Happy Father's Day

I am approximately 3 1/2 months behind, but isn't there a saying...better late than never? We took my dad to lunch for his special day, and I remember that he picked the place, but I can't remember where we went!!! I guess if I would stay more current, I wouldn't have this problem!

At any rate...just as Joe and I are grateful for our mother's, we are equally grateful for our Father's. We are truly blessed to have these wonderful men in our lives. Happy (Belated) Father's Day to two of the best...and to our brothers, too.

Austin - Part 2

The very next weekend after we returned from Atlanta, we took a road trip to Austin. This was our 2nd visit to the capital city of Texas and was chosen because we had a certificate for a free night at an Intercontinental Hotel and decided a good choice would be a stay at the historic Stephen F. Austin in downtown Austin. We hit a bit of a road block when we arrived in town - literally. We, as we have a gift for, arrived in Austin just in time for the ROT Rally – the “Republic of Texas” Motorcycle Rally, that is – the largest motorcycle rally in Texas. Sigh.

We got a bit of a late start on Saturday due to the live band playing across the street from our hotel until 2:00AM, but that was okay because I didn’t have a lot of “things” on my Austin to-do list – we were mostly there just to enjoy the hotel. And, we did LOVE our room and the hotel. Here's a couple of pictures:



So...after breakfast at the Magnolia Cafe, we ventured to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. This museum is fairly new and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was really well done and covered a lot of history – from the men who discovered Texas, through Independence and statehood, the Civil War, and up to present day. It was very informative. Some of the information was a repeat from the Star of the Republic Museum we recently visited in Washington-on-the-Brazos, but I still enjoyed it.


That evening, we tried...once again...to see the famous bats at the Congress Avenue Bridge. If you recall, last time they flew, but it was too dark to see them. This time, they didn't fly at all. I think those little bastards sense my presence and refuse to do their thing when I'm around. Very frustrating!!! Then again, mildly amusing.

We headed back home on Sunday and on the way, we decided to go to the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. Lyndon Baines Johnson was the 36th President of the United States. He was born in Stonewall, TX in a farmhouse near the Pedernales River and raised in Johnson City, a town named after his ancestors. His mother, Rebekah, was one of the few college-educated women of that day and she instilled in her children the importance of education. His father, Sam, was a State Legislator.

The LBJ National Historical Park consisted of several stops beginning with a visitor center which overviews his life. Across the street is Johnson’s Boyhood Home. LBJ moved to this home with his parents when he was 5. It was from the front porch of this house that he announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives and that began his career in politics.


From the boyhood home, we headed out to the ranch. Here, you stop at the visitor center and pick up a free CD to guide you through, and a permit. There are several stops along the way including LBJ's first school, the Junction School, and the reconstructed birthplace. Across the street from there is the Johnson Family Cemetery where LBJ, Lady Bird, and several members of the Johnson family are buried. Next, is a drive by LBJ’s grandparent’s house. From there, the tour takes you around the airstrip and out to the show barn. We stopped there and learned that the cattle being raised on the LBJ farm are direct descendants of the cattle that LBJ raised himself when he lived there.

Reconstructed birthplace:


Family Cemetery:



In the show barn - the cattle are now branded on their horns:


The last stop on the ranch tour is the Texas White House. It was recently opened to the public after Lady Bird passed away in 2007. The house is being returned to its appearance when LBJ was President. Currently, there are 4 rooms open for tour – LBJ’s Office, the Family Room, Kitchen, and Dining Room.


On the way out of the house, one of the tourists asked about LBJ’s treatment of Lady Bird…”I heard that he wasn’t always very nice to her.” The park ranger said that his MIS-treatment of her was well documented. He would often make disparaging remarks about her clothes and his philandering was also documented.

LBJ became President upon the assassination of President Kennedy. He was re-elected in 1964, but decided not to run for re-election in 1968. His accomplishments in office include landmark legislation such as Medicare, Head Start, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and forty-three national park authorizations or additions. He also signed more than sixty education bills – a great tribute to his mother.

Here's a couple more pics of our weekend.

