Category Archives: Uncategorized

Well it has been since 2015 since I last put out a blog. No real particular reason except things got busy with kids and moving up in the working world and just not taking time to send out a message. I am wanting to start making post again for a couple reasons. First I want to continue what I started , promote my website, continue something I can keep busy with when I retire. Possibly even make a little cash with ad’s on my website. This is a short blog to start with just to get things going. To tell you where I am going to start from I’ll let you know my last blog was when Brad was playing junior high basketball, he has since went on to have a great high school career and now playing college basketball. Also Mady has finished great high school and college careers and started teaching and coaching. Tressa has continued top teach and coach at FJH and we have had plenty of Disney and hunting and fishing trips for me to post about. That being said I have a lot to catch up on. So I will get started on those post. I’ll end this now and ya’ll have a great day. Here is a recent pic of all of us to get things back started and hopefully soon I can start adding AD’s

So here is my first AD if you want to start a blog just click below and this will help you out!!

https://amzn.to/3CWPm6q

Ya’ll be safe out there!!!!!!

Brad started playing school basketball last year. He also played with a AAU team called the Clear Lake hoyas. he loves basketball and I love watching him play. he plays so hard and is such a team player. When he was in city basketball he was very tall and still is, so I made him a post. Well I shouldn’t have I should have let him handle the ball more. He has really done a great job improving his dribbling skills. While playing in 7th grade he played hard and was one of the guards. He had an ok shot but his left hand needed to be fixed and he has done a good job of trying to get that done.

He started 7th grade great. Him and Garrett Pinnault were the two guards. Brad would slash the lane and shoot some 3’s. In fact againest pearland west he had 12 points by shooting a bunch of threes and driving the lane. We won that game big. He had a great year and improved and continued to love basketball.  After the season was over he still wanted to play more. We found the Hoyas team and tried out for them. they already had a team set for the 7th graders so we played with a younger group. Brad was the main one on the team and played almost every minute. The only thing was he played post but still worked on improving his jumper and ball handling. With that team we traveled a bit. Mostly around north houston but we did get to go to san antonio on our last tournament. That is when brad played but had mono. Whish we didn’t know until we got home. We were on the way to san antonio and he said his stomach hurt. We got him something to eat and he said it felt a little better. At the hotel the night before he was nauseas but wanted to play. He went to bed struggled to play the next day and had to be taken out some cause his stomach was hurting. We gave him pepto abd other things to help his stomach but nothing helped. He did feel some better in the room and me and Tres even went down to the river walk and to Dick’s last resort and he seemed to be ok there but didn’t eat much. We finished the weekend and headed home. He played great the last day and we thought he was getting over his bug. When we got home ww took him to the redi-clinic. He tested positive for mono and they sent us to Dr. Don. Yep!!! he had mono. Soooooo two things , he is a tough SOB and we are bad parents LOL. Well that basketball season was over. He did get to meet a rocket great in Mario Elie. He played against his son one game that summer. He was also playing in a pasadena league with his teammates from jr high so he had to miss the last couple of games.

ok now mono is an ass kicking sickness. Brad didn’t eat and slept about 18 hours a day. He lost probably 16 pounds. It was very miserable and lasted about 2-3 weeks. He finally felt good enough to eat and we went to waffle house and you can see what he ate in this pic.

7th grade season was over summer was over and 8th grade started and we will post about football later. This is basketball to get caught up to 9th grade. So 8th garde basketball I could tell Brad was so much more confident and better and handling the ball and shooting. The only thing is he would get soooooo nervous sometimes in games and not shoot good. But he was a great overall player. He passed the ball and rebounded and played tremendous defensive. I recall againest BJH he was covering their point guard and he was a very good player. We beat them and Brad worked his butt off all game holding the guy down. the high school coaches were there and Ryan Bright the JV coach even went up to Brad and told him he enjoyed watching him play defense and he worked very hard. that made Brad’s night. They season went on and we were 4-0 in zone play. We had a game againest DPJH for the zone championship. Ofcourse Malcolm and Devin played on that team and it was going to be tough. Me and another dad put a team together and played some tournaments to basically get ready for that game.

In the DPJH game we played great and game out strong getting a 7 point lead. Brad played great and so did the entire team. We played as such a team and unselfsih it was fun to watch. At the end of the game  they were making a run coming back. It was a 4 point lead and luke shaper stole the ball. Brad went back to defend, Luke was going full speed and Brad stepped in front and took the charge and we got the ball. Went down the court and Brad got fouled and made 2 free throws to put us up by 6 with 5.7 seconds. Malcolm went and made a 3 at the buzzer  and we won. It was a great team win and Brad played great. He had 6 points and and played good in every aspect of the game. and he also took a charge. It was also bittersweet because we had to beat his two best friends Malcolm and Devin but we will all be back together next year. The last Jr high basketball will be played this weekend at the district tournament. Brad will then play for the Clippers which is an AAU team. I will post more about that later. I will end just by saying I love watching how hard Brad plays and how smart he is about the entire game and he is such a team player.

