The Zoo

Last Friday, Pops and I took Karsyn and Landrie to the zoo. We all had fun. It was nice and cool so it didn't smell. I know I have been to the zoo a few times with school groups in the last 20 years, but the last time I remember going on my own was when I was 9+ months pregnant with Jordan. I naively thought that walking around would put me in labor. I was wrong and I had her 2 weeks late weighting in at 10 lbs. 9 1/2 ozs.

Landrie and Karsyn had fun. The only thing that Landrie did not like was the baby alligator that was in a glass tank. She said, "Lolly, I don't like this, get me out of here." She kept looking at my map to let me know what animals we hadn't seen.

The white tiger was very close. The only thing separating them is the glass. She really enjoyed that. Karsyn didn't like the gorillas, they were a little to close for her, but she loved the train ride with Pops.

Italian Villa with The Wades

Saturday night, we went to Italian Villa with the Wades. We had a great time and didn't get home until 12:30. That is really late for old people like us. The food was good. I ate way too much garlic bread. Thank goodness we split a meal. Pops and I got the sea bass and Badger and Amy got the Fillet Oscar. When our food arrived, Amy and I switched. After we finished, we went to their house for Cookies N Cream cheesecake from Patty's Pantry.

The Wade's are probably our most "long term" friends that we have. Pops and Badger lived next door to each other starting in Jr. High and he and Amy started dating not too long after we did. They got married two days before we did and have 3 adorable children (yes, Keely, I know you will be reading this so I have to say nice things about you). We have had many great times with them. For several years they lived about 1 1/2 away from us, but we frequently went to Hubbard to see them. They moved back here a couple of years ago to start their new business. It is not a business that you really want to frequent, but if you need it, they are the absolute best. This is the ministry that God has gifted them to do and they do it well.

In our busy lives, we are always saying, "let's get together", but never get around to it. When we went out in March after no doing so for a while, we decided to put it on the calendar. We now have the Wades on our calendar for the second Saturday of the month. That is something to look forward to. We have already decided where we are going next month.

I ran into a long time friend yesterday (at Celebrity Bakery of course) that I have not seen other than at the grocery store or out and about for about 10 years. Every time we see each other, we always say the same thing, "let's get together." Before we left the restaurant, we put it on our calendars. In today's world of busy lives, that is the only for sure way that we will definitely get connected. I am looking forward to it. I am going to try to be intentional about doing this when I see old friends that I don't see often and not just let it be empty words.

Spring Break

I am on vacation this week. Since Jennifer is a teacher, when she is off I don't keep the girls. As much as I love them, it is nice to have a break from the cheerios and the toys. I still see them almost every day, but they are not my responsibility. When we go out to eat and Karsyn has a dirty diaper, I don't have to take her to the car and change it. When Landrie has a dirty face and hands after eating lunch at Celebrity, I don't have to clean her sticky mouth and hands. That is what I am enjoying about my vacation.

Landrie and Karsyn are going to see their GiGi and Grandpa this week, by themselves. Landrie is so excited. She has been talking about it for about 3 weeks. She will start giggling and say, "I get to see my GiGi and Grandpa and I am so excited. I can't wait." I know GiGi and Grandpa are just as excited as Landrie is. Karsyn is the sweetest baby and always happy, but she likes to be mobile. She is happiest when she is on the ground. GiGi will be busy!

Happy Valentine's Day

I hate to sound like a bragging Grandmother, but does it get any cuter than that???? The killer is that they are even much sweeter than they are cute. Words can not explain how much we all love these two.

We had a very low key Valentine's day. It was sooo cold outside, I decided to stay home all day and let them take long naps (I got a little one in their too). This is very unusual for me, but I didn't even get dressed until 4:00. Now, for those of you who are not from Texas, that doesn't means that I had pj's on all day. I had on clothes, just no make up or hair fixed to the point that I would let anyone see me.

Pops and I went to Al Biernat's for dinner. This was our second time to go and I liked it better than the first. It has a great reputation. This is where all the "movers and shakers" go. We move and we shake a little bit some times, but we don't quite fit into that same category. Troy and Rhonda Aikman were there, so I guess you could say we had our Valentine dinner with them.

