A week of cousin fun!

We have had the pleasure of having Cade and Macy come to spend the night several times this summer.  It is always jam-packed crazy fun, and we all sleep really well after our fun days!  The week of July 4th, they came Monday morning.  I decided to take them to the Japanese Gardens.  At first I thought, they are going to be bored.  But then I remembered that when my brother and I were kids, my grandparents used to take us there.  It was a magical place to us, with its bridges, waterfalls, stepping stones and giant koi.  Why shouldn't these kids feel the same way?  

Well, I was right.  Gabriel had been several times with our neighborhood Moms group, but the for the other three it was there first visit.    We walked every inch of the place, sometimes doubling back and seeing things again.  They loved it.  We saw a raccoon right off the bat, had to convince Macy that those bugs were non-stinging dragonflies, not huge stinging wasps, and had one, "oops I dropped Joel's feet in a pond" moment while trying to walk the stepping stones.  We all had a good laugh about that.  But I crowned myself "Mom of the Day" when I found dry socks in the backpack.  Go me!  

Oh, and the only thing I had been worried about was the heat.  Well, we have had some freakish good luck with weather in Texas this summer, and a dry cool front had moved through the day before.  The high was only supposed to be 92 that day, and it was so nice the whole time we were there.

I love every picture we took there, but this one above is my favorite.  I think I may need to get that one enlarged and framed.

We spent two hours there, then it was lunchtime.  I had planned to take them to Kincaid's on Camp Bowie a little before lunch hour rush, but we ended up getting there at exactly noon.  So much for good planning.  But these kids are all really well behaved when I take them places.  I never imagined I would be trying to handle four of them on my own, but it is a piece of cake.  Joel and I stood in line and the three older kids just sat and talked.  For a LONG time.  But man, did the conversation stop when the food came.  We were all famished after our morning trek.

And of course, I had to get everyone dessert.  It's the law!  Macy tried her first fried pie, Cade and I had banana pudding, and G & J enjoyed some vanilla ice cream.  We were pretty much the only group in there with kids, and everyone kept walking by our table and smiling.  A few had a look of pity, like, "wow you have your hands full", but those people just don't get it.  I have true FUN with these kids.  I think it's a day we'll all remember for a long time.

 On to the 4th of July!  I had considered going to the Arlington parade because several folks had told me how awesome it was.  Real floats, bands, and such.  But I knew I would feel guilty if I missed the neighborhood one, and of course they were at the same time.  We weren't disappointed, though, especially since the fire truck finally made an appearance.  It's very down-home.  At one point a man in a convertible was adjusting the Uncle Sam hat on his bloodhound.  I love my friend LaWayne's El Camino (lowest parade picture), that I truly think she bought just to decorate and ride in the parade!

We bought Fort Worth Cats tickets, along with Philip and April and the kids.  Your ticket included a prime Fort Worth Fourth fireworks watching seat after the game.  We thought this might be better than hanging out on the banks of the Trinity, where people had been soaking up the sun and drinking since 2 pm.  A little more family-friendly!  The Cats won, the kids had a blast during the game, and our front row seat of downtown FW and fireworks was wonderful!

And if that weren't enough for one week, we had a late Father's Day celebration at our house on Sunday.  Along with Mom and Dad and my brother's family we had my cousin's family and her dad.  I must brag about the food.  My brother and I came up with the menu, when we realized we were both thinking about pulled pork sandwiches.  I cooked the pork in the slow cooker all night long the night before.  It came out really, really well.  My sister-in-law brought cole slaw to top off the sandwiches, and some of the best homemade potato salad I've ever eaten.  My cousin's husband Vinney brought beans that were out of this world.  My mom made brownies and I made banana pudding.  This crew loves to cook and eat!

Uncle Dave, April, Uncle Dennis, Jav and Joel (Mom, I'm sorry you were cut out!)

Cade, Dad, Gabriel, Macy and Philip

My first cousin Kristen's husband Vinney and their oldest daughter, Rianna.  Rianna is expecting and is due in October.  And his 38 year old sister just had her first baby, so he gets to be an uncle for the first time, and then a grandpa right around the corner! 

Me and my sweet dad.

