perfect weather = perfect days at the park

Our little get-away to Houston

Sorry for so many pictures.... and you know I have a MILLION more I didn't post!!!  There is no particular order to any of them- sorry.

This past Wednesday, me, Lance, Maddox, and Mom headed down to meet David and Allison in Houston.  Allison was showing her steer. (this was her last big show ever).

Our trip down was fairly easy, We filled our bellies at Chilis and met another little boy who was really cute too while we waited.  Maddox did great in the car, (thank God for DVD players) so the only excitement came when Lance decided he was too tired to drive.  He and mom had been up since 4:30 so he decided it was my turn to get behind the wheel.  I don't drive well, and Mom and Lance were asleep within seconds so I was all alone, driving at midnight, in fog, on unfamiliar roads!!  Lance was annoyed with me quickly when he told me to wake him up when we were on the other side of  'some town?' (that was about an hour away) and I woke him up 15 minutes later SURE that we were there and only driving 55mph, since I was stuck behind a cop!  He grumbled something and then went back to sleep but was again awoken when I decided last second that I should exit into down town Houston.  (all one-way streets like DT FW).  My mom said it felt like my Tahoe was going to flip but I think she was being a little dramatic.  Needless to say, I pulled over and Lance drove us to our Hotel.  He kept giving me a hard time because my excuse for exiting is that "I don't drive well in traffic"... but there was literally ONE other car on the road with us!!  Whatever!  :)

We arrived into Houston late Wednesday night-- but had such a nice time there, doing really-- nothing at all. We had no pressure to be anywhere, just shopped at the super cute (but kind of pricey) booths at the HSSR, let Maddox play at the coolest petting zoo with all kinds of animals including kangaroos, and ate some yummy food.  Maddox has his Gigi and Pop wrapped around his finger so it was also nice to constantly have extra eyes and hands to keep him wrangled up and entertained.  Allison showed early Friday morning and did great, but got the gate.  :(

We were running late to her show, so Lance dropped us off at the gate and went back to park.  He got into a little fight with a gate that lets cars into the parking garage, while there.  He was walking by and it randomly came up and knocked him in the head... he was stunned (and said he originally thought he hit one of those height signs) so stood there for a second and it came down and hit him again-- this time in the eye.  (apparently he thought he was 7' tall for a second!!)  There wasn't a car coming in so we think the old man did it on purpose?!  I'm sure their job is a little boring but-- WOW!!!   Lance said he was just embarrassed at first so he didn't do anything but he had a long walk to get to us in the stadium and by the point he made it to me, he was LIVID!  He had a huge knot on his head, had bit his tongue and was spitting blood and he were afraid he was going to have a black eye. In hind site, it was so hilarious!!!  I think the gate thing won the battle!! ...And the balls of that old man!!  Really?!

We found out on our trip down that Lance's brother was also going to be in town, visiting his mom-- so we decided to make a dinner date with them too.  We went to Kemah, a touristy type place and had Mexican food ocean-side.  Maddox played and danced to the music and had a great time.  I know his Mimi enjoyed her visit with also.

Saturday we pulled out close to noon and headed home.  We took a way back that Lance and I have never taken and it was really pretty and more scenic.  After a stop for gas and dinner at the Black Eyed Pea, we had just enough time to unload the car, change clothes, and head to Decatur.  Our friends Mark (Pepper) and Wendy were having a St. Patrick's Day party that we were supposed to be at by 8:00 so we had to boogie but had a lot of fun.

spray tan

I did spray tan Tuesday before we went out of town on Wednesday to Houston.  I LOVED it and can't wait to do it again.  I did Versa (which is supposed to look more natural that the other kind) and I think it looked pretty good.  I was so nervous that I forgot to put on the packet of stuff I bought for $5 for a more even finish AND forgot to put on my hair net so my hair felt gross until morning but it was fun and even enough!!  I bought a package of 3 so I am going to do it again soon...  I thought I would share the before and after pics!!

Happy St.Patrick's Day

I had planned on playing with my camera-- branching out into some features that I had not used before-- and taking some St. Patrick's Day pictures. I came prepared with a glittery 4 leaf clover (like the heart I had at Valentine's Day), a "Lucky Dog" t-shirt with clovers on it, and the tie (my $1 bargain from the one-spot at Target). However, my model came with other plans and refused to stay where I sat him, ripped my clover into 3 pieces within seconds, and would not keep the tie on.
Needless to say, they were not the best. They were mostly taken in auto mode but it gave me some fun practice in editing. I never want to have a business, be called a 'photographer' or even think of myself as great but I would like to take Maddox's pictures rather than dropping $100 at Kiddie Kandids at each growth mark! (or random holiday!) It is frustrating that I am not better yet. I'll keep practicing!