Ellis Giles

Saturday night Grand D. came to baby sit Alden.  MH and I went to meet the fam for dinner at BT Longhorn Saloon.  We met mom, doug, grandma R, GG, and gramp.  We had an excellent dinner.  I ate fish with a good ponchtrain sauce and ate some of MH’s chicken fried steak.  We then headed to the Unity Theater down the block.

We saw ‘The Matchmaker.’  It was a very good play.  We all really enjoyed it.  Everyone said it was the best one they had been to yet.  We’re looking forward to the next play!

The Matchmaker

Filed under: Family | Tagged: Brenham, The Matchmaker, Unity Theater | 14 Comments »

Thursday MH picked me up and we went home.  She had found a Thomas the Train Halloween costume for Alden, and gave it to him when we got home.  It has a plastic pail for the candy that looks like Thomas too!  Alden kept wanting to take the pail apart, it comes apart in half probably so the candy can be taken out easily.  He got his fingers stuck in the crack twice, ouch!  He really likes the costume and will say “Put on the costume.”

Friday I worked from home and went to lunch with mom, MH, Grandma R, and Alden.  MH and I met them for lunch at the Coliseum.  Alden sat at the end of the booth and devoured some bread, drank one of Grandma R.’s creamers and then got soup in the creamer containers.  We ordered him fettuccini alfredo and I got the meat ravioli.  When it arrived Alden wanted ravioli by saying Ravioli, Ravioli, but he quickly ate the fettuccini.  He said, I love this!  :-)  The waitress gave Alden a little car.  Late Friday afternoon, MH and I worked outside, I mowed the font and she worked in the gardens.  That evening MH and I picked up Alden from Industry and Mom had made some excellent split pea soup.  I think Alden ate too much brie and crackers, so we all finished his soup for him.

On Saturday, Alden and MH got up really early and went outside to work in the gardens.  Then they made raisin biscuits which were yummy.  I got up and raked with Alden’s help.  We filled up the big blue bin full of grass!  I then weed-eated and it started to rain!  We didn’t get to finish or mow the back.  The back will be tall.

Saturday afternoon after nap we went to Sue and Newt’s party next door it was fun.  Alden had a blast.  We brought some of Doug’s wine, drank that and some beer, ate BBQ and delicious banana pudding and a piece of pecan pie.  I was talking outside and Alden was inside with mommy.  He fell and hit his head on a chair and got a huge bump on his head, the biggest ever.  We left early.  A person at the party came by later to check on Alden, bring some pie, visit, and meet Sandy.

Sunday morning we brought Alden to play with little Dougie.  Doug made a good breakfeast of pancakes and bacon.  Alden played a little, but then went exploring with Grandma all the way to the back.  We left about 11:30 for Alden’s nap.

After nap time we got ready and met Grand D. at the church with Sandy and Whiskers to get blessed.  Sandy really needed it after the attack a few weeks earlier.  Sandy kept trying to sniff the rabbit.  She got many, many treats.  When she got blessed, she really didn’t like the water, but Whiskers didn’t mind.  Everyone commented on what a sweat cat Whiskers is.  We then all went over to Grand D.’s place, Whiskers, Sandy, and all!  Grand D. made some really good chili dogs.  I almost ate 3!  Grand D. had found a new Thomas the Train DVD some Alden got to watch some of that.  I think it’s his favorite thing right now.  He’s going to be Thomas for Halloween, that will be fun!  We visited until it was time to head home and put Alden to bed.  He slept well, but woke up around 4 and got in bed with us.  Monday makes it another week…

Filed under: Family | Tagged: Alden, costume, Grand D., Grandma, Sandy, Thomas the Train, weekend, Whiskers | 34 Comments »

Alden came into Houston with MH Wednesday morning so he could go to the doctor with us and see the ultra sounds.  When I asked him what he wanted to do on Wednesday, he said go to school.  He had been to visit his future school the day before and didn’t want to leave.

