Texas, Oklahoma & Colorado

You might have noticed I didn’t get a post up last night about lastest leg of the journey. It was a long day. We started out the morning by heading back into Palo Duro Canyon for some exploration.  Stopping first at the Visitor’s Center, we learned a bit about the formation and history of the canyon. Mom did a little shopping; buying a new Texas purse, a gift and books.   But, she forgot to use her 15% off coupon! 

Daniel spent most of the time looking through the telescope looking at the most popular rock formation for the Canyon, the Lighthouse.  We never got close enough to it in person to get a picture but the pictures we saw (and through the telescope) showed an interesting formation.

We spent some time driving through the canyon looking around.  Dad was fascinated at the white stripes running through the bright orange rock layers on the cliff walls.  He really wants to know what caused the color change in layers.  Remind me to google that later.

It was a beautiful canyon, but summer during a drought is not the proper time to visit.  It wasn’t even 11 a.m. but the temperature had already climbed to 100 degrees.  We passed over six low water crossings with dry cracked earth.  The wind was blowing but felt hot and dry.  Your mouth was just parched thinking about it. 

We jumped out of the car to visit a dugout replica of how people lived when they settled the area.  The kids were not impressed with the idea of living basically in a cave. It was hard for them to imagine needing to live in the earth like that.  

What they really wanted to do was go hiking and check out the trails.  We  adults ruled the day and vetoed hiking due to the harsh heat.  But, we did stop and take lots of pictures of the canyon.

After saying good bye to the canyon we continued our drive into Amarillo where we stopped at a Chinese buffet.  Wow, can these kids eat Chinese food.  It’s a good thing we weren’t charged for the number of times they went back to get more food.

Since we were so close to the historic Route 66, I convinced Dad (and it did take some convincing) that we should stop by and see the Cadillac Ranch on Route 66.  It was a great example of “hippie art”  - Caddies sticking up out of the ground that you are encouraged to deface and vandalize.  Strange, I know.  But it is one of those cultural, Americana things we had to see since we were so close.

To sum it up - old cars sticking up out of the ground in the middle of a dusty field, a hot wind kicking up dirt and the smell of spray paint in the air.  It was strange and weird but you couldn’t help but look.   We looked, took pictures and headed back to the car. 

 

What else did we see in Texas?  More windmills.  They were everywhere.

More windmills in Texas

Say Hello to Oklahoma!

While looking at the maps, I realized how close we were driving to the panhandle of Oklahoma.  It was my bright idea that we should detour from our planned route to drive straight up from Texas through the panhandle of Oklahoma into Colorado, then cut over West to Pueblo.  It didn’t look any farther than our planned route.  If I ever want to detour again someone just tell me – Google Maps is your friend.  Trust it to tell you the best route to your destination.  While the mileage wasn’t much different, the roads were very different.  The one I chose had you driving 35 mph through every small town.  It was “nice” to see a different part of the region, but mighty frustrating to not arrive in Pueblo until 9 p.m.  (which was 8 pm local time due to moving into Mountain time).  

Packed in like sardines

The plus side of the drive, my mom volunteered to sit in the back with the kids.  Bless you Mom.  That saved my sanity today. 

Did I mention the wild lightening storm as we drove through Eastern Colorado?  Crazy weather.  And the kids denied we were actually in Colorado since there weren’t any mountains!  We tried to explain that not all of Colorado was mountainous, but finally gave up. 

I would say all of us were a little frazzled after the long, long day.  Mom ran down to the motel restaurant and brought us back margaritas. Not quite a Hacienda margarita, but it was ok in a pinch. We made the educated decision not to go out to dinner, but stayed in and ordered pizza.  Dad ran out to pick up some wine, dessert and napkins.  It was our best dinner of the trip yet. 

 Saturday we reach our first mountain destination in Estes Park and catch up with David, Leah and kids.  Maybe the kids will finally believe we are in Colorado when they catch a glimpse of the Rocky Mountains up close and personal.

Driving Through Texas

Putting suitcases on the roof

Today's post is called, "Driving Through Texas," because that's pretty much what we did today.  We drove, and drove and drove....  From Fredericksburg to Canyon.  We made it right at 8 hours with a short fast food stop for lunch and a couple of bathroom/gas stops.  

The morning started off great.  A couple in the breakfast room at the motel complimented my mom and I on how well behaved our group of five was at breakfast.  That was really nice, cause you usually only get the evil eye when one is acting up.  We made sure to tell the kids how proud we were of their behavior to start the day.  

