Monday, June 9, 2014

Texas Grandsons - Days 1&2

Sunday - My house is filling this afternoon for a short time as Jen, Bekah, Jake, Jon, Braden, and Josh arrive.  Jen is on a mission to drop kids off all over north part of the state today.  We are her first stop and Josh is going to stay with us for a few days.  I am so excited as this is his first time staying with Gammy and Grandpa without mom around.  Jon and Braden are being dropped off in Denton at a swim camp and then Jake and Bekah are off to Abilene for baseball and drumline.  Jen as a job interview while in Abilene and WOW --- did I forget anything?  We do get about an hour to sit and visit before she has to get on her way and I love this time together.  Teenagers can be just oh so fun.

As soon as everyone departs, Grandpa and Josh set about making airplanes and testing them out.

It is nice enough outside that the front yard works perfectly as a flight zone.

There is a learning curve going on but in no time he is able to accomplish a flight that starts on the front porch and makes it to the sidewalk.  Success!


Even I have to give it a try.


We need a treat for later so I ask Josh if he likes Jello and his response is, "only orange."  I go back to the pantry and lo and behold -- I have orange.  Yay.  I get everything ready and when the airplane flights end, we get started on it.

Instead of a big bowl, we opt for several small ones that he now has to get into the refrigerator without spilling.  "I can do it."  Look at that grin.


Mission accomplished.


Now to head to the store for some groceries, but wait -- oh yes -- first a trip to the bookstore.  We try Half Price Books without luck but hear an absolute squeal out of Josh when he locates his books at Barnes and Noble.  This kid is literally jumping up and down with excitement.  I love it.

Next stop is the grocery store where Josh gets to help pick out his food.  First stop is produce where he must locate 2 fruits and 2 vegetables that he likes.  Yes!  Now on to meal with the same criteria.  Another yes!  I simply cannot stop giggling to myself at this point as he turns to me and says, "now can we get some REAL food?"  What??  He wants macaroni and cheese and ramen.  THAT is real food.

Back home -- new planes and practice gentle gliding instead of throwing so hard.  They will get this figured out this week - of this I am sure.

Mister and I found a new puzzle this week and Josh is pleased to be the first one to try and work it.  He absolutely does NOT want any help from me so I sit and rip out seams on my quilt while I watch.  Now doesn't that sound like fun?  Our first day has gone well --- time for bed as we are off to the aquarium tomorrow morning.


Monday - It is day two and Josh hasn't asked to go home so I guess we are doing okay.  We are off to the aquarium via the dart train today.  Let's get going.  Josh is pretty excited about taking the train and soon we are zipping down to Fair Park.  We have a little walk to take and as we go past the ponds, everyone takes time to wander a bit and look for turtles.  Again we are fascinated with our spring -- today is a bit chilly even.



Beautiful!


Let's not forget why we are here.  Off to the aquarium we go.

Once we arrive, our first stop is the touch tank where we are able to get an almost private lesson about the inhabitants of the tank.  How fun is that?  Josh really gets to learn a great deal and touch many different sea creatures.  What a treat.


A few groups come in while we are at the touch tank so we decide to quickly go down to the sting rays before it becomes crowded.  As we arrive, Josh looks at me and says, "I am not going to touch them."  Really?  Somehow I think that will change.  It isn't long before he has hands in the water, BUT he is very picky.  He will only pet the small, light gray ones.  That's it and there is no getting him to do otherwise no matter how many times the larger ones come up to him almost begging for some love.


I catch Mister doing some love of his own as he watches the rays for quite awhile.

A starfish gives us a perfect view as well.  We make a trip through the tank rooms after our time with the rays AND sea turtle before it is time to leave.  As we are starting our walk back, Mister quickly spots a large turtle in the pond.  Quick -- a picture.


Josh is a bit unhappy as we didn't buy anything in the gift shop so I ask him to pop into a rock formation for a picture.  He goes, but a smile is just not gonna happen.  Ugh.

We get down to the train stop with about 15 minutes to kill.  Mister wanders off as Josh and I take a seat.  It doesn't take long before he lays down.  I think we have wore him out -- he says he is tired and would like a nap.  Well -- we can do that.  The train arrives and we are soon on our way home.



With a rest behind us, Mister is complaining that there are not any cookies in the house so Josh and I get to work to solve the problem  Chocolate Chip Cookies are soon underway.  I have this wonderful apron that all the grands get to wear.  This one actually has one of Josh's handprints on it from when he was much smaller.  How fun is that?


