing, doing karate and talking to us. Landon put on one of his pull overs, and then ended up in pajama bottoms and shirt.   Kids and i started watching Star Wars 6.  Greg came home from work and we all went to dinner.

We came home, kids showered, Kasey put on Elsa costume and became queen.  Landon and I watched the rest of Return of the Jedi.

It was a fun day.

10/12 - Patch woke me up about 6:45, and then kids were up by 7:10.  We chilled out for a little while and then got up.  We had donuts for Breakfast and chilled out until Greg got home between 11-11:30.

We decided to go to lunch at a new Pizza place in Fairview.  We weren't overly impressed, but we got to eat outside because it was nice out.  We were going to do a little shopping because Kasey needed new shoes.  She chose not to listen at lunch so she lost shopping, and even had to spend some time in her room when we got home.

We all hung out, Landon did some powerpoint - he's making one on the Carolina Panthers along with others.  Kasey and i spent some time looking at Frozen cakes.

We all went to FC Dallas game.  We went early to get parking, had a cupcake then went to the game.  They were playing LA Galaxy and this was Landon Donovan's last regular season game in Dallas.

It was kind of misty.   FC Dallas ended up winning 2 to 1 scoring near the end of the game.

We had discussion in the car what Kasey wants to do when she grows up.  She started off saying that she will have a limo when she gets older so I asked what she will do to make enough money for a limo.  It ended up that she would drive the limo, and drive all of us around for free.  Later she said Landon would buy the limo for her and she's drive everyone in the family around.

10/11 - I flew back from Germany.  All kids games were cancelled from rain which is good and bad.  Greg left early to head to College Station.  He met up with Steiners and saw the Pearsons as well.  Kids hung out with Grammy and Gramps for the day.

My flight was late, and then it took forever to get my luggage - I had to check because I had a bag of stuff I bought in Germany.

Gramps picked me up and took me back to their house.  Since my flight was late we had to leave right away to get home.  Kasey had convinced Grammy to make tacos, so luckily I got a to go box so I got some too :-)

I got the kids home.   Got Kasey to bed right away, and then Landon and I watched the Flash a new TV show.  We liked it and enjoyed it.   After Landon got to bed, I took a long shower, and then watched some more Game of Thrones.  I made it until about 11:30 when Patch and I went to bed.

10/10 - We had our last day of meetings in Germany.  Luckily we ended a little early.   We said goodbye to everyone.  One of the ladies gave us some really good chocolate from Germany.

We headed back to the hotel to rest some and pack.  We left for dinner - with recommendation from one of our colleague's we went to Erding, Germany.   we ended up in downtown area at beirgarden.   It was Erdinger brewery.   It was great, sitting outside having special Weiss beer.  We enjoyed some Spatzle and Schnitzel.  It was really good and good way to end our trip.

We headed back.  I stayed up and slept about 1 1/2 hours.  Got up at 3:30 to shower and get ready to head to the airport.   We got to the airport, had some breakfast and waited.   I slept on most of the frist flight to Madrid.  Then we had to walk about 30 minutes to get to our next gate.  We didn't have much time to spare.   We were on long flight in 767 so there were no individual video players.  There were also several teenagers on flight (French) that kept kicking my seat, standing in the isles talking, laughing.   Made for long flight, but I made it.

10/9 - We had good day at office.  then we were having dinner with the local team.  they took us to an Italian place in Freising.  One of our local team members is Italian and knows the place very well.  He ended up ordering drinks, food and dessert.  It was amazing - home made ravioli, spicy pasta and great spaghetti.  it was so good.  The wine was Montepulciano which was nice.  he also ordered us a dessert tasting - Tiramisu,  cocolate, flan, and something else.  It was great.   he also ordered us a nice after dinner drink - I don't remember the name, but it was good.

A few of us walked back to the hotel.   We all had some drinks and hung out in the hotel bar for a while.

10/8 - After day at work we decided to head into Munich for dinner with one of the ladies from the office.  We were having dinner at Marienplatz.  I really wanted to get a Dirndl for Kasey.  There was a shop in the Munich train station that I wanted to get back to.    We took a long train ride - local train so many stops.   When we got to Munich station we had to find our way to the store.  It took a little while but we found it.  Then we met up with others at Ratskeller in Marienplatz.  It was right by the Glockenspiel.   It had great scenery, very good food.  We tried a Germany champagne I think it was called secco.  We shared a meat platter and german pancakes for appitizer.  I had pork with mushroom sauce.  It was all very good.  Of course we enjoy the pretzel bread

We hung out in the area for a little while then took the train back to Freising.

This is what I wrote on Train for 10/8

Starting at marienplatz

After not sleeping to much got up for work.  We headed to office for mainly internal meetings.  We got to office took elevator to 3rd floor then we had to walk down to first floor for our meeting

Long day but good discussions.  We ended about 4, talked with one if ladies and headed out.  We all changed quick and headed for the train. We got on local train from Freising to Munich.  We stopped at central station for a specific place I wanted to get something.  Took a little while but we found it.  I got Kasey a German dirndle.  Then we went few stops more to Marienplatz.  We got out there where we met colleagues for dinner.  The restaurant was under city hall and the glockingspeil with very cool decorations. Restaurant called Rathskeller Muchen. 

