Adventures of an AFWingMom: July 2012

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Tri-Cities Fever

We made a trip up to Tri-Cities, Washington to spend some time with the kids and our adorable grandson.

I of course play the game, "What's in the seat pocket in front of me?" and was again disappointed in my findings. I also critiqued the safety brochure because seriously...who can actually get in this position?

Not me that's for sure. A little too much extra padding around the mid-section for me to be able to do that.

My oldest triplet was going to be dancing at the Tri-Cities Fever game and we landed just in time to get freshened up and head that way.

Joining us were my oldest son and his wife and of course adorable Bentley.

When I went up to the window to buy the tickets I asked for some on the 50 yard line. The guy didn't even blink and sold me some seats. After we found our seats I realized something that should have been obvious before. The field is not a full field. ;) Oh well we were on the 25 yard line and ready to watch a great game.

During the game when the kicked off the ball one of them was stuck in the banners that were hanging overhead.

Now part of the fun for me at any sporting event is the atmosphere of the arena and of course the fans. One of the songs they played was Tom Sawyer by Rush. I am familiar with this song because it was the intro song for the wrestler Kerry Von Erich. Yes, I used to be a big fan of wrestling. It is what it is folks and maybe explains some things for y'all.

So the reason I bring up the song is that despite having heard it since the early 80's I do not know all the lyrics. Weird, right? Well here's what I thought:

A modern-day warrior

A mean mean stride

Today's Tom Sawyer

Mean mean pride

Though his mind is operan....

...yeah. Operan. Okay so I know that it is not a word but honestly didn't know what else it would have said and didn't bother to try and look it up or anything. So when I heard the song at the arena it got me to thinking about that line. Now you are thinking and wondering as well aren't you?! It's okay to admit it. I did. So what it really says is:

Though his mind is not for rent...

...ahhhh. Kind of makes more sense. Mystery solved.

The reason that we even went to the game is so that we could see Anna dance at half-time. Here's a pic of the dancers and yes I tried to correct the red-eye thing going on but was unable to so just imagine them with non-laser eyes.

Here they are doing their line dance

Considering we really weren't Tri-Cities Fever fans before we arrived we were definitely fans as we were leaving. A great start to our Washington weekend.

Technorati Tags: Tri-Cities,Washington state,What's in the seat pocket in front of me game,Tri-Cities Fever,arena football,Tom Sawyer,Rush,Texas Roadhouse Roadies,dancers,half-time,lyrics

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

I collect patches

So for those of you that don’t know the above title is totally true and I stand behind it 100%. I collect patches. And these aren’t eye patches or tire patches or patches earned from the Girl Scouts. They are patches from places I have visited.

When I first started collecting I had them sewn on a tote bag my sister gave me for being in her wedding. Here's the front and back of the tote. A little worse for wear and obviously room for some additional patches to be added but works very well for when we take our road trips.

Because we do travel quite a bit I've had the great opportunity to add a lot of patches to my collection. Here are some more that I have:

I plan on having these patches sewn onto individual squares and then ultimately sewn together to form a memory quilt. Pretty cool, huh?! Until then the rest in a basket on a shelf in my office/guest bedroom.

Now that you've taken a peek at something I collect I was wondering what you collect.

Technorati Tags: patches,iron on patches,sew on patches,memory quilt,memory tote bag,travel,road trip,AFWM,AF WingMom,collecting

My first pair of Toms

Yes I did it. I bought a pair of Toms. The real kind not the fake ones. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Many of y'all already know the story behind Toms and what their mission is but here's a recap for those that don't:

One for One Movement

In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created Toms.com, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers.

Why Shoes?

Many children in developing countries grow up barefoot. Whether at play, doing chores or going to school, these children are at risk:

•A leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted diseases, which can penetrate the skin through bare feet. Wearing shoes can help prevent these diseases, and the long-term physical and cognitive harm they cause.

•Wearing shoes also prevents feet from getting cuts and sores. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected.

•Many times children can't attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don't have shoes, they don't go to school. If they don't receive an education, they don't have the opportunity to realize their potential.

One Day Without Shoes

What is it?

One Day Without Shoes is the day we raise awareness of the impact a pair of shoes can have on a child’s life by going without shoes.

Why?

Millions of children live without shoes. Many are exposed to injury and disease each day, and are not allowed to go to school without shoes.

A day without shoes – I’d so love to do this but it’s not practical. I can’t not (I know that's a double negative) wear shoes to work and if I did it on a weekend seems like I’m doing it when it’s convenient and kind of goes against the concept, no? Anyways, to find out more info please click this link: One Day Without Shoes Challenge.

So back to me and my Toms. Yes I like them and yes I’ve broken them in so they feel pretty comfy. No I do not have a "Toms tan" yet and yes I will probably buy another pair in the near future. Do you own a pair of Toms?

Technorati Tags: Toms,Toms.com,One Day Without Shoes,Challenge,Blake Mycoskie,One for One,AFWM,shoes

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Wildseed Farms, LBJ National Historic Park and other stuff

So we were back on the road and heading again toward home. We had been joking on and off about stopping at one of the many local wineries and as we passed Wildseed Farms we decide to stop.

They have a nice little gift shop area where I found two things M thought I needed to take notice of. ;)

Now on to the real purpose of our stop. We headed over to the wine tasting area and proceeded to talk to the wine tasting attendant. After explaining that to us most wines taste like vinegar he quickly recommended we try a sweet red wine.

We learned how to "taste" wine and in the end made a purchase...or two. ;)

I see more wine tasting adventures in our future.

I have a passport book where I collect stamps from the different National Historic Parks.

We stopped at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park so that we could take a tour and get my stamp. Here are some pics from there:

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We did hold a press conference while we were there and fielded many tough questions.

The tour is a driving tour and they give you a cd to play which describes what you are looking at. It's a working farm and the actual tour of the home (despite the fact that they didn't allow pics) was interesting.

Back on the road and heading towards home we did make a stop in Johnson City and saw the childhood home of LBJ.

We saw a few more post offices on the way

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We also spotted some giant spurs!

We had a fun, fun time and I'm looking forward to the next adventure!

Technorati Tags: Wildseed Farms,sweet red wine,wine tasting,gift shop,German,Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park,National Parks Passport Book,post office,spurs,Johnson City

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The rest of the Fredericksburg trip...

We finished touring the Bush Gallery of the Pacific War and we were hungry so we looked for somewhere to eat. I try not to eat at too many places that we can eat at when we are at home so we bypassed Subway moseyed over to Mahaleys Cafe to get a bite to eat.

M had a beer while we there and I read the word pilsner on the side of the bottle.

Pilsner is apparently a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the then city of Pilsen (Plzeň), Bohemia, in today's Czech Republic, where a bottom-fermented beer was first produced in 1842.The original Pilsner Urquell beer is produced there today. So now you know.

I eyed these tasty looking cupcakes while we were eating.

::sigh:: I must say that the cupcakes looked tastier in the display case then actually tasted. :/

The next day we were preparing to head home and I can't really remember where I spotted this ketchup packet but of course it raised some questions in my mind.

Tomato ketchup. What is tomato ketchup really and are there other kinds of ketchup? And what is "fancy" ketchup? And what is the difference between ketchup and catsup? Sometimes I think I think too much.

I couldn't be this near to Luckenbach Texas and not stop by and take some pics. Here we are in front of the Post Office.