Ya’ll be safe out there!!!!!

The Flight/Animal Kingdom-Day 1

We woke up at 3:30 AM because our plan left at 6:25. When we got to the airport it was packed but we made it through OK and were off to Disney. Mady felt great unlike last time when she had a stomach ache. The flight was a little bumpy and I got a little car sick. But once we landed I was good. It took us a little walking to find the Magical Express. We went to section A and it was in section B, but once we found it I was excited. Everything was top-notch, you show your arm band and they get you on the right bus. Off we went! I even got nostalgic and teary eyed just on the bus ride. I thought about being there with Tressa and there was no one else I wanted to be with on these trips. Thinking of the life we have made with these two kids.

When we got to Animal Kingdom they greeted us with “welcome home”. It was very safari like and great African music. Tressa had done a great job of getting us booked close to the main lobby. This place is huge and you could be a mile away. We are in a prime spot. Well we get there and our room was ready. We didn’t have to check in. You use your arm band and you are in,  “its Disney magic”.

We got on a bus and headed to Animal Kingdom. We had fast passes to Dinosaur so we went there first. I was wanting a pic of every spot and everything we did. It started raining so we stopped at “Dinosaurestaurant”, then it slacked up so we went to partake in our first ride. I was very excited and glad to be back. We bought “memory maker”. That let’s you have every pic taken in every ride and every spot. I know when the pic was taken so I tried to do something goofy when T-Rex came out. Kids and Tres were having a good time so it was the start of an awesome trip. Once we were done we went to Bugs Life because Mt. Everest ride was closed due to lightning. We have seen Bug Life a lot but it is always funny and makes me think of when the kids were little and watching those movies piled up in our bed. It’s the same each year but still great. I am trying to take everything in and remember it all. After that Mady and Tres went to Khali River ride. Me and Brad didn’t feel like getting even more soaked so we went to check on Mt. Everest.  It was cool to have him run back to check on Tres and Mady when we knew Yeti was open. The dang kid is taller than me already. They showed up and we got on. It is Mady’s favorite and when it was raining Mady said ” we are not leaving Disney until we ride the Yeti ride”. So it all worked out great. We rode and Mady videoed while riding. They both rode again as single riders so everything was good. We went from there to the Safari ride. It was a good one cause we saw a bunch of Giraffes and it was really cool. The only bad thing was there wasn’t any baby elephant stolen for us to save. It was getting late so we tried to go to Dinosaur one more time. It was closed, then we tried to see Donald Duck and he was gone so we decided to go to the hotel. It was a long day and we had been up since 3:30 AM. We got back to the hotel and took a nap before we went to Boma for dinner. We met the flennikin’s and had a great dinner. The food was African. The main thing I liked was the spicy tomato stew and PAP. Pap is a kinda grits but like mashed potato consistency. It was awesome! They also had assorted meats with African flavor. After dinner we came back to our room. At Animal Kingdom lodge you can get a room with a savannah view. That is where you can see, possibly, African animals. Well there were giraffes, wildebeast and some antelope right outside our window. I know it’s Disney but WOW!, they were 20 yards away. That just added to the Disney magic. Off to bed and hitting Hollywood studios tomorrow.

Hollywood Studios/Hoop-dee-doo-Day 2

We got up early and headed out to Hollywood Studios. Our first fast pass was Star Tours, when we got to the main gate we noticed everything was about the movie Frozen. The billboards, the stage, even the parade and American idol ride. We all agreed that Vera would be going nuts. We took some pictures and videos to show her. At the Star Tours I waited while my Milliorn team rode. It gets me motion sick. Oh BTW, we are getting tons of pictures. Tres got us a “memory maker”. Every pic the Disney people take goes straight to our account. When we get home we just download the pics. She does such an awesome job thinking of everything to help us all out. After Star Tours we went to watch a little of Frozen parade and to ride the Great Movie Ride. I love the movies so it is one of my favorite rides. We then headed to Tower of Terror. We hadn’t really eaten breakfast so me and Brad shared a chocolate covered hug doughnut that hit the spot. It is cool and sad at the same time to be here with the kids older. Coo because they can help out and don’t need our help as much, but sad because they don’t get as excited and they don’t need our help as much. I look at all the little kids being carried or sooooo excited about every small thing. I just miss that aspect a little. We rode the Tower of Terror, the Rockin Rollercoaster and they were as thrilling as ever. We had lunch and Brad had a huge turkey leg. We discussed our plans for the rest of the day and headed to try Toy Story and the Walt Disney One Man’s Dream. BTW we were all wearing matching shirts. Tres had wanted to do that for years. You see people walking around with the same shirts on and they have their names on them saying things like “Smith family vacation”. So Tres made grey ones with mouse ears and our names. They had the Disney emblem on the back. I messed with her about it but really thought it was cool. It made the vacation even more Disney and wonderful. Thanks Tres!!!! We weren’t able to get in Toy Story because of the line so we watched the show about Walt Disney himself and decided to head back to the hotel to get ready for Hoop-Dee-Doo that night. Hoop Dee-Doo is a show we try to go to every time. It’s a dinner show and they bring out friend chicken, ribs, and beans and mashed potatoes. Me and Tres had Sangria this time cause everyone said it was so good and it was. It was really cool cause we sat in the same table we had years ago it’s like they knew and put us back there. We also took a matching picture of when we were here last time and showed how we have changed. The kids were so little the first two times and now they are adults so it’s kinda sad. The show and dinner were great and the funny man was the best we had seen. After the show we took the boat back to the buses. It was a nice pleasant ride. That show has been a main stay on our trips. I hope some day Mady and Brad will bring their kids and family to Hoop Dee-Doo and make great memories like we have been able to do. Disney is AWESOME!!!! Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom the greatest place on earth.

