The trophy

Ben got second place at the tournament.  He was beyond thrilled to get this trophy!

Austin

On Friday night we loaded up the car and headed to Austin.

Not for fun, mind you.  For a wrestling tournament.

Four hours is not too far to go for one of those.

We arrived late Friday night.  Brad and Ben got up early to go to weigh-ins, while Susanna and  I spent a more leisurely morning, first in the hotel room and then walking around the city.  As it turned out, our 9 a.m. start time was a bit early as the only people out that early on a  Saturday are the homeless people.  Of course we had to walk through the bar area in order to get anywhere.  We walked and walked, trying to find a coffee shop that didn't have "star" in the name.  We almost gave up but finally found one.

Then we visited the Austin Museum of Art (very small but good kids area), the capitol building visitors' center (where we learned that the state snack is tortilla chips and salsa), and then the children's museum, which may have been the best we've seen yet, but I was a bit sad that Ben wasn't with us to make it more fun (always better with a friend, or at least a little brother.)  Along the way we stopped for some treats.  Susanna was a great walking companion all day long.

Brad and Ben didn't finish at the tournament until about 3:00, so by the time they went back to the hotel for a shower and a quick rest there wasn't time to do much else.  We had a quick dinner and then headed north.

Hopefully we can go back to Austin soon for a more leisurely visit.  But I am glad to have finally seen the Texas capital after living in this state for a year and a half.

Field trip

Today I joined Susanna's class (and the rest of 2nd grade) on a field trip to the Dallas World Aquarium.  

The aquarium is very nice but not huge (compared to the aquarium in Baltimore, at least.)  It was just big enough to keep busy seeing everything without getting lost or overwhelmed.  As it was, I sometimes struggled to keep these four girls together - one stopped to looked at something while another ran ahead... We all made it through with losing one another; thus the field trip was a success!

Lots of shrieking in the shark exhibit.

The octopus was a favorite.

Front teeth

Ben lost both his front baby teeth over the last week.  He was very excited to have them out and to collect some money from the tooth fairy!

Hope the new ones grow in nice and straight!  We are already predicting that one will have braces...

Now that I live in Texas...

... I hardly walk anywhere.

... I bundle up when it hits 50 degrees.

... I think Spring Break in Arkansas would be exciting.

... my life revolves around youth sports.

... I crave Mexican food whenever I leave the state.

Snow

First Texas snow of 2011!

After some lovely warm winter days, it has once again snowed in Texas!  Several inches fell on Sunday, along with some icy, slushy stuff.  

Despite the snowy/slightly icy weather, we still had two of our three scheduled activities for Sunday.  Susanna had a soccer game and a birthday party.  This didn't leave lots of time for going out to play, but they had some fun in the backyard.  

We were sort of hoping that school would be closed on Monday, but we ended up with a 2-hour delay.  That worked out well as we still had a relaxing morning, but we don't have to worry about making up the day in June.  Of course, this is just the start of winter, so who knows what will happen.

Wrestling (again)

Ben went to his 4th wrestling tournament this weekend.  This was a big one - around 1000 wrestlers.  They came from all over Texas and at least one other state (Oklahoma.)  It was held at a minor league hockey arena, which is conveniently located about a mile and a half from our house.  

Ben wrestled three times and ended up in 3rd place (out of the 6 wrestlers in his age/weight group.)  He tried really hard and had a good experience.  He is doing quite well for a kid who has just started.  As in any sport in Texas, if you start in Kindergarten you are starting late.  Most of the boys he wrestled are in their 2nd or 3rd year.

Here is Ben waiting for his turn on the mat.

A view of the arena - there were 14 mats.  It was crazy busy.

Very big medal for 3rd place!

Cookies for sale

Today is Girl Scout cookie day!  The first official day to sell cookies for 2011.

I am hoping to take Susanna around the neighborhood as soon as she gets off the bus.  I might let her have a small snack first.  This all depends on whether Brad gets home in time to take Ben to wrestling at 3:30.  If Brad isn't home, cookie selling will have to wait.  Hopefully that won't be too much of a setback.

The cookies are all the same as last year - no new ones - they are not even replacing the ones nobody bought last  year.  The price is also the same.  However, I do not know yet if the number of each cookies in each box is the same.

Last year I ordered a variety of cookies for us.  Some got eaten but with some kinds, a box is sort of more than you need.  This year I plan to stick primarily to the kind in the purple box.  They are really the only ones worth the calories.

Susanna has not said what her goal is yet.  I am thinking 50 boxes is a good goal, and if she exceeds it that would be great.

On a related note, its time for me to go to the gym!

Resolutions

Happy 2011!

Its the first day of the year and time to think about resolutions.  I figure that if I post them here, I will feel more obligated to try to stick to them.

I think I will start off with some plans for January:

• Get my office organized once and for all.  This will involve a daily commitment to my trusty shredder.  Hope it lasts through the month.

• Send one card a day to someone.  Perhaps a belated birthday card, a belated thank you card, or something else that will probably be belated.  This will also be a good way to use up some of my stationery collection as well as the Christmas stamps I optimistically purchased.

For the year, I am thinking about the usual things:

• exercise more
• eat less unhealthy foods
• prepare more healthy foods
• get and stay more organized in general

Best of luck to everyone with making and keeping some resolutions of your own!