Monday, July 31, 2017

Moving Slow

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan was awake when I got up this morning.  He said that he wasn't feeling well.  I got him breakfast.  He ate it and then went back to sleep.

Noah also has been slowed by not feeling well.  In Noah's case, he has more of a stuffy nose.

Rachel went to a later morning Camp Gladiator than we normally go to.  I left to get a haircut.

Rachel made lunch for the boys later.

The boys moved slowly all day, not wanting to do much.  So Rachel stayed at home with the boys in the afternoon.

Grandma and Papa came over for dinner.  We made fajitas on the grill.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Group Bike Ride

This morning, at 7 am Evan and I met Papa at Dick Nichols park for the Mamma Jamma training ride.  You could choose the 20-mile or 37-mile bike ride.  We went with the 20-mile ride.  Evan did very well, but since we were going slower than most of the other people, we did one less loop and only went 16.5 miles, still a good distance.  It was a nice time.

We mostly took it easy at home today.  The kids knew they needed to clean up today, but still put up a big fight about it.

For dinner, we ordered pizza from Pizza Hut and watched the Sixth Sense.  The kids had not seen it before.  They said they liked it.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Shopping

This morning we took it easy.  We ate brunch at home.  Noah and I had omelets.  Evan had scrambled eggs.  Morry had garlic bread.

Early afternoon we left for the outlets in San Marcos.  

It was a long afternoon.   We bought shoes for all of us, socks for the boys and Morry, some clothes.  The deals weren't as good as last year, but we still did pretty well.

The boys convinced us to go to Cracker Barrel for dinner.  It was convenient, so we gave in.  They ate very well.  The both had fried shrimp, broccoli, and apples.

Now the boys should be getting ready for bed.  They just had tea and dessert.

Friday, July 28, 2017

Cherry Jam

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Everyone (except me) slept in this morning.  There was no cooking camp.  Evan didn't need to be anywhere.

I had a phone meeting in the morning.  Other than I worked.

Rachel went for a run after she got up.  Then we went to Wholy Bagel for lunch.

The afternoon was much of the same.  The boys stayed inside from the heat.

Rachel found a recipe for cherry jam.  We have a ton of cherries we got from Costco.  Rachel had hoped to make the jam with Noah but at the last minute he decided he didn't want to help her.  The jam is very good.

For dinner, we just made small things.

After dinner, we took the boys to Toys R Us.  They each had a gift card they had gotten for their birthday and wanted to use it.  Then we went to Tiff's Treats for dessert on the way home.

The boys are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Cooking Camp and Paintball

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today was Noah's last day of cooking camp.  They have a competition at camp where the kids are broken into three teams.  Like Top Chef, each gets ingredients and they have to prepare a meal and get judged at the end.

Rachel took Noah to camp and later returned to see the meals that were prepared.  Grandma came with Rachel to see it.

I was not able to go to the camp because TRPD was having a paintball game.  It was quite far away.  We left before Rachel took Noah to camp.  We stopped on the way and got Evan's friend and teammate Everett.  I dropped Evan off at paintball and then went to a coffee shop to work.

Rachel got roped into big a judge of the competition (for the second straight year).  Unfortunately, Noah's team came in third (for the second straight year).  Noah helped make a pie or cobbler.  Noah wouldn't tell me about it.  Rachel said it was good.  She said all three teams did a good job.

When I picked up Evan, he was covered in paint.  He had a ton of fun (as Evan always does) and he and Everett talked non-stop about it on the way home.  But actually, one of the high school kids that was there asked me for a ride.  He didn't know me but thought I could drop him off at the TRPD facility which was closer for him and his mom could get him there.  I asked where he lived.  He said that he lived in Circle C.  I told him that was amazing because that's where we were headed so I drove him all the way home.  He also joined in with the younger kids, talking a mile a minute about how much fun it was.  At TRPD it seems that all of the kids are just baseball players.  It doesn't matter that there is an age gap.  They're all on the team essentially.

Evan has a nice welt on his neck where he got hit with a paintball.  He is both complaining about it and showing it off as a badge of honor at the same time.  It's amazing he got hit in the neck.  His skin was completely covered except for part of his neck.  They were facemasks with goggles.  They all had long sleeve shirts and pants.  Evan even wore a hat to make sure his head was covered.  But a paintball managed to find that one spot.

For dinner we just had leftovers.  Afterward, Rachel and I took Lizzy for a walk.  She had a nice walk eating cicadas.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

The Big Sick

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Rachel took Noah to cooking camp again this morning.  She came home and worked from home.  she later went back out to get him.

Evan didn't have anywhere to be so he stayed home all day.