Magic Kingdom – Day 3

To me Magic Kingdom is the greatest place on earth. It makes me feel like a kid and brings me close to family even more. We got up early and had Mickey waffles then caught the bus. As we walked in and you hear the music and dancers on the street it takes you back to your youth with the castle at the end of main street. We headed to tomorrowland and went to Buzz Lightyear and Mady beat us all. Tres got last and kept saying that her gun didn’t work. After that we went to Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. When that started they put my pic up on the board and said “this guy wants to get up and dance” so of course I did. LOL! The show was great and we headed to Space Mountain. I remembered how I used to reach and hold Brad on the Space Mountain ride cause I was worried he would fly out of the ride cause he was so small. Now he can barely even fit in the ride cause he is so big and lanky. After that we headed to Frontier land and had lunch at the Tall Tales Inn. We then rode Thunder Mountain and then to Splash Mountain which is one of my favorites cause it also reminds me of being a kid. We didn’t get too wet but it is always awesome because of Brer Rabbit and the funny animals. I also love riding it at night cause it reminds me of being at Astroworld as a kid riding all the rides at night seeing the city in the distance. After Splash Mountain we went to Peter Pan, we had never ridden it. So we decided to wait in the long line that said 90 minute wait. Of course Brad hated the wait. For some reason the line is sooooo long so I always wondered what all the hub-bub was about. Even though the wait was rough it was an awesome way to make memories having to deal with each other in line for 90 minutes. We fought, laughed, pouted, just went through all the emotions. And the ride really wasn’t that good so now we have to hear mess from the kids forever. The ride was just slow-moving flying over the town Peter Pan was set in. It took sometime but we were in the air conditioning. We then went to the new roller coaster about the 7 dwarfs. It is much like Splash Mountain where they have a cave with the characters of snow white. After that we went and got more fast passes for Space Mountain and then went to ride the Jungle Tour. Very corny but we needed to ride it. Afterward we went top Casey at the Bat and had a snack and rested cause it was very hot. We relaxed a bit then shopped. I got a tie and looked for a grumpy shirt then decided to look for a Donald Duck shirt. Well I’m so fat I couldn’t find a shirt that fit so maybe that will help me start to lose weight. Anyway, Brad got shirts and so did Mady, Tres decided to hold off and go to downtown Disney later in the week. We then headed to “Be our Guest ” restaurant for dinner. We checked in and you wait on the bridge until you are called. The castle is the Beast castle from ” Beauty and the Beast”. It was gorgeous, it has three rooms to eat in. A big bright hall, a smaller room and then the dark room. That is where we got to eat. And again I wanna thank Tres for setting all this up. She is the best wife and always takes care of the things that make my life easy. It has thunder and lightening and a picture of the Beast as a man and then when it thunders the pic turns to the beast. It was a really cool experience. Me and Brad had the steak, Tres had the seafood puff and Mady had the chicken and she said it was the best chicken she ever had. Once we were done we realized it wasn’t just inside the castle it was actually pouring outside. So we put on our panchos and ran across to Space Mountain. Me and Tres stood under an awning and the kids rode Space Mountain. We then moved to Casey’s cause it was getting close to firework time. They made an announcement that the parade was canceled but we still waited on the fireworks. It was still raining so the kids stayed at Space Mountain and continued to ride while me and Tres sat and waited out the rain. I found it neat that the kids were now old enough to go on their own. I remember when I had to carry them when they were 8-10 and now they take off on their own. Anyway as we sat and watched the rain slowly lessen we could see the people leaving so I knew I would get a good place to stand. Well the rain stopped and they made an announcement saying they would start. I stood out oin the street and the fireworks started. I’m not going to go on and on about this cause if you are reading this you know my feelings on the fireworks at Magic Kingdom. But I do remember Mady showing up halfway through and giving me a hug saying ” I love you Dad”, that was cool. And Brad wandering around in front of us lost which is funny. Tres was by my side and we watched the entire show together soaking wet. Great memory. So after the fireworks we stayed for the Magic hours. The kids rode Space Mountain a couple more times, then we left. On the way to the buses the kids took off running and of course Brad got there in time for the bus but Mady didn’t. I found that funny that he had to wait for us. When we got back to the room we laid in bed and laughed a ton about the day. It was really cool to hear the kids belly laugh as they made fun of us and talked about the day. My whole family, me and Tres in one bed and the kids in the other laughing. Doesn’t get any better than that. It was Disney magic!!

