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!

Cutting down the nets

I found this funny this morning: I was watching SportsCenter after my run, and Jack came in about 6:45 and started watching with me. They were showing UConn (I think) cutting down the nets after their regional final. Jack was concerned about this and asked why, and I told him it was a ceremony for the winners and was kind of a trophy for the winning players. He thought about it for a while and then asked, "But do they have more nets to put up?" I kept my giggles internal and told him, yes, they can replace the nets.

Yet another milestone...

...has taken place in the Hutton house today. Jack came running in just before bedtime to tell me something "so totally cool." "Look, Mom, what I just learned...." he says. I'm thinking of all the amazing things it could be and was somewhat taken aback when he says.... "I can make fart sounds under my arm. All my friends can do it and now I can too. It is so totally cool. Everyone was arm farting at Graham's birthday but I didn't know how." ('to arm fart' - another new entry to put in the dictionary)
And so we have marked yet another important watershed moment in the life of a young boy...arm farts.
His Uncle Sambo, Uncle Andy and Uncle Jason will be sooooo proud! Somehow I am envisioning arm fart Christmas carols in our yuletide future this year!

Oh, and by the way, there really was another milestone. Jack has a lovely "window" in the front of his mouth....


What a (handsome) ham!!

Tonight...

...my 7 year old son Jack consumed for dinner:
2 large pancakes
2 fried eggs
6 slices bacon
2 apple slices
1 glass of milk

Tonight's bedtime prayer will go something like this....

"Dear God,
We are no longer worried about paying for college. Please help us to pay for the emormous amounts of food it will take to feed three boys (and all their friends who hang out here). Bless us with a larger refrigerator, full-sized freezer, and a lifetime membership to Sam's.
Amen"

Techno-Challenge (alt. title, "Being Dragged Kicking and Screaming into the 21st Century")

This morning I was sitting in front of ESPN Sports Center after my run, and Annie came in to join me for a little snuggle and quiet time. She was paying attention to what was on the TV--I was so proud when she identified Mike and Mike as the radio show I listen to in the mornings on the way to school--and eventually asked me, in response to something she saw, "What is Twitter?"

I struggled to explain it, because I don't really understand it myself, but finally came up with an explanation that satisfied Annie but not me: it's like a lot of little blogs that describe what people are doing throughout the day. Since I recognize that she and the boys will soon surpass my technological know-how*, I figured that I need to try to keep ahead of her, at least while she's in elementary school! So today I tried Twitter for the first time. Will be an experiment--I've not been so good recently with the blog, will see if Twitter is any easier or if it is more trouble than it's worth.

* I had to laugh earlier this week when a mom I know was trying to find her husband's e-mail address on her iPhone, and she ended up handing it to her 3rd grader for help! That day is coming for all of us!