I had a few phone meetings.   In the early afternoon, Rachel and I ran out to the Alamo Drafthouse.  We each had a free birthday ticket as part of their rewards program.  You cannot redeem your birthday code online; you need to buy the ticket in person.  So Rachel and I drove over there and picked up tickets to see The Big Sick.  The boys had planned on eating dinner with Grandma and Papa so we figured we'd take advantage of the situation and go see a movie.

We dropped the boys off at Grandma and Papa's around 5:30 and then walked back home.

The movie was very good.  The food was ok.

After the movie we drove to pick up the boys.  They had both eaten well.

They are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Vet Adventure

Yesterday Noah had his cooking class and seemed to have fun.

In the afternoon we took all three animals to the vet for their yearly checkup.  They were all due and we thought it would be better just to take them all at the same time.  So, all four of us plus the 3 animals went to the vet.

They were amazed at how much Lizzy improved since the last time she was there.  She has a tumor in her rectum that is slow growing, but there's really nothing we can do for it.  Besides that, she's doing pretty well.

Flash checked out fine.  Everything looked good.

Calvin has lost quite a bit of weight.  He's down to the same weight as Flash now (8.3 pounds).  We got some bloodwork done.  Today, they said they think he has a UTI so we will start him on antibiotics for 10 days to see if that helps.  If he continues to lose weight we will need to bring him in for an ultrasound.

Last night we grilled steak for dinner.

Today, Noah went to cooking camp again and enjoyed it.

Evan hung out with Morry at Aaron's for meetings.  Evan really enjoyed doing that and getting lunch with all of them at the Little Deli.

This afternoon, Evan hung out with Wade.  They went swimming at Lifetime Fitness.

I was supposed to tutor this afternoon but it got rescheduled for Thursday.

For dinner, we had corned beef.

We took a walk after dinner.

Now we are going to have dessert - s'mores on the grill.


Sunday, July 23, 2017

Brunch and The Oasis

One of Noah's friends from camp lives here in Austin and the family invited us over for brunch. We got there at 10:30 this morning and stayed until around 3pm.  We had a really nice time and the kids enjoyed being together.

We came home and then left the house around 5:15.  We picked up Grandma and Papa and went to The Oasis.

Here are a few pictures.

The boys are in bed now.






Saturday, July 22, 2017

Rachel's Birthday!

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today was Rachel's birthday.  She wanted to go to Snooze for brunch.  We let her sleep in until we had to leave.  Before we left, she opened up the gifts the boys and I got for her.

We picked up Grandma and Papa and drove to Snooze.  Aunt Susan met us there.  They said the wait for 7 people was 45-60 minutes but we were seated in 40 minutes.  The food was good.  We enjoyed the meal.

We came home and took it easy in the afternoon.

Before dinner, we left and stopped at Costco.  Then we drove to Freebirds for dinner.

After dinner, we went to Austin Parks and Pizza and played miniature golf.

For dessert, we went to Snow Monster.

We're home and the boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Friday, July 21, 2017

Another 2000 miles

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We got home last night from our trip to Tucson to see Zayde.  We drove another 2000+ miles this summer.  We have one more trip to Dallas to finish off the summer on the road.

We had a nice time in Tucson with Zayde.  The boys really enjoyed their time with him.  We ate quite a bit.  While not in Bradenton, we got to watch the Pirates on tv with him.  Evan and Zayde even got quite into the extra inning game where the Pirates won in walk-off fashion.

Today, we went to Wholy Bagel for lunch.  Rachel ran there.

I worked all day and Rachel took care of some phone calls that needed to be made.

We ate at home for dinner but then got snow cones for dessert.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Saturday, July 15, 2017

San Antonio Quick Vacation

We just got back from a short vacation with two other families.

We all met at the Hyatt resort in San Antonio.

We had a really nice time.  The kids had a great time playing in the pool and lazy river.  The adults had a great time as well.

Here are a few pictures.






Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Noah Jumps

This morning Noah was picked up around 9:45 to go with Jude to Altitude (the indoor trampoline park).  He was with Jude until around 1:30 when I picked him up.

I went for a run this morning.

After I got Noah we had lunch.

Around 2:15 we all left the house.

Morry took Evan to a baseball lesson and Noah came with me to a meeting at a coffee shop.

We all got home around 5:15.

We had leftovers for dinner.

The kids are playing outside now.

It's so cute.  I think they were doing a bike drag race with the neighbors.



Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Practice

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We stayed home this morning.  I had a phone meeting but other than that, we didn't have any commitments.

Rachel had a Pink Ribbon Cowgirls lunch at Whole Foods today.  The boys wanted to go with her.  Rachel took her car to get the oil changed.  The boys and I picked her up and then I dropped them off at Whole Foods for the lunch.  I took my car to get washed.  When that was over, I went back to Whole Foods and sat with the boys.  When it was done, we dropped Rachel back off at the oil change place and went home.

I had a phone meeting in the afternoon which went well.

