Gaylord ICE!!

Allen, Alex, and I, my parents, my friend Sheila and her son Zachary, Amanda, Jason, and Tristen all went to ICE! at The Gaylord Texan this past Saturday night.

If we had gone on a mellow Tuesday night, probably totally worth it. The actual thing itself was very neat to see and cool but what we had to go through to get there....................no ma'am.

It was soooo crowded. So we get there and are welcomed by a line I swear was a football field long. It was only by chance that we heard someone in the line say "Can you believe this isn't the line for tickets?! This is the line to get in. The ticket line is over there!" Thank goodness she said that....

So we go to the ticket line. At this point is had to be 5:45 or so. While in the line, an announcer tells us that they are sold out until the 6:30 showing. When we finally get to buy our tickets, they are actually sold out 'til the 7:00 showing. So we buy our tickets and decide we will all go find something to munch on. I was already a little concerned about Alex. I knew putting him in a 9 degree room could go entirely wrong, but waiting around a boring crowded place for a couple of hours and THEN putting him in a 9 degree room could go really wrong. Especially since I didn't have a full diaper bag. I was only planning on being gone 2 hours max.

Shame on the Gaylord for the way they handled this. There was one regularly priced restaurant available. (The rest are their fancy schmancy steakhouse type places) The wait for this was an hour and ten. Then they had a coffee shop. No way we were all going to fit in there. Then they had a vendor type stand out. I don't even want to get started here but all I will say is the gal behind the counter was strug-uh-ling. We finally get our food and there is absolutely no place in this entire hotel to sit and eat it. I mean they are expecting hundreds upon hundreds of people to show up and there is the line a mile long with nothing but masses of empty floor space around it, and not one chair in site. I mean everywhere you look; empty floor space. So, we found a set of carpeted stairs leading up to a ballroom and sat on those with our makeshift dinner.

It is now almost time for the 7:00 showing so we get up and get in line. And we wait. And we wait. Finally we are allowed into a room. BUT! Then we get in line there. We wait in line to get out of this room only to turn the corner and wait in another line to get the jackets they issue before you go in that room. In the middle of this line is where I was told strollers are not allowed in. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT! So all of things I had to keep Alex and myself warm, my purse, etc. had to be carried the entire time?

We finally get our coats, and poor Alex is winding down. Putting this thing on didn't help. He was already irritated and then putting a jacket on him that basically made him move like the kid in 'A Christmas Carol' except Alex had an even greater disadvantage of his hands not even coming out of the sleeves. Too add to that: put on a puffy nylon full body jacket. THEN , put your toddler in the same thing. THEN try to pick him up. Good luck. It really should be part of one of those crazy Japanese game show challenges.

We did finally get inside and it was pretty neat, but like I said, what it took to get there was not worth it on a Sat. night. If we had gone on say a Wednesday and waiting a half hours for this adventure, then maybe. PLUS, we were very lucky that Alex was having a very good night and exited the entire thing with at least a smile on his face once we got him out of that jacket.

SO! Don't go. I'll save you the trouble. See pictures below!

This was right near the end. I am fine. Alex, however, is doing the famuos toddler move called "arch you back to make things even more difficult"

Daddy and Alex


Zachary and the dog!

Amanda, Jason, and Tristen

A Who

The ice tunnell

Again, the dog.

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch......

Whos at the train in Whoville

Dad and his twin brother, The Grinch

The Nativity

So I am having a random post here. I am finally cleaning up my videos and camera, so there are some videos that might be old, etc. BUT! This is basically my digital scrapbook of sorts so where else do I put this stuff! Sorry it might seem jumbled today. (and honestly, maybe a little dull).

This is just a funny video of Alex chasing a "ball" around the garage. Allen and I fully expect our "Parents of the Year" award in the mail any day now. ;)

Some might consider this cruel. Some, like myself, find it cruel and funny.

