Circus & Cake time

Today we took the girls to see the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus that was here in town at Reliant Stadium. It was a lot of fun. I don't know who enjoyed it more the girls or us. It is so nice that we have children who have a good attention span and like to see live theatrical events. We got to the stadium early and were able to see the animals and go down on the floor of the circus and see some special performances of acrobats, an elephant 'painting', and the show dogs. Merlova was in awe of the lights, costumes, animals, and dancers. Zhivanna, "... loved all the ponies best". The snacks were very pricey and I was amazed when Glenn brought back two $12 snow cones in cool animal mugs for his darlings after the intermission. It must be that daddy's girls thing! A fun afternoon for the 4 of us. Today we also celebrated with my Birthday with a cake. Glenn and the girls made me angle food cake with a blue cinnamon flavored frosting. It was yummy! I got to be sung to twice, I must be special! Family at circus, me with my cake...blow

Who's b-day is it?

We made it back safely to TX a little tired and worn out from the two 8 to 10 hours days in the car. It was weird to drive back with just the girls, we put them next to each other for the ride back home to keep it easier to wrangle them. The dogs had the run of the back row as we put the seat down and had the back area open (well somewhat open, with the luggage and such). Today is my 38th b-day. Older but not "40" yet, so I still have time before I have to grow up. All I wanted was to go out to a nice dinner, Papa Herman, Lois, Glenn the girls and I went to Red Lobster. I have not been to one in about 10 years, or so. I really wanted lobster for my birthday ( I love the water bugs). I had lobster, with grilled shrimp, and Alaskan king crab legs (Yummy!) It was a nice meal topped off with a strawberry margarita. When we came home we lit a candle and I blew it out in lieu of a cake, (as Glenn and the girls had not baked me a cake yet). Lois, Papa's girlfriend gave me a beautiful vase full of flowers, and my dad gave me a card along with some money in it. I really don't need anything now that I am an adult/parent but it was nice to know that I had some money to be able to spend on something just for me. The only part of my b-day that I missed was not having my big boy around to give me a hug. I do miss my man, Akorren. I guess I'll just have to hug his daddy instead. Here we are waiting for our food to come, don't we look cute?

Akorren's Dairy Trip

Today we left Akorren with Papa Clyde and Grandma Dani and headed back on our drive to TX. Akorren was able to have a special day and start off his vacation time on his own by going to a local dairy farm here in Indiana. He got to see how the cows were milked (note second photo), saw some young calves, and got to play around the farm (ridding tractor). He had a good day and spent his first night away from mom and dad, sleeping on the floor at Aunt Mae's place in Papa's room. Tomorrow AM he takes a plane ride back to Papa's place in Newhall, CA for more fun and adventures.

Last PM with Grandma

After coming back from Julie's, mom gave the kids a treat by taking them around in her tractor. They thought it was so exciting. We then headed over to Robert & Michele's to visit one last time with Matt/Pixie and clan. The cousins Tommy, Akorren, Aurora, Zhivanna & Merlova just played and played outside. More firefly catching and doing Harry Potter imaginary play. It was time for hugs and goodbye until next time. We ended up missing seeing Vincent & Christine and Robert as they headed down to Julies for one last visit. We would love to make it out to Arizona or South Dakota before the next reunion, but we will have to see. We were not looking forward to the long drive ahead of us, or saying bye to Akorren tomorrow, but we eventually made it back to mom's house and had the kids all in bed by 9:30 PM. We had a great time and being around the greenery, trees, open land, corn and farmland was such a refreshing break from our concrete suburbia that we see. So much new, new, new all the same houses all sectioned off where we live. A taste of country was so nice a real recharge for Glenn who misses some of the slower IN lifestyle. Thank you all for the great time and hospitality. Merlova's ride, Zhivanna in the sink, Akorren's turn, Akorren & Tommy, the girls eating berries.

A Day with Julie

We spent yesterday playing at Grandpa's the day after the reunion. Then packed up the tent/ gear and headed down to Indianapolis to spend the night with Julie, Mark and kids. Mark and Julie made us a wonderful noodle dinner and the kids ate it all up, Julie had to work that night at the local public radio station so Glenn went along with her to chat and see what she did. I stayed with the kids an Mark and finally got them asleep by 10:00 PM so we could watch some Star Trek Borg videos. Then the following morning we got some repacking done, and after being lazy around the house for a bit we walked over to the Jewish Community Center in her neighborhood. The kids had a great time in the splash pools, water slides, and tub floating river. We stayed cool and played for most of the day until it was time to head back up to mom's for the night. Tomorrow we would be leaving early to get Akorren to Papa Clyde (so he could spend one more day in IN before flying out to CA until Aug.6th). The girls, Glenn & I would then make our 2 day drive back to TX. At the JCC taking a snack break

Reunion Day!