Last night, Dad made a run over to Wal-Mart and purchased a luggage bag thing to move a couple suitcases on top of the car to free up a little space inside the car.  We barely struggled at all getting the two largest bags up there and secured.  But let me say a word about giving your son the camera to grab a few shots of our efforts.  7 year old boys don't think too much about what they are taking a picture of exactly, especially as it pertains to women.  Let's just say, I ended up with 10-15 shots of my rear end as I stood on the car's bumper helping my dad.  Daniel and I had a nice conversation about not taking pictures of Mommy's bottom.  

The next eight hours are kinda a blur.  The kids were relatively good in the car.  Just the usual for five kids in a car for eight hours; really nothing terrible.  

Even though I've lived in Texas for more than 30 years of my life, I don't think I've even been to the panhandle, including Abilene and Lubbock.  Huh.  They were really uneventful and flat.  We barely saw the buildings of Texas Tech over the trees and other buildings as we sped by on the freeway.  

We were amazed at the number of windmill farms along the highway out here.  It was the same the last two years in West Texas on that road trip.  Hundreds and hundreds of windmills producing electricity for the power grid.  They are absolutely huge!

We arrived in Canyon (south of Amarillo) in time to head over to Palo Duro Canyon State Park for dinner and a musical theater performance of the play, Texas!   On our way into the state park at 6 p.m. I tried to get a picture of the temperature gauge at the ranger station showing a whopping 108 degrees, but Dad wouldn't slow down enough for all my picture taking.  Did I mention that this theater production is outside?  Yee Haw, it was hot!

Driving into the canyon

Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in North America (second of course to the Grand Canyon).  It is 120 miles long, 20 miles wide and over 800 feet deep.  Basically, it is a deep gorge of green and orange sitting in the middle of flat prairie desert land.  (It might be desert because of the drought, I'm not sure).  We will explore it more tomorrow, but I got a few pictures as we came down into the canyon tonight.  

For the last 46 years, there has been a musical stage production of the play, "Texas" produced at the bottom of Palo Duro Canyon in the summers.  Even though it was really hot, it was a great show. Completely worth attending if you are in the panhandle region.  It was big and showy and about early Texans settling the panhandle.  Lots of big Texas pride on display in that outdoor theater.  With the canyon walls as a backdrop they told a story of stubborn, hard-working, singing and dancing Texans filled with love for the Lone Star State.  The kids had a great time, even staying awake until the big finale at 10:45 p.m.   There were lots of special effects in the show, even artificial lightening coming down and striking a tree splitting it in half.  Awesome!  They kept us all on our toes into between the singing and dancing numbers.  

Going into the Texas show!

Because it is not actually today anymore, but tomorrow, I'll just leave you with some of our favorite pictures from "today".  In the morning, we tour the canyon some more and maybe visit a couple of museum here and in Amarillo before trekking on into Colorado for the night.

In the show, lightening came from the ridge down and split this tree in half
The kids jumped out of their seats!

Before dinner, we took the behind the scene tour.
It was an impressive theater seating over 1600.

It's a bit blurry, but I love Ashley's smile in this picture

Cameron & Papa

Birdie, Daniel, Brenna and Ashley

Kids spent a good deal of time dancing to the live band after dinner

Yee Haw!  Ride em Cowboy!

Colorado, Here We Come!

Dad trying to make it all fit

The kids and I left today for my Henley family vacation. Since Brian is leaving for his dream fishing trip to Alaska later this week, he couldn't come with us. Its a bit sad not having him here, but completely understand!

Rather than fly up to Colorado with my brother and his family, we chose to ride with my parents and nieces on their drive to CO.  Little did I realize when I made that fateful decision how tight eight people fit in a vehicle that seats eight!  We crammed my three kids, myself, my parents and my two nieces into a brand new expedition with LOTS of luggage and things to do.  

These are the crazy cousins in the car!  My seat is the empty seat on the right.
You're jealous, I know.

Our first day had us leaving Missouri City and driving almost 5 hours to Fredericksburg for the night.  Since we were not in a hurry, we stopped for a leisurely lunch at Schobel's restaurant in Columbus before arriving in Fredericksburg about 5 p.m.  

The kids were a little excited and loud being together in the car, so Mom and I took them for a little swimming before dinner to get a little energy out.  I think it worked.  They had a ball swimming together and Dad took a nap.

Cousin Swim!

For dinner, we decided it wasn't right to come to Fredericksburg and not eat at a German restaurant. We settled on Altdorf Restaurant and Biergarten.  

A picture for Shelly & Bryan of their girls

My kids and I

The kids were mostly adventurous in trying German food for the first time.  Dad ordered a sausage taster platter for an appetizer and each link was a huge hit with the kids.  Daniel chose a German hot dog for dinner, which proved to be a BIG bite.  

