Road Trip to Big Bend National Park

I have a friend and colleague that I've known for a little over two years now that lives and works in Big Bend National Park. Her name is Shirley Coleman and she is the Superintendent of San Vicente ISD. We met at a conference in Austin in June of 2007. She has been bragging (not really since she's a wonderfully, humble woman) to me that her backyard and office window look over the Park. Well, I've been talking about going out to visit her since we met. Doug and I finally made the time to do so which spawned the trip to BBNP. We headed out of town on Friday - a little later than we had planned. The dogs went to daycare which was one less logistic we had to worry about. We stopped in Fredericksburg to have lunch which was very nice. What a fun town! Then we had to stop in Harper to get gas and a few groceries. Then we were back on the road...then we had to stop in Junction for a potty stop and to air up the tires. Back on the road...then CCR started to get really angry about something. We were near Iraan, Texas. I looked back at him to see what was going on and I got a nose full! I told Doug we would need to stop at the next gas station or rest stop to get CCR a new diaper...well, then CCR grabbed his right leg and flung it above his head...and it was leaking!!! So we had to make an immediate stop...on the side of I-10 to get him and his carseat all cleaned up. We went through a ton of wipes and a clean onesie! It was a mess...we were able to get it all cleaned up and we hit the road again...then we stopped to throw all of the mess in a trash can at the nearest rest stop...whew! Then we were back on the road...then we stopped in Ft. Stockton to get gas, drinks and for a potty break. Then we were back on the road...then we stopped in Marathon for dinner. We ate at the restaurant affiliated with Hotel Gage which was wonderful! We didn't have reservations and were dressed as if we had been on the road since Austin, and we had CCR with us so they put us in a private dining room across the entire restaurant from the main dining room. We didn't mind and it was actually kind of nice. Then we hit the road again...and finally got to the hotel/lodge in the Park. We got settled and took it easy that night...here's a few pictures from Friday's road trip:



Here's a great shot of CCR's smile. He sure loves road trips...what a blessing!


Here is a picture of us on the side of I-10 post blow out...


Here's Doug and CCR at the same location at the same time...


Here's CCR sitting on a chair outside one of the closed restaurants in Marathon, Texas.


I was trying to take some neat photos of the sunset and rain clouds. I thought this one was very cool. It seemed like every time I was trying to take some really neat landscape shot I would end up capturing a tree square-on or a bush that was blocking half of my shot or so I thought what was a wind sock. Needless to say, I was very frustrated at someone's wind sock so far out in the middle of nowhere yet right in the middle of my shot. Well, it turned out to be an American Flag. And the shot turned out super cool! See it below...I love how the sunset is in focus and the flag is blurry...



Here's CCR reading his Diggers book in the Lodge. Thanks Theresa, Gil and Okello Garcia for the book! It's a huge hit!!!


Here's a few shots of us hanging out in the hotel room...


We got up nice and late on Saturday which was really nice for us and got ready for the day. We went up to the main restaurant at the Lodge (Chisos Mountains Lodge) to have breakfast. It was very good! We got everything we needed for the afternoon and headed out to discover the Park. BBNP is 880 acres which is huge, but we were able to see quite a bit of it in an afternoon. We took a loop around about half of the Park and took some neat pictures. Then we went to Terlingua for lunch at the Chili Pepper Cafe. It was awesome! Then we went back to the lodge for a little R&R before we went to Shirley's for dinner. She told me she was going to prepare Mexican food for dinner, but we had no idea the lengths she would go to provide the most beautiful spread for us! She made homemade tortilla chips to go with the homemade guacamole, pico de gallo and queso. Then there were the homemade beef enchiladas, hm tamales, hm spanish rice and hm beans. THEN there was the homemade flan and Pecos cantaloupe that were both amazing! All in all, we were so surprised with the effort she put in to dinner and how delicious everything we had was...THANK YOU SHIRLEY!!! We got a chance to visit with Shirley which was really nice. We headed back to our room when CCR got cranky and turned in for the night.



This is a shot that we thought was totally hilarious! The rock mountain formation is called Mule Ears Peaks...so we thought it would be fun to put those ears on CCR...