We just passed Claim station.  Some how we started talking about giving birth with no epidural.  Joking talking with Brad on train about Bradley method

10/7 - Team met for breakfast, we met with distributor all day long.  We headed back to hotel and headed to quick dinner nearby.  I wanted Greek but got out voted to go eat Tai.  It was pretty good.  We got to sit outside to eat which was great. 

10/6 - Today was internal meeting day at work.  We walked up and down 3 flights of stairs. At least we got some exercise.  After work we headed back for a bit and walked into town for dinner.  We went to Kathi's steakhouse.  They put us in back room but was great food.  I had lamb.   We went back to hotel had a few drinks before heading to bed. 

10/5 - We got up early, we had to leave at 7am to get to Neuschwanstein Castle in time to get our tickets.   Very pretty drive to get there.  We got there just in time to get our tickets.  We took a bus up the hill, and then went to bridge where we got some cool pictures of the castle.  Then we walked up to castle for our time for tour.   we took tour inside, walking many steps and seeing some of the places that were finished.    it was pretty cool seeing the paintings on the walls, the bedroom furniture that was very detailed  - the tops had pillars and spikes on top.  He has running water in his room, they had lights in cave area, they had buzzers to call staff.   Pretty cool.

Then we decided drive a bit to beirgarden to have some lunch.  We sat out on patio Schloss Brauhaus Schwangau.   The food was good, we had Oktoberfest beer, great weather and nice scenery with mountains.

Then we drove to Oberammergau which is where Passion Play takes place.  Many of the buildings there have paintings on them.  We walked around for a while seeing buildings including few with kids nursery rhymes like Hansel and Gretal, The Sky is Falling and 3 little pigs.   There were several others with religious paintings or just beautiful paintings.  We did a little shopping, stopped for some ice cream, walked around a little more then headed back to hotel.

That night we went to the oldest Beer brewery thats still working in the world - Weihenstephaner..  We had great beer called Vitus, and food was good as well.  As leaving they had champaign made by that brewery and Sam Adams so I thought we should try it.  Wasn't so great :)  Oh well tried something new

10/4 - We got up early to head to Munich for Oktoberfest.   We tried getting money which ended up being harder than we thought.  We headed to Munich on the train, got some money at the train station.  Then we headed to Oktoberfest.   We just followed the people.  Almost everyone was wearing traditional  German outfits - girls have dirndl and guys wear lederhosen.  We got there a little after 9am.  There were rides, several tents, vendors selling some food and gifts.    We went into Spaten tent.  It was decorated very well - blue and white all across the ceiling.  Wooden cutouts of German women and men.  There was a stage, but no one playing at 9:30 in the morning.  We got two beers and a big pretzel.   It was basically a very big room of a bunch of people sitting very close together drinking beer and talking.  We sat across from a couple from Italy who where there for their 2nd time.

After that we decided to go walk around some before Marian and John got there.  We did a little shopping, looked at other tents, and then sat and did some people watching which is very fun there.   People were continuously coming in from multiple places and seemed that not that many people were leaving.

When Marian and John got there we went back in and decided to try and get into new tent Marstall tent.  We went up to the door, and everyone was holding up fingers how many people they had in their group.  The "bouncer" was choosing people based on seats available.   It didn't take to long and we got in.  They took us to our seat and said we had about an hour and half in the seats.  We ordered beer, got some food and enjoyed the music and scenery.  I had Bratswurst.  We got some pictures with a few of the waiters and waitresses which was fun.

The tents are all temporary, but hard to believe with how extensive they were.  Lots of wood, walls, each had restrooms, kitchens, stage, etc.

After our time we headed to walk around.  There were so many people there that it was like being in a heard of cows.  We went to look at all other tents, did a little shopping.

The other ladies decided to go back to the hotel and John and I decided to go to Marienplatz.  We went down there and saw the glockenspiel, and I was able to get new Germany soccer jerseys for Greg, Landon and a few friends.  After watching we sat outside and got hot chocolate and coffee and did some people watching.  After that we headed back to hotel.

We went to dinner in downtown Freising - walking distance from hotel.  We decided to have some some German food.  Good beer and some good pork.  Walking back we had some Gelato.

10/3 - I arrived in Germany.   I flew through Philadelphia on US Airways, which was weird.   

Breaking up that way the flight from Philly to Munich was about 7 hours.  I'm used to 10 hour flights to Europe.  When we were about 1 1/2 hours from landing they woke us for breakfast.  Basically drink and muffin top.  Really a muffin top?

I got in and took van to the hotel.  I was staying with Colleague because we were there for few days on our own dollar.  I got to the room, took a shower and we decided we were going to head to Salsburg, Austria for the afternoon.  We took the train, ate some pizza along the way.  It took little over 2 hours to get there.  Once there we found tourist info.   We decided to take a bus tour where you get on and off with spin to Sound of Music which was shot there.   We first stopped at gardens that were really pretty with view of castle and churches.  Really nice.  Then we drove around what seemed like the same place several time.  We stopped by nice area with pond and the sound of music house.

