Time in Dallas

Bill is in flight training in Dallas for a new airplane he will be flying, a Gulfstream V. I headed to Dallas to spend a few days with John and family and hang out with Bill on his day off. I'll be headed up there next weekend for more visiting and babysitting.

But on this first trip, Bill and Brent and I had lunch at Celebration Restaurant and Market . It started in an old house, and has since expanded to incorporate the houses next to it, so it is spread out along a street. The dining areas are located in the rooms of the old houses, and each room feels cozy with just a few tables. The food was excellent, and very much "homestyle", with efforts made to use locally grown produce and meat.
Bill was staying in a Marriott next to Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine, just north of the DFW airport. It is really an all outdoor type of store, not just limited to boats and fishing. Fun to wander around in, like a hardware store for the outdoorsman. One note of interest, we had dinner one night at Fuddruckers, in the same parking lot as the hotel and the Bass Pro Shop. In addition to beef hamburgers, there were ostrich, buffalo, wild boar and elk burgers. I don't know if all Fudd's have these exotic burgers, or if it was limited to this one next to the Bass Pro Shop, but I stuck with beef.

I drove over to the Gaylord Texas Hotel to check out the awesome atriums inside the hotel. All these pictures were taken inside the atrium. There is definitely a Texas theme going, with the Riverwalk, the Mexican and Tejas themed restaurants, and the decor.

View looking up at the top of the atrium.

Looking across the "riverwalk" to hotel rooms facing inside the atrium.

Texas hill country "cave", all of this is INSIDE the atrium.

If I have time when I go back up there, I may wander the Grapevine historic district, looks like a lot of cutesy shops.

Visit with John and Taylor

John and Taylor got a weekend visit with JanMa. The first thing John showed me was his new potty, which he doesn't use yet, but he knows he is supposed to sit on it.
He also showed me his new big boy bed.
He also likes his mom and dad's big bed.
John and I played outside for awhile. It was cold, but we had fun. John has a few favorite expressions, "I know", "I don't know", and a bunch of others that I haven't quite learned yet. But he is very earnest when he talks to me!


After we came inside, I took John's shoes off. He grabbed his toes and said "hurt". I told Jason his feet were hurting, and apparently John had said the same thing to Jason before. So we headed off to Stride Rite to buy bigger shoes, size 9W.

John got a book from his dad's nightstand...

Then proceeded to read it to me.

Taylor is a solid bundle to hold, and has a cute laugh.


Ashley with Taylor, then John.

John will be going to a monster truck rally in a month or so for his birthday treat (maybe Jason's treat?) But John does pay attention to the monster trucks on TV.
John knows how to show he is strong, and says some word that resembles strong.
He also likes to hi-ee (hide).
And I get to babysit them in a few weeks!

Another Birthday

Bill and I celebrated a birthday with dinner at Perry's Steakhouse. Perry's is one of our favorite "special occasion" restaurants. The food is excellent and well-presented, the service is unobtrusivy attentive, and it is QUIET. We can have a conversation without yelling, with soft background jazz and muted voices and clink of silverware.

And that's all that I'm saying about this birthday!

Jake and Claire have new booster seats...

and new cars... Here is Jake in his, and Claire has one too.
One of Claire's genetic traits found on the X chromosome is the uncanny ability to talk on a cell phone. In the video below she is talking to Mimi, and Mimi is just talking back to Claire. Notice also how at one point Claire cradles the phone between her ear and shoulder!

Brave New Year

JanMa's Digital Memories had a brave start to the New Year by submitting an application for a vendor booth at the Oak Ridge Elementary PTO Spring Fest in April. This will be a low cost, hopefully low pressure and no stress way to dip my toes in the water of vendor fairs, and maybe generate some business. Mailing off the application was such a significant event for JanMa's, that I had to commemorate the occasion with a picture! I would have had a glass of champagne too, but didn't have any readily available!
I have Jake's old nap nanny ready for delivery to a friend whose daughter had twins who are still in the hospital. Tipper likes taking his naps in it! I'll need to wash the cover again!
JanMa also got brave and babysat the twins one evening. That's not really being brave, because the babies and I have great fun together. We had outside playtime, dinner and a video/bath, inside playtime, and then storytime and bedtime. Claire was ready for bed, she carried her stuffed mouse and her pacifier everywhere she went; she wanted to be ready whenever I decided to toss her into the crib!