Doug and CCR hanging out at the lookout for the Mule Ears Peaks.


Us hanging out at the same lookout...


At about lunchtime, we stopped in Castalon for a drink and had a snack before hitting the road (and some dirt road too). Here's CCR reading the map of the Park.


This is a shot of Santa Elena Canyon which is in Mexico. The greenery in the foreground is the US and between that and the cliffs is the Rio Grande River. The view was breathtaking!


Here's a look back at the SEC from the dirt road that we travelled for 13 miles...it was rough terrain, but it was so much fun!!


There are some really neat sand/rock formations through out the west side of the Park that create these striations of different colored sand and rock. I thought they were so cool. Here's an overall shot of one location.


Here's a close up of a different location.


Here are our two favorite pictures of CCR with our friend Shirley Coleman. CCR just loved getting kisses from her!



Here's a few overall shots of the Chisos Mountains which is the location of the Park where we stayed.


We hit the road fairly early on Sunday in order to get back in time to pick up the puppies within the normal time at the daycare. We only stopped in Ft. Stockton for gas, Ozona for lunch and the Wild Boar Farms stand outside of Fredericksburg for the some fresh fruits and veggies...and pecans! We picked up the puppies and headed home...

Duh, Duh, Duh...we got home and went inside to let the puppies out in the backyard. I walked in to the hottest house ever! The thermostat read 94 degrees inside. Apparently our A/C went out on Saturday and the house just roasted...Doug got the condensing unit outside to start up again, but it was a pretty miserable afternoon catching up! CCR took a cool bath and went to bed with just a diaper on...with all of the fans in the house on high! Right before I went to bed, I snuck in and put his pajamas on so he wouldn't freeze when the A/C hit the right temperature...he woke up chipper as ever...

We were able to capture a ton of great pictures of CCR in the car...he had a great time flinging his legs around and "munching" on his toes...



CCR has turned into a complete HAM when it comes to the camera...


Munchin' on his toes while watching his daddy pump gas in Terlingua.


I just love this shot! I can't believe I was able to get it with both of his legs up in the air...so funny!

I can't believe it's already August...

It sure feels like I've blinked a few times and now it's August. I know a bunch has happened since I posted last (which was a while ago), so I'll attempt to go through things since I've been offline:

For those who don't know, I attended law school part time while working full time. Three of the four years of school were while I was living in Houston. The last year of law school I lived in Austin and commuted back on the weekends to attend classes and live for two-three nights with my husband and puppies. It was traumatic, but I got through. Doug stayed in Houston for that last year to finish law school and work. Yes, we are one of those couples...we met in law school (in new student orientation of all places) and got married and honeymooned during law school. How cheesy, but it was God's plan, we know. I tell you all this to let you know that I've been out of pocket for so long because I was studying for the Texas Bar Exam. The review course is 6 weeks and then the Bar itself is 2 1/2 days. It was over as of a few Thursdays ago (the 30th) which was a huge sigh of relief for me. There were a lot of sacrifices that took place in our house during those two months of my preparation. I took CCR to Jen's in the mornings (which is not the usual way of things because I'm really not a morning person) and Doug picked him up in the evenings. Doug did all of the dinners, baths and bedtime rituals. It was a little lonely for me since I got to hang out with CCR for about an hour in the mornings and then "re-tucked" him in to bed before I headed that direction. I did take two weeks off from work which was helpful for studying and spending a little more time with CCR. Doug and I did have time for each other, but most times we were ships passing in the night. We were just going through the motions which was about all we could do due to circumstances. So needless to say, we are all glad it's over. I figure it's better to get those things out of the way while our kids are still little/unborn and won't remember that I was gone every night for 6 weeks and couldn't spend as much time with CCR as I wanted. I can only hope and pray now that my preparation were enough to get me through it and have it actually behind me. I don't have much confidence regarding whether I passed...I'm pretty much on the fence. I won't be surprised regardless of which way it goes. I will be disappointed, obviously, if I fail, but I surely won't be surprised. I will be relieved if I pass...which makes perfect sense. I really just don't want to have to do it again...but I'll do what makes best sense...

