Grapefest 09

One weekend in September, Meg & I went to Grapefest with Nawnaw. It was beautiful day to walk main street in Grapevine. We stopped for a drink and corn dog about half way thru the street. It's not a day at Grapefest without a corn dog :)

As we were walking thru the streets, Meg noticed the children with painted faces...so, of course we had to stop to get hers done too.

***Meg getting a princess mask painted on her face***

***One eye down, one to go***


***It amazes me how the kids will sit so still while they're having their faces painted***

***a little dramatic flare***

***GLITTER, the finishing touch***

***beautiful***

***admiring her new face***

After we Meg had her face painted, we headed over to the rides for one ride. I was so happy to have Nawnaw there with us. Meg wasn't tall enough to ride by herself, and I'm not sure I should be riding around in roller coasters yet (need to ask my back doctor).

Meg had an absolute blast on the roller coaster, not sure I can say the same thing for Nawnaw. But, she was a good sport and laughed the whole time.

***getting ready for the ride***

***Meg & Nawnaw in the front car***
***Nawnaw looks like she's having more fun than Megan***

San Antonio Visit

Meg and I always enjoy our visits in San Antonio. No matter how long we stay, it never seems long enough.

Meg and I arrived on Wednesday...we couldn't wait to meet Gunner. The drive down was very annoying entertaining. For the first two hours, Meg sang. Out loud. No song in particular, just words strung together in a sing song voice. I tried to "drown" out the singing by turning up the radio - wrong...this only made Meg sing louder. I tried to talk her into singing along with the radio - she wanted nothing of that. After two solid hours of singing, it stopped...

But, then this started..."How much longer?" "Are we there yet?" "Why is it taking so long?" I much preferred the singing to the interrogation to be honest.

Once we finally got there, we were both happy to be out of the car.

Thursday we just hung around the house. Late in the afternoon, we got a short thunderstorm. Since it hardly ever rains in SA, Poppy and Meg went outside to enjoy the rain.

Taylor, Ruth, and Luke came over Thursday night for dinner. Luke is growing so fast. It's hard to believe that he's already two months old. He's super adorable, and Meg loves helping out with diaper changes and entertaining Luke.

***Taylor & Luke***

Friday afternoon, Meg called Meme and I into the kitchen. She wanted us to "look" at Poppy. This was what we saw. Poppy is a dog lover - it was very cute.

***Poppy (aka, the dog whisper)***

Of course, while we were in San Antonio, we had to do lots of swimming. Meg would swim from the time she woke up until the time she went to bed if we'd let her. I'm so proud of her. She's swimming like a champ.

I'm still loving my underwater camera. I've definitely gotten my money's worth. I only wish I heard about it before.

We spent most of the weekend in the pool. The weather was great while we were in town, so it was hard not to spend all of our free time in the pool. Friday, Ruth and Sheryl hung out with us all day at the pool. We were so glad they were able to come over. Taylor came over too mid-day for some swimming and relaxing.

***Meg and Mommy***

***Another underwater shot***



***I wish Meg was smiling, not looking like I'm holding her under against her will***

***Meg has been in the sun so much this summer that I made her wear a hat***

***another underwater shot***

***I love this girl***

***Gunner and Poppy***

***Mommy & Meg***

***Meg and Meme***

Weekend Get Away

We were able to get away for the weekend and went out to the ranch for some much needed r-n-r. The beautiful thing about the ranch is that our phones don't work out there :) The only way to get us is to call at the right time when we're in the house, but that doesn't happen very often.

Every time we go to the ranch, it's the same ritual. We pull up to the house, then Meg, the dogs and I wait patiently (OK, really it's impatiently for the dogs) while Jarrad circles around the house to make sure there aren't any snakes. I have been going out there with Jarrad for 8 years and have yet to see a snake at the house...actually, that's a lie. I have seen a snake or two out there, but it's the bull snake. Did I mention I have only spotted him in the toilet? Yes, he is IN the house. But, I digress...

Jarrad makes his "check" around the house and as he is coming up around by the back door, I suddenly see him reach into the mule for a gun. Yes, he saw not one, but TWO rattlesnakes trying to get back under the house. I used to think that his circling the house was a waste of five minutes (especially since the dogs were driving me crazy in the truck), but now I understand the importance of it.

