See You in Omaha – Part IV

Tuesday we were still recovering from all of the excitement the night before. The Aggies played at 2pm, so we at breakfast, got ready and made our way to the stadium around lunch time. We got player tickets for the games, and got there early to stand in line so that we would get decent tickets. We also had some shopping to do that morning too. While waiting in line, an A&M celebrity walked thru the Will-Call line. R. Bowen Loftin, the President of Texas A&M, was attending the game, and went to pick up his tickets. We ran after him to grab a picture with him. I mean, you never know… a past president of A&M just retired as the US Secretary of Defense. We asked him why he didn't have his bowtie on and he said he had to change it up because he wore it for game one and we lost.

The game was another heart-breaker. The Aggies could never get their offense clicking. Although, Brandon went 2 for 4, and made a great catch in left field. But a few errors proved to be costly. As the game came to an end, the rain started falling. What a way to end our run in Omaha.

A little known fact to us newbie’s at the CWS… when your team loses and is out of the tournament, their gear goes on half-price at all the shopping tents. So, to drown our sorrows, we went on a small shopping spree. I can’t say we bought a ton because most of it was pretty much gone before the games. But we grasped the opportunity to buy up some Aggie gear at great prices. As we shopped, we ran into the South Carolina Cock... His name is Cocky.

We concluded the evening with a great chicken fried steak dinner and called it a night.

It was a bummer that the Ags went 2 and out, but it was our plan all along to head back home Wednesday morning. We just weren’t sure if all of us would be coming back. Our hope was that Mark and Peggy would stay in Omaha for more games. But it was not meant to be. Congratulations to the GameCocks. We hope to be back in Omaha next year. As Aggie pitcher Ross Stripling put it… #REDEMPTION!!!

A special thanks goes out to my sister and brother-in-law and my parents for watching my kids. They had a great time and even learned a few new vocabulary words along the way. :-)

See You in Omaha – Part III (AKA The Storm)

So as we wrapped up the day on Monday, we all gathered at the stadium and were about to go for a nice dinner. I say “about” because then the tornado siren started sounding. For a group of Texans, we all looked at each other and said “what do we do???” Well, we came up with a quick plan. Grandma, Popo, Brenda, Mark and Brandon stayed at the stadium while Kenny, Shari, Peggy and I went to get the cars. The sky got really dark as the storm clouds rolled in. Kenny asked a policeman directing traffic if a tornado had touched down. He said for now it was just a strong wind event, but they sounded the alarms to get people moving. Some people panicked, some were laid back (the locals) and then there was us.


We didn’t really know what to do or what to expect. As we got to the cars, the wind started really picking up. We got in to the car and a mom and two teenagers were banging on our windows to let them in. We had to get our family Kenny said, but after he looked up and saw about 5 port-o-potties sliding across the parking lot due to the high winds, we let them in. We dropped them off at a parking garage and told them to get inside.


We were off to get the rest of the family. The intersection to get to the stadium was barricaded and Kenny told the cop directing traffic that we had to go pick people up, he asked if we could jump the curb… UH, YEAH, that’s a no-brainer to a Houston driver! So we jumped the curb to get around the barricade only to have the phone ring with Brenda telling us to go back to somewhere safe because they were not going to let them out from under the stadium. Truthfully, they were way safer than we were. SO, we turned around yet again and made our way back to the parking lot where we were. We ran to the parking garage through CRAZY winds where we had dropped off the family just minutes before. We were finally in a somewhat dry place.


Kenny started talking to the family in Houston and determining what kind of storm we were dealing with. He also texted our location… what corner we were on and the color of the parking garage… just in case. UM, just in case WHAT! They had to come find our bodies?!?!?!?!? THAT freaked me out, and all I kept thinking about were my babies back in EC. Then Kenny decided that we weren’t in a safe enough place. So we decided to make a run for it to the Qwest Center. That is where all the people in the stadium were told to evacuate. So we make another run for it! Remember, the tornado siren is still blaring during this whole ordeal… and it was LOUD!

We make it to the Qwest Center and I finally felt safe. By this time we were pretty wet from all the running thru the rain. So we sat and waited and texted and talked to family, etc for the next hour or so. FINALLY we were given the all clear and told that we could leave. BUT, it was still pouring outside! We chose to hang out a bit more while the rain subsided. We got the cars and went to pick up the others.

After that ordeal, we were pretty hungry and in dire need of some adult beverages. So we found a sports bar and re-lived the disaster or lack there-of, THANK GOD!

See You in Omaha – Part II

Day 2 was an off day for the Aggies. So we decided to do a little sight-seeing in the morning. Those that have ever been on a vacation with Kenny know that he doesn’t sit still. He’s constantly on the go. While we weren’t quite sure of where we were going, we saw some cool stuff. Kenny draws a lot of inspiration for his job by viewing the different parks, roadways, and landscapes across the country. So when we saw this park through downtown Omaha, we had to explore. This depicts the settlers heading west on the Oregon Trail through Nebraska.








The people spooked the herd of buffalo which in turn spook the geese. The scene covers about three city blocks and is incorporated into the architecture. It was so well-designed and executed and so absolutely inspiring to see life depicted in such a way. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. After a little more exploring, we happened to find the longest pedestrian bridge in the country. It spans the Missouri River and joins Nebraska and Iowa.