After it was time for the bus driver to go home, he dropped us off near the first.  There was a large local wine tasting - tents, lots of wine and snacks.  We found one of the tents and ordered a local wine.  I also tried something called Sturm which is wine before it's fully ready.  Its sweet, and has some carbonation to it, but it was good.  Fun experience

Then we walked into town some.  We found an amazing Christmas store that has many decorated eggs of all kinds.  The lady I was with and  both bought about a dozen of them they were so cool.  Fun gifts.  We walked a round a little to see where Motzart was from and cool fountain.  Then we headed back to Freising.  

We decided to have dinner at the hotel German restaurant.  Food was good, but service was really slow.

September 2014 Updates

9/28 - We had high hopes kids would sleep in.  Not likely.  They got up a  little after 7am.  We decided to got have breakfast at a new place called Walnut Cafe.  Neat breakfast place, and we decided would be a fun date night maybe before movie too.

We came home, Greg and kids took patch for bike ride / walk.   I read some and ended up taking a long nap.  Then i got ready for girl scout meeting, and Greg and Landon headed to soccer.   

We got ready and Greg and i planned to go to dinner just the two of us since i was about to be out of town for a week and half.  We went to a favorite Gemma.  Which we enjoyed.  Grandma and Pops got kids to bed while we went to dinner

9/27 - We had another busy day.  I woke up to take Patch for a walk.  Then we all got ready and headed to Landon's 9am soccer game.   It was nice that the field was closer to our house and we were able to sit in the shade.

We cam home after the game, Landon showered and headed to Top Golf with his cub scout troop.   Kasey, Grammy, Gramps and I all had lunch and got Kasey ready for soccer.  After that We headed to  Kasey's game and Greg went to get Landon on his way to  Kasey's game.   We stayed through about 1/2 of Kaseys game and then left to pick up Landon's friend and head to A&M game at Jerry World vs Arkansas.  We got there just in time to say high to Dave, Tracy and Doug and walk to the stadium.  Game got a little slow in 3rd quarter when A&M was down by 2 touchdowns.  Somehow they came back to tie by end of game and went  into overtime. Great overtime because A&M won.  Great game.

We then headed out, picked up Kasey (Grammy and Gramps stayed with her at her game and tool her home while we went to the game), took Kenny home and head home to get kids to bed.

I wasn't feeling great so we actually wen to bed about 10:30 which never happens for us.

9/20 - I woke up to walk the dog.  Landon had baseball game at 9am.  He had a good game and even got one of the gameballs from the coach.  He played well at catcher and he got a home run with his 2nd at bat.

After game we came home to get ready and headed to SMU for A&M vs SMU game.  We went to tailgate with Doug and Steiners.  Had some lunch, few drinks and headed to the game.   It was really hot sitting in the sun.  Kids spent most of the game sitting on the ground to be in the shade.  We drank lots of water, had to put on sunscreen several times.

After the game we came home, picked up food, ate showered and vegged.

9/19 - Landon had baseball practice.   Greg and i were meeting friends at Oktoberfest.    Kids were tired and figured we would be so we got babysitter for them.   She is cheerleader at high school - interesting.   I got multiple texts from her.  We had fun at Oktoberfest.  Elizabeth was out on the floor dancing a lot.  It was cute.  She kept getting different people to dance with her.  Tracy, Dave, Doug, Gabby.   Doug, Greg and I stayed later.  We had some skillet potatoes, strudel.  Good times.

the people working there didn't know the kind of beer - they would ask if you wanted dark (Oktoberfest), medium (wheat) or light (Pillsner)

9/13 - we were supposed to have baseball, soccer, then drive to College Station for A&M game.  Kids games were rained out even though most of us were on our way or at soccer when we got confirmation it was cancelled.  Anyway, we hung out in the morning, packed everyone, took the kids and dogs to Grandmas (Grammy came to pick up Landon) and Doug, Greg and I headed to College Station.

We dropped our stuff off and headed to Northgate.  We were able to park close by.   We headed to the Chicken for some food and drinks.  We were able to share a table.  So the Chicken now serves hard liquor.  There was a table next to us that kept getting shots brought to them.  Little weird since forever it's been beer and sangria.

Then we decided to go to Duddley's for a while.  Watch some football and have some beer.   The Dlugosch's (at least 3 of them) were in college station.  They met us at Duddley's before heading to the game.   Good game.   When it was over we were exhausted.  I fell asleep in the car just driving to Bryan.

9/7 - We got up, had Shipley's for breakfast, and drove home.  We picked up Patch.  The boys had cub scouts at Noon, and then Landon had soccer practice at 3:30.  Kasey and I took a walk with Patch.   By the time we all got home we were all really tired.

9/6 - What a crazy day.  Left our house at 8:15am - Landon had Soccer at 9am.   He played a good game at midfield.  This was their first game on bigger field with bigger goals.  They tied 5 to 5.   Then we tried to sit in the shade for a little bit until Kasey's soccer game at 11am.   She played sweeper well.  She got tripped at one point and got right back up but then started crying.  She was fine, but think she was scared.  You could tell the young girls were pretty tired.

Right after Kasey's game we took the boys to the baseball fields to warm up.  Kasey and I went home for her to change, let Patch out for a few minutes, get more water, grab a little lunch and head to Landon's baseball game.  The boys played a hard game but lost.  Landon missed a few balls in field, but he got a hit and scored.   It was super hot at the game.  Even in the shade.

