As I mentioned back in 2008 in this post: I LOVE LISTS I still have tons of lists and I realized that I've kind of drug Joe in on this. In our very first year of dating we started a list - to visit all the Professional Baseball Parks. The next year we started another list - to visit all the Presidential Libraries. Last year we added a list to the list - to visit all the National Parks. Now we, literally, have an official list of lists on Shutterfly. These are mostly our travel lists, but I have moved our Home Improvements list to this site too. Here it is: Shutterfly Lists Site
Old habits die hard and some just become obsessions!!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Our Week of Family Obligations
The weekend after Mother's Day, we began our first week of vacation for 2010, which we were using to satisfy some family obligations. I wasn't overly happy about using a week of vacation for this (and, yes, I was justly called "selfish" for feeling this way), but in all honesty, it worked out pretty well.
Illinois:
Although....it didn't start out too well. It started out with a thunderstorm in the DFW area, which caused our flight to cancel (in fact, all the afternoon/evening flights to Chicago were canceled - thank you passengers bill of rights!!). Fortunately we were REAL passengers with REAL tickets, so Joe jumped on the computer and got us switched to the flight to Champaign, IL. It did save us the cost of a rental car and we made it to Illinois on the day that we were originally scheduled. I guess I can't complain too much.
Our first day in Illinois, we drove up to Midway Airport and caught the train to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game. We try to see at least one game a year, although some years we don't make it. Wrigley is one of Joe's favorite places on earth, along with Soldier Field. He is a die-hard Cubs fans and vows to live to see them win a World Series. I hope he does. The Cubs lost, but we still had a good time.
From the Cubs game, we went to Joliet to catch what we could of Emily's softball game. Emily is playing with the Lady Warriors Travel Team, which is a pretty big deal. She is a very good softball player and I know the family has high hopes for a softball career for her. I tried to take a picture of her on the pitcher's mound, but I seemed to have mostly gotten the chain link fence and a blur on the mound. I didn't want to embarrass her, so this is as good as it gets. Joe went back the next morning to watch her play again, but didn't take the camera. BAD Uncle!!!
Sunday brought a very exciting event - Samantha's graduation from high school. Sam is the first Foley grandchild to graduate from high school (just meaning she's the oldest grandchild, not that the family is full of dropouts!!). Sam graduated in the top 10 of her class and is going to start out at Joliet Junior College. After the graduation ceremony, Nick and Mary had a party for her and her two cousins (on her mom's side) that graduated with her. Here's a few pics from the big event:
Lilly was happy for Sam!
Jordan headed straight for the beer - like father, like son!
Uncle Joe and Aunt Pauline:
I'm not really sure, but I think it's been close to 12 years since I had seen my Uncle Joe and Aunt Pauline. Uncle Joe is my dad's brother and they live in Salt Lake City. As a kid, we used to visit them every year when we would load up in the car and take a road trip to Utah. Dad always gave us a side-trip though. One year we saw the Grand Canyon, one year we saw Yellowstone. He always tried to drive different routes so we could see different scenery. I just remember how much I loved to go!!
Joe and Pauline came through our area on the way home from a trip to San Antonio. Uncle Joe is a pathologist and he won the "Scientist of the Year Award" which was given in San Antonio. On Tuesday, we spent the day with them, catching up and also going down to the Fort Worth Stockyards for the Cattle Drive. After the cows, we had lunch down there and then spent the rest of the afternoon visiting. It was really good to see them and Joe and I have vowed to visit them in Utah - a state that Joe has never been to - next year. (AFTER we visit my Aunt Mae in California who we've been promising a visit to for a lot longer!!) Here's a few pics from our adventure downtown:
Uncle Joe, Me, Aunt Pauline, and Dad:
Here come the Longhorns!!:
It sure was good to see them. It brought back tons of great memories. I hope we will be good to our word to visit!!
