Dad's Day

While it might not have been the ideal afternoon to go to an amusement park, the three Six Flags season pass holders in our house thought it would be amusing to take their dad for roller coaster rides for Dad's Day. It's convenient that the park is only about 30 minutes away from our house. Best of all, Mr. Smith and I had free admission for the day, so it seemed like a good, inexpensive idea, despite the warmish temperatures and the thousands of others who obviously had the same notion of how to spend Father's Day afternoon.

We even bumped into some of our neighbors at the park. They looked just as hot and sweaty as we felt. Six Flags may not be the "happiest place on earth," but it just might qualify as the hottest place on earth. Crowded, too. It's a good thing that there was a breeze.

The Smithlings' main objective was to get their dad to ride the Shock Wave roller coaster, as it had been about 30 years since he had last ridden it. The wait was not terribly long, and Mr. Smith enjoyed the ride -- with hands in the air, of course -- down memory lane. I happily waited in the shade with a bottle of cold water.

Next, the kids hoped to get their father to ride the iPhone4 eating Texas Giant coaster, but the queue was 90+ minutes long. The 3 Smithlings had just been at Six Flags on Monday with a group of friends, so they didn't care about riding lots of rides. This was their dad's day, after all, so they let their father pick what he wanted to ride. Mr. Smith opted not to wait for this one.

I just had to share a photo of what the Texas Giant can do to a cell phone. During the kids' visit on Monday, our son's cell phone slipped out of the pocket of his pants and was devoured by the "Giant." Ouch. This phone was pretty much gutted. Thankfully, the SIM card was still inside, so it wasn't a total loss. (I'm always the optimist.)

Papa Smith will just have to wait until another not-so-crowded day to ride the TX Giant. And all cell phones will be safely stowed.

Q: Can you name the six flags that have flown over Texas soil?

A: Spain, France, Mexico, Texas Republic, Confederate, and United States

The Five Smiths?

Park Admission: $0

Water from the water fountain: $0

Waiting in line: Forever

Temperature: 102º F

Time with Dad on Father's Day: Priceless!

"There are some things money can't buy."

After waiting in seemingly endless lines for the better part of the afternoon, and only getting to ride a few rides, we decided to leave Six Flags in search of food. We treated Papa Smith to a yummy dinner at Pappasito's Cantina. Funny how Mr. Smith was the one who paid the bill. Happy Father's Day, huh?
"For everything else, there's MasterCard."

Here, Kitty Kitty!

Apparently there is a Scottish superstition that says, "A strange black cat on your porch brings prosperity."

If this superstition is true, then I'm rich! This adorable black kitty wasn't on my porch, it was inside my house, so I am sure I get extra bonus points for that.


Oh, but isn't there yet another superstition that mentions something about having a black cat cross your path that is supposed to bring bad luck? Now I'm really confused.

The confusion has been cleared, and I can attest that the whole notion of bad luck and black cats being linked is merely a myth. This beautiful black cat crossed my path, and I am blessed indeed!  As for that Scottish belief about black cats, we'll wait and see how that prosperity part works out.  

> ^. .^ < 

I love it when our youngest Smithling does something unexpected, silly, and creative -- which is pretty much all of the time. On this purr-ticular afternoon, Millie wanted to try to copy the makeup from her favorite "CATS" character; however, she soon learned that my makeup drawer offered a rather limited supply of theatrical makeup. None, actually. She improvised with eye liner and eye shadow to create her fantastic feline face.

The Glamour Puss

"A thing of beauty, strength, and grace lies behind that whiskered face."

"Cats are so unpredictable. You just never know how they'll ignore you next."

So now you know what goes on at our house when the temps hit the century mark, and it's too hot to play outdoors. I think I'd better go buy some more makeup. 