News, Schmooze

The time in my life before I met Jav and started having kids, I became a news junkie.  NPR was my link to all news in the world.  I listened before work, in the car on commutes, and sometimes curled up before going to sleep with my portable radio, listening to the BBC late into the night.  I felt very well-informed, and like I could have intelligent conversation and debate about pretty much any current event.  After I had Gabriel, I noticed a drop in my tuning-in ability, of course.  But I still kept up with foreign affairs and big news events.  After Joel, though, not so much.  Even though he's 3-1/2 now, I will go still weeks without tuning in.  I signed up for NPR emails for Breaking News, just after the big Tsunami hit Japan, because I had no idea what people were talking about at work and felt kind of silly.

Because I only listen to a National/World type news report, I rarely know that much about what's happening in my state or city.  I think local TV news is a joke.  They spend more time talking about celebrities than important things happening in the world.  When did Justin Bieber's hairstyle change become NEWS?  And the local newspaper is not much better, changing their look to more USA Today-style than a traditional newspaper.  You have to dig deep within those pages to find what I consider to be actual news.

My lack of time spent learning what's happening in the world weighs on me at times.  I now could not speak very wisely about many things happening out there in the big bad world.  My lack of community/social involvement gets to me, too.  I have many issues that are important to me, the biggest of which is the environment of this beautiful planet we live on.  To me if this issue doesn't start getting more attention, all the bickering we do about the other stuff is not going to seem very important.  When you start not having enough water for crops to feed people or fresh water for people to drink, I doubt many folks are going to be too concerned about the petty things humans can find themselves arguing about.  But this is an issue that gets largely ignored in the news cycle.  When an issue is that big, and seems unsolvable, what is there to report on?

I also get frustrated because there seems to be so many issues that people are just on TOTALLY opposite sides, not willing to budge an inch or even listen to intelligent debate from the other side.  Gun rights, immigration, abortion, racial issues, equal marriage rights, the list goes on and on and ON.  When you have two factions who feel so passionately about something, but are on totally different sides, how do you figure out an issue?  How do you figure out any issues anymore?  Instead of working through it with intelligent and reflective conversation, people say they are taking their stand to the death and NOTHING ever gets done that makes anyone happy.  I can't decide if our representatives have become big spoiled babies, or total namby-pambies, answering to their special interest groups and coffers instead of addressing their constituents' needs.  Neither type of person is who I want my kids to turn out to be.  It's hard to believe these are people that have been elected into office and are representing me.

So lately I find myself not so concerned about missing the news.  In fact, I think I am actually avoiding it these days.  It's all really enough to just make me throw up my hands and concentrate on my own little world, giving little regard to the bigger things happening outside of it.  I know that this may bite me in the long run, but until things either change dramatically in the way news is reported, or local, state and national government members figure out ways to compromise and get things done, then so be it.  Maybe I'll win the lottery and have more time to explore issues and figure out how to change things I don't like.

A Family Wedding

My sister-in-law and her longtime boyfriend, Michael, got married almost a month ago on Thursday night, the last day of swim lessons.  I made sure the boys both got a nap in, because swim lessons made them so tired the rest of the day.  Gabriel was the official Ring Bearer, and JoJo Ring Bearer Junior.  Here they are trying on their wedding finery, one picture right after I started taking them, and one picture when they were FED UP with pictures!

The ceremony was at 6 pm at Weston Gardens, a beautiful place that touts itself as, "English Gardens, Texas-Style". They had picked the smallest garden which was almost like a grotto with trees growing over. There was a harpist playing. There were butterflies flitting about. It would have been idyllic, indeed, if not for the 100 degree humid-like-a-rain-forest heat.  

But the ceremony went off without any major hitches.  The boys did great, at least from my point of view from the seats.  Jav said that Joel was refusing to hold Gabriel's hand, but some coaxing by the Matron of Honor, Suzanne, and his brother finally did the trick.  Gabriel was a bit thrown off when the photographer, whom no one warned him about, kept jumping in front of them snapping away and he didn't know whether to stop or keep going.  Gabriel oldest buddy, Lenah, was chief Flower Girl and did a beautiful job.  Her little sister, Mila, walked behind barefoot, picking up the flower petals and putting them back in the basket.  So stinkin' cute!  Sandra looked radiant, and walked down the aisle on Jav's arm to Etta James's, "At Last", which was very different but so cool.  The non-denominational minister was from South Africa, and was very personable and witty.  Michael's oldest sister, Dianne, read the 1st Corinthians passage about Love, and Jav read a beautiful poem in Spanish.  Gabriel walked up to deposit the rings after some confusion when the minister changed the order of the ceremony.  Michael and Sandra and Michael's two daughters, Lizzie and Grace, did a Sand Ceremony, which I had never seen before, mixing their separate sand (and families) into one big bowl.  It all would have seemed to breeze by if not for Joel yelling out every 20 seconds or so, "I'm hot, and I want some more water!".  