After MH picked me up, we dropped her at her office and went inside to have a colache.  We then headed for the zoo, parked and got tickets to the train, but just missed it.  So, we headed inside the zoo, and checked out the sea lions.  We decided that they looked like a water version of Sandy!  Haha.  We couldn’t stop laughing.  We liked climbing on the plastic version of the sea lion.  Next we headed to the reptile house, which is what Alden kept saying he wanted to go see the snakes.  So, we looked at every window and he even found some I didn’t see at first too.  He really enjoyed it.  One of the Iguanas was moving and looking at us.  I said, he’s looking at Alden!  Alden loved it and kept laughing.  A little later one was trying to get out through the glass and we kept watching it.  We found an employee who was watching some new snakes and went over and talked.  There were three snakes all moving around together… this can lead to bad dreams later on!

Next we went to the discovery zone.  It was a blast.  Alden loved the tunnel under the piranhas.  He loves the big fish, I said is that one bigger than Alden?  Yes!  We got to see them feed the rays, and the reef exhibit was open.  Alden went running to it yelping with joy!  Then he say a clown fish and said, “I found Nemo!  Look!”  Then seeing a slightly larger clown fish, “I found Nemo’s Dad!  Look!”  And then he yelped with glee.  Wow, pretty impressive to recognize and say the bigger one must be the dad.

Next we saw the giraffes and elephants.  He pointed out which elephant was the baby, the mother, and the father.  Wow again.  Then we had an ice cream in a cup.  He wanted a swirl, and he really enjoyed it while I had a Dr. Pepper.  He drank from the lion’s mouth water fountain and found that fun.  We looked for the lions but they weren’t out.  We headed towards the children’s petting zoo and the zoo has opened a Carousel!  It’s got to be one of the biggest I’ve seen with four animals deep all around.  Every animal is different.  Alden got very excited and went running all the way down the path to it.  We rode it twice.  The first time Alden rode the Owls, a log with an Owl on either end.  As I was getting him down, I noticed under one of the owls there is the Rice University logo.  Haha.  We then went and bought tickets again, and Alden rode the Tiger.  It was on the outside track so a little scary for me as it went up and down I had my arm on him, probably wouldn’t do that again, but he wanted to ride the snakes and it was taken.

Next we went to the children’s zoo, and went down some slides and through a turtle shell.  We went and played on the outdoor play set, as I hurried him past the new water park.  We’ll have to bring a towel and change of clothes next time.  They’ve redone the entire area in a sort of cork so it won’t hurt if you fall.  We then went and petting some goats, washed our hands and went and crawled through a tunnel to look at meercats and then got out and looked at the bats.

  We then hurried towards the exit to catch the 12:45 train.  We stopped by the aquarium on the way out to catch some A/C.  Alden said “I don’t like it” to the eel.  Very funny.  He got excited about a similar reef.  We made it to the train, and had to wait about 10 mintues so got a sip of cold water at a new water fountain.  He said found it when the train arrived.  Look there it is.  We picked out seats near the back where he wanted to sit.  We had a great ride!  He loved the tunnel and said someone whistled.  He waved at several people who waved back.  After the train ride, we booked it to the car, he was getting red and tired!

Next we went to pick up mommy, get some lunch, and head to the doctors office.  He was very tired.  By the time we picked up mommy, he was asleep!  Off to the doctors we go!

Filed under: Family | Tagged: Alden, Snake, Train, Zoo | 25 Comments »

On Sunday mommy and Alden went to church.  They thought it was the large choir, but it was the week earlier.  I slept in because I was not feeling that well, finally caught everyon’s throat.  So I slept in, but requested we make french toast when they return.

They had a great time.  MH will have to comment or make a post.  They missed the choir, but Alden got to eat salt, hang out in the nursery, play with a car during service, see behind the organ, and visit the merry go round with mommy.

After church MH made excellent french toast on french bread.  It was perfect!

We put Alden down for a nap and got a quick one ourselves.  I got up only after a few winks and went upstairs.  When Alden woke up he wanted mommy and went downstairs and woke her up.  I checked out the movie schedule and found that “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” a G rated movie was playing.  We painted Alden’s cover to his sandbox with chalkboard paint.  Alden wanted to color it right there but we had to let it dry, so we put it back on the sand box and headed to the movies.

