Baylor Homecoming

Cecile and I went to Baylor a week or so ago to visit Taylor during the Baylor Bears homecoming against Kansas State. We got to clean up her apartment :) We went to the bookstore along with about 80,000 other folks and we attended the homecoming parade. It was good to see that some frats are still doing the same thing we once did: Take all your house furniture, put it on a float with a keg and a band, and just have fun!!

Here are a few pictures that I took of the Kappa Sig float which was pretty good.

During the beginning of the game, there was a 45-minute lightning delay and then it just rained a ton...we got wet and cold.

The Kids Ruled the Hollerween Parade

For charity, we took the 4 legged kids to be in a dog "Hollerween" parade. Maile went as a very cute bumble bee and Hurley went as a western sheriff. It was really fun even thou we did not win.

Taylor and LJ in Luckenbach Texas

Cecile and I took Taylor and her cheer team member, LJ to Luckenbach Texas and other places in the hill country. LJ and Taylor got to see some western folks, country music and dancers, one of the oldest dance halls in America, and the original post office from this little town.

People come to this very tiny place from all over Texas and have a few beers, play washers, and do some boot scooting....

Parker Goes To Austin Zoo

We took Parker to the Austin Zoo and boy did he have a great time. He got to see all kinds of animals and birds. Everything from lizards to bears to lions.

Parker liked the peacocks that roam around freely the best and tried to chase them...Video is on this page as well. The weather was great...kinda cool so the animals came out from their shelters for better viewing.

Parker also got to ride the train that goes around the grounds. He had a blast and we will take him back very soon.

We went to Texas Hill Country

Cecile and I decided to go an pick up our quarterly allotment of wines at Becker Winery and Williams-Chris Winery. Derek came along and we got to stomp some grapes since they were bringing in their harvest.

Derek got to come inside the tasting room for club members and he got a tour on how wine is made. Derek also met some dogs and got to play with them...he also got to see not 1 but 2 hummer limos.

Finally Found My Mom's Cemetery!!

Well after more than one attempt of driving down numerous gravel roads near and in the forest and the roads are not marked with street signs, we finally found the church and cemetery where my mother was buried 15 years ago.

Derek, Cecile's Dad, and I walked around the area and took in the sights. Derek was not even born and Kristian was only 4 or 5 at the time of her death. Derek did have a sweet moment when he took a flower and without knowing I was watching placed it on top of her grave stone...sweet sight for sure.

I now have the directions and I will bring Kristian out here the next time we can get to Louisiana.

Cecile and I went to San Antonio

Cecile and I needed a break from all the madness in Austin, so we decided to spend a day and night in San Antonio. We stayed at the Marriot at the Plaza which was right across the street from Hemisphere Park. It was packed on the riverwalk because it was the same night as the opening night of Dallas Cowboys training camp!!

We had a good day hanging around and doing way too much shopping. Cecile found a store next to the rivercenter mall that had a ton of items with fleur de lis's on them...she was in heaven!!

Happy July 4th, God Bless Our Troops

As you can see we are getting Hurley and Maile "the kids" ready for the 4th of July. This year we have Taylor here in Austin for the summer and we have Derek for the 4th and next week. The weather has been very wet from the remnants of Hurricane Alex but it cleared up last night for the fireworks show at Carlos n Charlies where Kristian is working this summer as a waiter.

Tonight the Austin Symphony Orchestra plays downtown with fireworks. We are not going to go down there this year, however, we will be able to see them from our balcony. We will go to the mall where Cecile works tonight and see the fireworks they will have as well.

I hope that everyone has a happy Independence day and God Bless America!!!

Well Hunter Can Catch a Bass Too!!!

Here is a picture of Hunter in Illinois at his Uncle's camp showing off his awesome catch. Hunter just loves to fish and hunt besides hang out in the gym or ballpark. I will need to get him to places like this for when he comes here.

Hurricane Alex Coming Ashore Causing Travel Issues

Well I am writing this post from the DFW airport after my flight from Austin was delayed (it was cancelled yesterday and then I tried to go today at 6am) by 40 minutes, so I missed my connection by only 4 minutes. The hurricane is causing travel delays all across Texas.

We need to get the rain as the yard was about to start turning brown due to a few weeks of high 90's heat in Austin.

Hope all the folks on the Texas coast come out OK on this one.

Derek went to Camp, other Kids Updates

Derek went up to Richardson, Texas and stayed with his troop for one week at Boy Scout camp. I was worried that he would not like it or some significant issues, but besides a day or two of home sickness, he had a good time. He did manage to be the only member of his troop to catch a fish and the one that he caught was a bass and not some tiny perch or sunfish. As you can see by this picture he was very excited so the scoutmaster took this picture for us.

Taylor is working as a babysitter for 3 kids, 1 with special needs and making good money. She gets to go with the family to Fiesta Texas and the pool so it is not a bad gig. Taylor is working out to stay in shape for when competitive cheer starts next semester.