Sleepy Saturday

On Saturday evening, we saw a bluebird wearing pointe shoes, two dancing cats, a lovely princess, oversized vermin, a wicked fairy, and beautiful, kind, talented, fairies. Were we asleep? Was it a bad dream? No, we were in the audience at North Central Ballet's production of The Sleeping Beauty. Napping was not allowed, despite the name of the ballet. It was a treat to see all the weeks of hard work come together in one terrific show.

So, can you guess what aforementioned category my beautiful, kind, and talented ballerina was in? 

I could go on and on about all of the beauteous ballerinas (one in particular!), but I will not bore you with tutu many details. Instead, I will simply share several photos from the ballet and add commentary where needed.

King Florenstan XXIV, the Queen, and "babydoll" Aurora

The fairies give gifts of of beauty, grace, prosperity, and song to Princess Aurora.

Our ballerina girl portrayed the Fairy of the Crystal Fountain who bestows the gift of beauty. Of course, we (her proud and certainly unbiased parents) think she kept a bit of that beauty for herself. :-)

The wicked Carabosse 

Princess Aurora a.k.a. Olivia

Olivia isn't dead; she's merely napping... for 100 years!

Although I didn't include any photos of the next scenes, I'll fill you in on what takes place: The prince finds the snoozin' princess, plants a big smooch on her lips, Aurora awakens, then the Prince and Princess immediately decide to get hitched. Pretty realistic, huh?

Now comes the wedding scene and the dancing cat part of the show... That's totally believable, too. I like cats, so this is good stuff.

 The White Cat and Puss in Boots, minus the boots

Liesey as the Gold Fairy

And they lived happily ever after!

Right in Our Backyard

We were in the car (again!) on Memorial Day as we took a short 1 hour drive north of Fort Worth to visit the Lyndon B. Johnson National Grassland. This place was hard to find, that's for sure. And we couldn't help but chuckle when we finally saw the welcome sign, which was not much larger than a standard sheet of printer paper.

We felt so welcomed.

We found some grass on the land, so it truly is a grassland. 

Perhaps we should stop mowing our lawn and get it registered as a grassland. I can get a sign printed up in no time at all. Oh, and we don't need to call it a "national" grassland, just a "regional" or "neighborhood" designation will do. ;-) Just think how much water we will conserve from not having to water the lawn, not to mention all of the time we will save by not having to mow the grass every week. I am sure that our HOA would love this idea. Not!

We pretty much had the place to ourselves.

We found a shady location to enjoy our lunch. We didn't have to fight anyone else for a picnic table, except for a few ants and lots of flies.

We found a nice hiking trail to walk off our lunch, but decided that a 1.5 mile trek was far enough to go since it was 93º outside.

On the drive back to Keller, we stopped for a few minutes in the little burg of Decatur. It is a small and quaint city, and will require a future trip for further investigation.

The Wise County Courthouse is an architectural beauty, despite the fact that the clocks cannot agree upon the correct time of day. Neither timepiece is displaying the correct time. I'm not sure about the other two.  Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody care (about time)?

"El Castile" is an amazing limestone mansion that was built in 1883.

We plan to go back to Decatur sometime soon for breakfast at the Whistle Stop Cafe. We've heard that this small roadside diner has some of the best home cookin' around. The biscuits and gravy get rave reviews, and it's right next to the Petrified Wood Gas Station, right here in our "backyard." Who could ask for anything more?
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/13034

Memorial Tour

The holiday weekend found our family in the car once again; this time we were Oklahoma-bound. Our "little" boy didn't join in on our journey since he was headed to Joplin, MO, with our church to assist with disaster relief efforts. We missed having our son with us, but are thankful that he can go lend a helping hand. (I might have to share some of his Joplin photos and stories at a later date, if he allows me to do so.)