After the game, we left right away to come home.  Boys took showers, and we jumped in the car heading to College Station.  We left at 3:06pm.  We stopped at Sonic for dinner (since I left the sandwiches I made in the fridge), we went potty in Olsen field and still made it to our seats before kickoff.  Then the announcement comes on that the game was delayed because there was lightning within 8 miles of the stadium.  We sat there for 1 1/2 hours with no time in sight.   Kids were tired and it was past Kaseys bedtime at least.   Kids and I headed out.  Got the kids to Corey's and they went to bed.  I worked on stuff and watched the game on Greg's ipad

The boys got home about midnight.  

9/4 - Greg took Kasey to dance and soccer practice and I went to curriculum night for both kiddos.  Hearing what they will learn and new things for this year.   It's going to be fun.

9/1 - We were driving and I asked the kids what their favorite things in the world were.  Kasey said dogs, flip flops and animals.  Landon said Legos, Baseball and Aggies.  They both said the pool was 4th 

August 2014 Update

8/31 - We had to get up early.  We bought tickets for the Lego Fest.  We agreed to meet Dowdy's at the train station for 8:03am train.  Who's idea was this.  We made it with one minute to spare.

Landon and Mike sat together, and Kasey and Matt sat together.  They were looking at the map and talking which was fun.  We got down to the convention center about 8:45am.  We walked around the find the entrance and we got there just at they were opening up.

We went in and got some pictures with the big lego characters they had - Lego movie, Star wars, the hulk.  Always cool to see.  They first went to area with all one size green legos.  All the kids started building.   We encouraged them to keep looking around.  Kasey went to the Friends section and built a beach house with many windows.  She had fun.  We then went to look around.  Got a picture with Lego cinderella, and did a little building with Disney stuff.

Landon was building a car to race (one of his favorites), he build something in Chima which is a new favorite, he played in Star Wars area and he built a guy in heros.  They both go to build a square in nations section where it was put inside outline of the USA.   There were several sections and a store and book area.  It wasn't huge but kids had fun.  I think Kasey got a little bored at the end.  Landon would have stayed there all day building if we let him :)

Afterwards we headed back to the train.  We stopped with the Dowdy's at Trinity Hall for some lunch and a few beers.   We all had a good time.

We got home.  Kids watched a little TV while Greg and I took nap.   Then kids got ready to go to Grammy's house.  They packed and got ready.  I took them over while Greg took a little nap.

We weren't sure if we were going out, but we did.  We walked around Downtown McKinney for a while and ended up at the Mellow Mushroom for some pizza and drinks.  Then we headed to Solis' house to visit and have some wine with friends.  We didn't stay out late, but it was a nice evening.

8/30 - We  could all have slept in but of course Kasey was up at 6:18am. Ugh.

Boys went to soccer practice at 9 and Kasey and I went up to the park to walk patch and play on the playground.  Luckily Mattie Grace was there so Kasey had fun while I walked Patch.

After showers we went to Elkes.  Kasey wasn't feeling great but ate pretty good lunch.  After lunch I got a few hours to do shoe shopping.  Patch had chewed up another pair of shoes so I went shopping.:)

That afternoon Greg went with the boys to Jerry World to tailgate and see OK State play Florida State.  Kids and I went to get pizza, dessert making stuff and watched movies at home.  Kasey watched Second Hand Lion which I love, and Landon and I watched the Avengers which was good.

8/27 - Kasey showed us how they learned to draw humans - not stick figures.  She said it was also exciting that they got numbers on their cubbies.  Funny how much more she shares :)

Kasey is playing with friends in her class Mallory and Mia.

8/26 - Both kids had good days again at school.  Landon had soccer practice in heat.  Kasey said they were talking about what math is and that she was the only one that knew that it was about math.

8/25 - First Day of school.  Kasey was up putting her shoes on before Landon was even up.  They were both excited.  First day Greg and I both walked the kids in.  We took Kasey to her class.  Got a quick picture and let her go.  She was excited and up for fun so we were ok.  Then we took Landon to his class.  He went straight in and put his stuff up.  We had to ask for a hug.  They both did great and had a good day at school.   They were really excited.  Landon really likes his teacher Ms Swan and likes his class.

Kasey got blue which is really good behavior.  She said a few kids were yellow for not listening.  Kasey said at Recess she was playing the bell on playground and getting a bunch of people to play drums while she played bell.  She said it was awesome.

8/24 - Last day of summer.  Greg set his alarm so we could start getting up early.  i asked him why the alarm was on.    We slowly got up.   Kids watched some TV, cleaned up some.  Greg walked the do while Kasey and I showered.   Then we headed to Bonnie Ruth for some brunch.  So yummy!

After brunch we walked around a little bit and let the kids play at the park.  They played the xylophone and drums and ran around some.   We were about to leave and there was a fire truck behind our car so we walked around some more.  kids walked down to see the ducks and tried finding the baby ducks.

We headed home to rest for a little while.  Kids were a bit whiny.   Landon did some reading and kasey wrote her lower case abcs.  Both took some pushing.   Kasey likes to do things on her own time, and Landon hasn't found another book series he likes.

