Pink Panthers

Stephanie's group at the Y summer camp was the Pink Panthers. Today they had a "slumber party" (except it was not at night), wore PJs, did nails and make-up, listened to music and made shirts. She said it was the best day at camp so far.

Rain!

It's been so hot and dry, I think everyone in Texas was happy to see this.

Chinese National Geographic

I subscribed to the Chinese National Geographic in English and this was my first issue.

America's Got Talent

Stephanie and I like to cuddle up and watch America's Got Talent -- sometimes we agree with the judges and sometimes we don't.

scentsy

a new fresh candle with no flames from rachel

Rachel's Scrapbook

Rachel got some new glittery, retro background papers for scrapbooking.

She's doing a great job!

Colorado Bulldog

Kahula (or any coffee liquer), vodka, cola and creme.

The new do!

Stephanie got a trim with layers and is ready to head out to see G-Force with her BFF Marisol.

Twilight Garden

A nice warm evening walk through the elementary school grounds.

Test Flight

I work for a company named Blackhawk Modifications, which sells new engines for turboprop aircraft. When I got back to work today, Edwin and Donnie (above) asked if I wanted to see the test flight of the Grand Caravan as it made its test flight with the new engine. Donnie was filming it for the website. It was interesting to be escorted to the runway and to hear the ground control talking to the tower and then to our pilots.

Home!

We got home today about 2:30, with tons of laundry to do!

The Way Home, Day Two

In Arcadia, OK, we stopped at Pops (www.pops66.com) on Route 66. It's very unique -- half convenience store, half soda shop. In fact, they sell 500 different kinds of soda, all arranged in the case by color and flavor. We were there too early to see the giant soda bottle lit up with neon.

The Way Home, Day one

LaLaFuLooza was over yet again, and time to head home. We drove west through Iowa to Omaha. Iowa was different from what I expected with rolling hills of corn, not flat at all. We had dinner at Upstream in the Old Market area of Omaha.
Paul and I shared the sampler -- shot sized glasses with a taste of all of their beers. We made an effort during our trip to eat at local places and we had such great food!

LaLaFuLooza 2009 Day Two

After breakfast at the hotel, we all went to the Brookfield Zoo -- lovely weather in the 70s -- but as you can see, Stephanie ws too cold for shorts!
Stephanie and Grace.
It's a long story, but this family saved our banquet. The place we had booked for dinner for 120 people inexplicably was closed for business -- for rent sign up. We couldn't find a place to have dinner for 120 on such short notice, but this family at a small food court stand made dinner for us with about an hour's notice!
Our Fu's all dressed up for the banquet!
They get prettier every year! The girls made many new friends this year.

LaLaFuLooza 2009

Friday night at LaLaFulooza - music, crafts, pizza, and lots of "mamarazzi" action. These are all Fu girls from Fuzhou SWI in Jiangxi.
Angelica, Samantha and Stephanie -- three of the four adopted on April 1, 1998.
Here are the moms who made it happen!

Road Trip, Day Six

Sue and I ran some errands in the morning and then members of the LaLaFuLooza committee started coming by to finish up packets and just visit. The little ones swam and swung in the back yard.
The big girls, all Fu sisters, ran around and had a great time getting reacquainted.

Road Trip, Day Five

Paul and Stephanie went to the Sears Tower and stepped out on the clear ledge! Not for me! (You'll have to see his blog for photos of that!) When they returned to the hotel, we got on the double decker bus tour.

This is known as "the Bean" and it's fun to see the perspective it gives you.
After a great day of sightseeing, we drove over to Sugar Grove, IL, to the Mladeniks' home. Here is Stephanie with her Fu sister, Grace.

Road Trip, Day Four

We left St. Louis and strolled halfway across this old Route 66 bridge that is now only for pedestrians. It spans the Mississippi River.
We arrived in Chicago and got a room downtown with this gorgeous view of the Chicago River.
We took a ride on one of the boats that cruises the river, pointing out the architecture of the many skyscrapers. It became windy and chilly!

Road Trip, Day Three

We went up into the Gateway ARch after watching an Imax movie about Louis and Clark.
You go up into the Arch via a little tram that seats five people.
After lunch, we toured the Anheuser Busch original brewery, including the world's fanciest and cleanest stables for the Clydesdales. We had dinner on the Hill and then another trip to Ted Drewes.

Road Trip, Day Two

In Springfield, MO, we stopped at the huge Bass Pro shop, their company's flagship store. There was a lot of renovation going on but it was fun to see all the stuff.
Next, we drove to Mansfield, MO, to see the last "Little House" where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived. She and Almanzo built this house themselves. We toured the house and museum.
On to St. Louis, where we stopped at Route 66 attraction Ted Drewes Frozen Custard. The place is mobbed with people, eating ice cream and snapping photos of themselves. Pretty good frozen custard "concretes" too.

Road Trip, Day one

We set out on our 3,000 mile road trip, from Waco through Dallas, Oklahoma and stayed the night in Joplin, MO. We found some places along Route 66 whenever we could.
Between cards, iPods and iPhone, Stephanie and Rachel stayed occupied in the back seat.

Rachel is awarded her advanced yellow belt

Rachel is congratulated by Sensei as she passes her test and receives her advanced yellow belt.

Packing for LaLaFuLooza

Packing clothes, including our LaLaFuLooza t-shirts, for our trip. Lots of last minute details. I've been working on a slideshow all week, which I have done at least in a rough draft form. I have to finish polishing it up tomorrow as we leave Saturday morning.

The Problem with Socks

It's the age-old question -- where do all the socks go? I bought two bags of socks today with 10 pairs in each one, half white and half with colored toes and heels. One girl will get the all white and the other will get the one with colored toes and heels. Hopefully, they will be able to keep them separate and I'll get to find out who's been losing all the socks.

Clean up day at the office

The person in my office I most often work for is on vacation, and I'll be on vacation next week, so I'm pretty caught up. I spent a good deal of time today organizing some files and putting things on the server. This is my office, all cleaned up. Note the 6 months of photos on the wall behind my monitor!
This is my bulletin board where I pin up ideas. My company sells new engines for small airplanes, also instrument gauges and propellers. I don't know if my "family safety" idea will go over -- they really cater more to businesses. But I was trying to do some "image" ads.