***the snake***

***Jarrad with his kill***

***Check out all the rattles on this baby***



***Meg with her swollen eye***
it looks a lot better than it did earlier in the day

After the snake incident, Meg rode with Jarrad to dispose of the snake. While they were out, he found a small shed horn. Meg was so excited about it that she actually asked me to take a picture of her holding it.

On Saturday, we did absolutely nothing that involved working. We rode around the property. We hiked a little. Meg and Jarrad definitely hiked more than I did. I don't think my doctor would appreciate me hiking around in the woods. So, I would stay back and watch them until I could no longer see them, then would listen for them. Meg had an absolute blast hiking around with her daddy and the dogs.

We took the dogs to a few of the tanks (of course, most of them are almost completely dry) for a swim. Ace isn't a water lover like Dixie is. She ran around the edge of the tank before finding the perfect entry point. Once that was established, Dixie was off to swim like a champ. She loves the water. In the second picture below, you can see Dixie setting off for a leisurely swim around the tank...Ace on the other hand is turning back to dry land. It's funny to me that he doesn't enjoy swimming because he is an amazing swimmer - fast and strong. The few times he does get in, he can catch up with Dixie in no time flat. I have noticed that the times he does go swimming is when Dixie is far away from the shore. Maybe he's worried that without him to swim her back she won't make it.

***Ace & Dixie looking for the perfect entry point***

***Dixie off to swim, Ace turning back***

I know, I know...

...I've been MIA for the past week or so.

Life has been so busy. I just haven't been able to find time to post. And, honestly - I've hit a plateau...I don't have anything interesting or fun to write about. Of course, I can always write about Meg, but then she might go bragging to her friends that my life is completely consumed by her life and then the neighborhood will start talking...we don't want that.

Last weekend we were so busy! Meg had two birthday parties on Saturday. The first one was for a girl in Meg's swimming lessons. She had an absolute blast. The mom hired in a face painter...Meg thought this was the coolest thing ever. I have to admit that I was very impressed. It took the face painter less than 5 minutes to create this masterpiece. One thing that impressed me the most was the fact that the kids would sit still without budging while he did it.

Saturday night, we headed over to Suzanne's house for Tanner's 2nd b-day party. I still can't believe Tanner is 2. Time is going by so fast. Meg had a blast at Tanner's party. We got Tanner a cute little grocery cart complete with 60 pieces of plastic food. The GREAT news about the shopping cart was that it came complete with a squeaky wheel. All night, we could hear the squeak, squeak, squeak of the cart being pushed around. Suzanne was thrilled.

We're leaving next week for a family vacation at the lake. I can't wait. Of course, I still have tons to do, but I'm sure I'll find a way.

SA Part 2

Friday, I was able to take the day off and hang out with Meme and Megan. Poppy had to work all day :(

That day for lunch, we were able to meet Big Unk (Taylor) and Paduka for lunch at Longhorn Cafe. They have the best burgers in the world. Right after we had placed our order, my BF from forever (we've know each other since we were 18 months old) called and was able to join us. Lunch was GREAT.
Friday afternoon, we were able to get in a quick swim before nap time. When there isn't an adult in the pool with her, she has to wear her floaties. I don't think she minds ;). Of course, she's only allowed to swim when there is an adult outside. She's very good around the pool...she knows that she's not allowed on the pebbled pool decking unless she has an adult with her. So far, we haven't have any issues with her not following the rules. She makes me so proud.

Friday night, we had a FRY FEST. It was amazing and horrible all at the same time. We had fried onion rings, fried chicken tender, fried shrimp and a salad (the only non-fried option on the menu that night). My BF and her family came over for dinner, along with Grace & Paduka. We had a great night.

The highlight of the evening was Meg dancing. I brought out the iPod radio and played her "dance" music so she could perform for all of us. I've never seem a group of adults so captivated by a 3-year dancing queen. Meg's style is a combination of hip-hop/contemporary. The video quality isn't great because it was so dark, but you get the idea.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Pretty Princesses

Last week, Meg and I drove down to SA to see my family. Since we had so much fun, I'll post in parts...so, without any more delays, here is Part 1.

