Signs of Life

Well, we are more than halfway through Annie's first week at Pine Cove. It's amazing to think of how much fun she is having, and that is what is keeping all of us going because she is sorely missed at home! A very sweet letter (the first!) arrived this morning, and it sounds like she's having a great time.

Fortunately (thank you technology), we knew already that she was having a blast, because Pine Cove allows us to peek into the camp experience a little by posting pictures of the campers here. (Choose Towers, Week 9, and then a day to peruse.) Some of the Annie pics are...

Annie in the car heading into camp through the counselor gauntlet

Annie's counselor, Skrat Splat (her real name is Gracie!)

Annie's cabin

Annie and friends in camo

It doesn't look like the rain has slowed them down at all
What a great surprise it was to see that Mary Shannon and her Houston friend were also in Annie's cabin!

Two more days until we pick up the girl. Can't wait to see her!

Roughriders (Alt. hed.: Sarah G. is jealous)

Last Friday, I took Annie and Sam to the Frisco Roughriders game. We had a blast. There were hot dogs, cotton candy, Dippin Dots, and soft drinks galore. The park was very nice and they really try hard to make it a fun family atmosphere. Annie and Sam really liked the Diaper Derby, Sneaker Scramble, and the antics of the mascot. We also had the chance to meet a few folks from WFAA, Channel 8 at the game. We met Pete Delkus, Cynthia Izzaguirrrrrrre, and Chris Flanagan, and the kids had their picture taken with them! Link to the picture on the WFAA website is here.


Sarah G. was quite jealous that we got to meet her weatherman crush, Pete, at the game. Since she was sick, we got an autographed ticket stub to bring home to her! Pete was funny. When I explained that the autograph was for our neighbor who had a crush on him, he immediately asked "How big is he?"

Happy Birthday, Will!

Big Willie Hutton turned 6 today! Wish this growing boy a happy birthday, especially if you see him out on his new bike!


Just stay out of his way!

Galveston remote blogging: night 1 and day 2

Oy vey. Looking back at what I posted yesterday evening, in light of last night's events, I feel bad for ever suggesting that my eldest child and most precious daughter may have been left by the road yesterday. Long story short, dear Annie was riding her scooter and fell, breaking her right arm. (A new one for us as she's broken her left arm twice, but not her right. Hi, Dr. Sackett!) So that entailed a LONG trip back into Galveston for Cathy and Annie last night to get a dubiously applied splint, which is covered by the plastic bag you see here:


In any event, it sounds like everyone is making the best of the day, and I've seen some evidence of that...

...like Jack prowling in the shallows...


...and Will building a sand castle empire...


...and Sam asking, "Where's da beach?"


It looks like Mary Shannon and Annie are having a good time at the beach!


And this alleviates my concerns from last night and confirms that Will Tompson is still being taken care of well!

Here are all six of the big kids out in the water:

I'm headed down tomorrow! Yippee!

Remote Semi-Live Blogging from Galveston

Well, bright and early this morning I waved goodbye to Cat and the kids as they headed south to Galveston. The trusty family wagon including a borrowed roof top cargo carrier (thanks, Karl!) was filled with beach toys, scooters, fishing poles, swimsuits, and food for our family and the Tompsons of Houston for the next five days.

(Quick aside: as I was helping Cat pack last night, I commented that I didn't think that the 3 bottles of wine she was taking would be enough for 5 days at the beach. Her response? "Valerie is bringing 4 more, and you boys are on your own to get beer." So I think they'll be well provisioned [I typed and then quickly deleted "lubricated" because I know the type of person that reads this blog] in that respect this week.)

Anyhoo, Cat has been kind enough to update me with periodic notes and pics from the trip. They've made it safely to the house, which sounds great, and I can't wait to join them. In any event, here's the day as I've experienced it vicariously via text and e-mail:

11:15 am -- I assist in the search for a Redbox in The Woodlands in which to return a movie, as well as a McDonalds for lunch. (There's one at Exit 69 in Spring off I-45, by the way.) Thank you, Google.

1:08 pm -- "Leaving houston headed to big g." The renovations to the Tompson house are reputed to be "Awesome."

2:17 pm -- "On island not to house yet. Passed place we stayed [Spring Break 2008 with Barbara]. Still there."

2:55 pm -- "The bridge in the background is the beach. Pretty awesome."


You can barely see Sam in the lower right corner of the picture sprinting toward some unknown thrill/dangerous condition. Looks like fun.

3:17 pm -- "View from our upper balcony."


I sure hope Will Tompson survives this trip.

3:22 pm -- "I forgot the pkg of steak seasoning. It is in the spice cab. Please bring it for grill nite."

[Yes, I am happy to make a 280 mile trip to deliver spices. Try me.]

[At this point, Cat ignores my very pertinent question of whether they have had their first bottle of wine yet.]

4:49 pm -- "In the 1st 5 minutes Rach got a crab and Jack found a shark skull. Nice."


Curiously, I have not seen any pictures of my eldest child in Galveston. I'm wondering if she's currently locked in the roof top cargo carrier or if she made the entire tri? There may be a band of Gypsies out somewhere on I-45 with a new daughter/scullery maid/laundry wench. Good luck to them.

