What follows is a slideshow of our summer vacation, without the slides. - July 31, 2004 -
Whew! Has been great week! We took our summer vacation and have been OOT for the last 8 days.
Our first stop on Thursday the 21st was the Games of Texas state swim meet. We had such a great time! Cory’s relay team did so much better! They knocked 5 seconds off of their best time, and ended up 15th overall! He was so proud of how they did! So much fun to watch.
After Cory’s event, we went back to my mom’s place and stayed with her through Sunday . It was her first time to see the baby and she just loved her to pieces! Same with my big sister, Jill. Also got to see my big brother and his 2 children. Mia just ate up all the attention, as did the boys.
On Sunday we took off for the Hill Country. Our first stop along the way was to Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glenrose. Total blast. The kids swam in the Blue Hole, and gawked at the dinosaur tracks. The weather was perfect that day. A cool front was blowing through, and it felt like spring.
**Oh, and I do have pics, but on a film camera. Remember our gorgeous day at the park and all the creek shots from last week? Well, my digital went for a swim too. It is completely dead. Any suggestions on what kind I should buy this time?
We left the dinosaur tracks behind, and got back on the road, stopping here and here. In Llano, I bought yet another pink baby quilt. It was totally soft, unique and handmade by a lady in Llano. If I had my digital, I could show you how irresistible it was. Ahem.
Okay, so with Mia’s new pink blanket and a pair of antique spurs for my FIL, we were off to Fredericksburg. We arrived in the early evening, and found that they had reserved a cabin for us in the country. The best part about this, was they kept all the boys, so it was just Bill, Mia and I! It was so wonderful. The cabin was unreal. Granite everywhere, cherrywood floors, a huge KING SIZE BED for the three of us, and two patios with views to kill! We enjoyed the heck out of it! The best part was waking late and sitting on the deck drinking coffee with my hubby. The cold front had gone though and it was chilly. I wrapped a chenille throw around myself, sat in a wicker rocker and sipped hot coffee with Bill! I felt all of the tension just slip away as I rocked. Mia slept in until 10am, then it was time to turn the key to our little hideaway back in! That is most certainly on the agenda for our next visit!
I volunteered to drive into town with Mama Mia to turn the key in. It was a sacrifice, but someone had to do it……you know, all the shopping and such was just waiting for me in town! LOL So, I spent the whole day with Mia. We shopped, ate, and people watched. She loved being in her stroller and sling!
Tuesday was spent on the ranch, swimming, mending fences, collecting bugs (and chigger bites) and just relaxing with the in-laws. A very nice day!
Wednesday we loaded up the car and took off for Pedernales Falls. What a great park! Be sure and scroll down on the website and see all the pictures of this gorgeous park. We hiked all over with Mia in her sling (mom got some serious exercise climbing the boulders and hiking), and ended the day downstream from the falls to swim. We put a big quilt next to the river under a cypress tree in the sand and Mia slept there while the boys swam in the rapids. The water was so very cold and refreshing, as the air temperature that day was in the upper 90’s. It was so beautiful. I will post some pics as soon as I get the film back!!!
On Thursday, we said our goodbyes and started for home. We did stop at the outlet mall to get the boys some new shoes and mom some new nursing bras.
As much fun as we had, it was so great to be back home. We had planned to head to the beach, but decided we had been gone long enough, and the boys were really tired from all that we had done so far. We will try and do a beach weekend in a few weeks, and are also planning a weekend of camping out…..destination unknown at this point.
Did I miss anything while we were gone?
Cawfee - July 20, 2004 -
I am a coffee snob.
Drip coffee doesn’t do it for me. I call it “broth”. To satisfy my palate, a good cup of morning brew must meet several criteria or I won’t drink it.
1) It must be made with a good, organic, shade grown, espresso roast bean.
2) It must be ground that morning.
3) It must be brewed at the right temperature, and
4) It must be strong, strong, strong.
I stop short of drinking straight espresso. My cup of preference is called a macchiato . I usually drink 2 cups each morning.
Bill is addicted to my coffee. He waits patiently for me to wake each morning and make him a cup. I even adorn his cup with latte art, usually in the shape of hearts. When I sleep late due to a not so restful night with the baby, he reluctantly heads out to purchase a cup of broth from the corner mini-mart. Bleck!