Then we headed to the pool with friends to spend the afternoon.  We had fun playing, talking with adults and spending some time outside on our last day of summer.  Then we went home to shower, and then went for quick dinner at  Torchy Tacos.  Then we came home for movie night.  Kids and I watched National Treasure 2.    We got kids in bed and set their alarms for the first day of school.

i can't believe Landon will be in 3rd grade and Kasey is starting Kindergarten.

8/23 - Today was our first day starting to get back into sports.  Landon had morning soccer practice. The boys were at practice and Kasey rode her bike to the park and Kasey rode her bike.  She rode around quite a bit and I wore Patch out walking around the park.   We headed home after practice.  Everyone showered and we went to Elkes for lunch which is always yummy.  We then came home and relaxed for a few hours.  Kids watched one of their shows and played some xbox.  Greg and I relaxed in the bedroom reading and looking online.  

Then it was time for baseball.  Landon had his first game of the season for baseball.  This is kid pitch (modified so coach/Greg pitches if kid pitches 4 balls) so the game really changes a lot.  Landon played 2 innings of catcher which is tough in the heat, he sat out 2 innings and played left field 1 inning.  He only batted twice.  He got a good hit off coach pitch and scored first time.  He struck out the 2nd time.  When he was playing left field he ended up missing a pop fly, but then got an out at 2nd to end the inning.

After baseball we headed home for showers and headed to dinner with Doug and Steiners.  The kids are so funny together.  After dinner the 3 of them went to look at desserts.  Dave and Tracy brought some Ouzo that was made at home from their extended Greek family in California.   We shared a few shots with the owner.  He said next time we come in to give him 2 days and he wanted to share a special dessert with us.   We had fun.  Boys talking about a few boys trips.  Tracy and I talked a little about kids going back to school.   Fun time with friends.

8/22 - Kasey used to like sugar cookies and her favorite color was pink.  Now she likes blue which Landon says the only reason she likes blue is because of Frozen.  Now she likes chocolate chip cookies.  Funny to see how things change.

Landon really likes fajitas a lot.  He seems to not like a lot of other food, but he usually ends up eating pretty good.  Landon is pretty good about trying new things at least once which is good.

8/21 - Tonight was meet the teacher night.  We first went to Ms Savitch's class where Kasey was going to be.   She has a friend from her soccer team Ovni in her class but doesn't really have any other friends.  She was excited to see her classroom, find her cubby, she got to meet a few of the boys in her class.

Then we went to Landon's class.   He has Ms Swan.  The seating was interesting.  Landon between Carter and Boone.  Dylan Christensen was across from him, Micah Gadd down a few seats, and a few other girls.  Will be interesting how quickly that changes.

We headed to the AIM room to get sheet and drop supplies. We got to say hi to Ms Szeryk.  We showed Kasey around the school. She got to say hi to Ms Benton (her friend Davis') mom, the music and art teacher.

After that we headed out to grab some dinner.  We went to Mi Cocina 

8/20 - 

Kasey has 3 songs she really likes right now

1.  Cool Kids - Echosmith

2. Really Don't Care - Demi Lovato

3. I will Never Let you down - Rita Ora

8/16 - We had a busy day.  Started off with Kindergarten Ice Cream social that I had planned (which was the same time as Landon's baseball practice).  Invited all families of kindergarteners for some ice cream, meet each other and see what the PTA is up to.  My guess is that we had 30-40 families there which was a pretty good turn out.  It was fun to see friends and meet new friends.

After that we went to Elkes for lunch.  We often go there Saturdays but with all our travel we probably haven't been since before Greg went to World Cup.   They had Greg's coaches badges since last time we were there.  

We were going to do some shopping that afternoon, but ended up going to the pool with friends which was a lot of fun.   It was the day we get teacher letters so at one point Greg and Jason went to look for letters and grab and adult beverage for us to enjoy at the pool.   We had fun.

We came home and all showered.  Then we went to Splitsville for some dinner and bowling.   I didn't bowl very well.  Kids were funny.  Landon would sit on the floor 1/2 the time after he bowled.  Kasey would run and throw the ball.  They have good music there so Kasey was doing some dancing.  Fun family day!

8/11 - We had to get up, get ready, breakfast and get out of our room by 8:30am.  We got off the boat pretty easily.  We had our luggage so didn't take long at all.   We started heading north not long after 9.  I was originally going to work on the way back , but I was tired so I slept instead.  Gramps had gotten up about 3:30am so he was tired too.

We made it home. Greg and kids were out shopping so I took a little 30 minute nap.

We ended up going to the pool for a little while and relaxing which was fun.

8/10 - I finally got to sleep in til about 9am.  It was our last day on the boat.   We got up and got ready.  Went to dining room for breakfast, and then went to look at which pictures to buy.  After that we went to find everyone.  We found Debby who had been looking for us.  They were doing a grove fundraiser for St Jude.  We paid our $10, got tshirts.   Then all 7 (without Nina) headed to the Love and Marriage game.  Always funny seeing questions asked for newlyweds, few years married and other couple was married 44 years.