It was Alden’s second movie and he really enjoyed it.  We got there a few minutes early which actually made it difficult since not much was going on, but the movie quickly started.  It was pretty good.  Alden got bored in a few parts, loved the candy and popcorn, and tried to drink from my drink even though he had his own several times.  At one point he was bored and got into his own seat and got stuck!  Luckily we were able to get him out but it took both MH and I to get him free.  He was crying loudly, but was ok.  It was at a point in the movie that was loud too so they didn’t kick us out. 

After the movie, Alden said, “Go ride the bumper boats” since Horseshoe Junction is right next to the theater.  But we headed home and went to bed as it was getting late.  We were all full from popcorn, so just had a quick bowl of ceral for dinner.

Filed under: Family | Tagged: Alden, Church, French Toast, Meatballs, MH, Movie | 34 Comments »

On Saturday afternoon before nap, we watched a little of the “Seventh Voyage of Sinbad” and as I took a bath to alleviate my sore feet and hill running legs, Alden and MH watched more of the movie.  Alden actually liked all the monsters and wanted to fast forward to the monsters.  I got to watch the end where I had left off.  What a good movie now and even better for it’s time! 

I started saying “Sinbad!” and Alden would say “Sinbad!” and laugh.  Then I would say, “AldenBad!” and he would laugh.  Then he would say “SandyBad!”

We got to say almost all of us Bad!  Ha ha.

On the way back from the County Fair, it was AldenBad, DaddyBad, MommyBad, GrandDBad, and of course SandyBad!!

Filed under: Family | Tagged: Alden, Sandy, SandyBad, Sinbad | 24 Comments »

On Thursday Alden and I played some in the morning.  We got some good time in.  Alden likes to type on my computer and say the letters.  He also wants to start “Filing papers”  Though they usually turn into a mess.  :-)  I left to go into a meeting Thursday afternoon.

Friday I made it home late, we all haven’t been feeling well, and I couldn’t sleep more than a few hours.  Alden stayed up since he wanted to take a bubble bath with Daddy.  Well, mommy put in too much bubble stuff and the bubbles went over the top!  We were playing find the fish and find the duck.  Alden tried to move, got some in his mouth, tried to breath, got more, then I picked him up, patted him on the back, and he threw up a ton!  Well, time to jump in the shower, poor guy.  I thought he might not sleep, but he slept really well.  We said if we got up early we’d go to the fun run.

We didn’t get up that early, and after debating whether or not to go to the fun run, we finally decided to rush out the door.  We all had messy hair, and drove towards downtown Brenham.  We parked in the square and headed over to the gathering group of people.  We paid our $25 and got a T-shirt.  Alden jumped in the large ice cream bucket bouncy castle and I got ready to run.

Boy, what a run.  There are more hills on this 5k in Brenham than the entire Houston Half Marathon!  No kidding.  I started out in the front group, got passed by a few sprinters, but then started passing people up after the first mile as they ran out of steam.  The first half had a lot of downhill so I wasn’t looking forward to the second half.  I got some water at the half way point and continued on.  The hills were tough.  I saw our real estate agent and said, am I there yet. ha ha.  The worst hills were yet to come.  I did have to walk for about 30 seconds on the next to last hill, but I had already passed most people and there was no one around.  I gathered my strength and pushed on passing 3 more people before the end and on the last hill to finish sixth place!  I saw Alden and MH waiting for me at the finish line!  Alden was happy to see Daddy, and MH said he saw me come around the corner way before she did and he said there’s daddy. 

Alden stood by the finish line, by the Brenham Cubs Mascots, and clapped for every runner crossing the finish line.  What a good cheer leader!  We picked up some banana bread for breakfast at the bake sale there, Alden went one last time in the bouncy castle shaped like an ice cream bucket, and we headed home.  Alden didn’t want to leave and didn’t want to leave the cubs.

We made apples and scrambled eggs and sausage with the banana bread.  Yummy breakfast.  We watched a little of the “Seventh Voyage of Sinbad” and as I took a bath to alleviate my sore feet and hill running legs, Alden and MH watched more of the movie.  Alden actually liked all the monsters and wanted to fast forward to the monsters.  I got to watch the end where I had left off.  What a good movie now and even better for it’s time!  See the next SandyBad post! 

