Sunday, August 31, 2014

Friday Night Lights

I know we Texans love our football, but this past week has been ridiculous.
 
I spent lots of time watching Kyle and Reed at their practice
(if they ever play in a game it'll be a miracle).

 
 
Then Jason and I went to the Texans game on Thursday night.
They lost to San Fransisco, but I got to wear my new, cute JJ Watt t-shirt.


The kids begged to go to the Texans game, but luckily they were just as excited to go Friday night to see 2 of our area high schools battle it out. (Memorial vs Stratford- Memorial won.)
 
 
I'm not sure why the Chick-fil-a cow was there...or why she's a cheerleader.
 
 
Reed was studying what the kickers/punters do (the only position he'll ever have a chance of playing) and Kyle found a position he didn't know existed that he was super excited about...water boy!  

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Dude Looks Like a Lady

So yes, Jason and I went to see Aerosmith on Monday night.
 
I am a huge Steven Tyler fan, and thankfully Jason has always been an Aerosmith fan (he went to his first Aerosmith concert in the early 80's) so it wasn't hard to get him to go with me (Dragging him to see Bret Michaels and Poison wouldn't have gone over as well).
 
Here we are before Aerosmith came on, I wish I could have worn something more fitting for a fun concert, but since I was at football practice right before I just slapped a cowboy hat on my head. (Truth be told, I wouldn't have had a problem showing up at practice in full costume, but it was just too hot to sit there and sweat in it while at practice.)
 
The show was everything you would think it would be, there were pelvic thrusts, rolling around on the floor, and scarves flapping in the wind...and that was just the first song.
 
I couldn't believe how great Steven Tyler sounded, he sounds just like he does on the radio, but you could tell he wasn't lip syncing. You'd never know the man's 66 years old!
 
I just couldn't resit recording the chorus to one of my favorites!

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

I'm Late on the First Day

My dad told me this morning that he was up at 5AM this morning to look at the first day of school pictures and there were none to be found.
 
Oops!
 
I have an excellent excuse, I was planning on taking an "after" the first day of school picture and including it, but then pick-up took extra long, and we had football practice.
I had no idea how to put on all the accoutrement that is required to play football, so I had to call Grandpa Gary to come help. 
I rushed them to the football field with Granny Sherry where Jason met me, and we left from there to  go to the Aerosmith concert (more on that awesomeness tomorrow).
 
Which means I rolled in from the first day of school at midnight, and picture posting didn't happen.
 
But here's what they looked like. A 5th grader and 2 firsties.





Everyone was happy at pick-up and said they loved it.
(I'm not sure JR actually said he "loved it" but he said, "Yo, What's up, Homie?" when he got in the car so I'm pretty sure that means he had a good day.)
 
And since I forgot the after the first day of school picture, here's what they looked like this morning going to their 2nd day of school.  At least they're smiling.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

The Night Before

The kids had not forgotten our tradition of not resting and preparing for the 1st day of school.
I was really hoping for a nap after church, but they didn't think that sounded fun at all.
 
Instead we went rollerskating.


 
 
And there might have also been ice cream.
 
I am sooo not looking forward to getting up early again.
And homework.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Fashion Fabulous Friday



 Nobody seemed to care about school clothes this year, which was fine by me.
I shopped for them online and they all have something new to wear the first few days.
 
The only thing they cared about were their new shoes.
Here's what made the cut.


They even told me to take a side view picture.
Can you tell JR's are hamburgers?
 
 
We had meet the teacher this morning and it was a success.
The kids thought their teachers were "nice and pretty".
 
 
We had to go by Reed's class 3 different times...just to "feel good" about it.
He even practiced sitting in his chair.
 
JR was too cool to get his picture made in his classroom.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Last Week of Summer

This is our last week of summer.
 
I really expected the kids to beg me to take them places.
(I just knew I was going to have to make a Chuck E. Cheese trip.)
 
But they haven't asked to go anywhere.
They've wanted to stay home and not take off their pajamas.
And we've also played lots of Life...Reed and JR win every time, and I really try to beat them!
(Poor Kyle seems to always loose.)