Claire comprehends so much. She had dropped her mouse, and a few minutes later was looking around for it. It was behind her. I pointed to it and said "Claire, there is your mouse". She looked at the end of my finger, not where I was pointing. Then I said, "Claire, turn around, mouse is behind you". And she turned around, saw mouse and went to pick her up!
Claire outside in her new hat, the blue color makes her eyes really stand out.
Jake likes to play games. He was giving me kisses with his pacifier in his mouth. This is a game, where I was take the backend of the pacifier in my mouth and take it away from him, then he would take it back with his mouth! But he also just likes to give kisses. When I play horsey and bounce the babies on my legs, he likes to lean back to my chest, tilt his head up and get kisses. I wish I could take pictures of all these things, but sometimes the moment doesn't last long enough to get the camera ready!
Jake outside in his new hat, with matching mittens. I didn't get the thumbs in right, but at least his hands were warm.
Dinner time, with black bean burgers, pasta, sweet potatoes, followed up with strawberries and yogurt. I swear Claire said strawberries!

The babies are trying to use a fork or spoon to feed themselves. If they let me, I'll stab food with a fork and let them pick it up and eat. They are also still really good with their hands!
They also have real (baby-sized) toothbrushes now. I tried to get in a few swipes of their teeth, but they both wanted to hold the brushes themselves. Also, when we went into the nursery for bedtime, Claire went right into the bathroom and reached for her toothbrush on the sink! She likes routine! Jake kept wanting to play "I'll run into the nursery, and when you try to pick me up I'll run back out again." After a few minutes of chase, I simply closed the door and he couldn't get back out. He can't open a door yet, but as soon as he can reach it, look out. He loves to open and close things, drawers, cabinets, and the baby gates, anything that isn't latched he will get into.

Travis' 2nd Birthday

Claire and Jake's cousin Travis celebrated his 2nd birthday with lots of family in attendance.
Claire loves her cousin Allison, and is quite happy to have Allison carry her around.

The twins get birthday hats from mom Jennifer.

Birthday Cake!

Travis got some help blowing out candles from his mom and dad.
The local papparazzi records the event for posterity.

Forget those little pieces on paper plates, I'm going for the BIG piece!

Claire really liked sitting at the little table. I helped her down once, and she immediately climbed back into the chair. She also spent some time wandering around picking up pizza crusts leftovers on various plates. I plopped her in my lap and gave her small bites of my pizza, she seemed to like it a lot! Takes after her JanMa!
Jake would spend hours opening and closing doors, gates, drawers, cabinets - anything that will open and close!

Finally! Birthday Presents!

Allison helps Travis open his presents.

Jake enjoyed riding on the horse, and nearly fell asleep while I was holding onto the back waistband of his jeans and rocking him. I noticed his head nodding forward, but when I picked him up, he woke up and wanted back on the horse.

The twins, especially Claire, were fascinated by the puppies.
Claire did get some outside time with cousin Courtney.

And a close-up and personal encounter with the puppies.

I tried to get some pre-party pictures of Jake and Claire sitting on the couch. Jake will quietly contemplate the world around him, Claire wants to jump into the action.



The most fun thing about watching the twins at the party was watching them interact with others, exploring the house, toys, yard, whatever they could see and reach! It is great that they can now walk and move about on their own. It's also really hard that they can now walk and move about on their own!

Jennifer's Swearing-In Ceremony

New Year's Day we attended the swearing in ceremony for Jennifer, newly appointed family court judge. She handled the swearing-in while holding a wiggling Claire, then lunch with smooth grace and such patience. Her whole family is so proud of her.

Grandma Hayslett, Aunt Becky and Grandma James with Jake get front row seats at the ceremony. Bill and I took pictures and video of the ceremony.
Claire sat next to Grandma Hayslett and showed off her shoes, socks, dress, all parts of her outfit. The twins looked so cute in their coordinating clothes.

Jake enjoyed Grandma James,

...especially when she took him for a ride!


After the ceremony, the group went to lunch, Jennifer's Dad Grady and wife Carrie, along with Jennifer's new court reporter Jill and friend Rachel and husband Glenn. Rachel holds Jake.
Jake and Claire and Allison sat on one side of the table...
while cousin Travis sat across from them.
Claire kept her eyes on cousin Allison during lunch and wanted to do everything she did.

...including dancing.

It is so entertaining to watch the twins and their cousins interacting with each other. At least it is for great- and grandparents. Maybe not so much for the parents, but for me it is great fun.