EPCOT- Day 4

We slept in just a bit cause we knew Epcot doesn’t take as long. We took our time and got there, we headed to test track so the kids could ride first and get it over with since it was a long line. I waited for them, as long they have fun I don’t have to ride everything. We then went to Soarin and it was cool. I then made them ride one of my favorites the vegetable garden. I always love seeing how they grow things. Of course the kids hate it, and that’s ok they will appreciate it later, I just have to let them grow into it. We went to Nemo after that. We have taken a picture in front of the Nemo ride 3 times through the years. I love seeing how the kids have grown but it also makes me a little sad. But the change is cool. We rode the ride then went to Mission Space. I rode the green level that isn’t as rough as the orange level that is crazy. Once that was done we went shopping and headed to the countries. I was still looking for a shirt so I settled on a Mickey shirt. We headed to walk the countries and headed to Mexico. We got there and Brad had forgotten there was a ride in the restaurant. So it was funny to watch Mady and him argue about the ride. It is a corny ride but very nostalgic for me, I have memories of all of us riding the ride and eating there when the kids were young. Another ride is the Norwegian ride. We have ridden that forever. But when we got there it was closed cause there were making it into a Frozen ride. Mady was bummed but she did get her pretzel in Germany she was wanting (HaHa!!). We were pretty early and tired so we went into the show about America. It was funny cause the old man in charge was passionate about American history. He had a serious voice and mentioned where the bathrooms were in a serious voice. We sat in a little auditorium and watched a show of the history of America. It was good, but anything in Disney to me is cool. Then we went on down and visited the rest of the countries and walked around. We went to England and looked up our name and saw Canada and the rest. Then headed to France and the French restaurant we were going to eat at that night. It was a pretty restaurant with big open windows. We sat by one of the windows and could see the people outside walking by. It was comfortable and felt good to sit down as a family. The waiter was great and he was from the actual country of France. We had a great meal I even had duck confit. We then walked toward the front and found a good spot to watch fireworks. They were good but not as good as Magic Kingdom. It was a great day. We got to the hotel and kinda laid around. Tres and Mady decided to go to downtown Disney the next day in the morning real quick before we went home. In the morning they went to downtown Disney while me and Brad stayed in the hotel. We went and had breakfast and got everything that Tres had gotten packed the night before ready to take to be check in to the airport. We went and checked the bags in at the front desk of the hotel. They got back and we just waited around the lobby until the bus came. The girls got back and we sat and talked until the sad view of the bus was there to take us home.

Going home – Day 5

This trip was awesome.We all had a great time, had great conversation and I experienced a new thing with the kids being older. Disney is the greatest place in the world. It brings me back to my childhood and makes me feel closer to the kids and Tres. Whenever I leave I want to go right back. I hope the kids will remember it with great memories that will stay with them long after I’m gone. I want to thank Tressa so so very much for getting everything together. You do an amazing job and makes me love you even more.

What a wonderful time, and to think……………………………..It all started with a mouse.

P.S. I heard they are doing away with one of my favorite shows. The “One Man’s Dream” attraction. Makes me sad for it to be gone.

Ya’ll be safe out there!!!!

Our disney trip started off with us getting up at 3:00 in the morning to catch a plane at 6:00. We had driven every other time and wanted to fly. Dada picked us up at 4:00 and we got on the plane and were off. Everything went well and we landed right on time. We took the magical express package and it was fantastic. When you check your luggage in at Houston, we had yellow Disney tags on them. When we got to Orlando we didn’t even go to baggage claim. We just found the Magical Express ground transportation for our hotel and got on the bus. They told us they would deliver our luggage to our room later, in a couple of hours. It was awesome! So when we got to the hotel and through the airport I was carrying nothing but my wallet!!!! We checked in and went to our room just for a few minutes and then headed to Animal Kingdom. The hotel we stayed in was “The Polynesian” it had a Hawaiian look to it and you even got “lays” when you walked in and there was aloha music and the whole place made you feel like you were in Hawaii. I had been wanting to stay there for the longest time. It is right across the lake from Magic Kingdom. I am looking so forward to watching the fireworks and hearing Jiminy Cricket from the pool. We went to Animal Kingdom and it was a great time but we all got very worn out. I assume it was because we had been up since 3AM. The first thing we did was go straight to the yeti ride and get fast passes. That is still Mady’s favorite ride. Brad was sooooo excited and acting soooooo squirrely he was getting on our nerves by jumping around and acting goofy. (pardon the pun). He was running into us and trying to hurry about everything. We got passes and went to ride the dinosaur ride. It was cool and just like it has always been. Brad loves it and it was great to see the kids enjoying each other. Being here with my family, just us four, brings joy and happy tears to my eyes just thinking back on what disney meant to me as a kid and the memories of my grandmas house.  So being with my three family members is great. I even got teary eyed on the bus ride from the airport when they were showing a disney video about disney. The nostalga just overwhelms me sometime. We went to eat and got a fast pass for the river ride. It was only about 1000 degrees outside and crowded but I didn’t care. I was at disney!! After we ate we went and saw “It’s a bugs Life”. It’s always a cute 4D show. Then we went on to the Yeti ride. We decided to ride it twice. We waited in line once then would use our fast passes. We even met a couple from Minnesota in line and they had driven down in a motorhome. He was a big yankees fan and we talked about how we knew Andy Pettite and how he was the guys favorite yankee and how Josh Pettite had gotten drafted this weekend by the yankees. I showed him pics on instagram. It was cool sharing stuff and visiting with people in the lines while we waited. We were dead tired at the end of that day. We came back to the hotel and took naps before we went to the “Ohana” restaurant in the lobby . That place had great food. It was cooked on an open flame and served family style. They served chicken wings, pork, steak, shrimp, and noodles with a salad. They brought the skewers to the table and pulled the meat off on your plate. We could see the castle at magic kingdom from our table so that was cool. We then went and got our trunks on and went to the pool area. It was awesome , Brad swam and Mady layed in a hammock and me and Tres sat and relaxed at a table while a movie was played on the beach. It was Peter Pan. Now you might not think that was that great but I loved the thought of our son in the pool, our daughter in a hammock, and me and Tres sitting relaxing at Disney world while an old Disney movie played from our childhood. (I am Clark W Griswold). Then the fireworks started at Magic Kingdom and you heard Jiminie cricket over the speaker. It was a perfect ending to a perfect start to our vacation. This was