OK, but then here are the Arkansas Thanksgiving photos. This year was good. Food was great. Lots of family showed this year, and we had a good time shooting the guns and playing with Alex. Chopper came with us as well. We have to leave Jack home because 1) quite obviously, he is enormous and we couldn't fit anything else in the car with him and 2) he REALLY does not appreciate trips in the car anyway. So Allen, Alex, Bobbie, Leroy, Chopper and myself made the trip this year. Below are just a few videos and photos of the trip. The videos are comedy.

Kelly shooting her new gun for the first time. Kelly, I guess now you'll see what Allen was really laughing at. ;)

Me shooting the revolver we keep in the house. I wasn't to keen on this gun but Uncle Roy let me shoot his .45 a few minutes later and I loved it. Shame I didn't catch that on video because I did REALLY well with that gun. I mean really well..............be afraid...........

Alex had so much fun in the jacuzzi tub while we were there. The house we stayed in was Allen's Aunt Docia's house. Docia passed away a while back but the family maintains the house just for visitors. Now, I was a little concerned about the water. Notice the greenish color below. Allen dismissed it as the tub being a little yellow but......I dunno..................

Alex kept using the bottle of baby shampoo as a phone.

Bubbles!

Chopper likes to be where the action is, so he hung out by the tub

Chop Chop (what Alex calls him) watching the gun action

That is really all I have. Like I said, a little dull but things I wanted to keep! I hope everyone had a great holiday with more to come. Thanks for checking in.

Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Whopper and The Chopper

So, per usual, my brother used his super duper bad ass really fast fantabulous camera and combined it with his amazing ability to catch great photos. Below are the results!

We did Halloween at Aunt Stacy's house this year. She always does such a great job and has so much food! Since we had Ruby, and Alex didn't really know what trick-or-treating was, we only took a walk up and down the block and hit maybe 10 houses. We had a great time seeing all the other trick or treaters, and Stacy's neighborhood does Halloween right! Laura and Alex had been to Canton earlier in the day and my 8 year old brother, er, I mean, 31 year old brother bought some silly string. We of course all had to battle it out. Thank you Laura for allowing me to use your entire can of silly string to defend myself!

The evening was really great except for when we got home, someone had thrown a rock through our front window. Awesome. I mean, we had THREE pumpkins on the front porch just begging to be smashed in the street. But no. Pumpkins were just fine and in tact when we came home. Kids these days are very serious about that trick-or treat thing I guess. No treat. No problem. Rock through the window.

Hope everyone else had a great Halloween!

Chopper, hanging out with Nina D

Silly string fight

Trick-or-Treat!

Whopper Jr.

Happy Halloween!

Meet Chopper

Well, "Chopper" is what the breeder had him dubbed as. Waiting for Allen to get home to see if it sticks. He is a British short leg wired haired 10 week old Jack Russell Terrier, and he is now a Roberson as well. I just got him today. Just a few photos. He is very sweet natured. I have had him home a few hours now trying to let him adjust to Jack before he adjusts to Alex! Doing well though. He is a little apprehensive right now but I suppose I would be too if I were taken away from my entire K9 family and in the hands of strangers and the biggest dog he's ever seen.

Just thought I would post some pics of the new family member.

He is sleeping by my feet as I type!

Grapefest, Alumni Rugby, and Arboretum. An XL post.

I am long past due on an update and I actually do have things to post! I have just been lazy. So heeeeeeeeere we go.

We went to Grapefest in Grapevine. It was a HOT day so we did not last long melting outside. We saw Alex, Laura, and Ruby while we were there, but they had been there far longer than us so they were just about kaput when we arrived. We had full intentions of looking at the petting zoo and playing on the playground, but it wasn't long before even Alex was done with the heat. Luckily, we had some friends at Grapefest too who texted to let me know they had secured a big table at Wilhout's Bar and wanted us to come in for a margarita. (well, if you insist!) We met up with them in the A/C for a bit before heading home. Their little girl is named Riley and she was born 1.5 days before Alex. I just think she is absolutely stunning.

Juuuuuuust about worn out

Alex and Riley sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g

I did not manage to catch it on camera but these two kept hugging each other. It was very funny.

