I don't Even Know Where To Start -
So let see, since the last post we have had:
Really, the whole point is that he's healthy and he's great and there isn't anything wrong with him and his head is perfect. He did have his first round of shots and Dr. Patil did say that he might run a fever. He did run a fever and Amber and I could tell that he felt like crap . . .which is bad no matter how old you are. I felt crummy, because he got sick from a shot and not from some random exposure. But he looks good today and I think that he's feeling a lot better.
The family, including my parents and sister's family, went out to the new Hyatt Resort, out East of the airport. The resort had only been open for 19 days. When they work out the kinks it will be a really nice property. After we had a rather mediocre lunch we walked around the pool and recreation area. My nephew, Andrew, had a hard time understanding why we couldn't get in the pool. It was hard to explain that we were just guests of the property, but not guests of the property. . . .adults can be so confusing sometimes.
The Wedding of Alisha Gayle Ingram and Ben Eric Westbrook
2nd Annual Lake Buchanan Retreat:
My mother has always dreamed of . . . well her kids have shared in the dream . . .of owning a
lake house. Last summer my parents secured a few days at a very nice privately owned lake house on Lake Buchanan. Last year we were there over 4th of July, but this year we had to settle for the week prior to the 4th. I don't think that anyone really cared, it was just nice to get out of town and spend some time with the family. We headed out after work on a Wednesday and didn't return to Austin until the next Wednesday. I had a few work things to wrap up on Thursday and I was lucky that the local Holiday Inn Express had a WiFi set-up and let me sit in
their cafe. Telecommuting is GENIUS!
Because of a mechanical problem we weren't able to take our boat, but the family that owns the house let us use their pontoon boat, which was really nice to cruise around the lake. I got a fishing license and we got a chance to catch a few fish off the floating dock. Amber and I caught a few fish the first night and then my niece and nephew brought home the bacon when they both caught cat fish that were about 14 inches long. The whole trip was a lot of fun. We drank good wine and ate good food and snacked all day on fruit gummies and gourmet cookies. We played Mexican Train when we could and Amber learned how to play
solitaire (with real cards, not just on the computer) for the first time in her life. I know . . .sheltered!
On Monday, dad took us to the Longhorn Caverns that are located just outside of Burnet almost to Inks Lake. The caverns were really cool and you can even have your wedding or wedding reception down there. The caverns used to host a speakeasy . . .which I think would have been pretty cool although a long drive, just for a drink.
While on vacation, my nephew, Andrew, managed to hurt himself almost everyday and it was just a precursor to what life with Tristan will be like when he's six. Andrew managed the following injuries: Stung by a scorpion, smashed his shin running up the stairs, fell hiking with my father, cut his foot on a tree stump under the water, and fell back in a folding chair (see photos).
Camping at Canyon Lake:
4th of July:
This 4th of July we found ourselves at my parent's house . . .where we usually are if we aren't at the lake. It was a rather low key event, which was nice. My sister's family went out to Lake LBJ with some of their friends so it was just us, my folks and Luis's mother and brother and his wife. After a while, Chris and I decided to go get fireworks. His wife, Karrin came to supervise and manage the operation from a financial standpoint. I bought one thing while Chris bought one of everything! (See photo's below). It was disappointing that my sister's family missed out on the celebration, but somehow Chris and I turned into 12 year olds and didn't let the mild drizzle ruin our fireworks display. With the rain we quickly gave up on the punks and resorted to grill lighters . . .much easier and faster.
Back to work, Back to life:
So on Wednesday I got up and dialed into the conference line for the weekly call and started dialin and smilin, trying to sell assets for our clients. I posted another auction for ExxonMobil and we've been slowly spring cleaning. Tristan and Amber are doing great and life is falling into it's routines. On Monday Amber will return to work. It will take some time to get use to Amber being away during the day and Tristan will be going to Child's Way Learning Center from 9:00 - 1:00. My sister is also a teacher there and will be taking him home so that I can get an extra hour of work before I go to pick him up. I think that I'm going to really miss him while he's gone. Sometimes when Amber takes him for errands it's nice to have the house quiet and to myself, but I know that he's running around with Mommy. But this time he will be with strangers for a while. Tristan is a pretty good baby and I think that he will do well there and we are comfortable because his Aunt can always peek in on him. But at the same time, I know that it's going to be hard that first day when I walk out the daycare door and to my car. The decision for Amber to return to work was not made lightly and I honestly believe it will result in more quality family time via extracurriculars, traveling, etc. I know that her time away will go by quickly and Amber will return home again. But just writing about it makes me kind of weepy . . . he'll never be this small again.