Joe with Stevie Ray Vaughan:


Austin is known as the "Live Music Capital of the World":

Atlanta Part 2

So...some other projects have given the old blog a backseat and I have a few trips to catch up on. The first one is a trip we took in June to Atlanta.

This weekend trip was born from my desire to see an exhibit - "Diana: A Celebration" about the life and times of Princess Diana. For good measure, I threw in a trip to our next Presidential Library AND a visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Site for another passport stamp. I figured if I was going to make Joe go see an exhibit that for me, was all about a wedding dress, I was going to have to give back with some history. And lots of it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site

Our first stop was the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. This site is in the area of town where MLK actually grew up, called “Sweet Auburn” and there are actually several sites within this historical site. Our first stop was the visitor’s center where we learned more about the man – where he came from and what he stood for. We also learned about MLK’s “connection” to Gandhi and how he learned through him and encouraged non-violent protests because of him. I learned that MLK had received a doctorate degree from Boston University and that is where he met his wife, Coretta. After their marriage, the King’s moved to Alabama, where Dr. King became the minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. Dr. King also led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman. In 1960, he moved his family back to Atlanta and became president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a civil rights organization committed to non-violence. It was at that time he also served as co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

I was pretty familiar with the rest of King’s story. His march on Washington and famous “I Have a Dream” speech were, of course, a focal point of the center, as was his assassination in Memphis. The actual wagon that held his casket was on display at the visitor center.


From the visitor’s center, we walked across the church and saw the Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr. King preached with his father. I also learned in the visitor center that his mother had been an organist there and was shot and killed while playing the organ at church six years after Dr. King was assassinated. Her death was unrelated to Dr. King’s activism, but nonetheless as tragic as his death.


From the church we walked by the tombs of Dr. King and his wife, Coretta.


Our last stop was the birth home. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in the home of his grandparents. We learned that Dr. King’s family was actually very prominent in the neighborhood. The neighborhood was known for circulating money among themselves, so to speak, or in other words, being true to their neighbors through loyalty. The house has been refurbished to the time that Dr. King lived there. There was a parlor, a dining room, kitchen, and 5 bedrooms. There are also 2 bathrooms. Dr. King lived in this house for 12 years with his parents, brother, sister, grandparents, and an aunt and uncle.


Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum

Jimmy Carter was the 39th President of the United States. At the time of his presidency, I was in junior high and remember not thinking that highly of him as a kid. But through the years since he left office, I along with many other Americans, have truly come to respect the man. I think he is a truly good person, a man of God, and someone who has done a ton of stuff for humankind. His library was fairly small (he only served one term). It showed items from his boyhood and his service in the Navy, including his attendance of the Naval Academy. I thought it somewhat sad that his greatest accomplishment was the Mid-East Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt. Not because it was a small feat, it was really a great accomplishment, but I found it sad because his accomplishments had little to do with the country he was leading. At any rate, the library was informative and fulfills the visitation of our 6th Presidential Library!


The Varsity Drive-In

From history of the US, we followed our stomachs to a historical drive-in, The Varsity. Known for their dogs, we decided to split two combos so we could try one each – Slaw Dog and Chili Dog. We both preferred the Chili Dog over the Slaw Dog, although the Slaw Dog wasn’t bad. The Chili Dog was exceptional! The chili was just the perfect chili dog chili and I topped it off with a famous Frosted Orange. It’s a frozen orange drink that is just down-right tasty. Joe thinks it had some kind of cream in it. I’m not sure about that, I just know it was good and Joe thought so, too, taking over mine when given the chance. We topped all that off with a fried peach pie with ice cream and then wondered why we are fat!!!


Stone Mountain

After filling up on dogs and junk, it was still only about 4:00, so we decided to drive out to Stone Mountain. We were oblivious to the fact that it’s a big amusement park – we thought we could just drive out there and look at the mountain. Not so much. Stone Mountain is a small mountain with a carving of three figures of the Confederate States of America on the side: Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis. It felt a little weird to be paying homage to three confederate soldiers after spending a couple of hours at MLK’s National Historic Park, but the carving is rather impressive. We learned that Gutzon Borglum, of Mount Rushmore fame, had started this project, but abandoned it. Augustus Lukeman then came and took over the project, completely starting over.