Wiener Schnitzel

Mom and I ordered classic Wiener Schnitzel with sweet and sour potatoes, sauerkraut, and "spicy" noodles. While the noodles were not spicy, everything was very tasty.  

Ashley and Cameron split a Zweibel Schnitzel and cleaned their plates.  It was like liver and onions with bacon, but without the liver.  Brian must learn to make it!  Speaking of Brian, I felt terrible taking the kids for their first German food when I know he LOVES German food.  He can rest easy know his kids liked it as much as he does.  

It was a good first day on the trip.  Tomorrow we are leaving early for Canyon, TX, 430 miles north of  Fredericksburg.  If we make it on time, we hope to see a TEXAS sized musical theater production in Palo Duro Canyon.

Good Night.  Sleep Well.

New Shark and New Swim Season

We have a new Shark and a new color this year.  Laurie joined her big sister and brother on the Sharks swim team as a 4 year old.  We are thrilled to have all 3 kids swimming together.  Course, all 3 swimming meant I was at swim practice after school for about 3 hours a day, but we survived those practices fairly well.

Another new thing this year was our color.  After being red sharks for 3 years, we are now Blue Sharks!  Good thing my kids look awesome in Blue!! 

We had our first swim meet last night in which all the races were relays.  It was a good first opportunity for the kids to get in the big pool with a crowd.  Laurie was thrilled to swim as a big kid.  While I was working the tent, Brian took mNY videos of the munchkins.  

He interviewed Birdie before her first swim.

Wasn't she adorable?

Check out her first Freestyle Relay...

Don't you love the way she knew exactly when to jump in?  And got to swimming so quickly?  LOVE IT!!!  Laurie's other race was a back stroke relay.  She did great.

Daniel was scheduled for a medley relay, but when he realized he was scheduled to swim the Butterfly leg, he wouldn't swim.  The coaches and other parents tried to convince him to get in and try, or even just do freestyle, but he wouldn't. He got up on the block, crying and stressed, and wouldn't jump in.  That was not a great start to his swim season.  A little while later, he got a second chance and swam an excellent backstroke relay.

Could you see him concentrating on getting his hands to hit the water just right?  He is very proud to get it right.

Ashley swam in a Breaststroke relay and a freestyle relay.  Ashley loves to swim the breaststroke but always get disqualified, and last night was no exception.  Her feet caused a splash out of the water.  She and I reviewed the video today of her race to help her.  The "good" news - all four Breaststroke relay teams in her heat were disqualified.  Go Figure....  Here is her telling her Dad about her upcoming race.

Did you notice her new missing tooth. The tooth fairy has been extremely busy at our house lately.

Her last race was a freestyle relay and it was AWESOME!  We were so very impressed with how she looked.  I wish we had taken video of that race or timed her individual portion because I believe she beat her personal best for free. I can't wait to see her do an individual free in a meet this year.

After swimming breaststroke and free last night, she is not scheduled to swim either at the meet tomorrow. Ashley is listed to do an 100 Individual Medley, 25 Butterfly and 25 Backstroke.  Daniel is scheduled to swim 25 Freestyle, 25 Backstroke and 50 Freestyle.  Birdie is 25 Free and 25 Back.  

We'll see you at the pool in the morning at 6:45!

Last Day of School!

Don't they look extremely happy school is out for Summer!

Are Birdie & Mommy Look A-likes?

With my hair straight today, Birdie decided that we finally looked just alike (without bangs).  And then she came down dressed all in green, just like me.  It was a picture worthy day.

Milestone for Birdie

Birdie lost her first tooth!!!

She didn't even realize it was loose or that it had fallen out.  While lying in bed at GrandMommy & GrandDaddy's, she reached up to take something out of her mouth.  Only then did she realize it was a tooth!  

We were all shocked.  She won't be five until August!  Boy, is she happy and proud!!!  

Since we were surprised with Laurie losing a tooth at 4, she didn't have a tooth pillow to use for the Tooth Fairy.  Laurie borrowed my tooth pillow made for me as a child by my Godmother.  We will go pick out fabric soon to make her very own tooth pillow, just as I made Ashley & Daniel's a few years ago.  

Birdie was excited to find 8 quarters in the pillow and the tooth the next morning.  Evidently the Tooth Fairy forgot to take the tooth.  Birdie left it again the next night and the tooth fairy returned and took the tooth.  

You can already see her new tooth coming in and a second tooth is loose!!!  