One part of the park where the bridge is at was closed due to flooding, but the bridge remained open. Of course we had to walk across. Now I can say that I’ve been in Iowa too!
All I can say is WOW about the river. It was moving soooo fast. This part of the park was closed. Notice how high the water is on the sculptures. Isn't that crazy???


We talked to a couple on the bridge and she said that her mother lived downstream and they had to evacuate her from her house. There was so much devastation due to the flooding around us that we always had that in the back of our minds while we were having such a good time.
We concluded our morning of exploring and went to join up with the baseball team for a lunch honoring the team and the families. We ate some yummy Omaha steaks and enjoyed spending time with the other families.

Brandon had the rest of the afternoon off, so he joined us for some shopping and other “excitement” the rest of the evening. We went to Rosenblatt to check it out and then explored downtown some more.



We took some pics in front of the historic statue that came from Roseblatt. This is the only thing that came over from the other stadium.




You’ll see why I put excitement in quotes in the next post.

See You in Omaha – Part I

On our trip back from Baton Rouge, we listened to the Aggies win the Super Regional baseball game by beating Florida State in Tallahassee. What an exciting drive as the Aggies won 11-2 and secured their spot in Omaha for the College World Series. The exciting phone calls and texts were all we needed to keep us awake on the drive home. We knew the Aggies had a great team this year, and with Kenny’s nephew Brandon on the team, we vowed that if they made it to Omaha, WE WERE GOING! I mean, how often do you have a family member playing in the College World Series??? So the planning began…


There were 8 of us driving up there in two cars. We planned to drive thru the night on Saturday due to prior obligations. We left our house about 8pm and were off on our adventure. We each had a 4-6 hour shift. Someone stayed up with the driver and the rest slept. For the most part, it really wasn’t that bad. We rolled into Omaha around noon ate some lunch and checked into our hotel. We freshened up a bit and then it was time to head to td Ameritrade Park.




All I can say about the park is WOW. It was really cool. There is a concourse all the way around and not a bad seat in the house. All the seats felt so close to the field.

Brandon hit a 3-run triple in the first inning to secure 3 of the 4 Aggie runs, but the Aggies lost in a heartbreaker to South Carolina 5-4.


Apparently we were on TV a few times too. I think the cameras zeroed in on the big grouping of maroon, and the Texas and A&M flags that were next to us, and we just happened to be in the shot. By the end of the game, we were all pretty tired. So after a quick bite to eat, we crashed at the hotel.

Memorial Weekend

I know this post is very, very late, but I had such cute pictures, that I just had to post them. We spent Memorial Day weekend at our family’s Deer Camp. We haven’t been in such a long time that the kids weren’t quite sure what “deer camp” even was. Well, let’s just say that they can’t wait to go back. Many of my aunts, uncles and cousins were there, and much of our time was sitting around eating and catching up. We had a couple of kiddie pools that we kept cool in.

The kids fished in the pond which desperately needs water. Here are the kids getting ready to go.



How many coolers does it take to survive a weekend??? This is with two regular refrigerators and a drink fridge. ~ha!

Jackson and Reed spent lots of time “hiking” to their hideout. Getting out in the woods really showed what a city boy Jackson is. But by the end of the weekend he was catching lizards with the best of them!







Good times, good food and good family! Who could ask for anything more?

Bayou Bengal Country

Today Kenny and I are in Baton Rouge, LA near the campus of LSU. While I have never been here before, Kenny has been here a couple of times on recruiting trips. We are here so that he can take his licensing exam for the state of Louisiana. So I came along to be his co-pilot.

A couple of observations about Baton Rouge and LSU...
1. The campus has huge, beautiful oak trees scattered about. I just love this. The football stadium is huge. Probably about the size of Kyle. And their baseball and softball stadiums are new and really nice. Didn't see alot of students milling about on campus which was kind of odd since summer school is in session.
2. LSU's mascot, Mike the Tiger, has his own habitat that includes an air conditioned room.
3. It's HOT and humid here. Just like at home... hence, the reason for Mike's air conditioned room.
4. The food here is fantastic!!! But that's a given, right?
5. We got some funny looks on Sunday as Kenny had his Aggie shirt on for the baseball game. We're burning that shirt by the way... it's bad luck.
6. We drove around downtown late Sunday night and it was a ghost town. We saw some cars coming out of the casino and a police officer. That was it! So we took it on ourselves to have our own self-guided tour of the state capitol grounds.
7. One noticeable thing about downtown... it was spotless. I couldn't get over how clean it was.
8. Our stay so far has been great. Hoping a passing grade on the test is icing on the cake. :-)

And That's a Wrap!

Jackson successfully wrapped up his first year in Pre-K. My how he has grown over the last 9 months. We had some rough days the first half of the year. But thanks to the patience and consistency of Mrs. Dodson and Mrs. Tankersley, we all got through it. The second half of the year still had some bumps in the road, but they were few and far between. Jackson has learned so much and really enjoyed all the cool things they got to do. He's grown so much spiritually too. Every time we sit on the left hand side of Church, Jackson asks me if I know who the statue is... of course it's St. Laurence, and he has to make sure he tells us. He also knows prayers that I don't even know. Of course I figure that they must be new, and created after I got out of Catholic school. I went to the last Mass on Thursday and saw Jackson in action. For some reason, he bahaves so much better in Church for his teachers than he does for us. I've even threatened him that I'm going to ask her to start going with us on Sunday mornings.

So no pics of the big last day, but let's just say Jackson is happy to hang up the school uniform for a couple of months and take a break. :-)