So let see, since the last post we have had:
- Father's Day
- The Ingram Wedding (I know, another one!)
- 2nd Annual Lake Trip
- Camping at Canyon Lake
- 4th of July
I'm not sure where to start and to make sure that I can finish this up and continue on with my life, I decided to just put everything into one post rather than breaking it out. So I'll start at the top of the list.
(keep scrolling down until the end, there are some big spaces throughout)
Tristan's First Doctors Appointment:
Really, the whole point is that he's healthy and he's great and there isn't anything wrong with him and his head is perfect. He did have his first round of shots and Dr. Patil did say that he might run a fever. He did run a fever and Amber and I could tell that he felt like crap . . .which is bad no matter how old you are. I felt crummy, because he got sick from a shot and not from some random exposure. But he looks good today and I think that he's feeling a lot better.
Dad's Day:
The family, including my parents and sister's family, went out to the new Hyatt Resort, out East of the airport. The resort had only been open for 19 days. When they work out the kinks it will be a really nice property. After we had a rather mediocre lunch we walked around the pool and recreation area. My nephew, Andrew, had a hard time understanding why we couldn't get in the pool. It was hard to explain that we were just guests of the property, but not guests of the property. . . .adults can be so confusing sometimes.
The Wedding of Alisha Gayle Ingram and Ben Eric Westbrook
I know that you are going to say, "Seriously, another wedding?!?", but this was the last one. The wedding was held at the same place that Amber and I had our reception, Avery Ranch. Alisha and her fiancé Eric had the entire ceremony at the Ranch, but when Amber and I were booking our reception they had not yet built the beautiful gazebo that Eric and Alisha were married under. The ceremony was very nice . . .nice and short for an outside wedding in the Texas heat. Then off to the conference/ballroom for the reception. We sat next to a very nice family from just North of Dallas. Their father was more than happy to hold Tristan for a few minutes while Amber and I got things settled. I think that he was trying to convince his wife that they needed a third. After dinner and slide show, Amber and I snuck out the the front door and headed home.
2nd Annual Lake Buchanan Retreat:
My mother has always dreamed of . . . well her kids have shared in the dream . . .of owning a
lake house. Last summer my parents secured a few days at a very nice privately owned lake house on Lake Buchanan. Last year we were there over 4th of July, but this year we had to settle for the week prior to the 4th. I don't think that anyone really cared, it was just nice to get out of town and spend some time with the family. We headed out after work on a Wednesday and didn't return to Austin until the next Wednesday. I had a few work things to wrap up on Thursday and I was lucky that the local Holiday Inn Express had a WiFi set-up and let me sit in
their cafe. Telecommuting is GENIUS!
Because of a mechanical problem we weren't able to take our boat, but the family that owns the house let us use their pontoon boat, which was really nice to cruise around the lake. I got a fishing license and we got a chance to catch a few fish off the floating dock. Amber and I caught a few fish the first night and then my niece and nephew brought home the bacon when they both caught cat fish that were about 14 inches long. The whole trip was a lot of fun. We drank good wine and ate good food and snacked all day on fruit gummies and gourmet cookies. We played Mexican Train when we could and Amber learned how to play
solitaire (with real cards, not just on the computer) for the first time in her life. I know . . .sheltered!
On Monday, dad took us to the Longhorn Caverns that are located just outside of Burnet almost to Inks Lake. The caverns were really cool and you can even have your wedding or wedding reception down there. The caverns used to host a speakeasy . . .which I think would have been pretty cool although a long drive, just for a drink.
While on vacation, my nephew, Andrew, managed to hurt himself almost everyday and it was just a precursor to what life with Tristan will be like when he's six. Andrew managed the following injuries: Stung by a scorpion, smashed his shin running up the stairs, fell hiking with my father, cut his foot on a tree stump under the water, and fell back in a folding chair (see photos).