On this trip, Mr. Smith was surrounded by girls -- four of 'em! Mr. Smith's cousin, Linda, flew to DFW from SFO to join in on our Enid excursion. The destination? Three cemeteries in the greater Enid, OK, area were on our "must see" list. Would it be in poor taste to say it was a grave experience? Hmmmm. Actually, it was a rather cheerful outing. No somber moods were allowed. :-)

To honor my mother-in-law, we happily carried on her tradition of decorating each and every family member's grave site. Our car was loaded with flowers and American flags (Thank you, Hobby Lobby!) and a tasty picnic lunch (Thank you, Mr. Smith!).

It doesn't seem like it's been a year since we said our goodbyes to Grandma Florence. She is missed.

One of the highlights of the Memorial Tour was getting to visit Zion Lutheran Church in Lahoma, OK. The church was built over 100 years ago. The Krueger side of the family has worshiped here for as long as the church has been in existence. Mr. Smith & Cousin Linda found many interesting photos of relatives, and learned more about their Okie ancestors. 

Although this is a picture of a picture, it shows what the church looked like in 1908.

Things look pretty much the same today; only in color.

This family photo of Mr. Smith's great grandparents and their offspring was hanging on the wall inside the church. Millie observed that these people just don't look happy. I guess toothy grins were not fashionable during this era. Or perhaps the photographer made everyone grumpy.  Just for fun, I'd like to try out my Photoshop skills and add in some smiles, but that's a project for another day.

No visit to the Smith/Krueger/Wehrmann "motherland" is complete without also visiting the Krueger family farm in Lahoma. Our city slicker girly-girls actually like getting out and exploring with their cousins. Both of our girls had dirty feet and contented smiles after tromping through the fields.

OK wheatfield -- almost ready for harvest

I had fun "shooting" the cousins -- Millie, Suzanna, Liesey, and Rebecca.

Outstanding in their field? Or out standing in their field?

This field is growing beautiful young ladies in addition to wheat. Looks like the harvest is plentiful.

Cousin Linda posed with her cousin Eugene.

It is always a pleasure to visit with friends and family in Oklahoma, but there just doesn't seem to be enough time to get everything fit into one weekend. It's a good thing we live relatively close. And it's a good thing we like taking road trips. We'll be back. Gotta keep those wheels rolling.

On The Road Again

Ever since we moved to TX, we have spent a lot time traveling here, there, and just about everywhere. Although there have been several flights thrown in for good measure, the majority of our travels have been made by loading up the family 'mobile & hitting the road. Perhaps we should try staying home sometime to see if we actually like living in Texas!

During the month of May, M., Millie, and I made a trip to Hoosierland. We were gone for about nine days, and experienced almost every kind of weather: chilly, hot, humid, stormy, sunny, windy, not-so-windy... Thankfully, no tornadoes.  We also witnessed some incredible sunsets.

This is a pretty typical evening view from my parents' house.  Add a few lightning bugs to the mix and it is an amazing show. And it's free! Thank you, God, for the glorious display of your handiwork.

Goodbye, Indiana.

This parting shot of the Thompson Ranch represents the calm before the storm. The morning we left Indiana, the winds were still and the sky was mostly sunny; however, we knew that our travel route was going to take us directly into the path of strong thunderstorms. Ahh, springtime weather in the midwest is somewhat unpredictable. Yet it has a beauty all its own.

No matter how many times I drive past this almost 200 foot tall cross in Effingham, Illinois,  I am still amazed at just how large it is. Effingham has long been referred to as the "Crossroads of Opportunity." Interstate Highways 70 and 57 intersect here, and there are other highways and byways that also intersect in Effingham, giving the city its nickname. This cross alongside the road represents yet another opportunity. ;-)

We were treated to beautiful cloud formations for most of the drive through Illinois. Thankfully, most of the storms were tracking just to the north of I-70, so we didn't get into too much wet stuff. This photo was taken at about ten o'clock in the morning, but it looks more like it's early in the evening.