A Little Road Trip:
Wednesday and Thursday were "free" days so we decided to take a little road trip down the Little Creamery in Brenham. We called mom and dad and they were in, too. We left late on Wednesday morning, so we stopped at Washington-on-the-Brazos on the way. This is where Texas signed their Declaration of Independence. We missed out on some of the attractions because we arrived late, but after our free samples and tour of the Blue Bell Creamery on Thursday, we returned for a little more Texas history.
Replica of Texas Independence Hall:
The Star of the Republic Museum tells the story of Texas Independence:
Blue Bell was a really fun tour. We learned the ice cream making process and saw them filling gallons with ice cream - spinning the container as it fills. We also saw them making ice cream sandwiches, which for some reason I found incredibly fascinating. We learned that Blue Bell is the 2nd largest employer in Brenham - Brenham State School is #1 and I was a little surprised by that. We also learned that Blue Bell is the #3 selling ice cream behind Breyer's and Dreyer's. Overall, the tour was interesting and it was capped off with a free sample, so who can beat that? I had peaches and cream and it was delicious!! No pictures were allowed during the creamery tour because it distracts the people trying to work, but here are a couple from the grounds:
The "Cow and Girl" logo was created in the 1970s to capture the country image that is the Little Creamery in Brenham.
A Bluebell is actually a wildflower native to Texas:
Storm on the way home:
Oklahoma:
Friday was another high school graduation ceremony. This time it was Erik and instead of the first to graduate, Erik is the last. My brother's youngest has graduated!!! It was quite a different experience to be at a graduation for over 500 students vs. the graduation last week with a class of 49. But, they moved them through pretty quickly and I know Steve and Rebel are relieved to have all their kids out of high school:
Erik on the big screen:
Wrapping Up:
We wrapped up our week by going to see Little House on the Prairie at the Dallas Summer Musicals at Fair Park. It was actually really good!!! Melissa Gilbert from the TV show played "Ma" in this stage version and she was good. Her real life son also was in the play.
Sunday I went to a baby shower for my very good friend, Amy, who is expecting twin boys in August. Rhonda was in town for the party and it was especially fun to catch up with her, Angel, Hayley, and Robin.
Our next vacation is to Yellowstone and Grand Teton and I'm very much looking forward to it. But for all of my complaining, it was nice to have a week off work and even nicer to spend some time with family.
Illinois:
Although....it didn't start out too well. It started out with a thunderstorm in the DFW area, which caused our flight to cancel (in fact, all the afternoon/evening flights to Chicago were canceled - thank you passengers bill of rights!!). Fortunately we were REAL passengers with REAL tickets, so Joe jumped on the computer and got us switched to the flight to Champaign, IL. It did save us the cost of a rental car and we made it to Illinois on the day that we were originally scheduled. I guess I can't complain too much.
Our first day in Illinois, we drove up to Midway Airport and caught the train to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game. We try to see at least one game a year, although some years we don't make it. Wrigley is one of Joe's favorite places on earth, along with Soldier Field. He is a die-hard Cubs fans and vows to live to see them win a World Series. I hope he does. The Cubs lost, but we still had a good time.
From the Cubs game, we went to Joliet to catch what we could of Emily's softball game. Emily is playing with the Lady Warriors Travel Team, which is a pretty big deal. She is a very good softball player and I know the family has high hopes for a softball career for her. I tried to take a picture of her on the pitcher's mound, but I seemed to have mostly gotten the chain link fence and a blur on the mound. I didn't want to embarrass her, so this is as good as it gets. Joe went back the next morning to watch her play again, but didn't take the camera. BAD Uncle!!!
Sunday brought a very exciting event - Samantha's graduation from high school. Sam is the first Foley grandchild to graduate from high school (just meaning she's the oldest grandchild, not that the family is full of dropouts!!). Sam graduated in the top 10 of her class and is going to start out at Joliet Junior College. After the graduation ceremony, Nick and Mary had a party for her and her two cousins (on her mom's side) that graduated with her. Here's a few pics from the big event:
Lilly was happy for Sam!
Jordan headed straight for the beer - like father, like son!
