Festival of Grapes

A couple of weeks ago, the gang took a spur of the moment trip to GrapeFest. We had a great time listening to music, milling about with the crowd, and enjoying the festival experience. This time we seemed to be much more incognito. The boys are older, and we dressed them similarly but not the same. Perhaps the biggest notice I had was in the breastfeeding/diaper change tent as I paraded in and out with three different kids to change their pants.

Ryan's ready to go!

James has two treat cups to contain his hunger.

Michael sports a "Yankee STADIUM" shirt. It was the only way I could get a Yankee souvenir for the kids from our August baseball trip. Bob still complains about how it breaks his heart to see his boy wearing the Yankee logo.
The petting zoo was something new and different. We could have bought food for a dollar, but the boys were pretty timid just touching the animals much less having them eat out of their hands.
After a bit, they got a little braver and started touching the animals with a little prompting.
Michael ignored his wet pants to play with the animals. After he got his pet on, we stopped at the diaper tent to change clothes.
Ryan and Grandpa check out a llama (or is it an alpaca - oh well, it's a hairy mountain beast).
James checks out the ground near the hairy coo. Seeing the little hairy coo made me want to take Mr. James and his bros to Scotland.

More coo lookin'.

Ryan gets brave and pets the goat (later he decided to chase a fluffy chicken - I didn't have time to photograph in order to save said chicken's life).
Michael likes the petting zoo, and I tried not to think about how their little pacifiers were swinging about in a land of poop and sawdust while they bent and squatted and probably drug said pacifiers through aforementioned sawdust & poo.
After the petting zoo, the boys took a ride in the big wheel/trike area. Ryan and James LOVED the bikes, but Michael was not as thrilled.

James commands his vessel.

Michael gets a little help from Aunt Faith.

Battle of the Bros Tricycle Style.

Mom, Faith, and I took a spin on the ferris wheel. Faith was very excited to wave to the boys below.
Bob, Jim, and the boys are down below - note the grey t-shirt uniform of my beloved and the two strollers.
At the end of the night, we watched a band play for a bit before the boys all crashed, and then we waited while Aunt Faith got her face painted with our leftover tickets.

Beautiful girl, pretty butterfly. Grape time!

On the Move?

As of September 1, Bob has a new territory with Buffet. He's the new West Coast rep, and as such, his bosses would like us to live on the West Coast. This has caused a lot of discussion amongst our nearest and dearest, but the bottom line is we all like to eat and this is a promotion for Bob. We put our house on the market about a month ago, and we are currently looking at homes in the Portland area as well as in Reno and central California.
It's a frightening and exciting proposition. It's hard to think of leaving this beautiful home I thought we'd grow old in for a smaller yet similarly priced house thousands of miles from our family. On the plus side, maybe I can talk Bob into taking me to Hawaii more often as the flight will be shorter.

A couple of weeks ago, Bob and I went to Washington/Oregon. It was fantastic because my very good friend Anne & her husband Tobin met us in Portland. We looked at a gazillion houses, and I think there are a couple that would work. I want to live in either Washington or Nevada because there is no state income tax, but we are checking out all of our options. You can take the Republican out of Texas, but you can't make her vote Democrat.
Luckily, our house has to sell before we head off into the wild blue yonder, so it has given me a little bit of time to process this whole situation. I've never lived more than 50 miles from my mom, and Faith is still growing up and I want to be there for all the special moments to come, and driving home from Washington or Nevada is not quite like making a quick trip to Louisiana or Houston to see family & friends. With all of that swirling around in my brain combined with the thought of leaving our church, our friends, and everything we know for the unknown has definitely prompted me to throw out lots of prayers for guidance and wisdom.
While we wait for some one to find this home that we've made to be one they can't live without, I have been endlessly searching the internet for another place to live. While I do that, James is trying to get the packing started by pulling all of the pots and pans out of the cabinet. He is so helpful.
Ryan just wants us all to stop and consider for a moment that not only are we leaving behind friends and family, but also our sports teams. How will he grow up rooting for teams other than the Rangers and Cowboys. This has been Bob's biggest fear since before the kids were conceived. I'm pretty sure he'll be okay, especially with the Sunday Ticket and MLB Extra Innings, and if we live in Washington, we can go watch the Rangers play the Mariners. I come from a family that roots for LSU & the Saints and even in my deepest anti-sports phase, I always knew you had to root for the Tigers and the Saints. I'm sure with cult like inculcation, the boys will love their Rangers and Cowboys just like Daddy.
Michael and Bob are practicing their waving skills. We aren't gone yet, but we are getting closer to moving with every showing of our house.