I would love to open a coffee shop here in our little town, but what would be the point? Our house is already the local coffee house. It gives me the greatest pleasure to lovingly pull shot after shot of rich creamy espresso for my friends. If someone wants a good cup of coffee, they show up at my back door. All the practice has helped me refine my skills on my espresso machine. The God shot appears more regularly into my cups. I can produce micro-foam at will.
Coffee is my hobby and one day I hope to retire my well used, 7yo Barista and buy an ECM Giotto . What a beauty!! I can totally see it in my kitchen, banging out cup after cup of golden shots. Mmmmm.
It will be a long while before I can save for it and it will take even a longer while to convince my husband that we need a $1400 espresso machine! :*) Until then, I can dream, can’t I?
A beautiful day! - July 18, 2004 -
We had such a lovely day! I picked up the boys from Sunday school and we went to the big park here in our town. It is such a beautiful place. The boys played on the playground, while I walked on the trail with Mia in her stroller. I did 3 miles, and on the last lap the boys walked with me and we ended up under the shade of a huge Ash tree next to the stream that runs through the park. They hopped on rocks, and we decided it was a great place to spend the day! 
So, we loaded up in the van and headed back home and got some burgers, a quilt, some drinks and then went back out to the park and stayed all day.
The boys played and played in the water. It is such a perfect spot, with the stream running over the rocks. I put the quilt under the Ash tree and Mia and I watched the boys play. They spent hours trying to catch baby catfish, tadpoles and various minnows.
We were there from 10:30am to 4 pm and I loved it that my kids played together so well. They really do have fun. How cool is it that they have each other to keep themselves company! I LOVE having a large family!!!!!
Mia even got her tootsies wet!
She also spent some time sleeping under the tree. 
I am so happy for this day and to have spent it outside with all of my kids. We do things and are very outdoor kind of people, but it has not been the way it was BM (before miscarriages). When we came home this afternoon, I told Cory that he was invited to sleep over at a friends house, and asked him if he wanted to go. He actually agonized over whether he wanted to stay home with us or go to his friends. I guess that means he had fun today! I feel so good!
I guess I am finding my way back to being me again after all the miscarriages and the sorrow it brought to us.
What an excellent day!
“It’s Not About the Bike” and other tall tales. - July 16, 2004 -
Watching Lance Armstrong surge ahead, yet again, in the Tour De France. What an amazing cyclist.
He’s also an amazing asshole. I have not only read both of his books, but my brother has had the “pleasure” of riding in races with him in the late 80’s, early 90’s when Jack owned a bike shop and was heavily into racing. He said the guy was a pure work of art…..cocky and asinine all rolled into one, with an inflated ego bigger than his greatest win.
His first book is called “It’s Not About the Bike” , but the ironic thing is, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BIKE. My husband and I call it “It’s All About Lance”. We have a running joke with each other; when one of us thinks the other is being self centered, we say “Oh, go write a book and call it “It’s All About Bill/Jody”.
His obsession with the bike has cost him his marriage and valuable time away from the 3 kids he had with her. You would think that surviving cancer would make him aware of what is important in life, and that another victory at the Tour De France pales in comparison to his beautiful children (he is quoted as saying “Scarred physically and emotionally, Lance Armstrong considered his cancer “a special wake-up call,” one that crystallized for him the blessings of good health, family, friends, and marriage”…..yeah, right!). Yet, he just spent 5 full months away from them to train and ride again in this race. After facing death head on, he comes back again and again to prove??? I don’t know what. Obsessed comes to mind. With an obsession, you get your priorities mixed up, and IMHO, that is what Mr. Armstrong has done. Anything that you do, from riding in the TDF to selling life insurance, that causes you to screw up your marriage or see your kids on a schedule in between gigs, proves that your priorities are hell out of whack. I read an article that I thought was hilarious. I love this quote from his mother: “I know that he has missed his children terribly,” Linda Armstrong told The Associated Press by phone from Dallas. “That’s what makes me so proud of my son. His family means more to him than his life. It’s the sacrifice of his job, and it’s just too long to be away from them. I know it’s taken quite a toll on him.” TAKEN A TOLL ON HIM???? Give me a break. He made that informed choice. Screw Lance! What do you think it does to his CHILDREN???? HELLO??
Yes, Mr. Armstrong, we didn’t miss a thing in your books……it is ALLLLL about the bike for you. Yes, it is most certainly, all about Lance.
