Family in town...

Really nice visit from Amber’s parents, Fred and Mary a few weeks back. Love that they came all the way up here to visit us and see their grandkids. I know the grandkids are the real draw and it was nice to have them here. Amber and her family had lived in North Texas a time or two when she was growing up so it was kind of funny to hear them talk about how much things have changed. I think Plano and Frisco were regularly plowed fields back then… in fact, Fred said he didn’t think there was much past Arapaho that he remembered…that must have been a while back. ;] I think Amber even took them on a little side trip back to one of the old neighborhoods to look at a house they lived in all those years ago. Did I hear that Jim (at 6’ 6” or so) used to skateboard down the alley back then? Now that would have been something to see.

Looking for stuff to do we all went to see the new Transformers movie because no one can ever get enough sci-fi robot movies. We liked it but wished we had screened it before taking the kids… it was targeted at older teenage kids this time, not like the first one which was all in all pretty kid friendly. We played a lot of Wii, well the kids did anyway. They like showing off and grandparents are a perfect audience. Bowling was a big hit because Mary and Fred are regular bowlers and are actually senior league champions back home. I didn’t get to see the old moves in action but maybe next time. ;] We did a lot of eating, which we do, and even had a chance to take them for ice cream at Henry’s which is always a hit. I have a theory that Amy (from Amy’s ice cream in Austin fame) came up and ate at Henry’s years ago and decided to go back and recreate the same thing in Austin. Brilliant ice cream and a host of unique flavors. Always great, especially when they have Vanilla Chip (chocolate chip). Hmmm. Now I am thinking of going over there for lunch. It’s that good.

Her dad is an early riser like me and it was kind of nice when I found myself outside one morning with just him sitting on the steps of our sidewalk. We just sat there watching the world wake up. I don’t remember that we talked about anything important, just sort of caught up on things. I really liked that.

We attended church at Stonebriar in Frisco with the hope that Fred would get to see the church’s pastor speak as he is pretty well known. Bad luck as the pastor was on a church trip so we had a guest speaker that ended up being good. He did recognize the music coordinator as someone he had been on staff with or worked with at another church in the past. Its fascinating how the church crowd will spread out and still recognize people from past ministries. I am always amazed at just how many people a person can know. Amber and I have been trying this church out and we had to go for two more weeks before we finally got to hear the regular pastor who was also really good. The church has to be the biggest church I have ever seen but we are slowly getting used to it.

It is always really good to see them and I wish we didn’t live as far away as we do. It’s just far enough that it requires a little planning to visit. We miss having them in the same city, and were spoiled when it was the next neighborhood over. We are going down there for Max’s birthday party so it won’t be more than a couple of weeks before we see them again. Good deal.

A week or so later we had more company. The Garcia clan was in town to let Allison check out a few colleges up here. Allison. College. Does not compute…does not compute... It’s funny but pretty much every time I see her all the images of her growing up scroll through my mind in the blink of an eye and I almost always settle on one, even if only for a fraction of a second. Its funny but it’s a picture I took of her at Zilker Park in Austin. I think my minds eye always settles on an image I am proud of or one that just worked for whatever reason. I remember taking a lot of pictures that day and some of them even turned out ok. She was little and she wore a one piece outfit and was still in diapers. Its funny how the mind works and I just can’t get over how much her, her sisters and even Jim’s kids have all grown up. All of the kids in the family have suddenly turned into rational, thinking, mini-adults. It is pretty amazing that we got them all this far.





Having the Garcia’s up was really nice but I am sure they are a little worn out from it all. Penny must know the road system up here as well as any native after all the traversing she did to shuttle everyone everywhere. They were even sweet enough to include our kids in a trip to the Ft Worth Zoo. My kids love their cousins and it’s always plainly evident whenever they all get together. They almost always pair up and head off to play and catch up within moments of seeing each other.

OK…reminds of a funny Max story. Amber used to watch Jordan and Madeline at our house and one time, Jordan had to get ready for an evening dance class in time for Penny to pick her up. Again with Penny being a taxi driver. Wow, she drives a bunch in this blog. Anyway, Jordan came out in her little dance costume and Max went over to her and started kissing and hugging on her. Mind you, he is 2 years old at this point and Jordan was probably 4. He wouldn’t stop kissing on her. Its funny but I suspect he does the same thing to Amber some days. He definitely likes the ladies.

Ok… we are at the lightening round. Since I tend to drone on, I will spare you all and just bang out snippets from the last couple of weeks.

Out riding last weekend and for the first time in all my years… a bird dive-bombed me on my ride. It was one of those scissor tail things, maybe a “scissor tail flycatcher” (had to look that up)… all I know is that it was grey, slight colored underbelly, long scissor tail and damn persistent on trying to attack me. I swatted at it a couple of times but with it diving from behind, I am sure it looked more humorous than it was effective. Damn. I felt like I was on one of those hidden camera shows for a minute. Bold bird.

Speaking of bold, same ride I saw a middle age lady out walking in pink curlers. That is another first. I don’t recall ever seeing someone in curlers out in public for more than 3 decades…not since my aunt Patti. She will kill me for saying that. I would imagine that it takes a certain kind of confidence to wear rollers out in public and this lady seemed to have no problems pulling that particular look off. Like I said, bold.




Speaking of hair, Luc and Max got cut this past week. Max didn’t vary from the script and pretty much looks the same but Luc really went for it. He looks great and I have reminded him of it with regularity. We will see if he sticks with it. His only comment was that he felt lighter.. oh and he now thinks he has big ears. I think seeing ears for the first time in a couple of years would make anyone think that. ;] Oh, funny little (Lego) MOC page about his decision process. Into the mind of a 13 year old…

http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/137016

He calls me Cap’n which is pretty funny in and of itself. It all ties back to a funny story I told him about a story relayed to me from my uncle Robert. Ask me about it the next time you see me.

So we did something kind of cool a few weekends ago. Karah joined Amber and I for a trip on the light rail to downtown Dallas from Plano. Light rail is a pretty cool idea and the trains were smooth and clean. Cool to see the city from another perspective. We were headed for the 5th Floor Museum in the West End. It’s a museum that chronicles the assassination of John F Kennedy and its set up in the very building that the supposed shots came from on the parade route. Karah asked me how old JFK was when he died and I told her that he was a young president and that he was just a couple of years older than we were (deftly pulling Amber into this grouping). She thought about it a minute and promptly said “Well, at least he lived a good long life…” Ouch.

Oh, have to mention my brother and his new girlfriend. Thinking about him a lot lately. Sounds like a very happy boy. I love it.

The Tour de France is on so the kids are frustrated at me daily… I tend to take over the TV during July. So now it’s F1 every other weekend and then the evenings are Tour recaps. They should be lucky I don’t watch all of the stage… I fast forward all the predictable stuff. The breakaways, the climbs and the sprints are all I am after. Also anytime they show the guys really suffering… I like those parts. I think its one of those “I’ve been there” type of things… when I go out and suffer on the bike, I like to know that there are others out there doing the same thing, feeling the same pain… all the while choosing to do it. You know, like a private masochists club or something.

Saw Harry Potter movie on opening weekend. Pretty cool stuff. Held pretty true to the book and fit everything in. Couple of things I wished had made the cut but as fast as that story was moving, I was pretty impressed with what they did.

Currently reading Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on Amber’s recommendation. Pretty good book if you can get past all the Swedish names… as Amber says. Too many S’s and V’s. Great read though… find myself not wanting to put it down.

Ok, hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to seeing all of you soon. We need to plan some visits to family before summer is out so be on the lookout for us. :]