Well our clan got up around the usual time and after getting dressed for the day headed right to the pond again. I had to cajole some food into them, then it was right back into swim suits and the water again. The day was bit more overcast, with slight chances of rain, but that would not deter us from swimming or having fun. Family started arriving shortly after and everyone got comfortable with chairs, swim suits, bug spray, sun block, snacks, cameras, video recorders, more hugs, tents for more shade, food & drinks, and joy to see how big all the kids looked now. We ate, played in the water, rode the dune buggy, had some water fights, flipped family off their water floats, talked, ate more good food, looked for turtles and fish, had a short rainfall, and just had a general great time. I know I was exhausted by the time night fell and the evening ended with a big campfire put on by Donnie. Clyde did make a listing of all the family and friends who attended...I don't recall the exact number but I want to say it was the biggest event so far and we had up to 60+ in attendance. You can try and count all the people in the family reunion photo (if you wish), I do know that we did miss a few people. We love all of you and can't wait to see you in Texas? Is that right? We may want to reconsider a summer reunion as I don't know if many of you can survive the heat out here. We will be in touch. The whole family, Grandpa Johnson with some of the grandchildren, Clyde with his boys (I do have to say I got the cutest one in the picture) and Mary Ann and her kids & grandchildren.

At Grandpa's

It took us about 45 minutes to get to grandpa's house from mom's place. The kids were so excited. We arrived and were greeted with hugs (from Joshua & Sarah, Ruth Ann to name a few) and the kids quickly took off to check out the pond. A small paddle boat, canoe, barge, and an assortment of water floats were open to play with. In no time, Glenn was off wrangling kids into swimsuits and into the water. I took off with Aunt Jill to help pick up other needed food items for the big reunion party tomorrow, as that was when most everyone would be here. It was just a day of water fun, setting up the tent, visiting with family, jumping in the kiddie pool, on the trampoline, and relaxing, the weather was wonderful (yes hot and sunny but nothing like TX heat). Papa Clyde, Grandma Dani, Matt, Pixie & Jenny, Vincent & Christine, Robert & Mic, Uncle Rob & Terri were also around to visit with. More family was to arrive later that night, Uncle Lloyd, Cousin Sarah/Paul & kids. By the time the kids made it to the tent around 9:00 PM they were ready to be asleep, excited for the family fun the next day. I cannot express to you the delight in being able to jump into cold water after being in the heat of the sun, it is not something we are able to do out here in TX. All the water is hot/warm in the summer, such a treat to be cooled. Family at the pond, kids in the little pool, trampoline time.

A day of Rest

So after a long drive it was nice to wake up at grandma's house with the family. Merlova of course was the 1st one up in the AM around her usual 6:30 time. We got up slowly and were mostly together when we had early morning visitors. Uncle Robert, Matt, and cousin Aurora came by to visit with us. It was good to see them... after hugs, small talk, breakfast and playing around we decided to go over to Uncle Roberts to play and visit more. After all the driving the previous days we were not up to being back in the car and driving for very long. Robert, Mic, Vince, and Christine took off to see Julie in Indianapolis so we had a late afternoon of time with Matt, Pixie, Jenny, mom, David and the kids. Akorren, Aurora, Zhivanna, and Merlova + dogs spend the afternoon playing outside in the yard. Climbing trees, playing with the dogs, building imaginary houses, eating berries, and catching fireflies too. Being outside and not stuck in a car was such a break for the kids and yes it was warm outside but nothing like it is in TX at this time of year. We stayed until about 7:00 PM hoping to catch the rest of the family but we decided to leave so that we could get some rest and be ready to drive down to grandpa's house in morning for more fun and play. We all felt well rested and relaxed by the end of the day. Tomorrow we would get to see papa Clyde. The family at Mom's, kids hugging Uncle Matt, Akorren with his firefly collection, Zhivanna and sunflower, Merlova wants a picture too. (Aurora in background)

Diversion...made to IN

Today we were up and on the road by 6:30AM; things were packed in the car, Zhivanna woke up first and we got her ready with us. Merlova and Akorren were tossed in the car just as we were ready to head out. We were making good time and it looked like we would make to mom's home by about 6:30 PM. We had called ahead to Vincent and mom to let them know. Most of the brothers and family was going over to mom's house for dinner so we were looking forward to seeing them all when we arrived. The ride was fairly good and we ending up giving into Merlova's cries for a "binky" (aka pacifier) to keep our sanity. She was waking up from a nice car nap about 1:00 PM when were passing by St. Louis and decided to take a break and see the famous Arch/ Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. After waiting for what seemed like an airport safety check of our shoes, etc. we made it in and got tickets to take the tram up to the 630 ft. high arch. We got in line at our ticket time but ended up getting bumped back a whole 20 min.+ due to a broken tram car. We got to take our ride in the "laundry-dryer-like" tram car up to the top, every so often feeling like we were being turned while on the cable lines. It was a bit weird, you cannot have any claustrophobic issues if you are going to go up in the thing or have any fear of heights as well. Once at the top we were treated to a great view. Akorren promptly said that he was ready to go back down to bottom and claimed to be afraid of heights. The girls wanted to get up on the sides of the monument and look out the windows. Zhivanna said, "...wow mom if you fell out of here you would crash down to the floor and crush your head and die!" Nice thought, girl...some of the other visitors were amused at this comment too. By the time we got back to car, took the dogs out again for another break and headed on the road we are at least 2 1/2 hours behind on our time schedule. We knew for sure we would not be making it to mom's by 8:00 PM. A long drive ahead of us...after some fustrations with kids, each other, and mom's directions we finally made it to IN and pulled into grandma's driveway after 10:30 PM. It was a very long day for all of us but a fun diversion anyway.
Glenn with kids in front entrance of arch, family in the tram, family at the top, the pic. they took of us before the ride up, and a look up from below.