Splish Splash - July 13, 2004 -
Spent yesterday at a water park. Too fun. The kids had a blast swimming, floating in the “lazy river” and going down all the slides etc.
Cody mastered the water trapeze this year! He was so proud of himself!
Quinn went down the slides AT LEAST 50 times! LOL. Cory swam the lazy river and went down the mega slide with his best friend.
I stayed in the shade with Mia, and took her into the water to swim a bit here and there. I am so lucky that she loves the water. All of my kids are drawn to it. It would be weird to have a kid of my own that did not like water, as Bill and I are so oriented to it. I can see Mia on the beach in a few years, surfing with the rest of us!
Speaking of water, it’s time for us to head off to the pool!
Little surfer girl - July 11, 2004 -
Little surfer, little one
Made my heart come all undone.
Do you love me,
do you, surfer girl,
surfer girl, my little surfer girl
Did you kiss your husband before he left for work today? - July 7, 2004 -
If you didn’t, call him and tell him you love him because you never know what the day will bring. Get a load of this:
What a wild weekend! The 4th started out with a bang….no pun intended.
Friday I was on my way home from shopping in the city, and I got a phone call from my good friend (the anesthesiologist);
Me: Hello?
D: Have you seen your house?
Me: “No, I am on my way home from a day of shopping.”
D: “Well, a car went tearing through your front lawn out of control and slammed in to the house next door.”
Me: “What!! Is Bill okay?”
D: “I don’t know? Why would he not be okay?”
Me: “He told me he was planning to mow the front yard when he got home from work.”
D: “Shit!! There were police and an ambulance there. No one mentioned a lawn mower or Bill laying out in the yard.”
Me: “Let me get off the phone and try to get hold of Bill.”
Frantically dialing home to check on Bill……………..no answer. Good God, please not this kind of freak accident…………
More frantic dialing to Dr. B, our neighbor that Bill works with.
Dr. B: “Hello?”
Me: “Hey M, this is J, did you drive by our house on your way home from work?”
Dr. B: “No. I went the back way. Why?”
Me: “Well, apparently a car ripped through our front yard and smashed into the house next door……Bill was supposed to be mowing the front yard, and I can’t get hold of him”.
Dr B. “Give me your cell number. I’ll run up there and see what’s going on.”
I hung up and put the phone in my lap. My 9yo started crying and wanted to know if Daddy got run over by a car. (nice! so much for Mom keeping calm).
It was an ETERNITY (more like 3 minutes) before my phone rang again. In this time I tried to remember if I had kissed him goodbye before he left for work that morning.
RINGING PHONE!!!!!!!!!
Me: “Hello?”
Dr.B.: “Hey, it’s me. All seems fine. There are workers patching the house next door, and Bill is riding around on the lawn mower cutting the lawn. Your yard is torn up though”
Me: “Thank God! Thanks M so much for doing that!”
I got Jell-O legs and tried to act casual to the kids. Huge sigh of relief.
I got home and it seemed the whole town was there to see what happened. Apparently the driver passed out as he was pulling away from the gas station and his foot mashed down on the accelerator. He jumped a 2 foot high, vertical city curb, another foot high cement wall, and literally plowed through our whole front yard. He then jumped both curbs on the other side of the yard and plowed into the retirement home next door. No one was hurt, thank God, and the gentleman was taken to the hospital by ambulance to assess why he passed out.
Bill said that he was climbing on the mower to go do the front lawn when he heard tires screeching. He climbed off, walked around to the front and saw the car lodged up against the front of the retirement house, with the back tires still spinning like mad. He ran over, and “Bill the PA” took over and checked the guy out. The guy was one of his patients.
If Bill had gone out just a minute or two earlier than he did, it would have been a disaster, as he would have surely been hit. He wears ear plugs, and the car went across the entire front lawn. There would have been no escape.
It was a random, freak occurrence that could have devastated my family.
I have always kissed Bill as he leaves for work in the a.m., but it has now taken on new meaning. I think we should always, no matter how frustrated or angry we are with our spouses, try to kiss them and tell them how loved they are before they leave the house. Treat each day with respect and don’t take one moment of your time together for granted.
That is very hard to do in the midst of trying times, 4 kids, bills to be paid, chores to be done. It only takes a moment to show your affection. It also only takes a moment for chance to take that moment away from you forever.