Hunter spent a week with us in Austin and we had a good time with him. He had to go back to Illinois but we are hoping to get him to stay with us full-time before school starts back up....keep your fingers crossed.

Kristian is home from college and after having a ton of car repair bills, he has gotten a good job waiting on tables at Carlos and Charlie's out on Lake Travis. He is making very good money and hanging out with us and Liz whenever he can.

Parker is getting into everything and keeping us busy with trying to keep him from tearing up stuff. He is getting bigger and starting to put together some words. He likes going to the pool as well!!!

Cecile and Hunter in Hawaii for 2 Weeks

Well Cecile and Hunter met up with Nan and Camile for 2 weeks on Kauai island. The weather has been great and they have been having fun. A sea turtle passed right by Hunter while he was snorkeling, I bet that was a rush. Cecile went to a production of "South Pacific" but I think she just loved laying out in the sun and watching Hunter and ordering fruity drinks.

Derek Graduated 5th Grade...On to Middle School (Yikes)

Today, there was a crossing over ceremony and Derek had a ton of family there cheering him on. After the ceremony, the kids went to the pool and had a portable video gaming center, games, and activities. Food was brought in and the kids had a blast.

Derek spent all of him time either in the pool or the bubble machine.

Derek is getting better at social interaction with other kids his age but he can be somewhat irratting. We will work with him over the summer.

Frankie J the Steet Performer

A bunch of us went down to the Pecan Street Festival and ran into a really funny street performer and he did some fire juggling and other silly stuff. He was a cross between Galigar and Elvis. Parker had a front row seat and he loved the fire elements.

Here is a video of Taylor getting up there and doing some dancing while Parker watches.

Derek Loves Lego's and Life

Derek can play with Lego's forever. He really stays focused and he is much calmer when he is concentrating. Another thing that he likes right now is watching the new wildlife series, Life on the Discovery channel.

This is a picture of Derek sitting at the breakfast table building one of his favorite Lego's....the SpongeBob Mobile!!!

Helping out at the Galleria Festival

Well we took our new puppy out in public for the first time this weekend. Maile, Hurley, Derek, and I went and joined Cecile, Taylor, Whitney, and Parker at the event that Cecile was working at for Dogadillo Dog Boutique. As you can see, they drew a crowd of folks all the time.

The weather was great after it has been raining what seems like forever.

We Have a New Member of the Family!!!

Well, we went to Oklahoma and rescued a 2-pound yorkie who needed a loving mother...hence Cecile. Pictured here in front of her new brother, Hurley, she is about 5 months old, is very fraile (seems to have neck and back leg issues and has a real tough time eating and such). She is very, very cute and we have decided to name her Maile (pronounced My-Lee) after the girlfriend of Elvis Presley in the movie, Blue Hawaii.

We will be taking her to the vet tomorrow and get her checked out. Her hair was severely greasy and matted up, so she will have to get a very short haircut. In this picture she just had her second bath and a trim up so we can see her cute eyes and face.

Hurley is adjusting slowly to having someone else run the house but we are sure that both of them will run the house in the end.

An Italian Vineyard In Austin Hill Country??

Yes! We were riding out in the hill country a few weeks back on a winery tour (we wanted to go to 3 new wineries) and we stumbled across this massive Italian villa that had a nice restaurant and also had its own winery. There were some ladies that were drunk and raising hell...they were loud but harmless!!!

Even thou we have had a drought over the past 3 years that has hurt the grape crops, however, the wine was pretty good. We toured the grounds and winery but we did not eat there. Maybe next time.

Waves Right Next to the Hotel

I stayed in a really unique hotel down in Monterey, CA for a couple of days for our company CEO offsite. The name of the hotel is the InterContinental: The Clement Monterey. It is right on the Monterey bay with waves crashing and the seals playing. We had a great time bonding with some of the guys...drinking wine and hanging out.

The meetings were interesting and exposed a number of issues within our management team that I think we can fix...Most of the issues revolved around better communication and visibility into all the other groups.

Snowing in Austin in Late February??

We sure have been having some real weird El Nino weather...Tons of Rain in January and to top it all off, we got like 3 inches of snow. As you can see Hurley sure does not like to walk in the stuff. There was a ton of snow in Dallas...like 12 inches. Kristian and his frat boys created some snowmen and had a huge snowball fight.

Derek is now a Boy Scout!!!

On a freezing cold night down at Mansfield Dam Park a few weeks ago, Derek crossed over from cub scouts to boy scouts. They had hot dogs and some other fire food, but the parents were freezing their butts off!!! They had a couple of scouts dressed in Indian headdresses and outfits. Did I say again that it was like 20 degrees and he wind was blowing out of the North at like 20 miles per hour....

The things we do for our kids.