I love time in the kitchen with my grands.  Especially if we are baking as I feel very comfortable with that.  It is a love I established early on and sharing it with another generation is awesome.


He does well and we use the same setup as we did with Elena.  Hey, if something isn't broke, don't fix it -- right?  We do make one change though and I get out a portion scoop and he has a much easier time after that.  What was I thinking?  Goodness.  Once the cookies go into the oven, we get a break and in absolutely no time at all he has the beater that was so difficult to wait for.




The cookies are ready and the house smells divine.  Although he is a bit nervous about the hot pan, I show Josh how to move the cookies to cooling racks and then he refills it for another batch. He is now ready for his own cookie but I tell him that we have strict rules in this house and Grandpa always gets the first cookie so he loads up some on a plate and gets a glass of milk and heads for the office to deliver his treats.  Grandpa is all smiles and within moments Josh is as well.  Nothing like a warm cookie to dunk in a glass of cold milk.  Ahhhh.



The rest of the evening is spent playing games and I think Mister and Josh must have played at least a dozen games of Go Fish.  By the time they were finished, he knew all the color names fairly well.  Too fun.  What a great day but as usual, we are beat.  Night.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Peach Check Week 10

Checking in with my peaches.  They are about golf ball size now.  Fingers are still crossed that we get to sample at least one.


Thursday, June 5, 2014

Mockingbirds/Black Swallowtails/Yard

(This post covers about 2 weeks in our yard)


5/22 - Walking around the yard -- blackberries are coming along, basit looks amazing and we spot a caterpillar on the dill that is planted in a pot on the patio.  It is pretty dang bit and seems very determined to eat as much of the dill as it possibly can.

We let it be and decide to check on it again tomorrow.


5/23  A pair of mockingbirds have built a nest in the holly out front.  It is right outside the office window and they are certainly determine to guard it.  As I am checking on the peaches, I hit the zoom on the camera and snap a quick picture to see if we can spot anything.  Nope.  BUT, we hear chirping so don't know what to think.


5/28  - I venture out to try and check out the next.  Mom and Dad are not at all happy with me and I managed to snap only one picture before they start dive bombing me.  One of the literally chases me all the way to the house.  However, when we enlarge the picture, by golly, there is a baby bird.  Woohoo.


In other news:  the caterpillar has encased itself in a cocoon on the stem of the dill.  NOW we are really interested and Mister goes to research exactly what type of caterpillar it was.  It appears that we might get a black swallowtail in a few days.  This is fun.












6/2 Still a cocoon - (picture on right)

In other related fun, I try to get another picture of the baby mockingbird.  No, it is not raining -- that is my protective gear so that my head doesn't get pecked to death.  The nest appears to be empty though so we are not sure what is up.  One thing is apparent though --- I am NOT wanted out here.






6/5  I ask Mister if he would like to take a walk this morning, he agrees, and when we return home, we notice that something is different in the dill planter.  We have a beautiful butterfly fresh out of the cocoon.  Another minute or two and we would have missed it entirely.  Too bad we didn't peek when we first came outside or we might have seen it emerge.  Drat.  We watch quietly as it dries it's wings and takes it's first flight.  Isn't nature grand?  One it is gone, I peek down and see just a small slit in the cocoon --- amazing.


What fun this has been and I am kind of sad that it is over.  Perhaps next year and it looks like we definitely need to replant the dill as it is dead now.

Pics for Jason and Peacocks

Our friend Jason is struggling with cancer and for Father's Day his children have requested "support pictures" from everyone so that they can make him an album.  Mister and I head to Flag Pole Hill to honor that request.

I have to laugh as Mister climbs the bars to get into place for his shot.  He says it has probably been over 40 years since he did this.

Once he is in place, it is my job to take the picture.  Oh yay -- we all know how much trouble I have with cameras.  It takes me several attempts and his face keeps getting redder with each one.  Goodness.


Now it is my turn and I am just a big more sane.  I just sit and hold up my sign.  Quick and easy.  (Oh my, my legs look I have been in a major fight --- bruise, bruise, bruise.)


On the way home, look at what we spot in the front yard of a home on Lanshire.  Isn't he beautiful?


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Date Night and Elephants on my Glass

Mister and I have been oh so good that we decide we deserve a night out.  It is Texas beer night at The Bottleshop so we make trip down there.

My second drink arrives in a glass covered with little pink elephants.  Are they not just oh so cute?  As we leave, I am gifted one to take home with me as I loved it so much.  Nice.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Peach Check - Week 9

A little bigger each week.  I was dive bombed by the mockingbirds while trying to take this picture.  They have a nest nearby and I worry them.