Easter Sunday--Vegas Day 1

We left for Las Vegas Easter Sunday afternoon.  Which meant a lot of activity packed into one day.  

First, was the visit from the Easter bunny and baskets to find.

Next was 9 AM Mass

We brought a friend to Mass.  This is our neighbor Jade.  She has the longest hair I've ever seen.

Then came the Easter egg hunt....Actually, we postponed the Easter egg hunt but Ella and Sophie had their own...over and over.....and over.  Here, Sophie is hiding her eyes while Ella hides the eggs...again.

We left for the airport at about two.  Jack and Barbara came over to collect the girls and their stuff.  We left right from the house after lots of hugs.  It felt strange leaving on a holiday and I don't know that I would do it again.  The up-side was the cheaper fare, no crowds and a bump up to first class for both of us.  It was my first time ever in first class* and I can see why people (Lawrence :)  get spoiled by it.  I liked the comfy chair, the hot towel and the beverage service every ten minutes.  (I did not take a picture of us sitting in first class so as to appear calm and cool, as if I sit there all the time.)

Of course, the best part of arriving for our vacation Easter Sunday was the time with Chris.  I think we took a collective deep breath and relaxed for the first time in awhile.  We picked up the rental car, checked into the hotel and chose a place for dinner.  It was a German restaurant/ beer hall that I found online.  Hofbrauhaus is off the strip so we never would have run into it but it was the perfect place to celebrate after a Lent of no cerveza for Chris.

Here we are in their "outdoor" beer garden.  We ran across quite a few spaces in Vegas made to simulate the outdoors.  I found it fascinating as well as strange.  I mean, why not just go outside?  The restaurant was packed in the beer hall but very noisy.  The food was good.  The funniest thing?  In this very German-culture heavy restaurant, our waiter admitted to not knowing where Germany is.  (I seriously hope he was joking.)

Here I am about to try some of Chris' very yucky-looking, pinkish/ reddish cabbage.  It was actually very good.  No need for the face :)

I think this may be the only photo I took of the hotel.  Too bad because it was very pretty.  We stayed in the towers connected to the MGM Grand.  We were not right on the strip but close enough to walk.  We enjoyed the quiet.  After dinner Sunday night, we drove to meet Chris' Aunt Virginia and Uncle Phil at their hotel, the Wynn.  We were very late.  We had no idea how long it would take to drive down the strip.  They were nice enough to have a drink with us anyway.

Inside the Wynn

We did not go into all of the big hotels but these were my favorite decorations of the ones I saw.  I loved the balls of live flowers and white twinkle lights.  I wish I'd taken a picture of Chris' aunt and uncle there.  This one was taken a few days later when we went back with Dave and Jes and
the camera.

*Easter Sunday was the day of several firsts:  first time in Vegas, first time sitting in first class and first time reading a book on a Kindle.  It wasn't as awful as I'd expected.  I might even do it again.

Moving

I'm slowly working my way toward all of the Las Vegas pictures I took.  There are a few good stories to tell but I confess that today, I have one four letter word on the brain--M-O-V-E.
We are moving!  Yay!  It was two years ago now that we put the house on the market and tried to move ourselves to Virginia.  When it didn't sell, we were neither too surprised nor too disappointed.  It felt too risky and shaky, too much us forcing ourselves on our own lives.  Now, two years later, things are flowing smoothly.  Shell is moving us to Pittsburgh, PA where Chris will be in charge of a lot of logistical stuff, which is what he's good at.  We will be four hours from Woodstock and just over an hour from our family in West Virginia.  A lot to look forward to.
Still, I have a strange feeling that I will miss a lot of things about the Lone Star State.  I'm guessing that in six months, things I never noticed or paid attention to will come to mind and I will want them back.  Have you ever wanted to have it all?  That's how I feel now.  Author Richard Bach called it being a "life hog".  That's me.  But I also hold on to a quote I came across by Willie Nelson that "Courage is giving up the good to go for the great".  There's certainly a lot of good here.  Good friends.  Good family.  Good life.  What's next?  Maybe "the great".  I guess we'll see.  In the meantime, prayers appreciated.

