off to see Lynsey we go!

Time to blog about my recent trip to Austin, TX to visit Lynsey! She has lived there for about a year now so it was high time I made the trek to see what this place is all about. Lynsey and Nick seem to love it there so I was super excited to drag Haley along for the adventure. She was a super good sport about being just thrown in with the family mix, and even endured a little hard labor one day. What a gal! We started our trip with a hellacious travel day, up at 4AM not to arrive in TX until 4PM. Sucky layover. After that it was on to see where Lynsey and Nick work and live, and to go have drinks and appetizers at 'The Oasis' overlooking Lake Travis.


We were all very happy to see each other, so much kissing ensued.
Dad is not one to be outdone so he had to get in on the kissing action. Very inappropriate, but I did keep my promise to not post it on Facebook!
The next morning Haley and I caught some much needed pool time. We girls love our pool time.
Later that day I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of being able to watch my only Sister try on Bridal Gowns. What a thrill. Keeping with the tradition of not letting the Groom see the Bride in a gown before the big day I will only post this little pic of the 5 hour endeavor. Nick this is what you're Bride's torso may look like in a gown...
Happy females enjoying the Bridal parade!

We enjoyed a late late dinner, then it was off to the infamous Sixth Street. These old girls still know how to party!

After everything closed (at 2AM) the street vendors arrive to sell food. Best Brat ever!
The next day we had a lovely brunch at 'The Magnolia Cafe' and then did a quick sightseeing car tour of the city and the University of Texas campus. When Haley started to melt (tee hee) we retired to Lynsey and Nick's for some good old manual labor in the name of remodeling. No pictures allowed of sweaty people scraping nasty texture off ceilings and ripping down cabinets.

Austin City Skyline
A small corner of the HUGE Longhorn Stadium



After that it was off for a quick burger at 'P Terry's' and off to see the bats take off at dusk. Freaking cool. They only do this for a few months in the early fall but if you can imagine 1.5 Million bats taking flight all within about 15 minutes you can try to get the jist of it. I can only compare it to the black moving fog on LOST. (with a suspicious ammonia smell attached)

The next day we had to return home to get the kiddo's ready for the first day of school. Needless to say we were a little reticent to see our trip come to an end, hence the sad faces below...

But the happy face returned when I ran into an old friend...

That's all for now. Looking forward to many return trips to this lovely city!

Pirates Cove

Last weekend we were invited to an impromptu weekend at 'Pirates Cove' which is a privately owned resort-style home in Las Vegas. 22 rooms, 25 bathrooms, 2 water slides, 3 pools, rooftop teeter-totters, pool tables, pinball machines, slot machines, foosball, fullsize gym, indoor basketball court, theater room, Grotto style bar, etc. etc. etc. The scope of this amazing property is mind boggling. I still cannot comprehend that there are people in this humble world I live in that have this kind of $. God bless Greg for being friends with them. We knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so we threw the schedule in the trash, carpe-diem'd and just went for it. The 3.5 days that ensued were so action packed that we actually came home aching all over our bodies. We truly did need a vacation from our vacation. Wah Wah... I know.

Chillin by the pool, resting from all the chaos...
my baby boy and his pool blue eyes, they swam from sun up to sun down...
Luke chillin on a floatie behind the waterfall, Lewis is back there somewhere...he's camera shy.
Jake and Zac jumping off the cliffs, they eventually advanced to the 30 Ft birdsnest above them.
Luke and Lewis trying to get the cajones to jump off the birdsnest, the little boys had to show them how... Again, Lewis is camera shy.
Some of the Mom's sitting at the bottom of the slide for video op's.
Jake wanted his picture by a pirate for his fb page. That is the house we stayed in behind him. (1 of 6)
Exhausted hot tubbing in the evening, those tiny lights you can see waaaay in the distance, still the same property. It took us hours to explore the place. Every little hallway and closet was decorated just like Pirates of the Carribean at Disneyland. I finally caught Lewis for a picture!
My favorite room out of the 22. The Voodoo Room. Totally decked out in all things black magic. There was a little journal in the night stand full of stories of strange goings on while people stayed in this room.
One of the boys in the underwater jail. There is a fishtank hiding in there also. Details, details.
The kids favorite part, unlimited slushies and ice cream cones. Zac asked me about 10 times "are you sure they're free mom?"
This is the kids pool. Can you say over the top? We spent many hours chilling in those chairs, waiting for energy and inspiration to hit us and send us back up the stairs for more sliding.
The rope swing. Many injuries occurred here. Between the swing and the big slide I think everyone walked away either bleeding or limping!
This is just a small sample of the decor in our little humble house we stayed in. Around 3000 sq ft of memorabilia, including an Indian motorcycle and a Harley Davidson. Just for looking at!


Judd jumping out of the birds nest. There are 2 more above that if that gives you an idea of the scope of the place.
Many, many sincere thanks to Greg for inviting us on this adventure. Our kids will never forget it and it will be impossible to top. Here is a video sampling of the crazy good time we had. ENJOY!

J. Walk #13

I take alot of sports photos through the year. Just thought I would post a few from this summer. This is Jake doing what Jake does best. Catching, Pitching, and Batting. His team made it to the Tournament of Champions this year and won 2 out of 4 games there. Pretty good for a 1 year old team. Only good things to come. Now if we could just figure out how to keep the parents happy. The kids seem to be just fine...

Summer so far

I have been a very busy little lady so far this summer, but things are now starting to slow down so I thought I would update. Our summer has been filled with lazy Sunday afternoons at the Lake, baseball, baseball, and more baseball. For more on that check Jake's blog. We finally escaped for a quick little 3 day camping trip to Yuba Lake last week. Here's how it went...wind, torrential thunderstorm, river running through my tent, wind, wind, beached boat, wind, wind, bruise of a lifetime due to my 'Firedance' (don't ask), wind, wind, puking kid, wind, wind, trying to escape only to get rope stuck in the prop, wind, wind. I am not kidding here so don't let these happy little faces in these photo's fool you.








Hopefully our Lake Powell trip is more succesful.....

Theater Room is Done (well almost)

Why is it that remodeling projects always seem so fun when you're dreaming up the possibilities, picking out chairs, and carpet? Then it all goes to hell and you are suddenly knee deep in sawdust, electrical wire, holes in your sheet rock, and red dust EVERYWHERE! Nothing ever goes perfectly and this project was no exception. Thanks to a lot of blood, sweat, tears, heavy machinery, and good friends and family that aren't afraid of a little hard labor (Rory) we are finally enjoying our new room. This room is definitely man-tastic. It just oozes testosterone.
We still have a few small touches left like movie posters, component closet door, and one more section of countertop on the pony bar but I thought it was finished enough to post.

Here is what it has looked like for the last 10 years...

This is about midway through the construction...

This is our finished product...
wet bar
view from the back (the wall is the pony bar, it will have a black granite countertop and 4 chrome and black barstools)

view from the front, Wade and Jake are watching the Jazz Game

view from behind the front row of chairs

Although it's only a few weeks old, we have thoroughly christened our room with 4 parties so far. I'm sure there will be many to follow! If anyone wants to come watch a movie we charge a nominal fee of one Blue Ray DVD per visit. lol.