I got a text from the father of one of Evan's friends.  He had reached out to Evan's baseball team.  They said he could come to a voluntary practice which runs every Tuesday night as a tryout.  Evan and I said we'd go with them.  So Evan, Noah and I had an early dinner while Rachel was tutoring.  Then Josh and his dad Chad came to the house.  They drove up to practice.

The high school kids were playing when we first got there while Evan and Josh warmed up.  Only Evan and Josh ended up coming to the practice.  I think that they had a good time.  Josh seemed impressed.  I think they liked Josh.  We'll see if it works out.

The kids are now in bed.

Until next time...

Monday, July 10, 2017

Morry's Birthday

Today is Morry's birthday.

This morning before Evan left to hang out with Wade, we gave Morry his present.

Wade's mom picked up Evan around 9:30 and took them to Lifetime Fitness and then Locomotion.  Evan got back mid afternoon.

For lunch we went to Fire Bowl.

At 1pm the Pooch Caboose came to bathe and trim Lizzy.  It took the woman about 2 hours.  Lizzy looks really good now - younger and thinner.  :)

For dinner we ate at Cypress Grill and for dessert, we got frozen custard at Freddy's.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Pre-Birthday

Today we were able to sleep in again.

I went for a run.

Since Morry's birthday is tomorrow and on a workday, we planned to see the Spiderman movie today.

I had some errands to run, so I met them at the movie theater.

Morry and the boys said they really liked the movie.

At home, we cleaned up and got dinner ready.

We had hamburgers for dinner.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Saturday, July 8, 2017

Smoothies After a Walk

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Rachel and I both slept in this morning.  There was nothing planned for today.  We weren't planning to meet up with another family.  The boys didn't have any sports or birthday parties planned.  So we really could just sleep in and figure out what we wanted to do when we woke up.

When we got up, we had brunch - eggs, bacon and waffles.

After that, we walked around the Costco shopping center.  The loop is 1.3 miles and we did it twice.  At the end we stopped at Smoothie King and got smoothies.

The boys and I watched The BFG when we got home.  Then Evan and I went outside to play wiffleball.  One of Noah's friends from first grade rode by on his bike.  He didn't know that we/Noah lived there.  He stopped and ended up coming inside and playing with Noah.

For dinner we went to Me Con Bistro.  Then we stopped at HEB on the way home.

The boys are now in bed.

Until next time...

Friday, July 7, 2017

More Reid

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Rachel and Evan went with Papa on a bike ride this morning.  They left around 7:30 and got back at 8:30.  Rachel said it was cooler this morning than it had been in previous mornings.

Rachel cleaned up and then left to go to the Toyota dealership to talk about doing some work for them.

Reid's mom picked Evan up to bring him to the pool with Reid and some friends.  Evan stayed there all day.

Noah and I met Rachel at Wholy Bagel.

Jude came over in the afternoon.  Noah and Jude seemed to have a really good time together.

For dinner, we went to Reid's house and had pizza.  Noah and Reid's brother Mason joined Evan and Reid outside.

The boys are now in bed.

Until next time...

Thursday, July 6, 2017

Goodbye Fran

This morning we all drove Fran to the airport.

When we got home I went for a run.

When I came back, Evan invited his friend Reid over.

Evan and Reid had a good time together this afternoon.  They were outside most of the time.

Around 5:30 we took the kids to Grandma and Papa's.  They had dinner with them and Morry and I went out to eat at Little Barrel and Brown.

Now the kids are getting ready for bed.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Camp --> July 4th

Here is a summary of the last few weeks.

The kids had summer camp at 6 Points Sports Academy from June 20 - July 2.  We drove them to Greensboro, NC.

Our road trip started on June 16.  We spent one night in Auburn at a hotel.  Then, we stayed with Lissa's family in Atlanta for 2 nights.  Next, Greensboro for one night and then we dropped the kids off at camp.  Then, Morry and I stayed at Jamie's family's house for one night in Atlanta. After that we went to Rosemary Beach, FL for 2 nights.  Finally, drove back home to Austin.

Fran and Scott drove to Greensboro from Richmond, VA to pick up the kids. Then, Fran flew them back to Austin.

Fran is still here visiting but will go home tomorrow.

The kids had a great time at camp.  In Noah's letter, he asked if he could stay longer.

On July 3, we had a neighborhood block party on our street.  We were able to watch the fireworks from the nearby golf course.   It was a fun night.

On July 4, we had a small party at our house.  Grandma, Papa, Aaron's family, Mandy's parents, and Deborah came over.

Today, we took Lizzy to the dog park at the lake and then had lunch at Terry Black's Barbecue.

For dinner, we ate at home, but then went to watch the bats come out from the Congress bridge.

After that, we went to Sno Monster for dessert.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.