THE MASCOT AND HIS BROTHER

Last Friday night was the school football game. My oldest son is the school mascot. He had just gotten out of the costume when I took this photo. Poor guy was soaked it was so hot outside that night. He's giving his brother a loving hug--which doesn't happen often. Glad I got it on film... :) And yes, it's time for a haircut.

*duchess*

MONTREAL

NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL in Old Montreal. Horse drawn carriages are available at the plaza for tourist to enjoy.

CALIFORNIA AGAIN...

It has been a whirlwind month. I've been stressing because my blog hasn't had much attention this month--even though I'm always thinking, "oh, I need to blog about that..." Just didn't happen.

We spent the last week in San Jose and the Trampoline and Tumbling Junior Olympic Nationals Competition. This is also the only time this summer the 4 of us will be all together. Camps and what not will fill the rest of our summer. (School starts early August here in Texas.)

So how did my gymnast do you ask? Well, he came home with 2 Gold medals and 1 Silver medal (by 3 tenths). But I can't tell anyone because he doesn't want me to brag. Here's the champion:

The other big news is that a day after we got home, Kooza celebrated his 13th birthday (photo above). Yep! All this good stuff happening in one week. Bliss.

CALIFORNIA

I’m back from my trip to California. L*O*V*E that state! The weather actually felt cold to a Texan like me. I know. You can giggle. I packed shorts and short sleeved shirts, but only wore my blue jeans, long sleeves and kept my jacket close by. By week’s end I was adjusting to the 70 degrees, but then it was time to leave. Luckily, we have another trip to California planned this month. I can’t wait to get back!

Here’s a picture of my new friends, D&M and Jake the Wonder Dog, strolling along Seal Beach after a great breakfast at The Rivers End café.

A FABULOUS BREAK

Kooza is headed to Circus camp again this summer. Have I mentioned that already? I’ve been making a few arrangements to stay in Montreal this July. All the planning has brought back memories of last year when I spent a week there just relaxing and enjoying a great, low-key vacation destination. (That's Kooza hanging in the photo.)

One afternoon as I was eating pizza at a local outdoor café, I couldn’t help but notice the ‘cigarette break’ a young girl was taking across the street through a second story window. As I saw her and peeked a little further into the room she was coming from, I couldn’t help thinking there was something artsy and wonderful that she was a part of. I couldn’t quite figure out what they were doing. I saw a photographer and lots of photo lights flashing but I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

A Mom doesn’t get too many breaks you know. So….with summer fast approaching, I’m dreaming of Montreal and enjoying the great cool summer weather there.

*duchess*

THE RED CARPET

This is nearly the most exciting news I’ve ever had to report. If it had come true, it WOULD be the most exciting news.

I came ‘this close’ to having tickets to the premiere of the new ‘Wolverine’ movie. When I say ‘premiere’ I mean the HOLLYWOOD premiere---the one where all the stars show up on the red carpet. YEP!! The dream didn’t come true this time but I’m assured that I will be included in the next round.

Why? Skip Woods, the screenplay writer of the ‘Wolverine’ pre-quel is a friend. We’ve known him while he has worked his way up the Hollywood mountain. So happy for Skip! This is his second movie with BIG name stars (last one was with John Travolta). We are certainly hoping for more!!

My ‘so close’ tears are gone for now. Today the tears are for happiness and Skip’s success. It was a great opening for the film. For Skip’s sake, and that of triple-threat (!) Hugh Jackman, I hope the film breaks records at the box office this weekend.

*duchess*

DREAMING OF SPAIN

I’ve committed to volunteering at the boys school today. We sell Otis Spunkmeyer cookies at lunch time for the Athletic Association. I’ll be at the school, smelling chocolate, and *DREAMING* of Spain….

These are photos of Antoni Gaudi's fabulous architecture in Barcelona. Truly amazing!

Have an awesome day!

*Duchess*

DISNEY IN JANUARY

Our Disney trip was great fun!

I’ve planned DisneyWorld trips many times thinking, “Okay, I’ve got it down now. I know the best way to do this.” Well…I’m not even close. No trip is ever the same. The good news is each trip is more relaxing than the last because we’ve experienced most everything. We don’t over schedule during the short time we’re there. We pick our favorites and add a few we’ve never done (usually the ‘slow’ rides/shows). Here are the highlights:

1. We rode the newest Disney Pixar 3-D ride--once. The ‘fast passes’ were gone by 12 noon. The sign said there was a 60 minute wait, so we jumped in (typically my boys won’t wait for anything over 40 minutes). Not surprising, Disney developed a great ride! The new Pixar area at Disney Hollywood is small but wonderful. The boys thought it was great, but Expedition Everest is still their overall favorite ride.

