Vacation - First Mel Tillis and Merle Haggard Concert and back to Texas

While we were in Branson I saw a commerical about Merle Haggard coming there that Saturday night well we were leaving Friday so I told Tim that figures!  So Tim got on my ipad and found that he would be in Durant, OK at the Choctaw Casino with Mel Tillis.  I thought that was so funny because the first time my parents took me to Branson we were given a choice who we wanted to see and we picked Mel Tillis.  So we decided that that would be a great place to stop for the night so we got tickets and a room at the casino.   We had a blast at the concert.  We told Zach about Mel Tillis' song "Coca-Cola Cowboy" and Tim told him that his dad used to sing it to his mom (his dad works for Coke dist.)  Luckily he sang it that night so Zach sang along with it.  Merle was really good too and I think Zach enjoyed him too.  This was also Zach's first time to see a casino and boy were his eyes big.. until I told him that the people were losing money.. he didn't like that part. 

Saturday we got up and we happy to get back to Texas!  We decided to give Zach one more first..

Cooper's BBQ at the Stockyards in Ft.Worth.. it was SO GOOD but I have to admit it is even better in Llano!  But we all enjoyed it! 

If you have followed this blog for a while you know that I love County Courthouses and well I got a new one while we were in Ft. Worth... Tarrant County

We had a great trip!  We were happy to go on vacation and relax but I think we were happy to get back home too.



Vacation - Branson, Missouri

After Little Rock it was on to Branson.  We had a great time going to Dolly's Dixie Stampede, Branson Belle Showboat, Go-Karting, checking out the Fish Hatchery, Hanging out at the condo, swimming at the condo, shopping (well maybe that was just me), putt-putt golfing, going to Branson Landing and going to Sliver Dollar City.  I didn't take as many pictures as I normally do on a trip but there are some.  It was a great week away from everything.  Just what we all needed.  Zach had many first during this week. 

He had his first Rollercoaster ride - and we are not talking about a baby one we are talking about a big boy one!!!  He and I ended up riding twice that day.  The first time he was so excited when he figured out he was tall enough to ride so we got on.. about half way through I look over at him and drule is coming out of his mouth and his head is almost to his knees.. I told him to get his head back!  He didn't scream and his eyes were open through the whole thing.  I was so surprised he did so good... well we get off and I'm telling Tim what he did and well I guess he realized what was being said and I think he got a little scared.. so we ended up have to convience him to do it again.  I told Tim that if we didn't we might not get him back on.. and well it work he got on and this time LOVED IT!  I was so proud of him!!

Tim took this picture of us before the first time..

Zach also got to drive a gokart on his own for the first time.  He was so excited when he realized he was tall enough to do this.  The coarse he drove on only went in a circle but he didn't care.  The first time it was just him the next time it was him and 3 others and let me just say the boy has watched too much NASCAR! He was blocking like a pro.. but the boy behind him was frustrated.. I think he would have beat Zach up if he thought he could get away with it.  He had a great time.

We also went and checked out the Fish Hatchery by the damn.  It was really cool to see all of the fish.

He is feeding the fish..

Happy happy fish...

There were some cool flowers at the hatchery also so I had to get a couple of them..

Vacation Day 1 - Arkansas

So I got back from Philly at 11:30 pm on a Friday night and the next morning it was off to our family vacation.  This year we decided to go back to Branson (had Sam made it to Omaha with baseball.. we probably would have been there.. I'm a bearkat.. how could we not be there for our team!)

We decide to drive part of the way up on the first day and so we ended up in Little Rock.  So I got on my phone looking for a hotel for us and found the Peabody (http://www.peabodylittlerock.com).  You never know what thes hotels are going to look like until you finally get there and let me say this hotel didn't disapoint!  It was beautiful and the bed was comfortable.  I have no complaints about this hotel.  Everything there had ducks on it.  When I registered the guy said the ducks are done for the day but will be back at 11 in the morning.  I then remembered why I knew this hotel.  I watch 19 kids and counting (don't judge) anyways when the little one was in the hospital the whole family moved to Little Rock.  On Mother's day they had asked the mom to come and lead the ducks in.  Anyways I also asked the guy what were some good places that we could walk to eat at.  He told me a couple of places but told me about Big Whiskey (http://www.bigwhiskeys.com).  Where the Peabody is located right off the river there is a nice street to walk down with a bunch of different hotels and restaurants.  So we looked at everything and decided to go into Big Whiskey's.  It was great it was a little bar type atmosphere but not bad for Zach to be in.  We asked the waitress to tell us what was good she said the Chicken Ranch Alfrado and the Big Whiskey BBQ Burger both things that I had been looking at so I decided to get the Chicken Ranch Alfrado and boy was it GOOD!  Tim got the Burger and wasn't disappointed.  We ate and watch Arkansas vs South Carolina in the beginning of the baseball championships.  It was a good dinner.  The next morning we got breakfast downstairs at the hotel restaurant and it was good they had a buffet and menu to order from.  We decided to go back to our room and wait for the ducks.  So around 11 we went down to see the ducks it was cute they come down in the elevator and then waddle down the red carpet to John Philip Sosa music and then they jump in the little water feature they have. It is very short but super cute so if you are looking for a hotel in Little Rock I suggest the Peabody!

This is Arkansas' State Capital building.

One last vacation before school starts.. Part 2

Alan, Sherry, Hannah, Kara and Rylan came Friday afternoon and we had to take them to the beach!