After that I went to do country line dancing taught by one of the dancers on the ship (Greg).  I had done one earlier that was learning now to do thriller dance - which was fun.  The country line dance was fun as well.

We did some relaxing that afternoon, got ready for dinner and headed to casino area to listen to some music and try out the tasting bar (most days had little snack before dinner).

There was a band playing good music - overall the music on the ship was great.  We had our last dinner which was great as usual.  This time the staff asked us to get up and dance with them.  Nina, Ayla and I danced the chicken dance and macarena which was fun.  Somehow before dinner we couldn't get mojito because multiple bars were out of mint leaves.  We joked that we had had to many which is why they were out :)   At dinner they had mint leaves.   So I had wine, a mojito since we couldn't get them anywhere else, and a port.

After dinner most everyone went to their cabins for a bit before the show.  Debby, mom and I walked around and sat near casino to listen to music and watch one of the photographers take pictures of ladies and families.

We all met at the theater for the big show.  It was like a broadway show about New Orleans. Ayla wanted to sit up front so we all did.  One of the new entertainment guys Keanu was sitting right next to us.  He helped us take pictures of all of us, and even got in one of them.   A few things were a little borderline for kids, but overall it was a good show.  After the show we went back to our rooms for a few minutes.  It ended up being just Nina and I going out.   We got a drink at Alchemy and then tried to find a seat for the comedy show but didn't have any luck so we went to the piano bar to enjoy some music.   After that we went to the dance club for a little bit.  We had a drink and watched everyone dance.   We didn't want to stay up to late so about 1:30 we headed upstairs for some pizza.   It was earlier than we usually go up there.   There was a really hot guy with his girlfriend up there.  We had to help them get pizza and had a few drinks.  Then Keanu came up so Nina and I talked with him for a little while.  We ended up going to bed early about 3 - early for this trip.

Overall we had a great time.  I feel like I got to act like a 20something year old, and I think we all had a great time.

8/9 - It was Cozumel day.  We were meeting at the pool with a slide at 9am.  Little early when you were out til 4am.  Mom stayed on the boat, but the 7 of us were going to Paradise beach.  We grabbed breakfast, and tried to head off the boat.  I understood incorrectly where to go.   I found Chris and asked him for directions where to get off the boat - he was up til 4 as well but he had to start working at 7am.   We found our way off the boat and headed to taxis.   We had to walk through many shops to get there.

We found a van to take us to Paradise Island.  When we got there it was basically pay $3 up front and they asked you to buy $10 each in food/drink.

We got a few drinks, put on some sunscreen and got in the pool.    Great huge pool.  We were one of the only ones there early.    We relaxed in the pool.  Debby and I got a bucket of beer, other adults got mixed drinks.   It started to rain a bit, so we went under cover and had a bit to eat.  We had free wifi so we were able to text and I tried calling Greg which didn't work great.  We had a great time relaxing.  Brittany, Lindsey and Ayla went to the beach for a bit and got on trampoline and tried one of the big slides.

We had to be back to boat at 3:30 leaving at 4pm.  We headed back early afternoon so we could do some shopping before going back on board.  We all found something to buy of course :)

We got back and it was almost time to get ready for dinner.  We watched people on dock for little while.  Got dressed for dinner, and headed to Casino bar for a drink.  We had a good dinner again.  After first night the wait staff was singing to us, 2nd night I think they got up on the stations in middle of dining room and danced for us.  They did a little something every night.

There wasn't much going on that night.  No big show, no comedy.   After dinner we ended up at the Alchemy bar.  Debby and I wanted a Manhattan.  Nina and mom ended up getting chipolte pineapple martini which was pretty good.

  

We did several things that night.  Went to the piano bar for drink and listen to guy at piano.   Grammy got him to play a few Elvis songs.  We had fun singing along.  I think we went to the dance club for a little while after that.  Debby and mom decided they were going to go get pizza.  Nina, Cheri and I stayed at dance floor for a while. Then we decided to go up there as well.  Mom and Debby were still up there.  We had a few drinks, some pizza before going to bed.  Nina, Cheri and I decided to go exploring.  We found the kids area and tried to hollihoop, Nina was riding on kids scooter thing.  Then we went to play some basketball.  We weren't very good that late :)   After that we headed to bed.

8/8 - Even staying out of course I woke up at 7:30am, what's up with that.   I took a much needed shower, then rested some til 9ish.  Mom and I went to the dining room for breakfast.  I had huevos rancheros which is always yummy.  They had good bread, juice, mom liked the coffee.   Majority of people on the cruise were from Texas which is always fun.  

We headed to the pool after that.  Everyone else was already there.  Debby was reading, Brittany, Lindsey, Nina and Ayla were in the pool and Cheri was reading and sunbathing. We sat with Debby in the shade for a while.  Then we got a bigger table when it was time for lunch.  On board they have Guys burgers which are really good.  Mom, Debby and I got them with yummy fries like they have at Snuffers.

I went walking around the ship some, looked at pictures, looked in shops, listened to some trivia.   Before dinner Cheri, Debby and I went to a trivia thing.  Guess who was leading it - Ginger.  He commented when Cheri and Debby got there.  When I got there he yawned so I asked if he was tired or something.  He said he had a late night.  Then mom walked in.  He tells everyone that he had shots with Grandma last night.  Made mom smile.That night for dinner we all got to sit together.  It was formal night so we all got dressed and took a picture with all of us.  Then we headed to dinner.  It was lobster night.  We had lobster and shrimp.   