Sunday brought us to the reason we were in Atlanta. Diana: A Celebration

“Diana: A Celebration chronicles the life of the late Diana, Princess of Wales” and I really wanted to see it. It was kind of pricey, and in all honesty, I’m not 100% I got my monies worth, but I did enjoy that wedding dress. Princess Diana is such an icon. I watched her wedding on TV, getting up in the middle of the night (it seemed, I think it was really about 5:00AM) because it was pre-VCR, pre-DVR days. I was sad for her that her fairy-tale life wasn’t such a fairy-tale, and I was shocked when she died. I was in Costa Rica and the news was reporting an accident. I went to dinner and when I went back to the room, she was dead. It was such a short life for a person who truly seemed to be warm and caring.

The exhibit started out in a room with one tiara. It was spectacular. Huge diamonds – I bet the thing weighed quite a bit. Next, we learned a little about her family and her connections to the royal family. Then we saw quite a few items from her childhood.

The room I had paid the entrance price for was next – the room with the wedding dress. We learned a little about the whirlwind romance between her and Prince Charles and the engagement. There were several audio excerpts with the designer talking about designing the dress and what it was like during that time. The dress was so beautiful.

Next was a tribute to her charities and then was a tribute to her. The address given by her brother at her funeral was written and hanging on the wall and they were showing video of her funeral. I get so choked up at the thought of death, I began to well. Not really FOR Diana, although I do think her death was very, very sad, but just tears associated to death in general. I had to exit quickly – I was afraid the other patrons would think I was a psycho!!!

Lastly was a room with 28 of her dresses from the early 1980’s to the last dress she wore at a public appearance. The 80’s stuff was pretty frumpy – she came in to her own after the divorce when she began to “become more international with a sophisticated and simple silhouette.” During the years she was married to Prince Charles, she exclusively wore designs by British designers, as was custom. But in the 90’s, when she was free to do as she liked, she began to add international designers like Valentino and Chanel to her wardrobe. It was at this point that Joe began to look as though someone were killing him – a slow and painful death – so, I hurried up and finished. It was time to get to the airport anyway. Weather forecasters were calling for thunderstorms in the afternoon, so we decided we should get to the airport and get out of town.


Overall, it was a fabulous weekend – a very successful journey, indeed.

Lists

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!!

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.

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!

It's been a little quiet....

This year started out pretty darn crazy. First I had to make it through year-end close and then it started looking like this:

1. First, we took our trip to El Paso for the visit to a national park and a national monument.
2. Two weeks later was our road trip to the George H. W. Bush Library.
3. The next week I celebrated my friend Debbie's 40th birthday with a surprise party at the Cheesecake Factory, then we went to Phoenix to see our friend, August, perform a concert with the new Dennis DeYoung band (an event I didn't blog about!).
4. In early March Joe's brother, Matt, visited us in Texas with his entire family (another event I didn't blog about - what the hell is WRONG with me???)
5. The next weekend we went to Dinosaur Valley State Park for our beautiful day of hiking.
6. A little over a week after that, Joe's parents came to visit with Samantha and stayed through Easter.
7. The next weekend we took our next Texas roadtrip to see the wildflowers.

And that's where I left off. Since then, things have been pretty quiet. The next weekend after that, Joe was MOD and we spent all day Saturday watching movies and then met my parents for dinner on Sunday. The next weekend proved to be equally as uneventful - I got a hair cut and Joe helped clean up some stuff at work. We ran a couple of errands and had lunch with my parents again. Joe worked on tracing his ancestry and I read a book. Last weekend, I had a baby shower on Saturday and Joe played golf. On Sunday, we met my parents for breakfast and that was about it. We watched a few more movies and I worked on my various projects around the house.

So...that's what a couple without kids does on weekends. I do try to keep up busy (remember my "get off the couch" resolution of 2009!), but some times it's nice to relax, too.