Our Weekend

My MIL came to pick up the kids this last week, so Ben and I were childless for two full days. It was kind of nice. At first I did not know what to do with myself. They’re usually there to entertain me during the day and keep me going. When they were not here, I was a little lost for a short period of time but managed to deal with it and move on. Plus the other added advantage was that Ben and I actually got to spend time alone, together, without the kids asking a million questions or wanting something. We went to the movies and saw Get Smart, so funny. And we enjoyed a night at Shakespeare in the park. That was so much fun. We have not done that since before we had kids. We never did make it down to Cedar City to see the Shakespeare festival, while we were in Utah. Then on Saturday we did go and look at houses; the first time since we have been here to have a chance to do that. Nothing really knocked our socks off, so we’ll see what happens. Then after looking at houses and lunch, we made our way out to the kids. They were great, and had so much fun playing at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Isabelle did not want to leave. I’m sure if I let her, she would have stayed.


While we were at Grandma’s house, we all did so much fun stuff. Isabelle played outside in the water and did really well at entertaining herself. Then on Sunday, after it stopped raining, we went fishing. I must say this is the first time that I actually had good fun fishing. Usually I do not like to fish because it is a slow process and I just do not have the patients for it. But this time it was actually fun. Isabelle actually caught the first fish, and did really well for the rest of the day. I mostly fed the fish, either with worms or minnows. I could not get a fish on the hook to save my life. But finally I caught my first one. Then the second fish got away, and the third fish was discovered to be the smart ones that were stealing all my bait. Who would have thought? This time we actually brought fish home to eat. Although for some reason we did not have fish Sunday night. I think Grandpa wanted to share with Grandma, but she was not feeling well. Then after lunch we went to play golf. The kids and I only made it through about nine holes, Bear was really tired. But they had so much fun. Of course since it rained, Bear and Isabelle found all the puddles to play in and were messy wet in a few minutes. Bear kept calling the club a bat which was really cute, and Isabelle kept trying to hit the ball left handed. Thanks dad for that one, he’s trying to teach her how to be a switch hitter. They had so much fun.

America's Dependency Part 3:

I wanted this part to come out sooner but hey I moved and that will be my excuse so without further delay:

Each time I go to fill my car up with gas I just cannot believe that I am so dependant on car companies and oil companies to provide me with the transportation I need to get around town. Yes I could use public transportation, but with two kids that can be a problem. Instead why can’t there be alternatives that consumers can use? GM created an electric car in the early 90’s that was great, and what happened, they bowed to the pressure from oil companies and the government to dissolve their electric car program and destroyed almost every model. Sure there are hybrids out there, but are they really the answer to the problem? Not for the long run, there needs to be other alternatives for everyone to get exactly what they want and need. Who knows if that will be a hybrid, electric car or some other unforeseen vehicle of the future. Unless consumers start to make some noise about oil prices and affect change the oil companies will continue to make money hand over fist to the detriment of America and other countries.

One of the more clever protests that I have seen recently has been the Nude Bike Ride to protest oil dependency. I think the protest originally started as a protest to environmental concerns, and has progressed to include other items as well. For example in Brazil they were protesting air pollution. Ironically many of these protests do stem from environmental issues, caused by cars and the oil and gas that helps them go. Now I might be as free as some of these people who are willing to ride nude through the middle of town, so what other choices do we have to show our displeasure of how high oil prices have gone. There is always the option of having one day per week that nobody would by gas. We could try to run all of our errands at the same time so that we do not have to go over multiple days. Then we could always write to our local congress person to let them know how we feel. After all I think I read somewhere that they consider one letter to count for 10,000 voices. How powerful could your voice become?

San Antonio

The kids had so much fun in San Antonio. They got to swim and play in the water to their little hearts content. Barrett even held on to a noodle and kicked himself all over the pool. That was pretty cool, since he has not done that before. Plus I think that Oma and Grandpa had fun spending time with the kids as well. I think it’s good for them to have little people around. We even had a great time at Schlitterbahn! Ben had a great idea to go visit the water park and it was a winner for everyone. I do not have any pictures there, mostly because I did not want to leave my camera at the table without me. The park we went to in New Braunfels is great because they use water from the Comal River to keep the rides going. Which is great, because then you do not have to be in the chlorine all day. They do have chlorine in parts of the park, mostly where the kid’s play, since you never know with kids, but it is not so bad. Isabelle and Bear really liked the kid area, and had so much fun playing on the different kiddy attractions. We did take them down a short tube ride and they loved it. It was perfect the park had tubes that the kids could sit in and not fall through the bottom. What a great plan. Overall our weekend was great fun and we hope to visit San Antonio again. Maybe next time we’ll visit Sea World.

