Non-Athletic Adventure

The JV team played last night so we be-bopped over there after a swim lesson and a super fancy Mickey Ds dinner.  Although it rained overnight and was yucky in the morning, by the late afternoon, it was quite beautiful.  It's nice to have a low-stakes way (read: I don't need/care to watch the actual game) to enjoy a football-ish adventure.

I say football-ISH because, of course, B's fave activity is helping out in the concession stand.  He is such a speedy drink-runner that he blurred this action shot:

The Booster Club crew seems genuinely to enjoy his company so I let him stay back there for awhile.  A clearer pic:

The little miss likes to check out the action where her big brother is but she also keeps herself entertained outside the food area.  Sometimes, she works on letter identification:

And....sometimes she does calisthenics:

Squeezing In

Poor guy just wanted to eat his pho.   First the girl climbed up on him and then the boy immediately went around the table to join in the hug fest.

Besides these two close companions, he also was treated to both tendon and tripe in his bowl because my mouth ordered "#4" when my mind was thinking "#3."  Oops!  ;-)

The Night That Killed My Stomach

Opa expressed surprise in his comment yesterday that I hadn't written about what went down Friday night.  Since I pretty much accomplished nothing yesterday, it is the perfect subject with which to fill today's screen!

Friday night was Game #8 out of 10.  The Rams were playing a team that hasn't been on the schedule for many years.  This particular team has made a name for itself around the county as perhaps one of the weakest teams ever, and it also happens to be coached by the former Rams head coach.  As you can imagine, everybody in black and orange really wanted this game to be the blowout that was expected.

As things go with fall in the north, it has gotten quite cold.  I figured it'd probably be in the 40s at the game and that being outdoors in those temps probably wasn't the best bet for Miss C who had a runny nose.  Once I got the exciting news that Annie Kate was going to be passing through, it solidified my decision to stay home from this game.  (It should be noted, however, that she is a big supporter of the BG and offered many times to go to the game.  But again-- the cold!)

My neighbor across the street (whose son is on the team) had texted that she'd send me updates.  So, when the game started at 6:30, I had my phone out, ready to receive texts and also open to a local message board where sometimes people post live scores.

7 pm.   Nothing.   I sent a message saying something like, "Your silence makes me fear something bad is happening."   Nothing.     Sent a message to another coach's wife.   Nothing.

Oh, no.  What if everyone is protecting me from some horrible truth?

'Round about 7:15, there was finally a relevant post on the message board that said, "Shocker:  [other team] up 35-7 over [Rams] at end of first quarter."

WWWWHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT?

This is the opponent that barely scored a touchdown all last year (seriously) and has won exactly one game this year by a score of (no kidding) 4-2.     WHAT IS GOING ON?

Poor Anne. I imagine 20 years of friendship made her recognize immediately the sickened bent-over look of anxiety in me. (Eh, I'm not so good at masking that so probably 20 minutes would make it evident, too!  HA!)   She and Ellie soon hit the road for their 2.5 hour journey home; I got the kids in bed, and then I sat in front of the computer with the worst feeling of dread....for the team but also, let's be honest, for our weekend.  ;-)

Once I was in front of my computer, I realized that my neighbor had been sending me play-by-play updates through Facebook rather than texts because she'd left her phone in the car and didn't have my number! (I assume she was using her husband's phone for the FB texts.)  The poor woman-- she clearly was mystified/annoyed that her awesomely in-depth messages were getting no response so she eventually gave up.  Thankfully, she got back online later in the 3rd quarter and we established communication so she could tell me what was happening, which was especially helpful because the occasional updates on the message board were, I learned, not quite up-to-date.   I was, in turn, texting all the updates to Big D in Austin, as well as FB chatting with Grammie about them, too.  It was quite the cross-country communication effort!

Whew.  The Rams stormed back with a 50-point second half and won 64-41.  In doing so, our QB broke the state single-game record for passing yards (480) and TDs (8).   CRAZY.

I'm actually relieved we weren't at the game.  Turns out 5- and 2-year olds are completely unable to "read the room" and it would've been difficult to manage such blissful ignorance of tension in such an environment....not to mention that the cold weather might have driven us home at halftime, when it was still 35-14.  Ugh.

I found this pic on the photo site.  Can't be sure at what point in the game it was taken, but sure looks like he's having some deep thoughts!  (Or he's just really cold...)