I'm actually kind of bummed about school starting.
 
We took some fun trips, I didn't feel like the kids were overloaded with activities, and the whole sleeping in and having no homework thing has been pretty awesome.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

He's Home

Jason picked JR up at camp on Saturday.
He loved every minute of it and is ready to go back next year for 3 weeks.
 
 
He was excited to be awarded with "most improved water skier".  He told me, "It wasn't like they just gave an award to everybody, some people didn't get anything." Which made it all that more special.
 
 
He started out in wake boarding, but was never able to get up.  He said the other kids that couldn't do it quit the class, but he told them he could snow ski, so they switched him to water skiing. He said, "I couldn't ever go back and forth, but I could get up and ski, so I was proud of myself."  JR never says he's proud of himself, so for him to not give up and be proud of himself, camp was a total success no matter what else happened.
 
 
One of the last pictures I saw of him was from Talent Show night.  All the pictures were of the kids in the talent show...and then this one.
How he's the only one in the audience to get his picture made is beyond me.
 
I was told his trunk was "pretty gross", but lucky me, I didn't have to unpack it.
I just had to wash the two weeks worth of clothes left for me in a giant pile in the laundry room.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Ducks and Coffee and Flying Fish, Oh My!

Mike and Julie arranged a day full of activities for us for Friday.
Our whole group started out on our own private Duck tour.
 
Now you might be wondering what a Duck tour is (Jason thought we were going to look at ducks).
A Duck is a WWII boat/bus that travels on both land and water.  We saw all the sights of downtown, then went out for a water tour.
 
Here we are on land.


One of the highlights of the water portion was seeing the Sleepless in Seattle house. 
We learned it's a "floating house". (I labeled it for you.)


We then headed next door to the Space Needle for the Chihuly Garden and Glass tour.
I made fun of Jason for not knowing what a Duck tour was, but I guess I shouldn't have been laughing too much since I assumed this tour was a wine tasting. 
 I figured we walked through Chihuly Garden and then "glass" meant "drink wine".
 
 
Those of you with even the tiniest bit of art knowledge are probably making fun of me now since Dale Chihuly is a famous glass sculptor and this is a whole building and garden dedicated to his work.



Saturday my mom and I knocked off the other touristy things on our list:

 We were staying on Pike Street so it was super easy to find the Pike Place Market.


We saw them throw the fish, but I couldn't capture an action shot (those fish fly fast) so here's the proof we were there.
 
 
It's also the home to the original Starbucks. Here's the line to get in.
(Um, no thanks.)



We also walked back over to the Space Needle.
 
 
 
And, of course, no trip to Seattle is complete without a visit to the flagship Nordstroms.
 
By Sunday we were so hipster after spending the weekend in Seattle that we didn't even take a cab back to the airport, we rode the Central Light Link Rail.
Yep, we're cool like that.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Reception 2.0

After a delayed flight yesterday (but what's new) my mom and I rolled in from Seattle at midnight. Which is actually earlier than the nights before, as I was out until 2:30 Friday night (which is 4:30 Houston time!) and even my mom shut down the party Saturday...another 2:30 evening.
 
The kids woke me up at 7:00 this morning, so if I could find someplace to sneak off and take a nap, that would be pretty awesome.
 
Mike and Julie's anniversary weekend was fantastic, but I will save the sight-seeing in Seattle bit for tomorrow, as the real fun was the evening activities.
 
Friday night was a casual reception at The DeLuxe Bar and Grill.
As is usual with a super fun night that includes lots of talking, laughing, and continuing the party in a new location when one shuts down, there weren't many pictures taken, but Aubrey and I got this one with Julie and her sister, Emily.
 
 
The big anniversary party was Saturday night at Melrose Market Studios.
Everything was perfection (the food, the drinks, the decor) and my only complaint is I was so sore from dancing all night I could hardly move yesterday.
 
And least you think I'm just out of shape...Julie made sure that every good song that has ever been created was played.  There was at least 4 hours of dancing.
 
