Soul Work

Friends, B has been hanging these angels on her bed her whole-sweet-big-girl-bed life. 

Christmas 2012

First Communion 2005

  B is traveling studying in Ireland for a bit this summer, so I could not resist this cute canvas.  I will be praying that her guardian angel is extra alert while she is across the pond without me...

Easter Traditions

Big T and I have 3 of the 5 kids home for Easter this year (we miss you, T and S)---let the traditions commence!

1.  Dyed Eggs

These three are all getting ready for swimsuit season and have requested no Easter candy (?!) ...thankfully, boiled eggs are still allowed.

2.  The Bunnies on the Plaza

 We might as well do a little Easter shopping while we are there, right Big T?

3.  The Easter Basket for the girl in training.

The most requested Easter basket item this year.  I bought them on jet.com---no membership fee and free, fast shipping.  Check it out, Easter bunny.

4.  The Easter Money Egg Hunt

  Friends, my dad started this tradition years ago and it is the biggest hit of the holiday. 

This is serious and Big T  hides them everywhere...

The boys used to jump in the pool for dollars eggs...

They are now older and wiser....and have discovered that we own a pool skimmer net :)

5.  The Easter Lily

Thanks Mom and Dad and Mimi and Granddaddy!  Love that springtime smell.

6.  Jelly Beans

Not everyone in our house has banned sugar... 

 Happy Easter!!  He has risen!

Nashville...

During the second half of Spring Break, we met up with M and his mates in Nashville.

S and T opened up their super cute home  for a great steak dinner, and C decorated the birthday boy's traditional banana cake to mark this milestone.  I am so proud.

They wrapped up the big birthday down on the strip.  Again, I am so proud.

The next morning, the Pancake Pantry was just what the doctor ordered.  Waiting in the long line to eat great pancakes with amazing syrup is a must when you are in Nashville.  Sorry Biscuit Love, Pancake Pantry is number one for breakfast.

Martins is the best BBQ...Jim 'N Nicks is a very close second.  

I love Watermark for dinner... superb service and delicious fare.  Eastland Cafe and Mad Platter are outstanding too.

Jeni's has the best ice cream...will you please open a shop in KC?  Big T would be your best customer.

We all loved the Grand Ole Opry.  Friends, this show is what put Nashville on the map...do not miss it.  Tootsie's and the Bluebird Cafe are also pretty darn popular.  There is great live music all over Nashville from the airport to the opry...the talent is incredible. 

Happy Birthday M!  Thanks for letting us celebrate with you!

I Am Irish

This is Big T's very favorite flick.  Now, I personally have a difficult time believing that this movie is depicting Ireland as it actually was back then. Nevertheless, I do enjoy the scenery and the score.  Big T, however, is boarder line obsessed.  

Friends, this is "the pub" in our basement.

Don't let the paper towel roll distract you from the Guiness tap.

The first time you come to visit, you must smoke the clay pipe...then you break off the tip to "sanitize" it for the next unsuspecting guest.  Big T swears it is a custom in "the Motherland"?

Friends, go ahead and watch the movie and see if you can find any of this on screen.  I guarantee that pub door is there.
Slainte!

The Great Southwest

Friends, 14 years ago we took our first of many National Park Trips.  On that maiden voyage into the parks, we drove an RV.  The kids loved it....but Big T and I were less impressed, and never went the RV route again.  This spring break was our last continental USNP Trip, and we thought it only fitting to wrap this chapter up the way we began: in the RV.  (Plus, being a rectal cancer survivor...it was pretty awesome having a bathroom on board!) 

 We covered quite a bit of territory....

We all met in LA where we stayed at the Hotel California.  I highly recommend it...full of character and great location.  We checked in and then walked 2 minutes to the Santa Monica Pier to ride the ferris wheel.

The next morning we walked across the street to this great place for the best breakfast of the trip.  Then we biked down to Muscle Beach Venice--we could not miss that famous landmark.  

We rate the National Parks using a top/middle/bottom 50% system.  Our first stop, Channel Islands, is way down in the bottom 50.  

Next up was Joshua Tree.  It was way better than Channel Islands...but still in the bottom 50.

We continued to improve with Saguaro-- a solid middle 50.  Those cacti are super cool, but that is all there is...

Carlsbad Caverns is definitely a top 50.  The good news is that if you are claustrophobic, you are just fine in these caves.  They are big...in fact the "Big Room" is the size of 6 football fields.  The bad news is you have to walk one mile down, descending 750 feet.  Walking back up almost killed me.

But it was worth it.  My I phone photos do not do it justice. Trust me...it was like being in another world.

Big Bend National Park is beautiful, but in the middle of nowhere, so I have to put it in the middle 50. 

 The kids did have fun walking across the Rio Grande to Mexico while I was freaking out that they would get arrested.  

We had some great Mexican food on this trip.  Big T is never afraid to stop...anywhere.

Whataburger v In-N-Out Burger...
Whataburger wins.

We stopped in LA, Phoenix, El Paso and San Antonio.  Top three must sees in San Antonio (loved this city!):
1.  Alamo..they call it the Shrine of Texas Liberty.

2. River Walk--we had a great lunch at Boudros....incredible guac made table-side.

3.  San Fernando Cathedral---they claim it is the oldest church in the US.  The inside is stunning.

We left the Southwest in the middle of the week and headed to Nashville to meet up with M and his buddies for his 21st birthday...but that is another blog for another day...