6/11/13 The next  morning we headed to Magic Kingdom. Walking into that place just feels me with joy. We went straight to space mountain. We rode it and then the kids used the fast passes and rode again. I had to get used to the kids being able to go and ride things on their own. I was used to them being little and not 15 and 12. Kinda makes me sad. A side story is when Brad was about 6 we were walking from thunder river to eat and somehow he slipped off into a crowd. He was lost for about 5 minutes but it felt like 5 hours. Now he just goes wherever and meets us later. Anyway back to 2013, We all then went and rode buzz light year. We went on and rode most everything. Brad was wanting to ride the rollercoasters, he had just gotten over his fear of them and now was wanting to ride them constantly. We decided to leave and get ready for “the hoop dee doo review” . We needed to shower and get ready. We had one problem, once we got ready and got to the monorail we noticed it was broke down. So we went to the boat and I think everyone at Disney was needing that boat. It was getting late and we still had to catch a totally different boat to get to the show. It was 8:00 before we even got to the second boat. The reservations were for 8:30. While we waited for the second boat we were all stressed thinking we would miss the show. It is a great show by the way. Anyway a lady walks up about 8:10 and says they have a bus for us, we get on, make it to the show and have a great night. That lady walking up showed how great Disney is, they take care of everyone. It is just fabulous. So the show starts and we have pails of fried chicken and ribs. The waitress just throws it down on the table as the singers sing. It was such a great feeling to listen to your wife and kids belly laugh throughout the night. That was tuesday

6/12/13 The next day we went to Hollywood for half the day. Ofcourse Brad immediately wanted to ride the “Rockin Roller coaster”. we went as single riders, the lone was shorter that way. When we rode “tower of terror” Brad was sooooooo scared, he had never ridden it before. He even made comments about not riding while waiting in line. He was sooooo nervous but he ended up liking it. We planned on going to Magic Kingdom that night so the kids rode the Star Wars ride a couple times and we ate at Pizza planet  from Toy Story. Pretty Cool!!! We headed back to the hotel and now we are relaxing as I write this waiting to go to Chef Mickey and Magic Kingdom tonight.  We went to Chef Mickey and it was awesome and hilarious. they sat us at a table next to a hispanic couple with a little boy. They entire family spoke zero english. The little boy would just running around the restaurant from table to table. It got so bad that a person who works there had to make him go back to his table. Mady and Brad started calling him “little Pablo” and they couldn’t stop laughing. So ever since then Mady continues to say “I wonder where little Pablo is?’ We actually saw them at our pool and Mady busted out laughing saying “There’s little Pablo!!”. After we ate we went back to Magic Kingdom for some rides and to watch “wishes” the greatest, most tear jerking spectical around. It reminds me of my grandmas house on sunday night when the disney show would come on. This year I stood on Main Street with Tressa and the kids as we watched and ofcourse I teared up and cried. After the show the kids rode space mountain. It was 11 at night and it reminded me of when I went to Astroworld and would ride Greezed lightning all night in the dark.Our kids are getting older and it kinda makes me sad that they can run off and do their own thing. But on the other hand it is kinda nice that me and Tres can go do our own thing for awhile while they are waiting in line. We got home late and had to hit the bed because we were headed to Hollywood again the next day. Wednesday

