Wicked Witch rides in Thunderstorm

After several hours of watching Hannah Montana and The Suite Lives of Zack and Cody, I had enough! You can't imagine how excited I was when Denver turned to an old Donald Duck
cartoon! It was short lived and soon Hannah and her dad were reading the script as they told silly jokes about body functions. Anyway, before going insane, I suggested a bike ride! We all pulled on our shoes and dashed out the door to get on the bikes. Denver and Averi reminded me to do a "bike check" (thanks to the bike show we had at school this year) and sure 'nuf, we had to air up three tires! Thank goodness the streets in my neighborhood are fairly level. However, I'm sure I could see my legs becoming muscular as I pumped that bike down the street! We all rolled along singing one of my favorite Harry Nilsson songs..."Driving along at 57,000 miles an hour...look at those people standing on the petals of a flower...look at those petals pumping for a little bit of power....wow o wow o o o!" Anyway, we were having a good time until we started hearing rumbling from the sky. The clouds were turning dark and noisy! I could just imagine a tornado swooping down and carrying me into the sky while I was on my bike....and all the school kids would see me riding through the air and think of me as the wicked witch in Wizard of Oz....By the way....the song you hear as she is riding in the clouds is the song I hum whenever I see anyone on a bike or when I'm on a bike. So after a good 45 minutes of riding, Averi informed me that her knees hurt. Thunder and tired legs sent us back to the house to relax and.....watch...oh, no...you've got to be kidding...Denver has Zack and Cody on again.....These shows are really as bad as you can imagine!!!!!

Two Gypsies

Lisa and I met at Hillary's on Sunday, July 18. We loaded up in the Black Honda and sped away, stopping immediately at Sonic to load up on caffeine! We headed out of Waco towards East Texas....promising each other we would stop whenever and where ever we wanted to stop!

By the time we got to Corsicana we were beginning to feel hunger pains....the almonds and walnuts we had been snacking on weren't quite as filling as these two traveling gypsies needed. We stopped at Collins Street Bakery with high hopes of a delicious sandwich and maybe some of the baked cookies that lined the glass shelves. However, after waiting 45 minutes on Lisa's sandwich (they lost the order!), we left the joint with heavy hearts. They did take half off our sandwiches and a bag of cookies that no one else wanted.

Ruby joined us along the way. She was too much for us at times and we had to put her in the trunk!

We picked these two fellas up to keep Ruby company, but had to let them out down the road because they had horrific gas.

Soon the rolling hills turned to piney woods....tall trees towering over us like skyscrapers...and the highway turned to a red brick road.....and there we found Richie and Linda's apartment!

It was great to see them! We went to eat at Jason's Deli....wonderful as always. It makes me feel like I didn't eat too much when I eat all their fresh, organic food. I stuffed myself with all the makings of a salad, organic humus....pudding sprinkled with granola....Full of good food, we returned to Richie and Linda's house to laugh at facebook and all the events in our lives! We climbed into bed....it was just like going to a bed and breakfast. The bed was soft and covered in a white down comforter...just perfect until a few minutes after turning out the light, we were blinded by a bright fluorescent light, similar to a UFO shining in the window. The television had come on for about 5 seconds and scared the peewadins out of us!

After a good night's sleep, we headed to LaPorte to visit with Larry and Margaret Ann. It was wonderful to see them. We puttered around the backyard and laughed about our memories of Mother. It never failed that after a visit to Larry's, Mother would go home to West Texas with the goodies she had taken from their tropical backyard paradise and try to plant them in that hard red dirt in her hot, dry backyard!

Notice the mailbox...it came from Mother and Daddy's house in Anson! And then notice the Christmas lights on their back porch.....leftovers from a Christmas party! They loved them so much they left them up!

Supper was a typical bay side dish.....shrimp boil! We could have fed a dozen more! It was wonderful!

On the way home....we made a quick trip to IKEA! We browsed the top floor and then finally found the IKEA cafe! We loaded up on coffee and Ballerina cookies! Neither of us will be ballerinas after the amount of food we ate on our trip!

As Ruby says, "Folks...I can guarantee you....we had a wonderful time! But now....On the Road again....Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway....We're the best of friends...Insisting that the world keep turning our way...and our way!"

Hey Cupcakes!

It takes a lot of car seats and patience to buckle up FIVE precious pieces of cargo!!!!!
Now...Let the wild rumpus begin!!!!!
What happens with Nana....stays with Nana!!!

Steak and Shake was delish!!!! Personally, I did not stay on any sort of healthy diet during my stay in Austin!

Waiting for the bats to fly!!!!

Denton would rather be snoozing, but Madilyn ready for the flight!

It was great to have Lisa and my niece, Bonnie to help hold a hand....Five kids....Five adults....it was definitely helpful...We felt like we had played a basketball game that night....the Kids won!!!! They may have been little, but they were feisty!

Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Before this happy picture....Hillary had to jump in after Madilyn! I walked in to find Hillary's shorts and t-shirt dripping wet....Madilyn decided to go into the pool WITHOUT her floaties and Hillary decided to go in WITHOUT changing into her swimsuit first! Maddie wore her floaties after realizing she couldn't "walk in the pool" like Denver and Averi!

Denton....3 weeks and Tristin....9 1/2 months! Wow...what a difference a few months makes...as well as a few meals!!!

Nana crew! Averi, Denver, Madilyn, Tristin, and Denton....

hey cupcake! on Congress Ave.....amazing cupcakes BUT, I suggest you go at night or during the winter months to avoid the heat that reflects from that shiny trailer!!! Wow it was hot!
You might want to take a new box of Wet Wipes because you will have icing all over your face and hands.....it would be convenient if they offered a shower afterwards!

Kevin joined us for this excursion!










What an amazing time I had! Let me just say, it was much easier to travel back in the "olden" days....we spent 50% of our time unbuckling and buckling car seats!!! Since Cari lives in Buda, I took Hillary and Denton to her house to stay. I wanted to stay at Hampton Inn with Denver, Averi and Madilyn so they could swim and be loud and jump on the beds in the motel room. Luckily this motel had a rule...Rule 32823 You can only jump on the bed between 6:00 p.m and 7:00 p.m. The kids were great....they all took turns pushing the button on the elevator (they chose the floor we could stay on...which was 4...I'm sure they would have chosen 9 if they had offered it to us!). They also took turns helping me with the key-card. Lisa and Bonnie came to join our fun and after a swim, we headed to Steak and Shake for supper before heading to the Congress Bridge to watch the bats. The bats were not cooperative at all and didn't start leaving on their nightly flight until after dark...so we couldn't see as much as we wanted. We stopped by Amy's Ice Cream for a late night snack....sooo good! We didn't get to tour the Capitol, but I promised them we would go back during August for that. Nana sorta got lost on the way to the Capitol and the kids sorta fell asleep on our way. So we settled for a slushie! And of course, we stopped by hey cupcake! on our way home and it was fabulous! I'm ready for another trip....well, not today. I need to take a few naps and do a few pushups before I take them all again!

Contacts

Okay...so I'm as old as..well...let's just say I'm over half a century (ouch). For some weird reason, I decided I should try contact lenses. Today was my first day. I had to go for a "tutorial" and it was embarrassing. I nearly failed. I know I frustrated the he!! out of the poor "tutor". I could not get the fricking contact in my left eye. I got the right contact in after three tries. But, OMG, I could not get in the left. I wanted to cry. I was so mad at myself. I know the lady that was helping me was thinking "This is the oldest woman in the world to come in and try to wear contacts. As old as she is, surely she can get the darn thing in her eye." I know I heard those words come out of her! I know she felt the same way I do when I try to teach a third grader how to explain multiplication and they can't! "Sweetheart, can you show me with your tiles how you multiply 5 x 2?" For some reason, they can't show me! "Honey, make five groups of two" and they come up with two groups of four. It drives me crazy and this is what I was doing to this lady today. She kept telling me to open my eye when I was putting the contact in, but my eyelids would not cooperate....at all. It is abnormal to keep your eye open when your finger is headed toward it! After about 15 attempts, I finally got the lefty in....I was elated and then she told me to take them out and do it all over again. I obeyed, unwillingly. And I finally got the hang of it. However, I had no makeup left under my eyes and I had wiped half of my eye shadow off. I looked like a clown...an OLD clown. I wore them for the prescribed 5 hours and I was able to get them out without calling 911! Mission accomplished...now we'll see about tomorrow!

Out of Shape/Signs of Aging

I am so out of shape! It hit me this morning when I awoke to sore legs....I'm sad to say that it may be because I went up a long flight of stairs! Sad, huh? Lazy ladies should take the elevator and NOT the stairs...especially if you've spent your summer sitting on your rear checking out FACEBOOK, playing FARKLE or catching up on HGTV! But Lisa and I were determined not to appear as old as a couple of old sisters who shuffle around the mall in their SAS walking shoes and matching t-shirts. So we high stepped up the flight of stairs at The Shops in Waco! http://www.shopsofriversquarecenter.com/ I really love this place, but in order to enjoy it you have to venture upstairs. Lisa and I had just enjoyed a Rt. 44 Sonic drink (hooray for happy hour!) and lunch at Hillary's. We felt it would be best to take the stairs instead of the elevator so we could burn off a few calories...once you get up the stairs there seems to be about 5 acres of "wonder"! Oh...so much to see! We walked and browsed and "oohed and aahed", sniffed and dabbed and even made a few purchases. It was wonderful until 24 hours had passed and my legs began to hurt! I know...it is sad and I have plans to start walking and exercising again..I really do..just as soon as I go to get a coke at Sonic (it's Happy Hour!), check my FACEBOOK, play a few games of FARKLE

and finish watching this episode of House Hunters!

JUST SAY NO!