Even though it was a joyful event, there were a few sad things to mention.  Jav was walking his sister down the aisle because, sadly, their dad just couldn't do it.  He has been in poor health and recently was moved from the physical therapy wing to the nursing care area in a facility in Hurst.  The family had to get permission to bring him to the wedding, and poor Jav was in charge of getting him dressed and getting him there, along with getting him back and making sure he had some dinner.  Along with everything else going on!  Their dad has Alzheimer's, and it was impossible to tell if he really understood what was going on.  He knew it was something big, with all of us dressed up and seeing family from Monterrey that he hadn't seen in a long time.  But he didn't really talk through the whole thing.  The only time you KNOW he is cognizant of what's going on, is when he sees Gabriel.    His whole face changes and lights up, and he looks like his old self.  

And we were also upset that their dad's sister, Tina, and their mom's brother and sister, Arturo and Licha, all from Monterrey, could not make the wedding.  Tia Tina and Tio Arturo are in poor health, and poor Tia Licha's visa application had a glitch and she was not able to come.  That last part really took a toll on my mother-in-law.  But we had four people that did come up, their cousin David and his wife, Erica, and their two cousins, Lupana and Maque, who are unmarried sisters in their 60's and two of the hippest women I've ever met.  We spent the entire five days with them, taking them to Grapevine Mills Mall to shop, having them over for Sunday brunch (along with the Bride and Groom), and taking them to downtown Cowtown to see the sights and eat dinner their last night here.  

So this picture has a back story.  I was determined for the professional photographer to get a pic of just our family since we do not dress up often (ok - ever).  We started pictures, with the Best Man handing out paper towels to everyone to dry off in between shots.  But then Gabriel had what we'll call a "Bathroom Incident", that kept us away from the picture taking for about 20 minutes.  I guess they finally gave up on us and were done by the time we came out.  So as we were walking to the car, I asked our friend Christine if she'd take a shot of us and just see if it came out.  We walked out into a field, and had sweat through our clothes about 10 times by now.  It came out so great!  I love, love, love it.  Look how Joel has his little hands clasped in front of him, Gabriel looks so grown up, and how dashing Jav looks in his all-black tux.

As Jav was driving his dad home, I drove us back to our house to drop Joel off so my mom could watch him as we went onto the dinner. It was on the roof of Reata restaurant downtown.  Gabriel was so excited I thought his head would explode.  It was a fantastically romantic setting, with two long tables and the backdrop of Fort Worth buildings all around.  Everyone ate first since it was 8:30 or so.  The food and service were wonderful, I have to say.  Jav got there pretty late when they were cutting and serving the cake, poor guy.  But at least he didn't miss the wedding toasts, including giving one that may have been the sweetest toast I've ever heard.  I was so proud of him that night with all he had to do.  He really rose above and beyond the call of duty as brother, son, cousin, father and husband.  

All of the toasts were wonderful, funny mixed in with sweet and poignant.  Michael's mom read an Irish Wedding blessing in Spanish, which she had been practicing for months.  Sandra's best friend, Gilbert, stepped in for her dad and gave the old, "You better be good to her because she is the best person in the whole world", as part of his toast.  We have all waited for a long, long, time for this very sweet and special person to find the right person who would make her this happy.  There were many tears of joy being shed everywhere you looked.

And finally a few more photo opportunities.  Lenah and Gabriel, in 2007 and 2013.  Wow is all I can say!!!!  

I am hoping to have more pictures, from this night and from the BBQ reception that happened a few nights later, once the professional ones are shared with everyone.  But this is one of my favorites, taken just before heading home.  What a happy, happy evening!  And how good it felt to finally take a cold shower at 12:30 am!!!