The REAL Spring in Texas

Well, after showing our "snowy" first day of "spring" it seems only fair to show the truly warm, beautiful, blue sky days we have been having the past couple months. It was a great day today. Sunny, warm, not too hot, perfect little clouds... we had Josh's soccer game this morning and grilled our dinner outside this evening. While John grilled, the boys played hockey and Sammy and I just soaked up the sun.

Here's our blue sky:



Lucas lines up his shot:




Josh returns:

A relaxing evening outdoors.

Spring also means Ladybugs!

When they weren't playing hockey (and sometimes even as they were), they were looking for ladybugs, and mostly finding them. Josh was so generous in trying to "share" them with Lucas so that they'd crawl from his arm to Lucas'. Eventually, though, Lucas just wanted to get his own ladybugs.



Success for Lucas:



And for Josh:






Lucas' has crawled up onto his sleeve:



And then flew away!



Good times.

Melanie's visit

My sister Melanie came to visit us for a week at the end of March and it was action-packed.

First, we took a Segway tour of Dallas. Riding a Segway is different than you think. There's no motor, so you're not just standing on a still platform until you push some button to move. Instead, it runs on a gyroscope, so it will move whenever you are on it. Like a skateboard. So you have to find your balance, and then control its movements (and non-movements) with your body. Once you get the hang of it, it's quite fun. And easy, like riding a bike -- hard to learn, easy to do once you know how. (and unlike riding a bike, no painful falls in the training process!)

It was a gorgeous day. We did this tour for a couple hours, cruising around the downtown area, then toured the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, where JFK was assassinated.

Two Segway pros:



Melanie stands on the "X" that marks the spot of the assassination (and nearly got assassinated by a bus herself when I took too long to get the shot), with the Schoolbook Depository and the sniper window in the background (far right, second down from the top -- the square one on the end of the row of arched windows).



Later in the weekend (after subjecting Melanie to an especially windy and lackluster soccer game by my little Skyhawks), we visited the Fort Worth Zoo and were treated to a (thankfully) rare sight: mating lions. When we first approached the lion area, I was surprised to see a female in the male's area; usually the male is on one side and the females are on the other, with a wall separating them completely. But it didn't take long for us to see why they were together: it's mating season! We saw the full, and very short, performance. Melanie thinks she saw a nature program that explained they do this over and over in short spurts. Anyway, here is our king of the jungle celebrating his efforts with a big ROAR! Actually, hearing a lion roar that closely was really cool.



And then on to more gentle creatures:



And then back to the less-gentle variety. This thing was fearsome looking, just hanging there so close. It looks prehistoric.

How strong, EXACTLY, is that glass partition?



This guy was cracking us up, just hanging there like that:



Fearless:




After the zoo, we put Lucas down for his nap (with John) and headed to the Stockyards for the daily cattle drive. On our way down from the parking lot we encountered the herd starting to line up:



And here they go:



Those longhorns are just so impressive to me:




The dry run with the leashed up (and very tame and photo-friendly) bull, Pecos Bill:

And then, the action! Braver than me. She lasted a decent time, definitely over 8 seconds, and managed an almost-credible dismount rather than a full-blown throw on her bum.

And then we recuped at Billy Bob's, the world's largest honky-tonk. We had not been inside yet in our six months here in Texas, but this was at the top of the list of Melanie's places to visit. Her only regret (other than that we missed the weekend night live (and professional) bull riding inside) was that we didn't make it to the dance classes Billy Bob's offers. She really wants to learn the Texas two-step.

And that was the weekend. On Monday, I returned to work and John took Melanie out to tour the Texas Motor Speedway. She's a big Nascar fan. So there was definitely some variety in her visit! Segways, lions, longhorns, and race cars. Yee-haw.

Happy Easter!

Step One: coloring the Easter eggs. These pictures look more cooperative than things really were. It was survival of the fittest in getting the desired colors.







Here they are trying to sing "Easter bunny" so I could get a photo of them smiling, but it only half worked. Josh's flapping hands are cute though.





Lucas is proud of his Easter artwork and trying to give a good camera smile, note the raised eyebrows.




After some late afternoon naps due to our trip to Dallas' Deep Ellum Arts Fest yesterday (with naps lasting as late as 6 pm), we finally got everyone to bed by 10:30 (!!) and the Easter Bunny got to work.


First, the baskets and table layout:




Then, finding some clever egg placements:

Josh came to our bed at 3 am, telling us the Easter bunny didn't come. Obviously the dead dark of night kept him from seeing the tell-tale signs. We told him it was the middle of the night and he should go back to sleep to give the Easter bunny more time to arrive. We let him stay in our bed -- big mistake. Every couple of hours he'd ask if it was time to get up yet. I needed another long nap today!

Then around 7 am, we heard the knocking on our bedroom door. Lucas. We opened the door and found him standing there with 3 eggs in his hands, proudly announcing he'd already found 3 eggs. We had a short family meeting to go over the game plan: walk back to your rooms with no egg-hunting; change Lucas' diaper; meet at kitchen table to get egg baskets; then begin egg hunt. Said plan fell apart the second they left our room, though we did eventually get all those tasks done. But seeing the eggs just laying there waiting to be found was too much temptation for little boys! They had to collect a few on the way to their rooms!