Trip to Texas

Mary Kay seminar is typically the last week of July, often coinciding with my mom’s birthday as it did this year. Since Mike also had some work to do in Texas, we decided to make a mini-vacation of it (tax-deductible of course) and have a chance to visit some family & friends, though not as many as we would have liked.

Mom picked us up from the airport, and on the way home we went by our old Dallas house which was on a recent Ju-Nel home tour. We also stoped at one of Mike’s clients Top Golf – a golf entertainment facility. It was a lot of fun! Sorta like a bowling at a multi-level golf driving range. Each of the balls you hit has a computer chip in it so you can follow it on a video screen. Collin loved it and I enjoyed my first attempt at hitting golf balls.

Unfortunately Carson wasn’t feeling well (perhaps he caught a bug from the plane) so we had to go to the doctor’s office Friday morning, which delayed our trip to Austin a few hours. We stopped on the way to see another one of Mike’s clients’ buildings in Copperas Cove – a new movie theatre/ entertainment facility. Collin got to play Lasertag with Mike, and Carson & I ate free popcorn while visiting with Mike’s client.

We had planned to have dinner with our good friends Brett & Tara & their kids (Gage, 3 & Calla, 5 wks) but since Carson was sick they had to take turns, so Tara came out with us for dinner, and Mike was able to hang out with Brett & Brent for drinks afterwards. I took the boys to a hotel since we didn’t want to risk bringing germs into the Pitts, especially with Calla so young. Mike was super nice to suggest that I go out with his friends on the boat early Saturday morning to wake board and he’d come out with the boys later. Unfortunately Carson didn’t cooperate with that plan and wanted his momny since he was feeling under the weather. But it turned out fine cause we all got to go out together on the boat and I got to wake board too. After the lake we went back to Brett & Tara’s for a BBQ where we got to see some other mutual friends. Tara & I hiked the Greenbelt in the heat, since the trailhead is right NEXT to their place. We forgot how HOT Texas is!!!
The next morning (Sun) we had to head back to Dallas, got to see the end of the Tour de France (recorded) at Chris & Ashley’s, then see Chrissie & her kids for ice cream before heading back to my parents’ place for dinner. Monday was mom’s birthday, and she was very gracious to spend it at the Wiggles play place for kids. Dad met us for lunch, and then we had a great dinner at the Grand Lux, despite Carson not cooperating or wanting to sit in his high chair.

On Tuesday Mike went back to Dallas and Tracy, my Mary Kay teammate from Georgia arrived on Wednesday for the Mary Kay seminar that started that evening.

New Backyard and Playset

For years we've wished we had a backyard to play in with Collin, but we instead have had a forest to admire from our screened-in porch and most of our outside time at home has been spent playing baseball or basketball in the driveway. This year, with a little help from my parents we decided to do something about it. The transformation began with getting some grading and stone work done by a landscape company in mid June. We decided against the idea of grass because we had way too many LARGE trees to cut down and to even attempt to get enough sun. We instead worked with what we had and kept all the trees, which makes for a very shady and cool spot in the summer. We have a nice stone patio, stone retaining walls and an area for a playset. Here are some pictures of what our yard looked like mid-June... (you can click on these pictures to see more)

The last weekend of June Mike bought and assembled the playset for the boys. Our friend Ed was in town from Dallas and was helpful. Mike worked ALL Saturday, from 6 AM to 6 PM. I took Ed on a hike and we played tennis so he could enjoy his vacation but it happened to be one of the hottest weekends we had all summer.

The boys LOVE their playset, and for several weeks was hard to get them to go anywhere since they enjoy their backyard so much. We used to play in the playroom in the morning, but now both of the boys want to be outside by 8 AM. Carson brings me his shoes immediately after breakfast, and Collin suits up in whatever his outfit of the week is (usually his "transformer shorts" with a belt, sometimes his Lightning McQueen boots, and oftentimes other accessories, such as a knight costume, or pirate patch and a pasta strainer he wears as a hat. The imagination of a four-year-old is amazing! I have to say it's been sorta nice to stay home more…there were days we didn't even leave the house until 2 PM because we'd wait for Carson to have his nap and then leave after lunch.

Mike spent nearly every waking weekend moment of July on building a new section of our deck, but the project moved pretty quickly due to his hard work and focus despite both boys wanting to "help" Be sure to see the pictures of Carson using his drill...he wanted to do anything Mike was doing and couldn't stand to be too far away. He finished the majority of the deck in just two weekends less than an hour before it began raining.

I've spent quite a bit of time sanding and staining the playset and was finally able to finish when Mike's parents came in town. Mike built an entire deck in just a few weekends and it took me longer than that to stain the structure. Of course, I was responsible for trying to keep the boys out of his way and I took advantage of Carson’s nap times to do other things, like a bike ride, tennis or other work. Mike's dad was a huge help the first week of August at building a bench while Mike's mom was a great help with the boys and helping me finish staining. Other than staining, the deck is mostly complete after their visit after Mike & his dad installed a bench and a planter. This fall we'll need to do some landscaping, but we love having a backyard to enjoy!

4th of July

4th of July was on a Saturday this year so many people were out of town. Mike took off Friday and began his deck project and planned to have a 4-day weekend to make lots of progress, but it rained on Sunday and was wet Monday so he went into the office.
We had a great holiday weekend even though Mike worked most of the time on the deck. Friday night we went to a new Mexican restaurant with some friends and enjoyed some margaritas - quite a treat!

On the 4th the boys and I walked in our neighborhood parade, then came back and played in the yard and I sanded the playset. After Carson's nap we went to the pool for a short time, then all went to Ted & Jenn's for our annual party and then to Indian Hills for fireworks. Collin looks forward to this night all year, and enjoys playing with his friends and the sparklers just as much as watching fireworks. Carson did fine with fireworks too and wasn't scared at all like some kids his age. I figured that would be the case for our easy-going man.