Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Happy Halloween!
Hello family and friends! Well, the holiday season has begun, and we are really celebrating around here. Houston has finally gotten some nice fall fronts, so we get to spend more time doing our favorite things--OUTSIDE! Mom and I put up all the spooky Halloween stuff at the beginning of the month, but things really got started last weekend when we attended 4 Fall Festivals in 1 weekend! Today I got to go to the pumpkin patch with my class, and Friday is the Halloween party. I'm sure I'll have lots more pictures to share next week. For now, enjoy these of me in the yard, at Dad's Fall Festival at his school (where I tore up the dance floor!), as well as a kooky photo of myself when I somehow managed to put my slinky around my neck-YIKES! By the way, I'm Dale Earnhardt, Jr this year, Number 88, Baby (my new slogan).
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
M&D's Trip to Colorado
Mom and Dad decided to take a break from the Texas heat and headed to Colorado the first of August. As for me, I opted to spend the weekend with my fun cousins in San Antonio! Grandma Pat and Grandpa Glen drove in to watch me for the weekend, and we had lots of fun staying with the other Arnold clan. Mom and Dad had fun too. They spent the first day and night with our friends John and Dana from Orlando. Interestingly enough, John and Dana are actually getting ready to move BACK to Orlando in the next few weeks, so they were glad to catch them in Denver before the big move. Downtown Denver was beautiful--very clean, and because of the 70s temps, lots of beautiful flowers! They all had dinner at the Ragusa's favorite Italian restaurant and had a great time catching up. After Denver, Mom and Dad drove to Vail where they had reservations at Vail Cascade resort. They had a wonderful time relaxing by the pool, eating wonderful meals, riding mountain bikes, and taking the gondola up Vail mountain. They also got to see Red Rocks, an amazing natural outdoor amphitheater. We all had a great weekend, and I can't wait to visit my cousins again soon.
Monday, July 06, 2009
The 4th in Philly!
For our family vacation this summer, we decided to take a trip to Philadelphia--and what better time to go than our nation's birthday! We flew in on Thursday morning to 75 degree temps! This was quite a change from Houston where we've been in triple digits with a heat index of 111! We decided as soon as we got there, we were going to spend every moment possible outside. Philly is a beautiful city and perfect for walking everywhere we needed to go. Our hotel was in the museum/arts district. We scored a great room on the 14th floor overlooking Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Because the hotel is round, we actually had 2 balconies, perfect for watching all the weekend festivities. We spent Thursday afternoon in the Olde City. We saw Independence Hall and the liberty bell, then went to eat at City Tavern, the same place our founding fathers met to discuss our nation's beginning! Although the building had to be rebuilt by the historical society, we were seated on the bottom floor where the original brick floor still remains! Thursday evening we took the Lights of Liberty tour which recreates the events leading to the birth of our nation by projecting images on the historical sites while the dialogue plays through your headset. It was an amazing recount that got all all 3 of us fired up. Mom cried, I yelled, and Dad was ready to grab his musket and join the fight! Friday, we got in our car and headed to Lancaster County, home of the nation's largest Amish population. It was amazing to drive through the small towns, often having to slow down due to horse and buggies on the road, and seeing their simple life like laundry hung out to dry. The land is absolutely beautiful, and we had lots of fun meandering through the small towns. Saturday night, we stopped by the Karpiaks' home to have dinner. Scott was Dad's business partner when he worked for Schwab in Orlando. We enjoyed the nice weather while we ate hamburgers outside. It was really late when we left, and I fell asleep as soon as we got in the car to head back to the city. Mom and Dad made a spur of the moment decision to stop by the most popular place to be at midnight in Philly--Pat's and Geno's to get a cheesesteak. Both of the rival stands were hopping, and while I was sleeping in the car with Mom, Dad got up the courage to order at Pat's after lots of coaching from Scott and Margie-he only got yelled at once! With a little heartburn, we all got up Saturday morning to hit the 4th festivities. The parade in Olde City was lots of fun, and we spent the rest of the day watching the thousands of people make their way into town for the concert and firework show. We had a perfect view from the balcony of our hotel room and spent most of our time watching the show from the comfort of our room. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful trip for a family that sure is proud to be American!
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Summer Fun at the Beach
Today we woke up, threw on our swimsuits, and headed South to Galveston Island. Although we were there less than a year ago, the great storm Ike really transformed the Island, so we had heard, so we decided to go take a look. Surprisingly, the majority of our favorite places look unchanged if not spiffier due to new signage and structural changes. A few landmarks are gone, maybe forever, but we were pleasantly surprised by the resiliency of the island. The beach was cleaner than ever, and we parked on the seawall to jump into the waves. The 3 of of had a blast burying each other in the sand, boogy boarding, and jumping waves. Even though we've been battling record breaking heat in Houston (104 degree temps!) the gulf breeze kept us cool, and we stayed under the umbrella or in the water. After several hours of hard beach play, we decided to venture out for a seafood bite. We moseyed over to the Sunflower Cafe and Bakery, a recommendation from a Woodvillian friend who has a home in Galveston. Maybe we were just famished, but the meal was the best we've had in a while! Mom ate crab cakes with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, Dad had shrimp etouffee, and I gobbled up a huge plate of pancakes, eggs and sausage--what a feast! We headed home after that (I dozed off right away, of course) and are now getting ready to hop the train to Minute Maid Park to see the 'Stros. Let's hope they can put up a decent fight tonight, fingers crossed! I've also included some pics of our recent trip to Dallas. We had lots of fun visiting with all our friends and staying with the Brauns. Our wonderful hosts threw a huge barbeque the first night we arrived, and it was a blast to see all our old neighbors, Moms Club and church friends. The last night we were there, Mrs. Petra busted out the playstation karaoke Abba style. It was so much fun to sing and dance to the moms' favorite songs (whenever we could pry the mic away from those women!) Apparently Mom and Mrs. Petra were practicing for their big sing-off during their girls' weekend in Houston. Thank goodness I'll be in Poplar Bluff!
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