I am learning what to order each time. The bread is great. They bring a basket with several different kinds. I loved my salad. There are about 10 choices, but I ordered the basic salad with 1000 Island and Blue Cheese and it was good. I got Chicken Piccata and it was okay. Wouldn't order it again. Pops ordered the Sea Bass on top of Lobster Risotto (Dr. Phil's favorite when he is in town). The risotto was great. You can get it as a side dish and I will definitely try that next time. For dessert we had a warm moulten chocolate cake with ice cream. Need I say more?

My Valentine Girls

Landrie and Karsyn's Gigi came to visit them last weekend. They had so much fun. They put their Valentine shirts on and baked cookies with Gigi. As you can tell, Landrie is much more into it than Karsyn, but Karsyn sure looks cute!

AHHHHH - What A Great Week

When Pops has to travel, I will usually try to go along if I can get it worked out with babysitters for the girls. We have been so blessed and gotten to go on many great trips. The great part is that I pay for my food and airfare, or use advantage miles, and the rest is taken care of. This is a great way to see the world. In the last few years we have been to Switzerland, Brazil, Canada, Hawaii, California, Florida, and many places in between. Pops went to Paris last April, but I decided to stay home. Little Karsyn was expected to be born the first of April and I just couldn't stand to miss any part of her birth or her first days.

Out of all the places I have been, Las Vegas is my absolute favorite. The hotels are fantastic, lots of people watching, great food and lots of shows. By Las Vegas standards, we are very boring people. Not a drop of alcohol or any naked bodies. Pops does not gamble at all and I will a little bit. Just Roulette and a few slot machines. I have my own scientific approach to Roulette and I usually win, but Pops thinks I am crazy. He has taken and taught many statistic classes and he says my logic just doesn't add up.

This week he had a conference in Las Vegas. I was not about to pass this one up. We always stay at the Bellagio. It just doesn't get any better than that. The weather this week was in the low 70's. I had my breakfast in bed 3 mornings in a row and while Pops was working, I laid out by the pool and read. There is a pastry shop that has the best cream cheese danish I have ever eaten. I think it probably has a whole 8 oz. block of cream cheese on it. Tastes just like cheesecake.

The Bellagio has a huge atrium that has tons of flowers and fountains. The theme changes every couple of months. The theme right now is the Chinese New Year (the year of the pig). Everything is made with real flowers. The children in the pictures are made of flowers that are changed out every few days. The pictures just don't do it justice. When you walk into the hotel, the strong smell of the flowers hits you. They have gorgeous arrangements all over the hotel.

Every meal we ate was fantastic. We had the Bellagio buffet twice. All the peeled shrimp and crab you can eat. That is worth the whole trip. We had dinner at Smith and Wollensky's. One of the best steaks around. We always get the Cajun marinated bone in ribeye. It looks like a roast beef that you would serve the whole family. After the first trip, we learned to share. The macaroni and cheese was awesome.

Another great place was Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab Las Vegas. We will definitely add this to one of our Vegas favorites.

Another great meal was at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. (For those of you that watch the food network, you will know who I am talking about. I had tiger shrimp on top of a corn tamale with a cilantro cream sauce. Pop's had smoked chicken quesadillas that were the best I have ever had. We had a warm chocolate moulten cake with toasted pecan ice cream for dessert. Yum!!!

We have seen some great shows in the past, but this time they were good, but not great. We saw Mystere and The Fab Four (Beatles). Our trip last July will go down as Pops all time favorite because we went to see Elton John. We saw him on Wednesday night. We were scheduled to come hom on Friday night, but after a 2 hour delay on the tarmac, the flight was cancelled. We decided to make the best of it and went to see Elton again.

When it comes to traveling, I have my 3 night limit. I am always ready to come home and sleep in my own bed. I could have stayed another week. I am already planning my next trip. I will be watching the Sunday travel section for the great deals.

Glued to the TV

As I have said before, it is hard for me to take pictures of Landrie these days. She is not very cooperative. I got this while she was watching TV. She would stay in front of the TV all day long if we let her. As soon as a movie is over, she wants to start again. She can also tell you all about every show and sing the songs that go with it.