Off on the road

Well we did wake up early today 5:30 AM. But by the time we got all the stuff loaded up, did the last minute bathroom runs, and had everyone ready, (dogs included) we were able to head out by 8:00 AM. Not bad but we had wanted to leave a little sooner. The kids were very excited and we were able to talk, play the radio, and have them observe out the windows for the first 2 hours of driving. It was a while later before we took out the DVD players, ipod etc., to keep minds busy. Merlova was going to be our most challenging passenger to keep occupied for the trip. We found that having daddy or mommy sit by her with the older two in back row was a good set up. That way one of us could play steward by getting snacks and drinks out to the travelers. We made it all the way to just 30 miles South of Memphis, TN before we stopped for the night at Motel 8. The kids were excited to be out of the car and thought it was so special that they got to take a bath in the hotel. (I am glad that they are easy to please at this age.) Mommy and daddy were just glad to be able to rest after about 12 hours in the car with all 3 kids. The plan is to get up and be on the road by 6:30AM tomorrow, on the road to IN by tomorrow night. The photos were taken by Papa Herman as we were packing up to leave, the woman in the picture with the girls is Ms. Lois, Papa's girlfriend, we love Ms. Lois.

Off to Indy

Well most everything is packed, I think. Still more to do now that kids are in bed and I have has a few minutes to myself to try and think. I am looking forward to seeing all the family in the next few days; I am not looking forward to the 2 days (give or take) in the car with my clan to get there. I am really working at being a go-with-the-flow-wife for this trip. I really don't want to have to make any decisions on how we get there. I just want to drive when we need to drive, rest when we need to and get there when we do. "Calm and peaceful" is my mantra . I am more of a point A to point B kind of person. Power driving, only stop when you have too...but the reality of having children and the need for Glenn to stretch his legs after a while makes it so that I have to be open and flexible. The hardest part of this trip for me is not being able to exercise everyday like I am used to at the YMCA. I am mentally preparing myself for that as well as looking at how I can adjust my eating habits even more so that I don't make to many mistakes. I am thinking of a fasting mentality, less is more. I still have to let my toe rest and will be taking my oh so fun, orthopedic shoe with me, yay! (I have a 1 month visit with the podiatrist) I am still taking my running shorts and shoes and hope to hit the road at some point over the trip. Here is to a safe journey into the arms of our loving family who we so need to see...and to many joyful memories for the children.
Off to get more things done, I feel the coffee wearing off so it may end up being a longer night for me.

Be Free!

Well this post is for those of you who have been wondering about the crawdad the children adopted when I first started to blog about 3 months ago. We are leaving for a trip to IN for about 2 weeks on Tues. and wanted to make the animal care easier for Papa Herman when we were gone...so we decided to set the crawfish FREE. Akorren was all for it, Zhivanna was upset about the whole idea (at first) and Merlova was up for anything. Glenn had noticed over the past 3 weeks that 'our pet' had been trying to make an escape from the plastic tank he has been living in. The crawfish was crawling up the mesh side of the walls where he/she/it would get a claw part stuck into then side of the tank then have to be unstuck. At first Glenn thought is was buy chance. Sometimes it was almost reaching the roof of the aquarium but opening hatch. It seemed like it wanted to go.
The children took a walk with daddy, dogs, and crawdad and found a nice natural pond to let it go in. They set it in the water at first and it immediately went and made it's way to the grassy, waters edge. When they left it, it was in a nice muddy part of the pond, I guess that is why they call them mud bugs. "Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again." Be FREE! Will try and post some updates of IN trip, in the next week.

A Magical B-day

Akorren celebrated his 7th b-day on 6/5/08 with a few friends and some Harry Potter Magical fun. We did a tri-wizard task by putting a spell on the dragon (like pin the tail, but with a spell), we were entertained by a young magician, looked for sorcerer stones in the front yard, practiced our levitation spells (wingardium leviosa), used party poppers to see if we could cast a patronus spell, cast silly string spells at our Voldermort pinata/ then cracked him open with our metal wand (a bat), ate chocolate star cupcakes, opened some gifts, and played a "DVD scene-it" game on the Harry Potter movies. Akorren was one very happy Hogwarts student for the day. Glenn even made up a magical CD with HP music and other great magical songs like It's Magic (Fenders), Strange Magic (ELO), Do You Believe In Magic (The Lovin' Spoonful) and Magic (The Cars & Olivia Newton John). It was truly a magical day for the whole family.