Hannah and Carlie

Zach and Rylan

Rylan with his juice box

Carlie

Hannah

Our little mermaid, Ms. Kara

All of the kids!

  Saturday Morning it was back to the beach of coarse!

We got home around lunch time from the beach.  Us women went to Wally World to get a few things for lunch and supper. When we came back we ate lunch then it was time for some horse shoes!

Even I got into playing.. I would throw and Zach would scream trying to mess me up.. what a sweet boy!

my handsome hubby..

Rylan knew that this little faucet had water.. we used it to clean our feet before went into the house but he thought it was better to play in..I might have turned the water for him a few times.. it was too cute just to watch him play!

Saturday afternoon as it got cooler (still HOT but better) we decided to take the kids back to the beach.  We had a great time again playing in the water and because Zach is not the best swimmer I tried to stay out there with him so that if I wave went over him I could catch him and just watch him.  Well we would take little breaks from the water in one of our breaks we were walking back and as I was walking I step on something that I knew wasn't quite right.. it was slimey and MAD that I was on top of it the next thing I know it is wiggling and I feel it swing around and hit me.. I was in pain and I knew exactly what it was it was a stingray! I got Zach and ran to the shore where Tim, Thomas and Sherry were at and I could finally see my foot it had a little bit of blood but I was in PAIN!  So we walked over to where the sandbags were and I leaned against them to try and take a look at it better.  I had my cell phone down there so Sherry looked up what to do on WebMd.  Tim wanted to know if I wanted to go to the hospital and I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do.. So we walked back to the house and I sat in a chair on the porch.. luckily there was a cop down the road so Thomas walked down there to see what he thought when he came back he told us that he said to put a hot pad on it or put in hot water and go to the hospital because they can leave their barb in you and they are posionous.. so on to the hospital in Lake Jackson we went. We got there and put my name in and the guy goes you aren't the first we had today.. That made me feel better.. NOT.. so they took me back got my blood pressure and everything else and told me that I was going to have to wait in the waiting room but they said they were going to give me something to help the pain.. so me and my bowl of hot water went and waited.. Tim got me registered and a few minutes later (all together about 30-45 minutes had past) I was going back to the room.  Which was great because by the time I was going back the water was luke warm and as soon as the water wasn't hot it was back to PAIN!  So we got in and the nurse got me some more water and we waited.  The doctor came in and said well you are the 11th one today and we had a bunch last weekend too.. would have like to have known that before we put the kids in the water.  So she asked when was the last time I had a tetnus shot and I couldn't remember so she goes so today.. I said yes.. then she told me that they were going to give me some pain meds and an antibotic.  She felt around the wound to see if she could feel the barb and gratefully she didn't but she said she wanted to take some x-rays of my foot to comfire that it didn't go deep in my foot.  So we got every and waited for the results.. about 30mins later NO BARB!  Thank goodness.. if there would have been a barb I would have had to got to surgery to get it out!  So we made our way back to the beach house.  I told everyone that I had the memorable moment of the vacation and they could thank me!  I woke up Sunday and had a little paid but my arm where I got the shot actually was the worst and still is!  We clean the house up and then it was back home!

It was a great trip and I'm so happy that our family came with us and was able to share all of this with us.  I hated that I got hurt but was thankful it wasn't any worse!

One last vacation before school starts.. Part 1

Tim and I decided when we did our San Antonio trip back in June that we would make another trip around Zach's birthday.  So last Wednesday we head to Surfside Beach, TX it is about 44 miles from Galvestion and 20 mins away from Lake Jackson down Hwy 288.  We decided instead of getting a hotel room we should just rent a house. So we found one called the Jetty View it was about a block away from the beach and two blocks from the Jetty.  We got there that afternoon and unpacked then it was off to Lake Jackson to get a bite to eat and go grocery shopping.  We didn't realize how small Lake Jackson was until we were trying to figure out what to eat.. there were many choices!  We got back in time to take a walk down the beach and watch the baby crabs crawl down the beach.  Zach was amazed by this!  It was neat to watch them run sideways.  The next morning we got up and went straight down to the beach.  Zach had fun playing in the water but it started to get hot so we decided to go home.  We ate breakfast and played around the house a little bit then it was off to see if we could catch some crabs..

Zach had fun watching the chicken leg go in the water and the crabs coming to it.  Only thing there were some hungry fish also and they liked the fish too.. We had no lunch in getting the crabs in the net so we decided go back home and hang out until it cooled off a bit so we could go back to the beach.

It finally cooled off so Zach and I walked down to beach and hung out there until it was about to get dark.

Thursday was Zach's 7th birthday so we wanted to hang out go to the beach a bunch and I wanted to make sure to get some good pictures of him near the water. 

He loves to burry his legs in the sand so we had to do that a few times.

 I think his favorite part is kicking his feet out!

It was strange to see the big ship come so close to us..

It was just a relaxing day of going to the beach, watching tv and playing around the house.

Friday was the day that our family was going to come down and meet us first up was Uncle Thomas and Carlie.  They got there right after breakfast and our first time down at the beach

After they got there and got settled we took them to the crabbing area to see if we could get lucky that day.

I was lucky and caught this little man..

We didn't have a lot of luck after that Carlie got a small one but not big enough to keep so we decided to try the levee again

This is one of my favorite pictures.. I think it will be one that I will print for my mother in law of her babies..

It was too hot and we didn't catch any crabs we could keeps so it was on to Buckees to icees!  We got back home ate lunch and just hung out before Alan & Sherry and the kids came to see us!