Check Up with Immunologist Leads to More Antibiotics

5 days after our ENT told me to expose Birdie to more germs, she came down with her first cold in several months.  2 days laster, we were at the allergist/immunologist for a check up.  Dr. T reviewed Birdie's history, we filled her in on Birdie's fluid in the lungs during December and she examined her.  Let's just say that Dr. T was not at all happy with how Birdie presented at the appointment.  Her nose, chest and sinus cavities were congested.  There was even green mucus coming out of her eyes.  So sad.  

Dr. T put Laurie on a 14 day course of antibiotics rather than waiting to see if Laurie could fight the cold on her own.  She explained that with a low IGa, her body needed the extra help faster than a normal child.  We couldn't wait because the odds are she would get worse without the help.  

Thankfully, Birdie is a trooper with meds.  That appointment was a Friday and by Tuesday Laurie spiked a fever with her cold.  I kept her home for 2 days with me to rest.  

One good thing that came out of this cold - we introduced Birdie to the sinus wash.  It had been recommended to us for a while, but I'd been hesitant because of my own experience.  But, she and I bit the bullet and did it (on both of us) while she was home with the fever.  She did great.  But when the green yuck finally poured out of her nose, it freaked her out a little.

After we got it all out, she was congestion free for days after. And it seemed to really be a turning point for her cold.  By the end of the week, she was her normal old self.  No trace of fever or cold.  I'm hopeful that our continued usage will make a huge difference for her health.  

Good Friday at the Zoo

Whenever the kids have a day off of school, we try to do something fun.  What is more fun than a day at the Zoo?  Everyone knows that a zoo visit is one of my absolute favorite things to do with the kids.  It's a good thing the kids love it too!  

This being Good Friday and most Houstonians out of school, it seemed like the entire city had the same idea.  Wow, was Hermann Park and the Zoo crowded.  To top it off, it was a beautiful April day.  My plan had been to get down there when the zoo opened, but me being me, we ran a bit late.  I had a few things I had to get done before we could get the busy weekend started.  Oh well, I was determined not to stress out on our day of fun.  It's a really good thing that was my frame of mind because it took us almost 45 minutes to find a parking space (that cost $10 vs. the normal free parking) and discovered huge lines at the gate.  Thankfully, I'm not one to stand around and quickly proceeded to the front to discover that with my membership card, we didn't need to stand in line.  Woo Hoo!!

Once inside the Houston Zoo, we had a great time.  We got really lucky and for the first time saw a trainer feed a lion.  While walking by, we spotted the trainer take off a section of glass and set down his stuff.  After a few minutes he began to call "Jonathan" the male lion to come over.  Shockingly, Jonathan got up and came right over to the trainer.  It was explained that Jonathan needed some medicine or vitamins, so he put them inside raw ground beef and then placed it on a stick.  Jonathan sat there and ate several helpings of meat and licked his chops.  We were standing right next to the trainer.  It was amazing.

 

Since we had last been to the Houston Zoo, they opened a brand new African Forest exhibit.  We weren't planning on staying at the zoo for a long time so we spent most of our time seeing the new African exhibit.

My kids, especially Daniel, love to look at the Houston Zoo website and YouTube channel of the animals.  When he found out there were Rhinos now at the Zoo in the African exhibit, he was just dying to see them.  The last Rhino, who had been there since I was a child, died when Daniel was just a small fry.  He had no memory of ever seeing a rhino, even though we have pictures of the old rhino.  Daniel got his wish.  We saw Rhinos!!

Kids with tribal maskas

A new experience at the zoo in the African Forest is feeding the giraffes.  The kids were thrilled to have the opportunity.  Especially to get that close to the giraffes.  

Laurie was too timid to feed the giraffe, so she ended up giving Daniel her lettuce.

Can you see Daniel's face?  He couldn't believe the giraffe's tongue reached out and grabbed it.

Ashley was very calm and steady holding her lettuce for the giraffe.

SMILE!!

After the African Forest, I gave them the choice to see one more exhibit at the zoo before leaving.  We had one vote for monkeys (Laurie) and two votes for Reptiles.  Laurie conceded and we were off to the Reptiles.  I love, love, love to take pictures of the animals.  For years we have kept a photo album of all the animals we've seen and taken pictures of at the zoo.  So, I could bore you with the 75 pictures I took at the zoo today or the 13 I took with the reptiles, but I won't.  I'll just leave you with a great picture of Daniel with the Komodo Dragon.  He is one of our favorites.

Staring contest with a Komodo Dragon

 Just so you know that I have a big heart for my little Birdie, we did a swing by the primates to see if we could get a sneak peek at the orangutan baby named Aurora.  She wasn't out in the yard, but we did spend some time watching a few of the others play before heading for the exit.

A great day at the Zoo deserves sno cones!