 

Somewhere west of Springfield, MO, we passed a long line of dump trunks obviously headed to Joplin to help with tornado cleanup. This photo is taken looking back to the east, so you cannot see the very ominous dark clouds that were hanging over Joplin. Mercifully, the storm that appeared to be very threatening moved off to the north, so the city was spared from another blow. And we were spared from having to drive into really nasty weather. There were tornado watches and warnings all around, but nothing materialized. Whew!

From I-44 we could see just a tiny bit of damage from the storm in Joplin. Although we couldn't see much, it was still sobering. This flag at half-mast speaks volumes.


The trip through OK was okay, so I didn't take a single photo. We had to make a Mc Wee Wee stop somewhere near OK City, and we got soaked by a cloudburst. Definitely not photo-worthy stuff.

Yep, we most definitely were driving friendly. Is there any other way?

You gotta love the cowbell on this livestock truck's bumper -- only in Texas.

As we were nearing Keller, we were treated to a lovely sunset. The perfect ending to another long road trip. Gee, but it's great to be back home. We'll be back on the road soon, so we won't get too comfy.

You Scream, I Scream

According to #3 Smithling, part of the fun of visiting Grandpa in Indiana is getting to "skip" school for a few days, go to new places, do "stuff" that we don't do during a regular ho-hum week, stay up later than normal, and have LOTS of treats that Mom and Dad don't normally allow at home. (There are many other things that could be added to that list, but I will keep the list short and sweet; emphasis on the sweet part.)

It's a well known fact that grandparents are supposed to get away with pretty much whatever they want, as they have earned the right to do so. Grandchildren should obey and honor their grandparents. Right? This "obedience" typically results in spoilage! Oh, but it's all good.

As we were driving back to "The Thompson Ranch" yesterday afternoon, the offer was made to go get ice cream, and it was not going to be refused. :-)

A soft serve cone is always tasty, but it is even tastier right before dinnertime.

In the following photos, Millie demonstrates her "new & improved" version of the double dip ice cream cone.

No matter how you look at it...

..two cones are DEFINITELY better than one.


Spoilage indeed.

A Sign From God?

Mother's Day 2011 proved to be a bittersweet day for Mr. Smith and me, as we were missing our respective moms.

Oh, but God provided just the right sign to show that he loves us and cares about our loss. He provided hope, joy, and even laughter amidst the tears.

Where else but in Keller, TX, would we find an intersection that bears the names of both of our mothers?!

 

“...this will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD..." -Exodus 31:13  

Okay, so I might be guilty of using this passage a little out of its intended context, but it seemed so fitting!

Any way you look at this, it's a good sign... and this is exactly what we needed to see yesterday.

The Best and the Worst...

According to a recent article in The New York Times, our family now resides in one of the "most unsafe" areas for natural disasters. Sperling's Best Places ranked the DFW area as having the highest risk of disasters in the United States. (I am visualizing throngs of people chanting, "We're number one! We're number one!")

Just this past weekend, we saw a few inches of rainfall, impressive lightning strikes, hail, and wind. And that was just within a few minutes. Okay... hours.

 

North Texas is vulnerable to frequent tornadoes, hail, gusty winds, flood, grass fires and even hurricane remnants, sooooo why did Sperling's Best Places also recently rank this area (in another survey) as the 4th best place to relocate to?  Oh, it must be that relatively low earthquake risk that helps make up for the other bad stuff.

I am confused.

The 10 Best Cities to Relocate to

1. Pittsburgh, PA
2. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
3. Omaha, NE/Council Bluffs, IA
4. Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
5. Austin-Round Rock, TX
6. Des Monies-West Des Moines, IA
7. Madison, WI
8. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN
9. Denver-Aurora, CO
10. Indianapolis-Carmel, IN

http://www.cnbc.com/id/39850148/Best_Cities_to_Relocate_to_in_America?slide=8


What I am seeing from merging these two surveys together is that North Texas is a perfect place to relocate to if you are a storm chaser. Or an insurance adjuster. Or a weatherman.
Hmmm...