big tex and us

Ok last Friday … we took a few hours off. We went to the State Fair of Texas. Both of us have not been in many years and honestly, I think we just wanted to get away from the phone for a few hours … even though I was caught several times giving bids and handling problems via cell phone. After spending $10 to park, $28 dollars to get in, and $40 on tickets … we were set. We took in the Auto buildings … even though I was disappointed. I remember as a young lad that they always had some kind of sci fi looking prototype cars of the future at the fair … this year … not so much. Just everyone car maker telling you their cars would run off of recylced horse poop and corn. We got a corn bog at Fletchers … that took 23 tickets. We got our pic with Big Tex … that was a small miracle in itself … the sun was at high noon, our height difference itself is hard enough to take a selfie … but then trying to get the Big Guy in the shot … this pic was awesome.

Down the Midway … I kept looking for the bearded lady and the worlds smallest man … but Lori kept telling me that it was not PC to have those attractions anymore. Again, dissapointed. I have to tell you  … the Fair has really cleaned up since we remember. I looks a lot like Six Flags now. Hmmm, smart thinking on someones part. The rides still look very dangerous and the carnival workers … well, they look the same too. Thank God! Something familiar!

Back down the Midway … pausing at the Cotton Bowl entrance to take a picture only one day prior to the Texas beat down of OU … again, thank you Jesus. A stroll through the Women’s museum … a funnel cake on a shaded bench … and we were done. It was quick … but I had responsibilities backat Pilot Point. It was abbreviated fun.

>> wg

 

varenna italy, pearl of lake como

Varenna Italy, the pearl of Lake Como. Varenna is built upon a rock at the foot of a mountain which rises almost vertically above it, leaving the skeleton of a ruined ancient castle exposed to the sky.Its community dates back to the Roman age.Its name appears for the first time in 493, mentioned by Corius in his history of Milan, but the first reference assured of its existence, for the moment, is given in a document written by Deacon Grato of Monza, in the year 769.

This photo was taken by two American tourists just a few hours ago. Casey and Erin … my son and daughter in law are living our dream of traveling to Europe. Pictures are the next best thing to being there … so I am grateful for the photo blog. Even thought I can not get the other link to work … at least we have a few shots and a funny story to hang onto for a couple of days. 

There next stop is Venice. I will provide some history of that spot as well. I had never heard of Varenna … but after seeing this shot … I will put it on my list to visit. 

wg

 

lifetime memory

You only get one shot at raising your kids. Creating in them a good Christ-like image is essential at a very young age. This is Caleb, my grandson. He started first grade this week. Last weekend his dad took him camping and fishing at Lake Ray Roberts. He caught this 14″ fish … looks like a small mouth bass. He caught it on a live worm … from the bank … on very light tackle. If you are a fisherman … you know that had to be fun. Probably more fun than catching it … was watching him catch it. Of course he reported to us that his first day of first grade was boring! Way to go James, make the teacher look bad.

That day … he will remember forever. Me and my boys were not much on camping and fishing … we were more throw something, burn something, ride something, or blow something up kind of guys. It really doesn’t matter … it just matters that dads are with their kids and teaching them how to live life. I still remember the day that Casey, Michael and I were “mud hoggin” around in White Oak in my CJ. We were tearing up some old oil field roads in East Texas … when we saw this really, really huge mud puddle … probably half the size of a football field. We got about 1/4 of the way into the high water and realized we had not locked out the hubs … a feature necessary if you want your 4 wheel drive to work. Since Michael was the smallest (he got so many opportunities to help) … we put him on the hood, held his feet while he hung upside down … over the mud and high water to lock out the hubs. That’s a priceless memory and a valuable life lesson. Always take your kids when you need a small person … it’s like an extra tool in your box. I do have a princess too … but she was way too smart to go on any of those excursions. She was more of a … lets bundle up in the back of the jeep while dad takes on a joy ride in the snow and ice with the top off … doing donuts in the church parking lot. Ahhh .. priceless.

<< wg

 

the batcycle

Caleb, my grandson, and I went to see Dark Knight yesterday morning. We caught the 10:10 AM show at the local AMC because shows that early … you can get in for $5 … so that made it only $25 for movie and concessions. Don’t get me started on movie prices.

The movie was great … the joker was awesome, as everyone has reported, but the star of the movie for me was this baby. The batcycle! This thing was amazing.

I have a couple of observations about the movie that bother me a bit … why is batman so opposed to hand guns but does not mind using those 50 caliber canons on the front of the batcycle? Hmmm? And why cant they make a batsuit strong enough to withstand a dog bite? Lastly, I didn’t stick around for the credits … but did those rottweilers get hurt in the filming of the picture … they were really getting tossed around!

Caleb loved it … pedalboy and I determined that it would not be too bad for a 7 year old to see Dark Knight … and we were correct … at least this 7 year old. Caleb reported to his father last night that … “it probably would be ok for you to go and see it dad, you probably would not get TOO scared.”  It was a long movie. Caleb took care of those long gaps in between the action by explaining stuff to me in his extra large outside voice. That cracked me up too. Caleb would always tell me when the Joker was on scene. After a large bag of sour patch kids, a large popcorn and a coke … we headed to Arby’s for lunch … I wonder why I could not get him to eat a thing. After all he would not eat the “red” sour patch kids … he passed those over to me … think about how you could tell what color your sour patch kid was in a dark movie … that kids really knows how to make candy last.

We give Dark Knight … two thumbs up.

papa and caleb <<