Evening at the Park

We found a "new" park in our neighborhood. I'm sure it's been there a while, we just didn't know about it. It's in an area where there aren't a lot of houses yet. It was beautiful when we went Sunday evening after dinner.

There is a disc golf course along the trail that goes by the park. It has open fields behind. The light was lovely. We had a wonderful time. The playground is really cool and the kids loved it.

For some reason Logan's been wearing around a cape and mask a lot. He's got a super hero thing going on, so that's why he's dressed like that!

I'm trying to convince one or both of them to have their birthday parties there! It would be great and free!

The Comal County Fair

I haven't been to the Comal County Fair in probably 16 or 17 years! It's a big deal in the New Braunfels area where I'm from though. Everyone goes. They even give the kids the day off from school on Friday for the parade and the fair.

Erica asked me if I wanted to go with her and take the kids. I'm not sure why, but I said yes. So we loaded up Saturday after lunch and drove down there.

The car ride down seemed long, but the kids were pretty good. It was really hot when we got there, but all things considered we had fun and survived intact. For 2 moms with 4 kids that spells success!

We saw the animals, visited the petting zoo and rode a couple of rides. We even saw some old friends that we knew growing up.

From the time we drove up they talked about the Ferris Wheel. It was pretty big and they all wanted to ride it. We weren't sure if they all could or not, but it's all we heard about until we finally made our way over to it. Only Logan wound up riding it. He liked it though! Logan rode this by himself too. There were a couple of other kids sitting with him.

Grace, Ellie and Carter rode the motorcycles and a boat ride.

Best of all (for the kids at least) they got their faces painted. They looked awesome and it didn't smear all over the place.

We even saw one of the worst mullets ever! It was short everywhere except the very back which was long and frizzy. I don't know if the picture does it justice since they had misters in there to keep everyone cool. Check out his shirt. It says, "Ask me about Chickens!"

After we left we met our Dad for dinner at a great Mexican place in New Braunfels (Adobe Cafe). It was nice to see him even for just a little while!

Once we got back home we were all worn out! It was a good day!

Frank

This is my dog Frank (Blaine Franklin Smith-we have a strange sense of humor, I know)! We've had him almost 12 years now. He was the sweetest puppy and has always been a nice dog. He has issues though. His main one is smell! He smells awful- all the time. Even a few days after a bath. Also, he drools. He's had some health problems. The last thing was a systemic yeast infection about 2 years ago. He was so itchy that he had scratched himself raw. It was awful! I took him to the vet and $300 later, he wasn't really better. I researched online and found some info and products to help him. We had to switch him to a really expensive food that I have to drive to Far West to buy. At least he's not scratching anymore.

He's had a hard time getting around for a while now. He can't get up off our tile floors sometimes. :-( I've been putting off taking him to the vet since I was worried about the cost. I was also worried we might have to put him down. I used to have a vet I loved, but he had a heart attack several years ago and I haven't found one I liked since.

Well, a few days ago Franks eye just started rolling back in his head like it wasn't attached anymore or something. Yuck, I know. So we decided that he needed to go to the vet. I was telling my mom about it and she said, why don't you bring him to Taylor? She said there was a vet there that everyone loved. So I said what the heck and I looked it up online. His name is Dr. Graef. They don't take appts. so this morning I loaded him up in the back of the pilot and off we went. I walked in, gave them my info and waited about 30 min. He looked at Frank, checked his joints and was so nice. He gave him a shot and gave me some pills to help with his arthritis. He looked at his eye and gave me some drops for it. Apparently sometimes it stays that way though. :-( He told me that if he wasn't doing better to bring him back in. And they cut his enormous nails.

I paid him $60 for all of it! It was amazing. All of you should take your pets there! I will NEVER go anywhere else again. Dr. Graef is kind of old though and I'm already worried about what will happen when he retires or God forbid that he dies. Good vets are hard to come by!

Our night on the town!

On Friday we were lucky enough to be able to use a friend's downtown condo while he's out of town. We had big plans. We were going to party like rock stars! Well, thirty-something Mom rock stars at least! Erica, Lisa and I left Erica's around 4:30 so we'd have plenty of time to get ready, etc. Of course, it took us much longer than expected to actually get there. But we got ready and decided to take a few pictures on the balcony before we lost the light. I only have the one's Lisa took of me. I also took some of her, perhaps she'll post them. Erica as well.

I was pretty happy with these. I've needed a new pic for facebook forever! Thanks Lisa!

This one was a self portrait of the 3 of us (in case you couldn't tell!)