6/13/13 We got to Hollywood and immediately got fast passes and the kids and tres road Rockin rollercoaster. I had my feel of rough rides so I walked around and window shopped. After they were done we got fast passes for “tower of terror”. We  rode “The Great Movie Ride” which is one of my favorites. I love movies and they show clips of movies throughout the ride so I enjoy it. Then we ate and the kids went and rode “tower of terror”. Me and Tres walked around and did the back lot tour and just looked around. Once they were done we had our reservations late to eat so we waited on “toy Story” and rode a couple more things. Next time we wont to make our dinner reservations so late there , but dinner ended up soooooo awesome. we laughed until we almost peed our pants. We ate at the Sci-fi dine in theater. It is a restaurant built like an old drive in set in the 50’s. the screen constantly plays old ‘B’ rated horror movie clips and old intermission scenes. they are really corny but was very noslagic and cool. The food was kinda plain, hamburgers, chicken, hot dogs but the atmosphere was so cool. We all four laughed so hard at what was on the screen. Mady was a hoot and Tres made a funny comment about a hot dog flipping over and over wanting to get in a bun. It was an old timey intermission scene that was to make people want to go eat food. We  all got sundaes for dessert and the cars that you sat in were really cool built into tables. We left there and I have continued to laugh about that night all week. Thursday 6/14/13 We slept in and decided to go to Epcot late in the morning. There isn’t as many rides there so the kids wanted to sleep in a bit. So when we got there they went to test track and I got fast passes for soarin. I like the ride about gardening where you see all the veggies grown in Epcot. So after they showed up we rode that.  I think it is cool to see how well plants grow and try and get ideas to get mine to grow bigger. We walked around the nations and had a glass of wine in France and a beer in germany. we stopped to get a snow cone and for some reason he then put sweet cream on it as well as his cherry flavor. So ofcourse it tasted terrible and he ate a few bites, tried to scrape off the cream and it didn’t work. He had to throw the thing away.  The knuckle head. We had dinner at the “Coral Reef”. It was like the aquarium at Kemah but it was cool to hangout just us four and talk and eat and try and pick out the fish we saw swimming. We tend to take for granted having dinner at home or eating out and never sitting and talking. I enjoyed all of our dinners just being with my three favorite people in the world my family members.  We got back to the hotel and swam and played concentration, it is a dorky game where you have to pick a category like “NFL teams”. then all four of us would say a team one after the other. If someone paused or said a team that had already been named you are out. It was corny but we all sat in the water and had a great time as a family.

Friday 6/14/13 We slept in and went to downtown disney. Brad had a belly ache but ended up having a great day in the end. We met his choir teacher Ms. Flenikin and her husband Scott. She works with Tres and they were here so we met them for lunch. We walked around and shopped and ofcourse I bought a grumpy and disney shirt as well as having a sundae from Ghiradellis. We had a small mishap on the bus   back to the hotel. As I said Brad’s stomach hurt and began hurting worse as we waited for the bus. Well Mady and I had told him to throw up in the bushes if he needed cause he didn’t need to throw up on the bus. He assured me that he didn’t need to , WELL just as we get on the bus and start driving off he throws up everywhere all over the floor. Boy did it stink, so we and all the folks on the bus had to ride to Typhoon Lagoon for 10 minutes until we could stop and kinda clean it up. The bus driver had some sort of pine bedding and came back and sprinkled it all over. The smell kinda went away but it was still there. So there I was standing right in the middle of the puke. I had Tres and the kids move up.  The bus was pretty packed so everyone around us couldn’t really do anything about it. I felt so bad for bubba. He was so upset and sorry. he kept asking me if i would tell the people how sorry he was. And when we would stop at a bus stop he would tell them he was sorry as they got off the bus. He is such a sweet boy and hates people upset with him.

We made it back to the “Polynesian” and he took a big nap for about 2 hours. We woke him up about 6:00 and we headed back to Magic kingdom for one last night. We met the Flenikins over there again. Mady is so enamored with their kids Will and carlie. She just loves them. I miss my kids being that age. I want to get home and watch disney trips from the past.

We rode splash mountain with them and I think splash mountain is one of my favorites. It takes me back to Ole Brier Rabbit and the great zippity do da movies from my youth. It just makes me happy. And Mady got a kick out of saying “we are in the brier patch” about 100 times. After that it was getting close to 10:00 and I wanted to get a good view of “wishes” one last time. The Flenikins went to wherever and we headed to Main Street. Tres and the kids got some dinner and I stood on the corner and watched the show. It doesn’t matter how many times I see it I get very emotional and a flood of memories come back from past years. I really can’t explain it or put it into words so I won’t even try. Just know that there is not another place I wanna be or anyone other than Tres, Mady and Brad that I want to be with when I watch the show. A little side note is Brad was worried while he ate that I was watching by myself and was worried about me. I really appreciate everything all three of them do for me. Mady has been hugging on me more which makes me feel good. Brad is always wanting approval from me in everything he does. and Tressa does things that make my life so much easier. This trip is an example. I did nothing to set it up. She did everything even down to the packing my clothes and even getting all of us gum to chew on the plane so our ears don’t pop. I don’t tell her enough how much I appreciate and love her. Thanks Tres for taking such good care of me!!!!!!!!