Most of these pictures are pre-dance floor since post-dance floor all of us looked like a big, sweaty mess.
 
Mother-daughter fanciness.
Don't let this picture fool you, as I like to say, "in real life she's taller than me."
 
 
I can't compete with Aubrey's duck face, so I don't even try!
 
 
Here we have the anniversary couple, Mike and Julie, on the left and our friend, Mike, on the right.
Mike and I have known each other since 6th grade.  Not only were we the 6th grade students of the month (for the month of September) at Creekwood Middle School, but we were both in the speech and debate club and spent our middle school weekends going to tournaments.
Yes, we all go way back. 
 
 
Here's all the Kingwood "kids" together.
(And I say "kids" because other "parents" were there...my mom, our friend Jodi's mom and dad, and our friend, Jeff's mom)
I have known everyone in this picture since I was 11, except Chad and Mike on the left...they had to wait until the summer after 8th grade to meet the rest of us awesomenesses in this picture.
 
 
And my favorite picture of the night.
When Julie and I were on drill team in high school we had to wear bright red lipstick for games. Julie has had Angelina Jolie lips since before Angelina Jolie made them famous. One Halloween my mom found some red, wax lips and got them for Julie.  Julie would wear them at football games and it became a running joke.
At the party my mom handed Julie a bag to which she said, "This better be a bag of red, wax lips!"
 
 
I've never been to a Reception 2.0 before, but I'm pretty sure nothing else could ever come close to competing with this one!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

I Feel The Urge to Wear Flannel and Drink Coffee

Today my mom and I are leaving on a little trip together.
My mom and I have never been on a trip without my dad, so this is some uncharted territory.
 
My friend from middle and high school, Julie, married her high school sweetheart and they are celebrating a milestone anniversary with (as they are calling it) Reception 2.0. 
They live in Seattle, and have a whole weekend of events planned.
 
Both my parents and I were invited, and my mom and I decided to go. The festivities start Friday around lunch and my mom and I didn't want to miss anything, so we are going up this afternoon.
 
That leaves Jason in charge of picking JR up at camp Saturday, and Granny Sherry in charge of Kyle and Reed while Jason is at work. (I think they are going to watch her in a bowling tournament tomorrow.) 
 It takes a village.
 
I've never been to Seattle, so I'm excited to check it out. 
We are staying right downtown. At least, I think we are, we will be about a mile from the Space Needle and a block or two away from where they throw the fish.
Plus, the weather has to be cooler than Houston, right?

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Scene from The Blob

Liz and I were texting back and forth today that we still haven't heard from the boys at camp. I told her we would have heard from them if they weren't having fun. 
(JR is definitely the king of "poor pitiful me" so he would want me to feel guilty about his misery.)
 
 I figure they are too busy going to the pool and lake during free time to write letters.
 
And why would you write home when you could be doing this instead?
 


 
 
 
 
I did finally see a picture where he wasn't wearing a bathing suit, and we got a postcard from his counselor telling us that he is loving it and his favorite activities are wake boarding and fishing.
 
I'm predicting after this he'll really throw a fit about having to go to school every morning.
Who wouldn't?!
 

Monday, August 11, 2014

America's Got Talent

We've never watched America's Got Talent in the past, but for some reason, the kids started watching it this year.
(I made the mistake of telling JR his Mel B. impersonation was good, so now I get to hear her voice even when the show isn't on.)
 
 
When we were on the Disney Cruise one of the performers told us he was going to be on an upcoming episode. Not only was he on one of the episodes, he's made it to the semi-finals at Radio City Music Hall. 
 
 
 He'll be on tomorrow night's show (Tuesday), so if you're a fan of the show, you can watch and vote for him.
 
 
His name is Mike Super and he is an "illusionist", which I guess means really, really, really good magician.  (His show was excellent.)
 
 
JR loved it so much, he got one of his T-shirts (as his souvenir for the trip) and had it autographed.
I was just going to take the picture and let the kids speak to him, but after talking to the kids, he talked with Jason and me too. 
He was very nice.
 