That said, CCR has come leaps and bounds in the past month. We are pulling up all on our own in all sorts of places, but no footsteps yet. He is a crawling king and get where he wants to go very quickly on all fours. CCR now has a few pairs of shoes that we're having him wear for limited times throughout the days at home so he can work on standing on his feet flat. He likes to stand on his toes and the balls of his feet so in order to better facilitate walking, we're trying to get him to put his heels down...the shoes are super cute and look hilarious coming off of his chunky legs...for as chunky as they are, these shoes just seem to look a few sizes too big...but he sure looks adorable in them...he's starting to get accustomed to them which helps, but at first all he wanted to do was treat them like toys...now they're shoes which is nice...he's not trying to pull them off and throw them along with his wiffle balls...

Speaking of...we think we have a lefty baseball player on our hands. Now I know that sounds like some lofty dream, but we legitimately believe CCR to be a lefty and it would be a gift from God if he is because Doug's late father, David, was a lefty...so it would be a very sweet connection only they would share. For that reason alone, we would love for him to be a lefty...we shall see what happens over the next few years. But to top things off, he loves to throw balls...sorry Jen! I know he likes to throw other toys too which makes for a necessary separation of approved and not approved throwing toys. But he's got a slew of wiffle balls and a fun plastic wire-framed ball that he loves to throw with his left hand and fling with his right hand...so maybe he will be a righty or ambidextrous...who knows...but it's sure fun to watch him throw a ball across the room, watch Doug chase it (sometimes CCR can get it past him) and then toss/roll it back to CCR to repeat. They are very sweet when they're playing "toss". It'll eventually graduate to playing catch, but there's no catching going on in this house right now...tee hee

Doug is good. Work is keeping him busy, and we had the honor of congratulating him on a big trial win a few weeks ago. Actually he obtained his not guilty verdict the day I finished the Bar exam. Doug was very excited, and needless to say we were all excited for him as well. The best text you can ever get from your husband (the defense attorney) when you get out of the Bar exam is one that says merely "not guilty". I was stoked for him! It was a big day in our house and we celebrated by eating leftovers for dinner and going to bed early...it was awesome!!!

The puppies are good too...all are beating the heat and continuing to be worthless...some things never change.

Well, I think that's all for now. I hope that helps to fill in the gaps of the past few months. We're off to Big Bend this next weekend, CCR's first birthday is on the 18th so Grammy B is coming to town to help us celebrate, and we have good friends (of mine from high school) coming to town the last weekend in August. It's going to be a busy few weeks, but there should be tons of photos to follow...those are all big photo ops for us...I'll be sure to share...It's been nice keeping up with everyone else's blogs...thanks for filling me up in between sets of multiple choice questions on real property, torts and criminal law...it really helped to get me through...

Speaking of blogs...please check out my mom's new blog. She's frustrated with politics so it's a snapshot into her head with her thoughts on many different issues that we are all suffering through right now...I think it's great as she's so pointed in her thoughts and a bit humorous at times...enjoy!

Until next time...

A few very special photos...

So here are a very few select photos that warrant their own post and explanation...

This is yet another photo of CCR on his horsie. What is so funny about this photo is that he is anticipating the flash of the camera so he's squinting ahead of time. This only happens after I've been taking pictures for a little while and he knows what to expect. But I thought this was a great photo since he's actually anticipating the flash...such a cute!



And here is the grand poobah! This is our little Zoolander...the seriousness on his face absolutely cracks us up! He is so funny...he loves to Army crawl around on the floor because he's so much faster that way...but when you call his name or his attention is diverted to something behind him, he rolls over (only partially) to see what it is...he rests his arm on his hip and flings one leg up off of the floor...it is hilarious! And I just LOVE that he's got a very Zoolander look on his face...he could definitely be a male model...tee hee


And here's the back view of his little pose...I always call him a "poser" when he does this...it is so cute!

A Photo Gallery Catch-Up...

Here are some of the most recent photos that we've taken of CCR:

I just love his facial expression! Thanks Noel and Jen for the horsie!!


