Dallas Trip May 2008 - Emma's ballet recital

At last, our laptop computer is up and running, I have all my tasks for the weekend essentially accomplished, bills paid, computer and Yahoo configured, (Phil got us on line yesterday) refrigerator cleaned and am ready to update the blog. Sorry for the delay, but it took us 1 week to decide what we wanted, 2 weeks for the computer to be built in TAIWAN (what happened to building an American product in America???) and then 3 days to ship. Was counting? Well, Ya!

So, here is the info on our trip to Dallas for Emma's ballet recital.

We typically go to Dallas on a Thursday and come back on a Sunday. Works pretty well for all involved and gets us back to the office on Monday, which is pretty important.

Thursday:
Arrived about 11a. Mike picked us up and then we met Stacy and Emma at our favorite Mexican Fast food place, Tin Star. http://www.tinstar.us/ After lunch we headed back to their house, and made coffee cake. Then later in the afternoon went to Emma's swim lessons. She has the body type and ability of her father so that she floats on her back with ease.

Friday:
Stacy and Emma headed out early to school. After school it was nap time and then Phil and I took Emma to the park to fish and feed the ducks. Never having had much interaction with swans, I did not realize they can be pretty aggressive. Well, Emma wanted to go down by the water, which of course Nana agreed to, though watching her very closely. A big white swan swam up and then tried to "eat her dress" (Nana speak for "nip at her with mouth wide open!") (Check out the neck on this picture that Emma took of the swan!) We quickly backed up, trying to get away. Both of us were more than a little surprised, but we made light of it, not wanting to have her scared of the swan for the rest of her life. Me, I'll definitely stay away. We also made peanut butter pie (yum yum) and added the Stacy touch - Chocolate! Yes, Oreo crust and then fudge topping. After all, what is peanut butter without chocolate?

Saturday:
This was the big day for the ballet recital. Emma had rehearsal in the morning. After lunch we headed over for the recital which was a total riot. Emma was a bumble bee. Of course the best of the bunch. She ended up in the middle of the stage and you could see her asking her Daddy. "Where's Nana and Pappy?" A charmer for sure! She did a great job for a three year old on the stage for the first time. Some kids refused to get on the stage, others who managed to do it, just stood there. But our Emma, she went through her whole routine. Afterwards she got a bouquet of roses (they're NOT flowers, they are ROSES!) from her Mom and Dad and we gave her a little ballerina wind up music box doll. She wanted to stay through the whole performance and was entranced with watching the other kids.

Sunday:
Our flight was at 1:30p (or was suppossed to be) so we had a quick lunch at Cheddars and then were dropped at the airport. There were terrible storms in Chicago, so we ended up being delayed - not only getting on the flight, but then sitting on the taxiway for over 2 hours. Not a nice way to spend Mother's Day, but that is just the way it is.

All in all, we had a great time, as always. Lots of good talk, good food, and family. Can't wait to see them all again.