After the show we headed to space mountain so the kids could get as many rides in as possible. We hooked up with the Flenikins again again (haha inside joke). Me and Scott took Will on the people mover while everyone else road space mountain. He is a good guy who I really enjoyed talking to and visiting with about football. As we headed back to the hotel at 12:00 I just wanted to stand on main street and take it all in and remember every minute, every song, every light and every memory. As I stood there on the street looking down toward the castle I thought of my family, my kids and my wife and the memories we have together. I thought of my mom and my childhood, of my sister and all of my family members who have past as well as my friends. It was a peaceful feeling and I attribute that to Walt Disney himself. I don’t know how he did it but that place just makes me feel so good and it truly is magical and unexplainable.

We made it back to our hotel and Tres packed as I went and got everyone a drink. We would be leaving the next morning. We got up and gathered all our suitcases and headed out to checkout. I think part of the reason you feel so magical here is how they treat you. For example on the magical express plan we did we checked our luggage in at Houston getting on the plane and never saw or touched it again until it was delivered to our hotel room. So that was a huge relaxation deal. Then leaving we checked our bags in at the hotel lobby and didn’t have to lug them around the airport on the way home either. We didn’t see them until we got to Houston. We also were given our boarding passes in the morning they were put under our door when we woke up in the morning. So all we had to do is go straight to our gate when we got to the airport. I already mentioned the Hoop-dee-do help out. I just love this place and how they take care of you and make you feel so young and magical!!

It has been a tremendous vacation, laughing with Tres and Mady and Brad. Enjoying watching them smile and all three enjoying themselves. Hearing Mady belly laugh, hearing Brad asking Mady questions and jumping around so excited, seeing Tres relax and smile and laugh at the kids makes me very happy. And myself just thinking of them and the past and just being taken out of myself and thinking of everyone and what I wanna do next time. Thinking when can we come back who can come with us, thinking of the brightness on peoples faces, my kids, my wife. I want to turn around and come back tomorrow. That’s what Disney does to me!!

As we begin our dissent to Hobby airport and our lives going back to work and hustle and bustle of everyday life I hope I can bring a little magic home with me and be more patient, more caring, more at peace with the stress of life. Hoping I can remind myself daily to enjoy the blessings and people God has placed in my life. My three family members, I want to go to the movies with, have dinner with and laugh and talk like we did this past week. After the past year I had with my heart episode and stuff I “wish” I can take a little of that magic with me in my heart and continue to keep it when we are home.

I want to thank Tressa for making this vacation special to me by taking care of me. I want to thank Mady for her belly laughing and her hugs. I want to thank Bard for his little boy giddiness. And I want to thank Walt Disney for making me feel magical everytime I come to Disney and remembering my childhood. I love all three of you and I love the Disney experience.

And to think it was all started with a MOUSE!!

Well we haven’t started drivers ed but Mady has been driving for us at different times. She does a good job. She even drove me all the way to Academy the other day. Makes me feel old that she is about to drive but, I guess I am old.

Here is just a little taste of what we are in for in the coming years. That post was started in 2013, I have not posted since then so bare with me and on the next couple post I want to catch up to 2019. Well Mady got her license and drove all of her junior and senior year. We bought her a 2015 Jeep Patriot. Well the story is like this, her and Tres went down to car max, they wanted to do it all their selves. They met with a salesman and found a white Jeep Patriot and thought they got a good deal. They buy the car and drive it home. It is an ok car but I start looking online and I find new cars that are the same price with better wheels. We have the weekend to return the car. Mady goes to golf practice on a Friday the day of graduation and her car wont start when she tries to leave. She calls me so I can try and start it and get back to graduation. It’s hot and I’m on the phone with Brock my mechanic. We get it started and she drives home. So I have to get back to school and barely make it to graduation. The next day I say we are going to get a brand new car. We drive to the dealer and I tell the guy the story and say I want this car new at same price or I’ll just keep the used one. He says ok , lets do it. The car comes up we talk numbers and he says its 5k more. I say ” ok, bye and walk out”. He comes to get us and we go back in and I get the exact car with better tires at same price. Woohoo dad knows best!!! So she has been driving now, for about 4-5 years now. She has the same car and will hopefully drive it until she gets out of college. Not much else on her driving. Like I said I Adm trying to catch up on my blog. But you can see the difference in the two cars LOL!!

Ya’ll stay safe out there!!

I mentioned earlier that Mady was playing Basketball and Golf. She did a great job balancing them that first semester. When basketball seson started in October she quit going to golf except on the weekend. They had basketball tryouts and I knew she had a good shot but was worried about her being slow. She went through off season so I figured that would benefit her. She must have done a good job because she made the “A” team. She wasn’t a starter but came off the bench and did a good job with some good minutes. I was very proud of her all season. She made some good friends and had such a good time. I could see it all over her face when I picked her up from practice or saw her on the sidelines and even on game day after her games. They had to stay for the varsity game and she was always excited about that. Not one time did she complain about having to stay. I think she enjoyed the comaradore with the other girls in the stands.