Camping at Canyon Lake:
Over the 4th of July weekend my in-laws parked their RV at the Fort Sam Houston Park on Canyon Lake. Fort Sam Houston is a military facility. I was worried that they would sound reveille or make everyone do push-ups . . .but it was just a vacation spot, so I was relieved to know that my laziness was welcomed. We showed up late afternoon Saturday after packing up the whole kit and caboodle (which you find yourself doing to keep yourself sane). Amber's sister Nicole was down there with her kids and we all stayed together in this huge tent that Vicki had bought all of us a few years ago. It was nice to camp next to an RV with air conditioning although we really didn't hang out in there too much. Lenny, Vicki's husband rented a pontoon boat for us and the highlight was sitting out on the pontoon boat, on the lake, under that stars for the fireworks display. I was pretty impressed with the Canyon Lake presentation and we were so close to the action that we could see the tubes where the
mortars were being launched.
After fireworks we headed back to the camp for cold beer, Mexican bingo and smores. There's something about camping that requires one to melt marshmallows (or marshmeyows as Damek says) and chocolate onto Graham Crackers.
Day two started with a light rain, so we were able to experience the weather ability of the tent. . . which, by the way, was pretty good. A little seam seal and scotch guard and I think it will be good to go. After a little milling around we started the coals and made eggs and blueberry pancakes. While I was cooking breakfast, Amber and her mom gave Kael a quick haircut. Now the kid can see and we can stop calling him the shaggy D.A.!
We had a really good time and it was fun to camp again, since I can't remember the last time I slept in a tent. It was also nice to spend time with Vicki and Lenny. We headed back on Sunday. I had a few things with work that I needed to do on Monday and I needed a little time on the couch before the next week started.
mortars were being launched.
After fireworks we headed back to the camp for cold beer, Mexican bingo and smores. There's something about camping that requires one to melt marshmallows (or marshmeyows as Damek says) and chocolate onto Graham Crackers.
Day two started with a light rain, so we were able to experience the weather ability of the tent. . . which, by the way, was pretty good. A little seam seal and scotch guard and I think it will be good to go. After a little milling around we started the coals and made eggs and blueberry pancakes. While I was cooking breakfast, Amber and her mom gave Kael a quick haircut. Now the kid can see and we can stop calling him the shaggy D.A.!
We had a really good time and it was fun to camp again, since I can't remember the last time I slept in a tent. It was also nice to spend time with Vicki and Lenny. We headed back on Sunday. I had a few things with work that I needed to do on Monday and I needed a little time on the couch before the next week started.
4th of July:
This 4th of July we found ourselves at my parent's house . . .where we usually are if we aren't at the lake. It was a rather low key event, which was nice. My sister's family went out to Lake LBJ with some of their friends so it was just us, my folks and Luis's mother and brother and his wife. After a while, Chris and I decided to go get fireworks. His wife, Karrin came to supervise and manage the operation from a financial standpoint. I bought one thing while Chris bought one of everything! (See photo's below). It was disappointing that my sister's family missed out on the celebration, but somehow Chris and I turned into 12 year olds and didn't let the mild drizzle ruin our fireworks display. With the rain we quickly gave up on the punks and resorted to grill lighters . . .much easier and faster.
Back to work, Back to life:
So on Wednesday I got up and dialed into the conference line for the weekly call and started dialin and smilin, trying to sell assets for our clients. I posted another auction for ExxonMobil and we've been slowly spring cleaning. Tristan and Amber are doing great and life is falling into it's routines. On Monday Amber will return to work. It will take some time to get use to Amber being away during the day and Tristan will be going to Child's Way Learning Center from 9:00 - 1:00. My sister is also a teacher there and will be taking him home so that I can get an extra hour of work before I go to pick him up. I think that I'm going to really miss him while he's gone. Sometimes when Amber takes him for errands it's nice to have the house quiet and to myself, but I know that he's running around with Mommy. But this time he will be with strangers for a while. Tristan is a pretty good baby and I think that he will do well there and we are comfortable because his Aunt can always peek in on him. But at the same time, I know that it's going to be hard that first day when I walk out the daycare door and to my car. The decision for Amber to return to work was not made lightly and I honestly believe it will result in more quality family time via extracurriculars, traveling, etc. I know that her time away will go by quickly and Amber will return home again. But just writing about it makes me kind of weepy . . . he'll never be this small again.
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