More cute faces...

Don't you just love that face!?!

Checking out the puppies through the sliding glass door...just chillin' on Frisco's bed...

Such a cute photo...thanks Kelly for the idea! I just wish our sliding glass door wasn't 20 years old.

We are officially crawling...on all fours...and actually making forward progress...

We're also pulling up in the crib. Doug and I helped him a little bit so he's get familiar with the process, but now he's doing it all on his own...he is always so proud and excited when he gets to the standing position...

What a great smile!!

Here's a recent photo of bath time...he just loves his duck! Thanks Noel and Jen!!

Although we've been swimming a few times at the YMCA, this was CCR's first time in an outside (home) pool. Ray and Danielle had this great elephant floatie that CCR used which he just loved! Thanks to Ray, Danielle and also to Brou for showing CCR a good time in the pool!

Eating puffs...

So Doug and I are speculating that CCR might be a lefty. It would be great since Doug's dad, David, was a lefty. It would be a very special connection between grandfather and grandson since they will not get the chance to meet here on Earth. He's really becoming an expert at getting food into his mouth with his left hand, and if we try to get him to use his right hand, his left always comes to the rescue. It is very cute! Enjoy a few videos of eating puffs...

Army crawling...

I know this blog is a bit late (since we're just now actually crawling), but I just had to share. We were downloading a bunch of videos from the Flip so here goes...this was when he first figured out to get around. Then he progressed by using his right foot to push off so he could move faster. He still does that when he's in a hurry, but now we're actually crawling forward on all fours...very exciting!

Wonderful Photographs

As a follow up to my last blog of the sneak peak, here are a few more pictures from Erin. You can check out her other work here.

These are our favorites:

Sneak Peak

Doug and I had the opportunity to spend some time with a very talented photographer that is friends with some of the folks we know from Sunday School at Grace. We went over to the park area next to my office building in the Arboretum with CCR and Frisco to take some photos. The shoot was very smooth (except for the little mishaps like CCR bonking his poor little head on the wood fence and Frisco wanting to run alongside every runner that came by) and now we know we got some great shots. Erin did a great job working with CCR and Frisco both. I knew from her other work that she's talented, but it's always nerve-wracking to have photos taken of you and your family. I'm always nervous something won't turn out and it won't yield great photos. Well, Erin did a wonderful job. She has posted our sneak peek on her website. Check it out here. We can't wait to see the rest of the photos!! Thanks Erin for a great experience and absolutely wonderful photos!!! Capturing Frisco with a smile is getting more and more challenging. Thanks for capturing his personality on film!! We will cherish these forever...

NFL Draft Day

I know this is a few weeks late, but here are some great photos from NFL Draft Day 2009. Those two days worth of drafting/analysis/waiting with baited breath are sacred days in our house. Draft Day (which is actually two days) is the most important holiday to Doug (and now Colton). It is not my favorite day of the year, but I completely understand and respect Doug's need to dedicate all of his energy and time to the NFL Draft when it happens every April. I accept and love that it is so important to Doug. That said, about a week before the draft, Doug came home from work and told me he bought CCR a draft outfit. I thought it was funny and very sweet. He bought CCR a "Battle Red" Houston Texans onesie and Texans navy blue shorts. We got each of the pieces washed with their respective laundry loads and got them ready for the big day. Here are some very cute pictures of CCR hanging out with his dad on Draft Day:

Here's CCR watching the fourth pick of the first round.



Here's Doug and Colton jumping around together...


Here's a good look at CCR's outfit. Doug's left hand is covering the little Texan Toro logo. He looked so cute!!


Once again, glued to the TV making sure to not miss a pick. The boys looked so handsome in their Battle Red shirts. Go Texans!!!!

A few more cute videos...

Well, Doug and I are officially in LOVE with our new video camera. It's very compact and super easy to use. Please enjoy these new videos:

Gotta love bath time in the duck!




I love this video...this is CCR's new game...




We've started making a few new noises...I love this one in particular because apparently when I was a baby, I would make this same sound, but I did it in slow motion because I couldn't seem to do it up to speed...




Enjoy!!!