Quick escape to ATX.

With Katie away at church camp, Ryan and I were itching to get out of town. (I use that phrase a lot, but it's true! I suffer from chronic wanderlust, and a few days without school/work/church obligations leave me hankerin' to get out of Dodge.)

After making the requisite Czech Stop stop, we drove into Round Rock to get some Torchy's Tacos for lunch with my niece. Then we enjoyed said tacos with her and her kiddos, a.k.a. the world's cutest grandnieces and grandnephew.

After lunch we got to play a while. The photos are mostly of Baby D and his sister Addie because the older girls were busy-busy-busy (and blurry in pix)!

He likes his new shirt.

From there we drove to our hotel, checked in and swam for a while. Once we were freshened up, we frequented our latest must-see Austin business: Pinballz.

Ryan's favorite pin

Ryan beat me a MarioKart
(no surprise!)

I did manage to beat him at Centipede, though.
(No school like old school.)

Pinballz is a great arcade, and it was nice to get to play without the huge crowds we saw last time we were there for a retro gaming event. After going through all those tokens, it was time for grub!

Of course, we went to Chuy's. Duh.

We awoke to a nice rain the next morning, which threatened our plans for the day.

Breakfast o' champs: cinnamon roll pancakes

But by the time we finished our Kerbey Lane breakfast, the clouds had parted. We were on our way to Barton Springs!

Boy, is that water cold! It's so refreshing! Unlike our last time here, we had goggles so we could see all the fish swimming with us. Now THAT was eye-opening. We saw a bunch, some of them fairly large. A little icky, yes, but SO COOL.

From Zilker we went uptown to shop (Co-op and Half Price Books, predictably) before heading north on 35. The donut fan got his Round Rock Donuts, I got my Dairy Queen, and before too long, we were home, just in time for Brett and I to go out for our 19th wedding anniversary.

Great company, great town, great trip, great ending. Can't beat it!

Posted July 6, 2013

Celebrating a SUPERDAD.

Because Katie was heading to church camp on Father's Day, we honored Brett a day early. 

We called Brett downstairs, and when he arrived in the kitchen, he saw this:

Brett's gifts included some DVDs that Ryan picked out and a whole mess of Justice League/Flash items from Target's summer promotional aisle. (And yes, we all agreed that the table looked more like a little kid's birthday party than Father's Day, but whatevs.)

Brett opened his cards and gifts, and then we feasted on cake (using Justice League plates and napkins, natch).

Of course, Brett's longtime interest in comic books and superheroes inspired the theme, but truly, he is a SUPER dad.

He leads our family with love and strength, and his work ethic is a great example for Ryan and Katie. We love him and thank God for him!

Tyler excursion, day 2, part 2: Tyler Rose Garden.

It's funny how certain smells invoke memories. Occasionally I'll pass a water-filled mop bucket, and the odor makes me flash back to my elementary school cafetorium. The stale but clean smell of the back stairwell at school, especially right after summer ends, reminds me of my first day at Bell. And every now and then, in a garden or even at a funeral, I'll smell fresh roses. THAT aroma is HOME.

For many, Tyler is known for roses, and for good reason. As you drive into town, you notice the roadside stands selling the cheap, short-stemmed flowers at a bargain price. You might also catch a glimpse of some of the rose fields where thousands of the plants are loving Tyler's perfect rose-growing soil. And as you venture into the city, you'll come across the Tyler Municipal Rose Garden. At 14 acres, it's the nation's largest rose garden, and if you visit in October in the spring, you're likely to see nearly 38,000 rose bushes in bloom.

Alas, for this visit, many bushes were not in bloom, but it's still a pretty sight, nonetheless. Plus, it's nostalgic, not just for me, but for Brett and the kids, since they remember coming here with Memaw. And I remember countless visits with my parents and grandparents, especially around Rose Festival time.  

My mother always made me pose with
the roses, so I made Katie do the same!

For the Rose Festival each October, this big lawn in the middle is home to the Queen's Tea. My mom brought me to several of these teas when I was little so I could gawk at the queen's dress with its ginormous beaded train.

Our trips to Tyler are rare, but I'm thankful for the chance to revisit these nostalgic places from my childhood and share them with my family.

Tyler excursion, day 2: Cemetery.

After our hotel breakfast Tuesday, we drove the short distance to the cemetery. This was my main motivation for this trip; we hadn't been here since the graveside service in August. We replaced the faded flowers with these brighter ones. (Of course, we had to have some orange blooms in there!) I was disappointed to see that the "2012" date plate still isn't there; guess I'll be making a call!

It's sobering to think that not even a year ago our foursome was here to see Daddy's grave, and now Mom is buried beside him.

Even though this cemetery is right off a busy Tyler street, it still seems really peaceful. I love that we can always see and hear birds when we visit.

And now for a quick flashback: Not long before we moved to Tyler in 1974, Mom, Daddy and I were in town to get our bearings. We were fascinated by all the pine cones on the ground. We never saw pine trees in the Rio Grande Valley where we lived at the time, so pine cones were foreign to us. Mom was inspired to fill a couple of bags with cones to take home to her kindergarten students and my classmates back in Premont. I can still picture my mom, scavenging for pine cones in the grass near our hotel room.

As we stood at the my parents' graves, I looked up to see this towering pine, overloaded with pine cones! Perfect.

What a blessing it was to have this moment to honor my mom and dad—and to have my sweet husband and kids there to help dry my tears!