Why do you have to travel??

I’m pretty sure that who ever scheduled Ben’s trip to Ohio this past week does not have small children who have not seen their father for weeks. Things are a little crazy with two kids and one very bossy, older sister pushing her brother around. Oh well, life goes on; at least they play well together usually.

Scottish Games

One of the other fun things that we have done since we returned to Texas was to go to the Scottish Games Festival. Isabelle had fun listening to the music and visiting all the Clan tents to get a special stamp from each one. I think Bear really enjoyed the ice cream. Ben wanted to watch more of the games but there were not too many going on while we were there. We did get to watch the Hay Bale Toss. It is always so amazing to me that these men and complete such amazing tasks. One of my favorite is the pole toss. They are so big and heavy, I am always impressed when they can toss them and turn them at the same time to see who can get the furthest distance. So cool! I still like the Ren fest the best but I have to wait until October to do that. Man it was HOT!!

Where's the Pool?

Swimming, swimming, swimming. I think that is all Isabelle really wants to do. Everyday she asks to go swimming, which is great, since she has recently gotten over her fear of the water and is a wild swimming woman. She is all over the pool when we go and even started to jump into the pool over the weekend. She is getting so brown. Bear still likes to play on the steps or go out with Mom and Dad or float in a “raft.” He was very brave the first day and told us all to watch as he jumped into the pool. Needless to say someone was right there to catch him as he went in. Then later he fell in and is not so sure about jumping in any more. Probably because his previous floaty flips him onto his tummy instead of his back. But they are too cute in the pool. Watching the kids swim has actually made Ben start to think about finding a house with a pool. This weekend we are going down to visit my parents who happen to have a pool and go to a water park. Ben is really excited.

Americas Dependency Part 2

Each time the price of oil per barrel increases the price at the pump goes up accordingly. Early last week, the price fell to about $126 per barrel but did you see the price at the pump go down, NO! Even if the price per barrel were to drop dramatically it will take even longer for the price of gas at the pump to fall as well. Not only does it not help that the dollar is at its weakest point almost since its inception, what a great policy, in order to see change in the worth of the dollar the current administration needs to make some new decisions. Do you think things will change with a new regime? Alas I digress.

Recently there has been talk of a bill going through Congress to suspend the federal gas tax during the summer months. Now this bill is still in discussion the last time I checked, but here is the real kicker. The suspension was supposed to begin Memorial Day weekend and go through till Labor Day. They are a little behind and should really get things in gear and make a decision. With that said I think Congress should not suspend the federal gas tax during the summer months. In the end with no idea who will pay the tax it will just hurt our nation. If the money is to come out of the construction budget then what will happen to the roads that are in need of repair. I shop at a grocery store that will give you a discount on gas based on the amount of money that you spend, while it is nice to have that discount, they do adjust the price at the pump to be more than at other filling stations; who would control the oil companies from doing the same thing? After all it has been preposed that the Oil Companies pitch in from their deep pockets and pay the tax during the time off. I do not see how a three month break will really affect the bottom line of many American’s budgets, with no gas tax. It might do enough to set the country back as a whole but I do not feel it will get more people out there driving and traveling.

While I was checking out other items that Congress is working on all consumers should be happy to know that there is a bill currently on the floor to RAISE the gas tax up to 40 cents per gallon, over the next five years. So why not let the people have a quick three month reprieve of not paying the taxes knowing full well that a bill could later be passed to raise said tax even higher. Add that to the increased cost of gas at the pump and we just might have a crisis on our hands.

Background information: A bipartisan commission created under the 2005 highway law released a report recommending an increase of up to 40 cents per gallon in the federal gasoline tax. The commission recommended almost doubling the federal gasoline tax over the next five years, boosting it in increments of 5 cents to 8 cents per year. (National Write your Congressman website).

The Lone Star State

We are closing in on our last days in Utah. We are sad to leave behind the great friend we have made and know that each of you will be missed. We are excited to start a new chapter in our lives in Texas again as well as be close to family once more. With that said I just want to tell everyone that we had a great time during our stay in Utah and we hope that you will keep in contact with us over the years. Everyone is more than welcome to visit us in the Lone Star State, I recommend the months of April and October. All the others are fine too and we would love to have each of you come for a little vacation. To all my girls from MOM’s Club, I don’t know what I would have done without you. I’m pretty sure I would have been lost and confused if I had not joined. It was a great experience and I can only hope to find more people like you, but those who will never be able to replace you. To Missy and Jory, I was so happy to be close to you guys as you started your lives together and was able to be close by when your girls were born. Thank you so much for being such wonderful friends. You know our door and hearts are always open. Thanks so much to everyone who made our Utah home a good one.