The boys "celebrity" meet and greet.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Galveston, Oh Galveston

Jason and I joined Kyle and Reed in Galveston on Tuesday night.
There were 10 other kids all around the same age from Granny Buffie's family for them to play with. I'm not sure how much fun that was for all the adults, but Kyle and Reed had a blast. 
Most of the kids left Wednesday morning, so I'm glad they got to go early to play.
 
 
It was a very nice trip, and I especially liked that I never stepped foot on the beach. 
Sun and sand just don't mix with my fair skin, so I don't have any "kids having fun on the beach" pictures. But don't worry, they loved it.
 
And as much as the sun, sand, and surf isn't for my skin, I think it feels the same way about Reed's hair!



Galveston is having a seaweed epidemic (which is a bit of an understatement.)  They cleaned it up with tractors in front of where we were, but check this out from along the sea wall.  The black stuff is seaweed.  There's no beach!


In other "exciting" news, Kyle found a oyster and named it Clammy.  He wanted to bring it home and keep it as a pet.  I talked him in to just getting his picture made with it instead.
 
 
 
And a pretty picture with Grandpa Gary.
 

A big thank you to Granny Buffie for inviting us to come on her family vacation.
The Ingersoll clan definitely had a good time.

Friday, August 8, 2014

Fashion Fabulous Friday

 
I looked up last week to find that all my kids had dressed themselves alike (not planned).
They all love Captain America so much, they didn't even run up and change when they realized it.

Add caption

Thursday, August 7, 2014

This Looks Awesome


I think he's still having fun.
Also, I have yet to see a picture of him wearing something other than a bathing suit.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

No Kids!

You'd think Jason and I would be doing some fun and awesome stuff since we are kid free.
(JR is at camp and Kyle and Reed are in Galveston with Grandpa Gary and Granny Buffie.)
 
 
But he's had to work, so our excitement has been limited to going out to eat.
 
 
Kyle and Reed reported in that "Galveston is better than Hawaii".
Bless their hearts, obviously they don't remember Hawaii at all.
 
 
No news is good news on the JR front. He was all smiles again today in the camp pictures I saw of him.
 
 
And as for me, I have to send a thank you to Granny Sherry and Daisy.  I went out for a run this morning, and before I realized I'd gone too far, I had gotten too hot. (It wasn't as much hot out as just ridiculously humid.)  I was about half way between our house and Sherry's house (and it was too far to make it to either one) so I called her and she brought me two bottles of water and gave me a ride home. I won't be leaving the house again without some money in my pocket to buy some water if I get too hot. Lesson learned.
 
Thanks for the ride Daisy!

Monday, August 4, 2014

This. Is. Sparta!!!

Yesterday was camp drop off and JR could hardly sit in the car and endure the drive he was so excited.
 
He got to see his BFF from Durango, Steven, as soon as he got there.
(We were excited to see Steven's parents, Liz and Steven too!) 
We made his bed and said our goodbyes.
 
That is JR's top bunk right behind him.

They are in the Apollo cabin.
 
Then last night he got to find out which tribe he was in.
(The Greek gods came in and selected their new tribe members.)
 
It's a big deal because every Ingersoll that goes to Camp Olympia after JR will automatically be a part of that tribe.
 
 I know he wanted to be a Spartan, but he said he would be okay with being an Athenian since he likes the color blue.
 
If you're a Harry Potter fan, tribe selection is the equivalent of the sorting hat.
 
Before he left, JR kept calling it "sorting hat night". 
(And then when I was telling Caroline about it this morning she said, "Oh! It's like the sorting hat!")
 
.
Liz texted me this morning to go look at their pictures and there I found two very happy, smiling Spartan faces I recognized.

 

 Here he is just after he found out he's a Spartan.
(Or, just after he was "sorted".)
 
The letter from the director says today will include (along with their chosen activities): Water Wars, Mini Golf, and the Two-Line Zip. They will also get to tie-dye their uniform shirt, ride the Rocket, and Blob.
 
So, yeah, I think he'll be having fun.