Two more games!!  Go Rams!

Popsicles

Pink or Orange?

It was 37 degrees Friday morning and we all have to walk to the bus stop....so we all have to get bundled up.  I realized walking down the driveway that I had some monochromatic kids that day!

That Wasn't What I Was Expecting, Part Two

I finally had the chance to take a load of towels out of the dryer yesterday and had to do a double-take at what I saw:

My poor, poor previously-sparkling-white dryer.   Seems one of the sweatshirts I added in with the towels still had one of the BG's omnipresent black pens attached to it.  Wah-wah.

Of course it would be that the load needing to go into the dryer was a white load.  I was a little unsure of how to proceed so I finally decided I'd throw in a few of the BG's white T-shirts and see what happened.  Alas:  nothing.   So I dried the whole load and-- nothing.   I guess we dodged that bullet?   Totally bizarre.

PS:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY to loyal reader--and my online shopping partner-in-crime--Susan!!!!!   And Happy Friday to all!

Bubbly Fun

Earlier this fall, I took advantage of a discounted deal on a "Tumble Tykes" class for Miss C.   Of course, everything at the ripe old age of 2 requires a parental participant, so I'm in the thick of things every Wednesday morning....although it's not that thick because there are only 2 kids in the class!  It's actually at an acrobatic gym rather than a traditional gymnastics gym so it's a lot more trampoline-y than gymnastics equipment.  In any case--keeping it real here-- much as I was with a young B-man, I am very much looking forward to the stage where she can do an activity on her own!  ;-)  She seems to enjoy the running around/bouncing time, however, and it goes for another month so we will continue with that routine for awhile longer.

Since the class is in the direction of lots of shopping centers, it would seem silly not to just go on over afterwards and do some poking around.  ;-) Who cares if we don't really need anything?  Life is always made better by some Dollar Tree steals, World Market treats, Trader Joe's staples, and some chocolate challah from Great Harvest Bread, no?   Oh, and don't forget:  BUBBLE TEA!!

This large retail area has, over the years, experienced major growth in Asian businesses and community.  The bubble tea spot we've adopted as "ours" (and there are quite a few from which to choose) features quite the spread of dried teas, etc.

But we go for the boba!  A primer:

Mmmm...   strawberry bubble milk for the Tumblin' Tyke:

Fun fact:  WAY back in the day (like 2003-ish?), our own Annie Kate moved to the area and worked in this general vicinity.  (I even drove her to her job interview, and poked around in some of these same shopping centers while she was there!)  It makes me smile now to be so much closer to places like her favorite sushi lunch buffet and her favorite vegetarian Asian restaurant!   Thank goodness she (and now Adam and the Ellster) are back on this coast.  Those years she spent in Seattle were sad times for the Kentobeans!

Oh hey, since I found a whole of bunch of old digital pics yesterday-- smiteaswell post some shots from our visit to Seattle in 2006, right?

Look!  Bubble tea on that very trip!  

Ahhh.....love it when it all comes full-circle like that!!   :-)

Sometimes

This post is #1676 in a series of "what am I going to write about/show tomorrow?" worries.  Sometimes, it all spills out in a way that makes me proud.  And sometimes, I realize at 7:12 AM that the pic I snapped yesterday to take care of today's post features glowing ghosts of kids....and that no manner of editing tweaks can help.

Eh.  Halloween is coming soon and their mother is the palest of the pale, so I guess it's only fitting.

This shot was actually my original plan but I realized that the expressions didn't appear on the computer screen quite as they did on the little phone screen (although at least they're not so ghostlike):

It actually reminded me of this picture from June 2011, however.  BOOM!  There's a Wayback Wednesday feature to boot!

"That Wasn't What I Was Expecting"

The B-man says this a lot of late.  It makes me laugh every time.

The other day, however, I had to say it, too!  When we were driving out of the playground at the park, I noticed a bunch of green blobs all over the ground.  They appeared larger and differently-shaped than the balls we had just walked over (which were some sort of walnut casing, I think...?) so we did a drive-by on our way out to investigate.

The tree:

Looks normal enough, right?   If you look just above the midpoint of the picture, you can see one of the light green blobs still attached.  Here, let me make it easier:

And.....this is what they look like.  Broccoli Brains, I call 'em.   They are SO heavy:

Haven't taken the time to investigate online yet.  Any tree sleuths out there recognize it?