Pic of the Day

I took this picture of Ella yesterday.  My goal was to get a good kid-swinging photo from behind.  I have a lot of pictures of the girls coming toward the camera on the swing but none from the back.  To take this one, I had to lay on my back in the mulch.  I shot quite a few photos and this was my favorite but it's missing something very important--a sense of motion.  Next time, I will have her lean back and reach her feet to the sky. 

If you feel like a challenge, take your best pic of a kid on a swing and email it to me alicedoyle96@gmail.com  I'll put them all on here and we'll see what we get.  

Ella on swing 

April 19, 2012

There They Are! Magic!

So, there we were, driving along 290 after goodbye hugs from Grandma and Paka when, all of a sudden, I saw them!  There!  Millions of bluebonnets right up close together.  It looked like a movie set.  Or maybe heaven.  I pulled onto a dirt road far enough away from the highway to feel safe.  The girls couldn't unbuckle and jump out of the car fast enough.  They were off, navigating a sea of purple and green.  I was overwhelmed by the fragrance.  A single bluebonnet doesn't smell like much but so many?  Again, heavenly.

It's hard to say what I will miss most when we finally leave the Lone Star State behind but the bluebonnets will be right up there.  I love their proud little stalks, standing tall and giving glory to God.

"to sail home smiling and safe with armfulls of bluebonnets and heartfulls of adventures to tell"

by Jannine

Five Bs: Blue Bonnets, Blue Bell and a Birthday

March 26th was the day of my parents' departure as well as my mom's ____th birthday.  We celebrated with a birthday breakfast of quiche and cupcakes.  I am a big fan of quiche.  It's one of those all-in-one dishes and the two I made for mom turned out perfectly.  It occurred to me sometime during the morning that we had no plans for the day and it would be fun to follow mom and dad to Brenham, halfway between Houston and Austin, to see the beautiful blue bonnets and visit the Blue Bell factory.  Flexibility of schedule is a huge perk of home schooling and we took advantage of it that day. 

After packing a picnic lunch, we were off.  I kept an eye out for blue bonnet fields all the way to Brenham but we didn't spy any impressive ones.  We ended up at this sparse patch next to a McDonalds.  Slightly pathetic but better than nothing.

I'm not sure why Grace was carrying Ella but it was sweet 

 Look!  The Blue Bell truck!

 pictures with Paka

Sophie says, "too bright!"

 better

(You know, I have the best dad.... Love you Dad!)

 At the Blue Bell factory

 we all scream for ice cream (except me--I scream for margaritas)

 enjoying her sample at the end of the tour

 Mia says, "Bye" to Grandma and Paka and.... "Bye" for now

Next up:  There they are!

More of Grandma and Paka's Houston Adventures

Well, it's been just a handful of days since Chris and I arrived home from Las Vegas.  I took over 300 pictures (an average of 60 per day which is not too excessive for me).  Before I get to that though, a few more memories from my parents' time in Houston.

This visit was particularly full of activity.  Mom and Dad came along on our normal school-week schedule, enjoying a visit to Holy House and sitting in on my Spanish class (mom) as well as the trip to Build-a-Bear and Madeleine's confirmation.  The photos below were taken on Saturday, March 24th, and, as you will see, it was a busy day.

First, East End Park, one of our favorite spots in Kingwood

Mia and Grace navigated

Paka and G, "stumped" about where to go next (HA HA)

Ella

Sophie in motion

Somehow, the girls managed to pull this vine off.  Grace wanted to bring it home....

.....where we used it as a decoration for Mia's birthday party!

almost back to the car

Next:  a birthday outing for Mia.  She, Mom and I went to La Madeleine and the pottery place

Mia played for days with this toy from a book Dave, Jes and family sent. 

pen pals

Last time, a frog box.  This time, a turtle box.

At first, Mom wasn't going to paint.  Then, she found an idea she liked in a book, decided on a napkin ring and just did it.  The first one turned out so cute that I talked her into another.

napkin rings and cloth napkins are a staple at CK so these will get some use
Good job, Mom!

still playing....

For dinner, Mom and Dad took Madeleine out for a special "celebrate confirmation" outing.  They went to The Texas Roadhouse and, as you can see, Madeleine dressed appropriately.

The rest of us went to Skeeters 

Mia took this and about twenty other equally goofy ones :)

Just a couple more posts to Vegas!  I'm excited enough about blogging about our trip that I might not wait three weeks between posts :)