After dinner we decided to do comedy again - at least to see the lady.  We learned from the night before we needed to get there early.  We grabbed a drink and walked to a club playing latin music.  There were several ladies in there dressed like old ladies.  They pulled Nina and I in dancing.   They were there celebrating their friend's 50th birthday and wanted to make her feel better by dressing like old ladies.  They had on wigs, old purses, hose to their knees, sweaters, one lady had toilet paper in her shoe and her dress tucked in her underwear with toilet paper.  Needless to say they were fun group.

Then we went to get seats for comedy - I think we changed tables like 5 times.  We had some drinks and enjoyed the adult comedy.  After that Debby, Cheri decided to go to bed. Mom, Nina and I went to listen to some Motown, and then mom headed to bed as well.  Nina and I decided to stay up.   Several of the staff were out that night because a few of them were celebrating birthdays.  We went to the dance club for a while, great people watching, did some dancing.  Then about 2ish we headed to pizza place again.  After a while Chris, Ginger and some other guys came up there.   Ginger was leaving the ship the next day so we bought him a few shots.   Interesting discussions.  We told Ginger goodbye and went to bed again close to 4am.

I told Nina on the way out, we should just jump in the pool in our dresses.  Sounded good.  It was netted off so we didn't.

We got to our floor and Nina said there was a really cute guy on the end we were on - she said he was behind the door for employees only.  We tried looking through the door - there was like 1/4 inch to look through.  We couldn't see anything but we could hear people in there and tried to see them.   There might also been some movement of door decor, but I didn't see anything :)

8/7 - We got up early to go on girls cruise.  Mom, Nina, Cheri, Debby and I were all going on short 4 day cruise.   Aunt Mary was going but had some health issues and needed to stay home.  We were sad and missed her.  We were making good time so we headed to Conroe to meet up with everyone else.   I logged in to send emails and we headed to the marina.  We took a picture and headed to Galveston.  It rained some on the way down.   Traffic wasn't great either.  It was late when we got on.  The lines were long, and I complained that I'm not used to traveling where I have no status :)  We were going on Carnival which mom and I weren't to sure about, but we were excited to be with everyone.  We finally got on and decided to go get some lunch.   Guess who we saw.  Brittany, Lindsey and Ayla surprised us.  None of us knew they were coming.   We tried to go get all of us together for dinner but they were getting ready for emergency practice so we couldn't find anyone.  I went down to put my credit card on my room card.  Mom got our luggage in room and the boat took off.  

It was time for the emergency drill.  We had to go down stairs 2 flights.  Mom had a little trouble, but was making her way.   They told us we could sit in dining room instead of going outside for drill.  That was nice to sit and not be in the heat.

That night at dinner we talked to Maitradee to try and get all of us together.  We ended up sitting that night with the 5 of us at a booth with me on the end.  We could see the water out the windows out the back of the boat.  We had a great dinner, some good wine.  Several of us had molten chocolate cake which was great.

That night they had 1 show at 7:30pm so we headed to the show.   It was dancers and singers from the ship, but was fun.   We decided to go to comedy after that.   The guy who did introduction was a cute guy from Australian named Chris.  He made funny jokes and introduced the comedians.   There was a lady who was hilarious talking about her 4 kids and how life is.  The 2nd comedian was a guy.  He was ok, but we liked the lady better.

After the comedy clubs we went to the dance club for a little while.  Got a few drinks.  Nina, Debby and I did some dancing.    Then somehow we ended up at the Casino bar.   We were all 5 sitting at the bar.   We decided to do a shot.  Note that mom said earlier in the day she wasn't doing shots.   I suggested she do buttery nipple which she liked - who doesn't.   Then somehow we ended up doing multiple blow jobs (the shot).  We were laughing, the bar tending was taking our picture and we were discussing whether or not you should use your hand (when taking the shot).   After that it was almost 2am and we decided we needed some food.   Only place open was the pizza place on Lido deck by the pool.  Guess who else was up there - Chris from the Comedy thing.  We got some pizza and sat at the bar where Benjamin was bar tender.  Chris was there with his roommate Ginger who also worked in Entertainment group as well.  We all started talking and Ginger decided to buy us a shot.  There was some confusion that only 4 of us wanted a shot, but mom ended up wanting one as well.  So Ginger says, Grandma wants one too.  Ok, he got one more.  We had Chris and Ginger's favorite shot - Woo Woo.   We then bought him a fire ball.   Debby and mom went to bed and Nina, Cheri and I went with Ginger to the front of the boat to see stars and moon.   Staying up til 4am became a norm for Nina and I.

8/6 - After being back at work for 2 days it was time to go back on vacation :)   One of my colleagues drove me to work.  Then at lunch I told the guys I had to finish a meeting and I would meet them at lunch.   I went to leave and couldn't find my keys because I didn't have keys or a car.    I ended up taking train to Plano - of course buying ticket I missed the train and got to stand in heat.  Anyway Greg and kids picked me up in Plano and we headed to Grammy and Gramps for tacos.   They left me there because we were leaving early the next morning to drive to Galveston.  