Hoodie Season Has Arrived

It has started to get a little more brrr chilly here, at least in the mornings and evenings.  We still managed to have outdoor adventures-- gotta love fall!

Friday night at the game:

(The outcome of that game was not so favorable--although not a surprise since we were playing a perennial powerhouse--but the BG did get interviewed on TV for the second time in two weekends.  Crazy!)

 Saturday morning playground time:

 Sunday stroll down the street:

I loved seeing all the pics online of Baylor Homecoming!  Looks like it was hoodie weather there, too!  Hope everybody had a great weekend, whatever the temps!

Pumpkin Day!

Yesterday was the preschool's "field trip" to the in-house pumpkin patch.   It's really an ideal way for 2-year olds to have a fun "outing"!!

Lining up to leave the playground and head to the pumpkins-- I like how it looks like she's giving this girl the shifty eye, like "why are you dressed just like me??!"

Getting ready for the hayride:

Checking out the stock:

Face-painting time:

Checking out her new look:

She looks a bit different than she did last year!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Don't Need To Be Under The Sea

Not when a blue crab will check you out on land!

I actually took this pic last Wednesday on our trip to Weggies after picking up Grammie and Opa at the airport.  Say it with me:  Wegmans is THE PLACE WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE and each trip there is so fun for the kids as they find all their fave things (train, blue cow in the cheese department, "flames" on the torches above the Italian section, lobsters, etc).   This day, they had a giant display of (live!) crabs and this employee was very nice in response to my request for a quick pic of C and the crustacean!!

She and I actually popped back in yesterday as our errands took us over that way.  And maybe because we consumed all our sweet treats from last week in record time and needed to stock up...

(Speaking of sweet treats, here's an APB for all you Wegmans loyalists out there:  they have changed the recipe for the mini scones in the plastic tub.  Christy first reported it to me and we confirmed with our taste test last week.  In what I'm sure was a move to be healthier, they must have removed whatever ingredient it was that made the mini scones deliciously moist.   Boooo.  And also, they better not mess with the heart-clogger that is the kuchen.  That thing is meant to be the most special of treats...right, Carrie?!)

Acknowledging Autumn

First we had freakishly warm weather and then it rained and rained.  It hasn't really felt much like fall.

So happy to have (cool) sunshine again!

Let's chalk up my lack-of-motivation to decorate for fall to the odd weather conditions, shall we?  And not focus on the laziness that is more likely the cause?!!

At least it's done! 

Checking Out the K Scene

The B-man's school had an open house yesterday morning so Miss C and I popped into his Kindergarten classroom for a bit.  (Apparently, the open house thing is a district-wide annual tradition on Columbus Day-- guess which biology teacher has NEVER mentioned that to me in the 10+ years he's been teaching in this county?!)

When we arrived, B was engaged in a rotation where his task was to "write the room" or go around and write down on paper words from anywhere in the classroom while apparently wearing a random tiger mask.  (When asked why he was wearing said mask--which he pulled down over his eyes at various times--he said, "So I can see better."  Well, of course!):

The next rotation was "read-to-self" and sister joined him at his seat:

That is, until she did some important work of her own:

I had every intention of staying for 30 minutes and leaving to get to a Zumba class to try and make amends for all the eating I did over the weekend, but his last rotation was groupwork with the teacher and I was curious to see how that went.  I cracked up when I saw that, while the other reading groups have names like The Twinkles (a star icon), or The Rattlers (a snake icon), B's group is represented by none other than this icon!!

Wet (but fun!) Weekend

Grammie and Opa have moved on to Corning for Part Two of their adventure but not before having some good times over the weekend.   Grammie offered to keep the kids at home with her for the football game Friday so Opa and I puddle-jumped our way to the stadium.  Thankfully, the skies let up for the duration of the game-- it still was raining the entire time but it was the fine mist that doesn't really cause too much of a problem.  Too much of a problem for the spectators, that is.  The players ended up slipping and sliding in the muddiest of fields.  It was crazy.  It was also a 36-0 win for the Rams so that was pretty exciting!!

Other that that, we mostly just hung out:

And wore plaid:

Assorted Adventures

It rained all day yesterday (and probably will today, too, which does not bode well for an enjoyable football game tonight) but we managed to keep ourselves entertained.