After nap, we picked up Grand D. and headed to the Waller County Fair.  It was quite costly to get in.  We watched the horses line up, then went to get tokens.  You have to pay for everything with tokens, so there’s a strategy to spending money there.  We got a quick snack, sausage on a stick, lemonade and a refill, and headed back up into the stands to watch the horses.

They were doing roping.  A team of four cowboys would line up and go after a specific calf in a group of calves that was called out by the announcer.  They would have to rope it and then let it go.  Pretty tough.  They would have to rope the horns then the feet.  We didn’t know all the rules, but some got penalities and some were fast.  Alden really enjoyed it.  The beer was cheaper than the soda or lemonade!  Probably because it was served by the county and the others by vendors.

We enjoyed a little country music, a funnel cake, and hit the road.  We decided that the food was too expensive and we’d get some food on the way home.  We hit up the smokehouse on 290 on the way home.  Grand D. said it was good.  We all got something to eat, Alden really wanted chips.  So, I went back and got some chips, but then that was all he would eat!  We were all stuffed.  MH enjoyed the baked potato, though not as good as elsewhere, and Grand D. and I thought the BBQ was pretty good.  Maybe I’ll munch on Alden’s leftovers later.  They did have good potato salad and yummy french fries!

Filed under: Family | Tagged: Alden, BBQ, county fair, Grand D., MH, run | 40 Comments »

Alden said he wanted to go to the county fair, and was walking around saying, “go to county fair”.   After a quick nap, we cheked where to go to the fair.  Unfortunately, when we checked how to get there, yesterday was the last day.  Shucks!  So, we started saying “go to the lake!”  And Alden wanted to go to the lake!  Yea!  Only a few more years we can change what he wants to do so easily.  Ok, maybe not even years…

We picked up Grand D., Sunday morning is our time to visit Grand D., but schedules have been off lately.  We went to the state park at Lake Somerville, checked into the office, picked up a pass, and found a good trail to hike.

When we got out the Jeep trail stroller, the tires were flat.  Luckily it comes with a pump, but that only worked on two of the tires, the front must be super flat to not even get a good seal or has a bad leak.  But, we used it anyway.  We hiked a 1.5+ mile loop, and saw the lake and old boat ramp.  Alden rode the first part of the way, and walked most of the rest.  We saw several millipedes.  Alden found one by himself.  We say ant mounds all grouped together that would make Lennigen himself shiver.  After a great hike, we made it back to the car and got some A/C!

On the way home we dropped Grand D. off and raced home to try and put Alden down for a nap.  We shoved down some leftovers for lunch.  I napped but Alden did not.  Eventually we gave up!  Lucky he didn’t fall asleep, because as we were lying with him Mary-Helen found a tick in his hair!  He must have got it when he went running off the trail into some trees.  I guess he’s about the height of a deer tick.  She was able to get it out quickly and I burned the tick.  It was not really in that deep, so hopefully it’s ok.

I went out to finish weed-eating from last weekend.  I got the weed-eater out, put in some gas, looked down and saw another snake!  If it were a snake it would have bit me!  haha.  It was right at my feet.  When I turned around to grab a rock or shovel, he was gone.

I decided I needed to finish cutting the grass, and short!  It had rained the previous week, lots, and we had not had to cut the grass all summer.  So I fired up the lawn mower and mowed the rest of the property.  I didn’t finish until about 9:30 pm - I got motivated to just finish.  It was way after dark, but that’s why they put headlights on the mowers!   The neighbors probably didn’t like me though.

Filed under: Family | Tagged: Alden, Grand D., hiking, Lake Somerville, MH, Millipede, mow, Snake, tick | 17 Comments »

On Saturday, I mowed the front yard and hit a copper head!  It was almost full grown.  How scary.  I had to finish him off with a shovel since it was still alive trying to bite a stick.

On Sunday, I went out to finish weed-eating from last weekend.  I got the weed-eater out, put in some gas, looked down and saw another snake!  If it were a snake it would have bit me!  haha.  It was right at my feet.  When I turned around to grab a rock or shovel, he was gone.  Time to mow the grass short and I did!

