A Trip South Day 2

We drove down with the Johnson's to Panama City Beach for half a day.  This was Andrew and Anna's first time to any beach.  They loved every minute of it.  They stayed in the water forever catching the waves, laying in the shallow part to feel the sand leave their bodies under them, finding seashells and Anna and Rachel pretended to be mermaids.  There was a really nice outdoor shopping mall right there by the beach that we ate lunch at and the kids found souvenirs there as well. 

A Trip South Day 1

The past few years we make a summer trip to Memphis TN to see my parents.  My brother and family moved to Dothan, AL last summer so we extended our trip south to see them.  We left Weatherford about 8 am and got to Houston for lunch with Alan's Cousin and his wife at noon.  We then left there around 3:30 and got to Lake Charles to spend the night.  We ate sandwiches and the kids jumped in the pool with Alan and I went to work out in the exercise room at the hotel. 

We left the hotel at 5:30 AM the next morning and headed to Alabama.  We arrived at the Johnsons at 4.  That was a long drive.  Here is a recap of our day.

Summer Fun

I won a weekend for two in Dallas at a dinner I went to that was put on by the travel company we used for the New York City trip.  So we sent the Kids to Midland and Alan and I stayed two nights in Dallas.  We had a free dinner at Dallas Fish Market, our bill was $103.  I am so glad it was covered.  We also had tickets to the 6th Floor museum.  Alan and I love history and we really enjoy learning more about the JFK Assination.  After lunch we went to the Dallas Museum of Art and then Medieval Times.  All of their food is gluten free except for the bread and the pastry.  They brought me an Italian Ice for dessert.  It was a nice get away and a great way to celebrate our 14th Wedding Anniversary for practically nothing.  I left for New York the following Wednesday and the kids came home to Alan on the same day.

The kids have gone to "It's a Kings Thing" at our church on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have gone swimming everyday, and gone to the library and even spent some times with friends.

Garage Sale!

A Trip to New York

I had the amazing opportunity to go to New York City with the Mineral Wells High School choir where I work.  We saw many things, Union Station, Empire State building, Macy's, Time Square (and I had a gluten free cheese cake from Juniors! YUM) Museum of Natural History, Central Park, West Side, Statue of Liberty, China Town, World Trade Center Site (New Yorkers do not like it called ground zero) Saint Paul's Church, Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Intrepid Space Museum (where we had our first concert), The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine (our formal concert), Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, Rockefeller Center, NBC Studios, Radio City Music Hall, FAO Schwarts, Trump Tower, and more.

Many people have asked me what my favorite thing in New York was.........I truly enjoyed everything except China Town.  I tell those who ask, I have a couple of  favorite moments.  My first favorite moment was when we were at our first Broadway show "Wicked," and I noticed the look on our students' faces.........it was priceless.  Most of our students would not get an opportunity like this and just the fact that some were actually on this trip and experiencing everything we had made me tear up.  The other moment was when I was directing the High School choir at the largest Gothic cathedral church in the world.  The acoustics were amazing.  We performed the song Festival Gloria.  Very fast in places and very slow and majestic in other places.  The last page of the song crescendos to a fortissimo (very loud) and is fast and when they held the last note and ended, the sound of their last note continued for 7 seconds, the kids and I just stared at each other in astonishment and we even smiled and enjoyed that moment as long as we could.  The rest of the concert was great but nothing will top that song.

Lion's Pride Run

Andrew and Anna ran in the Lion's Pride run at Weatherford Christian School May 13.  Andrew ran 22 laps and Anna ran 16 laps. 

Andrew is 8!

Seems impossible but the little 5lbs 10oz baby that was in such a hurry to get out and be born early, is now eight years old.  I remember he was feisty but did not like being separated from me.  He is still pretty much the same.  He is active, into everything, very curious how things work and wants to do everything himself and tryout things and still does not like to be separated from me too long. 

Like Anna, Andrew wanted to have a few friends over and have a small party.  He loves cars right now and had asked me to make him the CARS cake again, but I just didn't have the time to pull that off.  So he opted for a giant cookie cake.  Wow! that was the easiest creation I have ever made.  I wish I had tried that a lot sooner and it was a huge hit too!

A Royal Wedding with my Daughter

I remember very vividly the morning of July 29, 1981.  I lived in Early TX and I was the only one in the house that set my alarm and jumped out of bed (if you can believe that) and ran to the living room and watched in awe as Lady Diana Spencer became Princess Diana.  I was amazed at all of the pomp and circumstance and pageantry that London had on that early morning.  I was a Princess Diana fan for many years.  I admit that I was sad to see that their "fairytale" marriage, really was not a fairytale.

I remember the night Diana died.  I sat on the edge of my bed completely shocked.  I didn't cry but just could not believe the turn of events that happened that evening that ended her life.  I of course, got up early the following Saturday to watch her funeral.  I was sad for Prince William and Prince Harry.  They no longer would be able to run to their mother's arms as I had seen them do so many times on camera.

I of course have not been too excited of the living style that Wills and Kate have had the past 8 years.  Although the closer the wedding got, I found myself getting kinda excited and talking with Anna about this lady named Kate that was about to become a Princess.  Anna is really into playing Princess lately and here I was able to show her a real life Cinderella that found her Prince and was about to become his Princess. 

Last night, Anna and I watched all of the different pre-wedding shows and we both wondered what her dress would look like.  Anna wanted me to wake her up so she could watch the wedding with me.  I knew that I would be awake to watch the wedding but I would record it to watch it with Anna later after school.  As the Queen was making her way to Westminster Abbey, Anna comes walking in and says I want to watch the wedding with you.  So she crawls into bed with me and then Kate gets in the car and we both say wow!  I was very happy to see her in a more modest dress and it immediately reminded me of the dress Grace Kelly wore in her wedding.  Not two minutes later the picture of Grace Kelly in her wedding dress pops up on the screen.  I hope that she sets a new trend in wedding dresses.  I am so tired of seeing all of these brides in strapless gowns. 

As Anna and I cuddled and watched the wedding, Alan wakes up and rolls his eyes at us.  I said very sentimentally, "Anna will remember the day that Kate and Wills got married.  She will remember that she watched it with her Mom."  Alan says, "Maybe."  I just said to him, "You just don't get it, go back to sleep."

During the pre-wedding shows on Thursday night, a Kate size Barbie doll was shown and Anna said she wanted one.  I told her about the Prince Charles and Princess Diana dolls that I got for Christmas my Freshmen year in high school.  Of course, I had to go get them out of storage and show her.  I have a feeling that they will no longer be my dolls.

I watched Wills parents wedding alone and I watched his mother's funeral alone.  I however, will always cherish the memory of Anna and I watching Prince William and Princess Catherine's wedding (Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge).  I will also remember, that even though Alan said he didn't care about the wedding, He did watch it with us and he really could not stop watching :-)