Sammy and Melissa came by and picked us up to go have some drinks and apps! We finally decided on the Roaring Fork which is below the Stephen F. Austin Hotel. Well they had like a 90 minute wait, so instead we went upstairs to the hotel's bar and sat on the patio which looks over Congress Ave. There we met up with Amanda, Mary and Sammy's friend Becca. It was awesome. The weather was perfect. My only complaint was that the drinks were pretty over priced! But the apps were yummy!

I really liked this one of Erica with the Capitol behind her.

After we left there we went to a karaoke bar around the corner that had private karaoke suites. Which basically means a room with a big sectional and a TV! It was fun though. I never would have sung so much in front of other people.

By about midnight I think, some of our group were turning back into pumpkins, so they left. Erica, Lisa, Mary and I however were not ready to throw in the towel! So we walked over to 4th street to find a more appropriate crowd. We decided to go in a bar, have 1 drink, then move on to another. We picked Fado first. We went in, found a little table nestled in the back and were almost immediately attacked by a large, very drunk dude. The waiter was kind enough to help us out and pretended to be Erica's husband, so that the drunk dude would move on. It was pretty funny. We wound up spending more time in Fado then we had planned. Before we knew it, it was time to walk Mary to her bus. Her apartment complex has a shuttle to downtown every other weekend. Pretty cool, huh? No drunk drivers at least.

Anyway, we were a little early and Lisa needed to pee. So we walked up and down the street looking for an open place. Since it was after 2 everyone was closed. We were tired and hungry (Roppolo's pizza stand was calling our name!). Mary's bus turned out to be like 30 minutes late and by 3 AM it was nearly impossible to catch a cab. But, we finally got one. Yay! Back to the condo at last. We didn't put our heads down to sleep until almost 4 AM!! I can't even remember the last time I went to bed that late. I knew I would pay the next day (when I was going to take care of Erica's kids! I know, not a good plan!). But it wasn't that bad after all. Thank goodness for Power shots!

I really don't know how people do that kind of thing all the time. I mean it was fun, but it was expensive and exhausting! I think we were all thankful for our husbands and our families after seeing how the other half lives! Dave, let us know next time your out of town- maybe in a few months I'll be ready to go again!

Our Block Party

Yesterday some of our neighbors organized a block party for our section of our neighborhood. It was at our "pocket park" down the street. Lots of people came. It was a Mexican potluck. We ate and socialized. The kids played and there was even a pinata.

We were watching Grace and Carter for Erica and Ray who were at the UT game, so they got to come with us and spend the night.



Logan hit the pinata so hard it fell down!

This morning the kids went out first thing and started catching lizards. Geckos to be exact. Grace is fearless. She will chase them down and fish them out of the little cracks and crevices they love to cower in. I was just proud my kids were willing to hold them. I still won't even do that! One they caught was tiny. So tiny I'd actually go so far as to say it was cute. I still wouldn't hold it. The second one was pretty big. That didn't bother her at all though!

We had a great time with them. Everyone went to bed just fine. They all slept this morning until after 7! Carter didn't get up until after 8! I think I see many more "cousin sleep-overs" in our future!

My flower beds...

It's amazing the difference a little rain and temperatures that aren't in the low 100's makes for my flowers! I may have to cut them back a 3rd time this year.They make me happy every time I pass by!

Too bad our grass looks like crap. It did not fair well in the massive heat wave. Hopefully a nice wet fall will help it heal!

New School Year

We started our new year at preschool last week. I've started a blog for my classroom. It's a private blog, so you all can't see it. :-( It's called Doodlebug Diaries, since our class is called the doodlebugs. The T-Th class is called the Jitterbugs (cute, huh?). I'm only working MWF this year, yay! Although I've yet to have a day off. I subbed for someone yesterday so I'm really looking forward to tomorrow! Who would have thought the idea of getting to clean your house could be cause for celebration?

Here are a few pics of my classroom this year. It's similar to last year. I have a really sweet class. Ten 3 year olds can wear anyone out though.

I have a new co-teacher this year. Her name is Jackie. She's lots of fun! She's very crafty. I think I'll ask her to our next crafting night. :-) She has a son named Logan who also started Kindergarten at Ellie's elementary school! Small world, huh? Actually lots of the teachers from my preschool have kids at the same elementary as me. I see them every morning and afternoon.

So far this year has been going very well. I'm looking forward to getting in the groove and getting my new doodlebugs "trained" for all our daily activities. Right now they're still figuring it all out! I'm sure we'll get there soon!

Can you say, Autumn??

It may not be Fall yet or even remotely feel like Fall, but I'm ready!

All the stuff in the stores has put me in the mood! I made these for our girls craft night tonight. Yummmm!!!