I stayed up late working trying to get things done.

8/4 – Time to head home.  We got up and all got ready.  Kids watched TV for little while then played for a little while.  Matt was driving us to airport then going to work so we left early.    If traffic gets bad there aren’t always alternate routes to take so we wanted to make sure everyone had plenty of time.

We got to the airport in plenty of time.   Got checked in, had pizza one last time, did a little shopping for New York Souvenirs  and then headed to the gate.  No free Wi-Fi so everyone was playing on electronics disconnected.

We’ve had a great trip.   Landon’s favorite things were visiting Pennsylvania and visiting friends.   Kasey’s favorite thing was seeing friends.  We got to see a different part of the country, experience New York some, and see friends we haven’t seen in a while. 

8/3

We were going to head out to beach area, but it rained in the morning and was actually a bit cool.  Lisa made French toast, eggs and bacon for breakfast.  The kids played for a while and we headed out about lunch time.  We went to Lyman’s Orchard.  They had a big store and deli so we got sanchwiches and stuff for lunch.  It was great day so we ate outside.  After that we headed to sunflower maze that the kids were really excited about.   Kasey asked Greg to go in with her then the 4 kids took off with maps I’m not sure they used.   The sunflowers were tall so we couldn’t see kids much.  We could see Greg’s head every once in a while.   They were pretty excited when they got out.

After the maze we went to pick your own places in the Orchard.   We started with Blueberries.  We had several buckets and started picking blueberries.   Kids had fun finding good ones and putting them in the buckets.  We ended up with about 3 ½ lbs of blueberries between all of us. The fresh blueberries are really good.

Next we headed to pick your own peaches and nectarines.   We only picked peaches.  Kids had to climb in trees some of be lifted up to get some good ones.  They weren’t quite ripe, but will be there soon.

After that we went back to the store for a bit to have some fudge and go potty before heading back to the house. 

When we got back the kids kept playing outside.  It was a great day.  Greg and I had some wine and I went on patio to read some and enjoy the weather.

Lisa and Matt made salad, kabobs and baked potatoes for all of us.  This time the adults got to eat outside and kids ate inside  J.  Dinner was great.  Landon and Patrick were exchanging Baseball stickers for the books they keep with player stickers each season.  Kids played some more and then took showers.  

  After their showers all 8 of us played Texas Hold’em.   It was fun to see how kids would play.  Kasey, Patrick and Katelyn played with parents.  Greg helped Landon some but he played his own hand.   We had fun.

Then it was time for kids to get to bed.  The adults then got cheesecake – yum.  We stayed up talking a while about vacations and kids.   It was fun.

8/2 – Greg and I slept in some and of course kids got up pretty early.   Matt and Lisa went for a run very early and the dogs let us know when they left. 

We ended up having a pretty relaxing day.  It was raining in the morning so we didn’t head out like we had originally planned.   Kids were getting a little stir crazy in the afternoon so Matt and Lisa took all 4 kids to play putt putt.   They had a great time.  Landon won and was excited about that.  Greg and I relaxed and went for a walk while they were gone.

After they got back we got ready to go out to dinner.  We headed to Milford, Connecticut for some sea food.  It was a nice little restaurant and food was good.  We all had some Calamari and Matt, Greg and I split some oysters with horseradish and  caviar on them which was really good.  Greg and I split stuffed lobster and scallop risotto.

After dinner we headed to little area by our cars.  It had a really small sand beach area and several rocks for the kids to climb on.  They had fun running around, throwing things and climbing on the rocks.  We got some cute pictures of them.

We headed back to the house for some yummy cheesecake that Lisa had made.  It had Oreo crust, cheesecake and chocolate top.  It was amazing.

After that it was time to get kids in bed.

8/1 – We got up little early so we could go to Top of The Rock in NBC building to see the city.  We got there about 8:20am which was great because there weren’t to many people there.   We got tickets and headed upstairs.   It was neat to see the city from so far up.  We could see Times Square, Football Stadiums in New Jersey, Statue of liberty, World Trade Center building, Empire state building, Chrysler building, our hotel, Central Park and many others.   We got to see stuff from several levels, then we headed back down after we got picture of all of us.

We headed back to hotel to pack and get final shower.  We got ready and took a Taxi to Grand Central Station.  Kasey was really tired and whining all morning.  It was cool to see center area like was in Madagascar.   We looked through the shops a little, headed down for a little Mediterranean food.  I got a tea from Starbucks then we headed to our train.

There were several dogs on our train which Kasey loved.  Kids and Greg played on ipads.  I wrote blog and read some.  Nice to relax a little before seeing Allens.

We got there and Lisa, Patrick and Katelyn picked us up from the train station in Stratford.  It was about 20 minutes from their house.  We went back to their house and the kids took off right away to go play.  We didn’t see them until dinner time.  We hung out and chatted and kids played all kinds of things.   They went outside some.

Lisa made a great dinner for all of us.   Kids ate dinner outside and we sat inside at the table.

After dinner we got kids showered and ready for bed.  Landon slept on Patrick’s top bunk and Kasey slept in Katelyns room on her trundle.