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Thursday, March 14, 2024

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It's been ten years since the last spring break we (two or more family members) didn't go on a trip (spend at least one night away from home). Not having travel plans for spring break felt a bit odd, especially since we've always gone somewhere for a decade straight. 

But I (alone) got to travel during the break. Sadly though, it was for work. I had to travel to San Augustine, which I've been to once before in a memorable trip back in 2012. And just like the last trip, I was starving. There's no eateries in San Augustine and apparently I didn't learn my lesson from the previous trip. 

Thursday, March 7, 2024

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In the district UIL competition, Elliot took first place in the category of "chess puzzle solving," representing the second grade for her school. The process began months prior when she had to compete against fellow second graders within her school for the opportunity to go to UIL. Only the top kids were selected.

I'm not sure how many kids were in her division but there are twenty elementary schools in the district. The top eight kids of each category were awarded a medal (4th - 8th) or trophy (1st - 3rd) so I'm assuming there were a lot of kids in her group.

Needless to say, I'm super proud of her.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

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For our third and final getaway of the month, we headed to Orlando for a short weekend trip. We flew out early Saturday morning and headed straight to Disney World once we landed. I've always wanted to experience a theme park as an adult without kids and this was my chance. I chose Epcot because it seemed less kiddie (i.e. Magic Kingdom) and we could just walk around to eat and drink.

We got to Epcot at 10:30 a.m. to start our journey around the world. Somewhere in between, we had to take an hour nap due to being sleep deprived from the early morning departure. We did manage to go on one ride, the Guardians of the Galaxy, which was new. And we stayed until closing and barely got enough time to visit all of the countries. 

Thursday, February 22, 2024

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For our second getaway of the month, we headed to Arizona (a state I have yet to visit). Our first stop was to the Grand Canyon. It's never been a "must do" for me but since we were (sort of) in the area, I wanted to check it out... and to check it off the list of National Parks to visit.

After landing in Phoenix (and getting brunch at First Watch), we started our 3.5 hour drive to the Grand Canyon. The goal was to take it easy, sight see, and to avoid the gnarly trails within the canyon. Maybe we'll do those in the future... rim to rim hike anyone? 

Pictures don't do this place justice. It was huge. It seemed like we were on another planet. I was surprised by how much it amazed me since I've already seen the second largest canyon in the country, Palo Duro Canyon. I was in awe.

Friday, February 16, 2024

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Family picture with grandma.

Monday, February 12, 2024

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The family celebrating Jacob's 18th birthday.

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

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Instead of a long trip to celebrate our 15 year anniversary, we plan on taking multiple short getaways  (without any kids) throughout the month. 

We can finally travel further and longer since our kids are older, one of which can now play the role of chauffer. And we had additional support with my mom playing school chauffer for the two little ones and Lynn's sister Julie took them in for a weekend sleepover.

So for our first getaway, we were off to Nashville. 

Why Nashville? Because it's the home of hot chicken. Because it's the bachelorette capital of the world. But mainly because of hot chicken.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

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Elliot got Student of the Month and Tyson the Citizenship Award.

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

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Our wedding party.

Today marks our 15 year anniversary. Let's look back at that day, 15 years ago when we got married (before this blog ever existed).

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

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We completed our third half marathon in as many years. At this rate, we're going for the legacy status, i.e. at least 10 completed races. Hopefully my body will be able to maintain some semblance of health.

Speaking of which, my right knee (once again) at about the 7-8 mile mark was hurting bad. It was my friend, iliotibial band syndrome

But it's not surprise. I trained even less than I did last year. First, I sustained a calf injury during Thanksgiving, which kept me out for two weeks. Then just recently I got COVID, which had me breathing hard with any activity so running was out of the question. Oh well, what can you do?

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

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Texas State University.

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

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Top Golf.

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

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Christmas Eve

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

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Look who got a letter from The North Pole.

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

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Traditional morning birthday donuts.