Weekend Update

Blake and Michelle had Friday off last week, so we decided to continue our Texas college visits. We headed to Rice University on Friday afternoon. On the way there, we met up with Ray and ate lunch at Ruggles. It was a fun area of town, so we walked around for awhile. We stopped into a Learning Express so Sam could play with some toys. She found this dollhouse on a table and pulled herself up for some fun.

Rice University was in a great part of town - medical center, zoo, museums. Blake's main focus is visting the bookstore to buy a t-shirt. If it wasn't so unbearably hot, I would insist on spending more time walking around the campus. But, the day is short and we skipped Sam's nap, so on to the next stop - University of Houston. This is Ray's alma mater, so he got a t-shirt too.

Saturday we celebrated Ray's birthday with dinner and a fight. He took us to Bellaire for Vietnamese food - he orderd us Beef 7 Ways. It was yummy and fun to eat. Sam was only interested in playing with the highchair, not actually sitting in it. She can almost say, 'buckle.' Blake has decided that I need to stop encouraging this word...

We then headed to University of Houston to watch a Mixed Martial Arts fight. Ray never wants to be in any of my pictures, especially a group photo...but Michelle is always up for a pose!

If I had it my way, I would have gotten a picture of Ray in his shiny (and I literally mean, SHINY) new 'Affliction' shirt getting this guy to autograph it for him. That was the plan...but instead, I ended up with this...

and this...

Then, snuck in this one...

and then this...Oops. I've offically gone too far.

At least Blake is smiling enough for both of them

3 Blond Bombshells

We LOVE the pool!

Ornery Etta

When me and my sisters were little, my mom had a nickname for us when we were fussing, nagging or just in a bad mood.

Today Samantha earned that name.

She did NOT take a nap today. When I finally gave up trying, she brought her pillow and blanket in the kitchen while I cooked dinner. She whined and moaned and cried...then all of the sudden, she went quiet. When I looked on the other side of the counter, this is what I found...

At first, she was laughing with me...but when the drink spilled all over her...her mood changed to this...

And then this...

Lucky for you, this was NOT caught on video.

A Day In Dallas

Blake, Sam and I are always up for a quick roadtrip to sites and cities around Texas. This past weekend, Ray had a work conference in Dallas, so we tagged along. We drove in late Friday night. Saturday while Ray was working, the rest of us headed downtown. First stop was the JFK assasination location. The shooter was in the top righthand corner window. On the street there are 2 'X's marking the spots where he was shot and then killed.

Downtown Dallas is great! On the weekends, there aren't very many people, so it was quiet and fun and didn't really feel like a downtown. We were trying to find something to eat, when we walked past this place...

A big guy came outside and highly recommended that we stop in and eat...'this place has great food and it's cheap!' We kept going to see the rest of the eating spots. A lot of places were closed, but we wandered into a few touristy shops and restaurants. We ended up coming back to this place only to find the same guy still in the cafe. We asked him what was good and he said, 'oh, I dunno...I always eat the same thing for breakfast.' Um...gee, thanks. Blake got a kick out of this place....what a dump! We had ham-egg-cheese sandwiches and they were excellent!

Next stop: Dallas Museum of Art. It was a long, hot walk...but well worth it! There is an outdoor sculpture park that has lots of trees and fountains, so we cooled off fast.

And played, and climbed through the sculptures. Ray misses out on all the fun!

Last stop was SMU campus. Blake is now on a mission to visit all Texas college campuses....well, at least the ones that we happen to be driving by. SMU is only minutes from downtown. The campus is beautiful! We all loved driving around the surrounding neighborhood and seeing the houses...they were amazing! We stopped into the bookstore so Blake could buy a t-shirt and Sam could read a quick book.

Then we picked up Ray and headed off to dinner. That night the girls went back to the hotel to watch a movie ('Made of Honor' - lame!), while Blake and Ray went to a sports bar to watch the fights. Great weekend! Next stop is Austin in August!

Grandma finds the best toys...

Every few weeks, Grandma will come over with 'something for Sammie.' Sam will sit down and open the bag and find a brand new toy or clothes or books! Sam has had a runny nose the last couple of days, and Grandma found a Make Me Better My Little Pony. Her name is Rarity and she says all kinds of cute things as you doctor her back to health.

There was a stethoscope that taught Sam how to listen to her heartbeat.

Grandma, listen!

We found the perfect doctor's bag....now, where did the thermometer and medicine spoon go? It was just here!

Ahh! "There it is!"

Where did everybody go?

What's this? A fort? Maybe they are in here...

No mommies allowed!

From Jiber-Jaber Yabbering to Real Words!

Blake and I are officially giving Samantha credit for talking. Last night, when she was picking up her toys she was saying, 'clean up, clean up' over and over and over. That's when I pulled out the camera...

As of Sunday, she can say: church, Jesus, lunch, juice. The other 3 impressive phrases are: what's this, there it is, clean up. Wow! As excited as the words have been, I know I will miss the yabbering...