Now (roughly 6:00 pm) they were headed to the resort for the swimming pool and some dinner. Sounds like they are having a blast! Can't wait to get down there and join them!

I think I saw...

Driving down Central earlier this week, I could have sworn I saw David W. Harper in a white convertible whipping through traffic. Who? This kid from Fletch.

(Now in fairness, it was a Miata and he didn't have Chevy Chase with him, but it looked like him!)

Magic Fingers

When I was a kid, my family traveled everywhere by car. Vacations were roadtrips, and the journey was often just as important as the destination. I don't remember staying in big chain hotels on the road--or maybe we did and I don't remember--but I do remember the one night we stayed in a Holiday Inn in a little town, and when we returned from dinner, the marquee outside said something to the effect of "Welcome to the Hutton Family of Dallas!"

In any event, I do have very specific memories of staying in motels back in the 70's and 80's that had that quintessential weary traveler's aid: Magic Fingers. I remember that Laura and I would beg our parents for quarters to plug into the machine for fifteen minutes of "tingling relaxation and ease." So it was with great nostalgia and sadness that I read of the passing this morning of the inventor of Magic Fingers, John Joseph Houghtaling.

Now if only I could convince Cathy that we needed a Magic Fingers for our bed at home...

Renewing a Hutton tradition...?

Jack has just finished a week's worth of wrestling camp at Lake Highlands HS with Coach Pete Grieder. He had a fantastic time, thanks to Coach Grieder and the LH wrestlers who helped out at the camp.


He's said that he's interested in the wrestling club in the fall. If he keeps with it, great. If not, that's OK too. But I'm hoping that maybe one out of three boys will like wrestling! (No, Annie doesn't get the choice to like wrestling, except as a spectator!)

Catching up

So lessee...we haven't really posted a substantive item in months. We've only:
-- taken a Spring Break road trip (that we teased but didn't actually recap)
-- started and finished soccer season for all the kids
-- gotten a dog
-- survived 2 reach projects
-- gone to Lexington, VA for Ames' 15 year college reunion
-- celebrated Will's preschool graduation
-- enjoyed another talent show
-- started and almost finished Jack's baseball season
and
-- hosted a "buzz party" on the last day of school.

In no particular order, we'll try to hit the high points of some of those in the coming days/weeks. But for now, enjoy our Saturday routine: With 8:30 Saturday morning baseball games for our slugger Jack, we typically get donuts for the kids but the grownups seldom get enough breakfast for the day. So we head down to our new favorite taco joint, which is ironically enough named The Taco Joint, and fill up on the Austin-inspired grub. Good stuff. And it's not just the adults who enjoy it...


And the owner Cory gave Jack a free drink for a good baseball game! Cool place, we'll be headed back soon! So and check it out...

You'd think we have a boring life...

...if all you knew about us is what we blog. Geez, we've fallen off the blogging wagon. There are so many things we've neglected to address here. For a blog that started out because of our recounting our summer trip last year, you'd think that we would have written about our super Spring Break driving trip...but alas, we havent'. We've ignored getting a new dog (hi Abita!) and the challenges and fun entailed with her, berry picking, the fantastic REACH projects that Annie and Jack did last month, Easter, the grownups' trip to Lexington, and many other fun things from our recent past. Cathy recently commented that May is just as crazy as December, with all of the end of school events, recitals, talent shows, projects, parties, as well as the swimming lessons and other activities that start with summer approaching. It's been kinda nuts--mostly in a good way--and I will do my part to get back on the blogging wagon and get this back and going again. With a vengeance. So sit tight, and we'll get something substantive up soon. Now if only we could get Sarah to start blogging regularly again...

I didn't know we had one of those...

The boys were helping me find something in the pantry tonight. I asked them where it was, and Jack (always reading labels) says, "It's right there behind the 'Extra Virgin.'" I just about snorted beer out my nose.

PS: Jack has also been saying all week that the Talent Show (which totally rocked!) was going to be at the "Refreshment Center." (Not the Freshman Center)

Happy Mothers' Day!

Can the Rangers' Season End Immediately?

The Rangers are winning 4-0 in the 3rd against last year's Cy Young winner. This season will not get better than right now. Can we end the season immediately?

UPDATE: It's now 7-0 in the 7th. But I feel the same way--put us out of our misery now before we get our hopes up!

Saturday Math

4 soccer games + 3 cold beers + 2 derby cars = 1 tired dad.
I fell asleep watching Braveheart--a good sign I should be in bed!

Amazon contest--will you help my friend?

One of my W&L classmates, Sarah Smith Chapman, is a quarter finalist in Amazon.com's Breakthrough Novel Award Contest for her novel "Others May Die" - a thriller about a girl and her search dog who get embroiled in the hunt for a serial killer.

Sarah's novel was chosen from among thousands of entries. And now the more people who download an excerpt from the novel and give it a positive review, the better the chance Sarah has to make it to the semifinals.

So here's what you can do:

1)DOWNLOAD the excerpt for free by going to this link on Amazon.
2)RATE the excerpt and give it a positive review. Not hard to do, as it is excellent!

The deadline is April 15. Thanks for helping Sarah out!