She has such a nice shot that alot of times she would be the player who is put on the foul line when there is a technical. It is a good arching shot with great form and always has a chance to go in the basket. I think she had one game with a told of 6 or 8 points. She didn’t score alot but she loved being part of a team and hanging out with the other girls. She made some great new friends and I think that is what she missed by not playing volleyball.

She was also one of the top 5 in golf this first semester and that continues into the spring semster. She didn’t play as much golf but she was able to play in 2 tournaments early and did really well. She shot a 100 in the first one and a 96,99 in the second which was a two day one. Then basketball started and she wasn’t able to come back until afterward. But we are so proud of her for what she is doing and how she has started. Being one of the top 5 as a freshman and also playing basketball is very impressive to me. The 100 was in laporte and she competed very hard to break 100 but came up a little short. Then we had a tournament here at Deer Park and she played so well and made a 96,99 in the two day tournament.

I had a great time watching her play basketball. It was the first time I could really sit back and just enjoy what she was doing with no pressure. I don’t know why I was so amped up in junior high but I enjoyed watching her this year the most. I think maybe it was because she was relaxed and enjoyed it so much.

I get more nervous watching golf right now because she is one of the leaders. But that is ok too.

Me and Tres are so very proud of everything she has accomplished so far. It brings me great happiness to see her run up and down the court hustling and dirving the lane and shooting that pretty jumper and to see her tee off and walk with a girl to find the other girls ball and watch the other girl hit twice before they even get to Mady’s ball.  Looking forward to watching her golf the rest of the year and to see what she will accomplish. I am also looking forward to seeing what will happen next year in basketball once she has had a year to improve and grow bigger and stronger.

She is the best Golfer/basketball player I know

Go Mady Go!!

Ya’ll be safe out there!!

After the Super Bowl I think the boys rebounded quicker than us parents and coaches. after playing in the super bowl and after all the tears were dried up we took the boys to Joe’s Crabshack to eat and have a little after the season party. It had been planned during the week win or lose so there was a cake and reservations already set up. So when the smoke cleared after the game we all loaded up and headed to Joe’s. It was a big relief to see the boys enjoying their selves. I was worried they would be down and thinking about the game. But as kids do they had put it behind them and were having a party at the restaurant. They were even holding up two fingers saying “we are number two”. haha!!

They all sat and ate and talked and jumped from table to table together. I loved seeing them relaxing. You could tell there was a big weight off their shoulders from preparing and practicing for so many months. They knew they had done good this year and now it was time to PARTY!!!!

Darryl Sharp even got up and gave a toast to the coaches which I am posting below. It speaks for itself. The boys also danced which I am posting below also. All in all it was a good end to a great year and a tough game.

Good Luck to all the young men on that team in the future.

Tigers forever!!!

Ya’ll be safe out there!!

Every year we celebrate Chinese new year at China garden. We have been going there since we have been married. In fact we had our rehearsal dinner there. The reason is that my father in law found this place 30 plus years ago for lunch. He kept going and before long became friends with the owners. So every year we go down in January on Chinese New Year and eat and watch the Dragon dancers. It is an invitation only dinner and it is served family style. After you eat then you go out in the street and watch the dragon dancers. It is a great time and my kids grew up loving it.

It started with Mady when she was the only grandchild. When the dragon dancers started she got real scared and we had to walk her down the street a bit until she was away from them. Then as she got older she grew out of that. Brad never really seemed to get scared though. As the years went by and more grand kids came along they would all go out in the street and feed the dragon dancers dollar bills.

We always enjoy going down there to eat whether it is for Chinese New Year or just to go into town and eat dinner. It is always great times

Ya’ll be safe out there!!!!!

Brad was in choir all 3 years in junior and then his freshmen year. He seemed to enjoy it and all his buddies were in it in junior high. He didn’t have a lot of solos or anything but they said he had a good voice and Ms. Flenniken was the choir teacher and he loved her. So he enjoyed it. I also found it funny that the way he grew so fast cracked me up. In 6th grade he got a picture taken with Paige Potts and Darcie Culp with Brad standing in the middle. In the picture in 6th grade he was shorter than the two girls. They took the same picture each year and you could tell how tall he became so fast. Now he towers over them both. He enjoyed the time with friends in junior high choir and he even danced in the funny songs and gave good effort.

As much as he enjoyed choir in junior high he hated it in 9th grade. He felt like people just horsed around and when they did the teacher just yelled and screamed at them and didn’t keep it fun. Mr. Dove the head of choir tried to keep him involved but it was too late he had too much of a bad taste in his mouth so he checked it in and quit choir.

Ya’ll be safe out there!!!

I have always been intrigued with living out in the woods and living like that. So I decided to build me two different wood racks. One for my BBQ wood that I would use in my smoker and one for my wood that Tressa would use in the fire pit outside.

I cut some up at the lease and loaded it up in my truck. I then came home and split it so it would be readying to use. I would get some wood from other hunting spots like East land and Centerville as well. It would just lay in the back yard so I built these racks to be able to stack it up. Not a big post just wanted to share my outdoorsmen skills.

Ya’ll be safe out there!!!!!