First up: a donut and "warm chocolate" break during shopping.  (Grammie's crazy eyes kinda look like she's considering eating up that cute little girl!):

Then there was some modeling of spectacles:

And some dress-a-bear antics:

The B-man made a (wet) appearance upon being greeted by the grandparentals at the bus stop:

After which there was some music-making and a brief parade!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Grandparent Fun Begins!

Well, if a tale of adventure from yesteryear didn't grab you, maybe these pics from yesterday will.  We are so happy to have Grammie and Opa here for the first round of the Annual Fall Parent Parade!!

Blob

That's what I feel like.  I've gotten nothing photographic to show for this week AND I've fallen off the healthy-eating wagon the last couple of days.

I figured, in the absence of new news, I'd dive into my pile o' old pics and find something to include.  How fitting that this series was right on top of the box I brought home from Dallas this summer.   I'm pegging these as being from 1990, so 23 years old.  (OMG-- I totally started to write 13 years old because it seems like that should be more correct.)

I spent the summers of 1988-1992 at Camp Longhorn; well, I spent 3 weeks of every summer there.  It was a wonderland of adventure with no electricity and Tang for breakfast.  I will never forget the name of the rifles we used in riflery (Remington Twenty Two Cal-i-ber, Single-Shot Bolt Action RI-fle), trying to master "swivel hips" in trampoline class, or being told that a warm spot in the lake means a turtle is under you.  Ah, good times.

Oh, right-- so that's a BLOB above.  The founder of Camp Longhorn claims to have invented it and I do see it gets notice in the Wikipedia entry.  Once a session, they'd pour baby oil over it and we'd have cabin vs. cabin challenges to see how many campers could stay on the oily surface!   That is not to be confused with us putting toothpaste on our toes to try and catch catfish nor with having to invent and perform choreographed marches in order to be allowed to enter the chow hall for dinner.   ;-)

Some more current pics can be found here, although it still pretty much looks the same!!!  Nostalgia is a driving force in getting new generations of campers, I would imagine!

Groovin' (No Legs Required)

These children are really into feeling the beat....with their arms!!

Yes, they were both "dancing" over lunch Sunday.  And I've now been told by two different church staff members in two different weeks that the B-man is quite the dancer during their praise time!!!   Between that, his memory, and his amazing articulation and inflection, perhaps he's headed to the stage after all!!

Sister will, I'm sure, call out "ME DO THAT!" from the front row...and then try to climb up to join him!!

Making The Best Of It

I know this isn't unusual for parts of the country to our south, but it is WEIRD here to have temps nearing 90 degrees in October.  I am not a fan.

The kids don't seem to mind, though:

Baby Visitor

We were so happy to have THREE generations of the H/G family visit us yesterday:  baby Ellie, Anne, and her mom, too!   It's nice to live somewhere that is often "in the middle" of people's travels!

The kids enjoyed having a little one to check out!

 

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Balancing It Out

Oh, look!  Here's an aquatic pic of B (at his Wednesday eve  swim lessons) to match yesterday's of C....although this pool is WAY more crowded!

(I realize it looks like the pool is in the middle of a dark soundstage or something but we're going to blame that on the photography and lighting.  There really is a back wall with diving boards and everything!)

The other day, right before we went to the neighbor's pool, I heard him talking to himself in the bathroom.  It sounded like he was narrating his afternoon plans but he was obviously in there by himself.  When he came out, I questioned his conversation and he proceeded to crack me up with this tale which I immediately came to the computer to write down as best as I could remember:

"I was talking to the family that lives inside me.  I told them two important things:  1)  that they need to get in swimming mode, and 2) that we're going to [neighbor's] pool.  I have to tell them because they are not very smart.   They don't go to school; I leave them at home."

Indeed.

Odd for October

As a lover of all things fall, I'm not so sure what to do with the temps in the 80s this week.  The mild weather + the neighbor's heated pool (and generosity), however, equals some very excited kiddos!

B was there, too, but he was so busy playing with the older neighborhood kids that I couldn't even snap a pic.  This girl was happy to float around all the activity!

Also making her happy?   Locating all the Hello Kitty merchandise at TJMaxx:

Seriously-- it is unbelievable to me that Hello Kitty is in every.single.store.   And what has she/it really done to still be so popular?  Pretty impressive staying power, that cat!!