Sunday night, I started watching ‘Lonesome Dove’ and made it through the first part.  The first part ended with snakes too!  When one of the ranch hands crosses the river, he gets attacked by a ball of water moccasins floating down the river and dies.  Doh!  I didn’t sleep well. haha.

Filed under: Family | Tagged: Snake | 41 Comments »

I got home late Friday night as I had to finish up work and then miss traffic.  MH had made an excellent pot-pie that she heated up and we got to bed and watched some Poirot.  Saturday morning we slept in a little and MH made some coffee and French toast.  It was very yummy.  Alden had spent the night at Grandma’s house, Grandpa had gone on a trip to pick up a tower. 

After a lazy morning, we headed to Grandma’s house to pick up Alden.  We got there about 11 and visited.  Then MH and I were going to go to the Lindy store to pick up some BBQ and I needed to get a one gallon gas can for the weed-eater.  Alden wanted to go, then as we strapped him in, he wanted Grandma to go too, so we all went to the Lindy store.  Grandma bought us lunch and me a gas can.

We made it back to Grandma’s house, and ate some bbq.  Alden said “I love Bar-B-Q!”  We all laughed, so he said it again.  We headed home and Alden was falling asleep in the car.  We tried to get him into the house, but he woke up and then didn’t want to go back to sleep. 

I weed-eated the front lawn until the line got tangled and then went inside.  Alden played with the weed eater cap.  He said it was a space ship and flew it around, what an imagination! 

I went back out and finished weed-eating.  Then mommy and Alden and I went to look at the trail and work on it some.  Alden and I rode the mower to the back and we all worked for a few minutes moving sticks to the pile.

I mowed the front yard and hit a copper head!  It was almost full grown.  How scary.  I had to finish him off with a shovel since it was still alive trying to bite a stick.

Alden talked to Mr. Newt when he came over to chat about the snake.  We made sausage for dinner on the grill and Alden at that, corn on the cob and green beans.  He was stuffed.  It has been a long time since he ate so much.

Filed under: Family | Tagged: Alden, BBQ, Grandma, Snake | 24 Comments »

On Thursday I worked from home some and got to play with Alden.  I went to Bellville to sign papers and pick up a check.  Then went back to Brenham.  Alden, Grand D., MH and I went into town to go to the bank and get some lunch.  We went to the Coliseum for their lunch special.  Alden got cheese ravioli and ate almost an entire roll before they brought it out.  I had the stuffed shells which were ok.  We went to the bank.  Alden had fun at the bank.  We had to wait for a teller, so Alden got to run around in the lobby.  They are very kid friendly at the chase bank in Brenham.  They have a little table with chairs and an entire bin of toys.  When a teller finally arrived we got in line and Alden asked for a sucker.  He convinced her to give him two, but of course wanted five.  They were going to put a hold on the check until I suggested we deposit it at Frost bank.  Suddenly, there would be no hold on the check.  Wow.  Alden ate an entire sucker before we got to the car, and chomped down his other one on the way home.

After a late nap for Alden, Alden and I played outside.  The lawn mower was dead, so mommy watched Alden while I jumped it with the car.  No rain leads to no grass growing and no mowing.  So, the mower had not been used much, probably only twice all summer since Alden’s birthday.  Alden and I attached the wagon to the mower and rode it to the back.  We picked up sticks to clear a new part of the trail loop.  It was fun, and Alden was helpful and got the idea of moving the sticks, putting them in the wagon, and going back for more.  We cut about 15 more feet of trail and headed back up to the house.  We played on the clubhouse some and looked at the cracks in the ground which have gotten smaller from all the rain.  Almost time to mow!  Mommy had baked a frozen pizza.  She wasn’t feeling well, so Alden and I ate some of it, but he wasn’t that hungry.  Mommy helped put Alden to sleep when she was feeling better.  I had a meeting in the morning so headed back to Houston late Thursday night.

Filed under: Family | Tagged: Alden, Coliseum, trails | 29 Comments »