I think it was two weekends ago (I lose track!) that went to the Alumni Rugby game. I try to go every year to see Dad and both of his teams play. He might not even know it but he beams with pride the entire day and I think this retirement from coaching thing is harder than he thought it would be since, well, he hasn't really retired! Alumni Weekend is always fun. With the rain we have had this month, the pitch was MUDDY! I really didn't want to put Alex on the ground at all but as you can imagine, that didn't go over well. I gave in and let him down and he did pretty well staying clean compared to the other chipmunks I saw running around out there. Note to self: buy little man rain boots. (Would have saved quite a mess.)

Alex after playing a bit

This is Zander Man at his typical speed

I managed to catch him in the .3 seconds he stopped to watch the game

Little Alex likes to point at people and say "BANG", but at close distances, "pointing" really means a finger in your eye, as Big Alex found out.

We went to the Dallas Arboretum this weekend. It was nice but very crowded! I went with hopes of getting a good picture for the Christmas card. After seeing what I have on my camera, all hope is lost. The only chance I have is that Alex got a good shot with his super duper camera. We shall see........... We arrived around 11:00, wandered around a bit for some photo ops, and then had a picnic. It was a good day. The weather could not have been better. So below are just a few shots of us at The Arboretum.

It is so hard to catch this kid standing still. We had another couple with us that had a boy Alex's age and he was so.......CALM! Barely ran anywhere!

Zander Man

Laura and KangaRuby

The ever so modest Rubicon

Thanks for checking in! With the holidays coming up, I hope to have a lot more photos. Hope everyone is doing well!

Alex is coming home!

So for those of you that don't know, my brother and Laura (AND RUBY!) will be home for good on September 1st (next Tuesday).

We are all very excited. I am super excited. I remember the night my brother left (Laura was already in London). I thought it wouldn't be that big of a deal, I mean, he wasn't leaving for good right? Just a few years and then he'll be back. He left that night, and we were both a little teary eyed, but I was surprised at how upset I was. I sat down and had a good cry after I realized he was gone for a while.

Things have changed so much. Between Alex and Ruby being born and five years gone by without the entire family at birthdays and holidays.............I could not be more excited for them to come home. I am also uber anxious to meet my niece and watch my brother be a father.

Hurry up Tuesday!

Long Time No Post - Lake Trip

So with the economy the way it is, we didn't think it the best idea to take off and do some lavish vacation this year, but we wanted to do something. Amanda found these awesome cabins in Broken Bow Oklahoma for rent so we decided that would be a fun trip.We got an awesome group together, loaded up the boat, and headed to the lake. Chris and Stacy, and Amanda and Jason went with us and we had a great time. The boys played golf one day while us girls checked out town. (as far as that goes, if you haven't been to Broken Bow Oklahoma to shop, don't) We also played on the lake quite a bit and the boys tried their hand at fishing. They weren't successful, but the DID try. It was a good weekend. The cabin was awesome and I am already trying to figure out if I can get my family to go during the holidays.

Below are some pictures from the trip. Take a looksie. See what Broken Bow is all about!

Chris and Stacy by the fire. It was so nice and cool at night!

Allen and I hanging out by the fire. It is so rare to get a photo of Allen smiling! He always has to do something goofy. I almost couldn't believe it when I saw this!

Amanda and Jason

Allen, doing what he does best......

My gal Amanda and I by the fire. Ready to roast some marshmallows

Drinking our new wine-a-ritas. They are awesome!

The girls at Girls Gone Wine

Just thought this was funny at the nail salon. I mean, if they can make your nails look good holding a 40 caliber, they can do anything right? Sign me up

Again, couldn't help myself. Really? Bushwackers? And is that a beaver on the sign? REALLY?!?!?

Allen found the tubing to be a bit on the beginner level

A water filled weekend

Today is the Fourth of July! We have some friends coming over tonight so Allen went to work in the (newly sodded) yard and I was going to clean inside. Well, that plan flopped. Alex was not about to let me do anything. I got one load of laundry done and swept the kitchen floor with Alex throwing a fit every step I took. So I gave up.

Allen was trying to fix one of the sprinklers outside so I yanked Alex's clothes off and took him out to play. He LOVED it. A new hobby I am thinking. ;)