Uncle Joe and Aunt Pauline:
I'm not really sure, but I think it's been close to 12 years since I had seen my Uncle Joe and Aunt Pauline. Uncle Joe is my dad's brother and they live in Salt Lake City. As a kid, we used to visit them every year when we would load up in the car and take a road trip to Utah. Dad always gave us a side-trip though. One year we saw the Grand Canyon, one year we saw Yellowstone. He always tried to drive different routes so we could see different scenery. I just remember how much I loved to go!!
Joe and Pauline came through our area on the way home from a trip to San Antonio. Uncle Joe is a pathologist and he won the "Scientist of the Year Award" which was given in San Antonio. On Tuesday, we spent the day with them, catching up and also going down to the Fort Worth Stockyards for the Cattle Drive. After the cows, we had lunch down there and then spent the rest of the afternoon visiting. It was really good to see them and Joe and I have vowed to visit them in Utah - a state that Joe has never been to - next year. (AFTER we visit my Aunt Mae in California who we've been promising a visit to for a lot longer!!) Here's a few pics from our adventure downtown:
Uncle Joe, Me, Aunt Pauline, and Dad:
Here come the Longhorns!!:
It sure was good to see them. It brought back tons of great memories. I hope we will be good to our word to visit!!
A Little Road Trip:
Wednesday and Thursday were "free" days so we decided to take a little road trip down the Little Creamery in Brenham. We called mom and dad and they were in, too. We left late on Wednesday morning, so we stopped at Washington-on-the-Brazos on the way. This is where Texas signed their Declaration of Independence. We missed out on some of the attractions because we arrived late, but after our free samples and tour of the Blue Bell Creamery on Thursday, we returned for a little more Texas history.
Replica of Texas Independence Hall:
The Star of the Republic Museum tells the story of Texas Independence:
Blue Bell was a really fun tour. We learned the ice cream making process and saw them filling gallons with ice cream - spinning the container as it fills. We also saw them making ice cream sandwiches, which for some reason I found incredibly fascinating. We learned that Blue Bell is the 2nd largest employer in Brenham - Brenham State School is #1 and I was a little surprised by that. We also learned that Blue Bell is the #3 selling ice cream behind Breyer's and Dreyer's. Overall, the tour was interesting and it was capped off with a free sample, so who can beat that? I had peaches and cream and it was delicious!! No pictures were allowed during the creamery tour because it distracts the people trying to work, but here are a couple from the grounds:
The "Cow and Girl" logo was created in the 1970s to capture the country image that is the Little Creamery in Brenham.
A Bluebell is actually a wildflower native to Texas:
Storm on the way home:
Oklahoma:
Friday was another high school graduation ceremony. This time it was Erik and instead of the first to graduate, Erik is the last. My brother's youngest has graduated!!! It was quite a different experience to be at a graduation for over 500 students vs. the graduation last week with a class of 49. But, they moved them through pretty quickly and I know Steve and Rebel are relieved to have all their kids out of high school:
Erik on the big screen:
Wrapping Up:
We wrapped up our week by going to see Little House on the Prairie at the Dallas Summer Musicals at Fair Park. It was actually really good!!! Melissa Gilbert from the TV show played "Ma" in this stage version and she was good. Her real life son also was in the play.
Sunday I went to a baby shower for my very good friend, Amy, who is expecting twin boys in August. Rhonda was in town for the party and it was especially fun to catch up with her, Angel, Hayley, and Robin.
Our next vacation is to Yellowstone and Grand Teton and I'm very much looking forward to it. But for all of my complaining, it was nice to have a week off work and even nicer to spend some time with family.
Happy Mother's Day
Now that it's almost Father's Day, I'd like to take a moment to say, "Happy Mother's Day!" This year for Mother's Day, my mom decided she wanted Chinese buffet. The good thing about that is that no one else wanted Chinese buffet on Mother's Day, so there was no wait. LOL!!!
Joe and I both have great moms - we really do. We feel super lucky to have them and to be close to both of them. Mother's Day is a small tribute to them, but doesn't even begin to pay back what our mothers do for us. So, Happy Mother's Day - to our mothers and to all the wonderful mothers in the world!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)