Meg and I got into San Antonio late on Wednesday night, so it was a very uneventful night. Thursday, I had to work, so Meg got to play with Poppy and Meme for most of the day. I think she had a great time. She got to swim, play outside, swing, and play office in my parent's study while poppy was reading a deposition.

Thursday night, we headed to El Jarro and met Taylor & Ruthie. Meg loves going to El Jarro because she gets to see her "my Paula". And of course, the trip to El Jarro wouldn't be complete without a trip to Party City right next door. She always comes back with horrible crap, but she loves going with "my Paula", so I don't complain too much.

This trip to Party City was very special because she bought mini tiaras and we all had to wear them at the table. Of course, none of us objected.

Taylor & Ruthie

Meme & Poppy
Megan, Mommy, Meme
Ruthie & Allison

I will post more about our trip to SA tomorrow.

Weekend

Meg, Jarrad and I had a GREAT weekend. We left out on Thursday afternoon to go to San Antonio for the weekend. Jarrad must have been excited about getting to San Antonio because we made the trip down to my parents in 4 hours and 5 minutes. I think he was trying to set a new record. The drive down was very uneventful.

Thursday night, after we got to SA, we let Megan go swimming. The pool felt great and we were all excited to be there.

Friday, was a pretty lazy day. We ran a few errands during the day. That night, we went to El Jarro so Meg could dance. Taylor and Ruthie met us for dinner and dancing too. We had a great time visiting with them over dinner. After dinner and dancing, we went back to my parent's house and hung out in the hot tub with Taylor & Ruth.



Saturday was the best day of the trip. Ruth, Megan and I went to Barnes & Noble for about 2 hours in the morning, then ate some lunch. After that, we put our swim suits on and soaked up some rays by the pool. A little later on Saturday night, we had some friends over for dinner and drinks and visiting. I love San Antonio and miss it terribly. but, it only makes my trips back home that much more special :)

Sunday, on our way home from San Antonio, we stopped by Kyle & Sheryl's house to see all of the progress they have made on fixing it up. It looks amazing. After our very brief visit with them, we grabbed a quick bite for lunch at Dairy Queen then made the drive back.

As soon as we got home today, Meg wanted to go play with her friends. That girl has more energy. She's like the Energizer Bunny - she just keeps going and going and going and going.

What a wonderful weekend!

My parents came into town on Thursday night and stayed until Monday morning. We had such a great visit. Time always goes by too fast when they're in town.

Thursday night, we went over to Luke & Patty's house for dinner and to watch the Spurs game. We had a good time visiting with them. Luke made his famous french fries. Poppy was drooling over the fries - they're delicious I must say. Below is a picture of Jarrad and Megan at Boompaw's...i think it's a cute picture of both of them.

Poppy always comes with a list of places that we must eat...guess it's because they only eat at one place in SA, so he needs the variety when he's in Mansfield. Outback is on his list, so we went there on Friday night. It was very yummy. Below is a picture from the restaurant - Meg was being goofy, so I couldn't get a great picture. But, this picture is a good shot of my parents.

Saturday, we had a fun filled day. We spent 3.5 hours at Cabela's...yes, you read right, 3.5 hours!!! At least this time we bought something - last time I spent that amount of time out there with Jarrad, we walked out empty handed. Below is a picture of Meg with a huge stuffed moose - she wasn't very happy that I was making her take a picture with him. but, I'm the mom, so I win :) After Cabela's, we took Meme and Poppy to the Stockyards in Ft. Worth. They had never been. On our way from Cabela's to the Stockyards, Meg fell asleep in the car. Just looking at the picture below makes my neck hurt! Of course, it wasn't the best weekend...the humidity was off the charts, but we had a great time anyway. After we walked around in the stockyards, we went to dinner at Riscky's. While we were at dinner, Meg decided to put stickers all over her face - she's so goofy!

After dinner, we went down the street a little so Megan could sit on the Indian's horse. We had walked by him earlier and she didn't want to get on him, but she changed her mind. So, we had to go back.

Sunday, we had Jarrad's mom and brother and sister over to our house for Mother's Day Lunch. Meg always loves it when Nina comes over. Not only does Nina bring her lotion and lipstick every time she comes over, but she also lets Megan apply the said lipstick. But, Nina looks beautiful anyway. I had a wonderful weekend!