Entrance at newest Pixar ride:

The absolute favorite ride for the boys:

2. We stayed on the “Concierge” level at the Wilderness Lodge. It was fantastic! The staff was friendly and helpful. Definitely worth the extra money especially if you’re not spending all day at the parks. This is something new I learned this trip. You might even want to pay the extra money to be on the ‘lake’ side of the Lodge to catch the Magic Kingdom fireworks show from your balcony. Bonus: We got in early one night and borrowed “Finding Neverland” (one of my all time favorites) from the desk—complimentary for concierge guests.

Pool view from the Concierge level: 3. If you’re staying at the Lodge, be sure to take a taxi to the Character Breakfasts at the Monorail resorts. $5 will get you to the front door in 5 minutes. Another something new I learned this trip. Yes, my big guys visit Character breakfasts with me. At their age, they think it's a bit silly, but they know I love it.

4. The new Kim Possible adventure at Epcot was great entertainment for my 12 year old. Apparently, this is part of the Verizon partnership with Disney. There’s no doubt creative minds think of this stuff! Epcot still needs work, but this shows Disney is at least trying to upgrade the entertainment there for the little ones. Now if they could just replace some of those old, totally dated ‘in the round’ films.

How do I apply to be on a Disney focus group??

THE DAY

A typical morning in the household—I catch my dachshund napping in the morning sun sneaking through the window. He loves it. I can’t help but think this is what makes us so envious of ‘a dog’s life.’ While my dog is having an awesome day, my anxiety is out of scale thinking about Kooza’s new life in the gym. Today was his ‘official’ last day as a member of his men’s gymnastics team. He’ll still be in the gym—on a different team—but not headed the same direction. He’s SO happy. I’m a mess. I can’t explain why. Shouldn’t a new beginning be a good thing? We’ve had great, life lesson conversations about the whole change in direction. Maybe the angst is caused by fear of the unknown. In the end, I’ll work through it. As far as Kooza goes, I’m bliss-full (!) he has found happiness in the gym again. I’ll share more stories later about his quest to be a Cirque du Soleil acrobat.

DUCHESS HOUSEHOLD

Nothing compares to a holiday weekend when it comes to making me want to live by the beach, or to be more specific, to own a house on the beach. I would even be happy with a lake house. There are lots of great lakes in the Hill Country of Texas. Plus, there’s just something about the summer kick-off season that makes me want to travel to the coasts of California, or to Florida. This brings me to the point of my blog today: My oldest son was invited by a friend to a Florida beach town for his first official week of summer. I can’t think of a better way to create great memories with your buddies during your high school years than a road trip to a beach town. They’ll be driving most of the day-- “chillin” is what he called it when he texted me a few hours ago. I hate to spend time away from him, but the opportunity was too great for him to miss. The house is really quiet without an older brother around---and it has only been 6 hours since he left. Overall, the family left behind is looking forward to the quiet time to kick our feet up—especially his younger brother who says being home alone is like “eating a giant piece of Chili’s Paradise Pie with lots of whipped cream on top.” To which I share the following story: Memory of the Week: Older brother, Scout (I call him ‘Scout’ because he loves scouting athletic talent, no matter what sport it is), wakes up and immediately places last nights piece of Paradise Pie in the microwave to heat up for breakfast. While the pie is in the microwave, he slips upstairs to finish a few things. Meanwhile, Pops and Kooza (nickname for my youngest son because he swears he’ll run away with Cirque du Soleil soon), stroll into the kitchen on their way out to pick up tacos, at what the boys call the local ‘taco shack,’ and are suddenly hit with a whiff of what’s cooking. They proceed to: get out a bowl plus a couple of spoons and the ice cream, slip the pie out of the microwave after the ready beep goes off, add the ice cream and slither out the side door into the hybrid for their taco journey. Down comes Scout, and yep, you guessed it, ‘WHAT?’ ‘MOM!’ ‘WHAT?’ ‘Punks!’ ‘That’s not right….’ Fifteen minutes later Pops and Kooza make it back with the tacos promptly mentioning to Scout, “You are the Master at heating up Paradise Pie to the perfect temperature.” And the chase is on….