The Osborn's in Texas: July 2007

Stuck in Abilene...Again.

It is Sunday night and I am stuck in Abilene again. I was here a couple of weeks ago for a hearing but the actual trial is on Tuesday. So I'm sitting in my hotel room on Dyess AFB and figured I would get caught up on the blog - either that orstart looking for stuff in the room and write a song about what I find. I think somebody already had that idea though.

Anyway, I've posted a boatload of posts and pictures so scroll way down to see everything. The floods, Rascal Flatts, flowerbeds, Mo's room, Texas landscapes, and videos from the beach - it's all there. Have a good week.

Rascal Flatts in San Antonio

Last night, the girls and I made a little trip downtown to the AT&T Center to see Rascal Flatts and Jason Aldean in concert. The music was good but the two girls sitting near us completely stole the show. These two "healthy" girls appeared to be good friends who probably just could not get dates to the show. Wrong assumption. By the time the show was over, they were hand-in-hand and dancing cheek-to-cheek. Apparently, they each had a date after all. Their choreographed dance moves were something to watch as well - especially since one had on jeans that were two sizes to small and the other had on a strapless dress that was a good three sizes too little. Kerrie wouldn't let me ask them if they were going on tour - I think they could definitely have been an opening act.

Anyway, the girls loved it and Karlyle was snoozing by the middle of the Rascal Flatts set. Here are some shots from the night...

Our seats were in the lower level of the back corner from the stage but they had this nifty little stage in the middle of the arena and they sang from there about half the time. I bet those folks that paid big bucks for the front row seats were pissed.

Close up of the middle stage.

Here is one of Jason Aldean to prove he was there.

It Never Rains in Central Texas, Right????

Alright, so this post is going to give away part of the what the backyard project is but I just had to share because holy good gosh. We have had a little bit of rain in San Antonio this summer. And by a little, take this into account - this time last year, we were minus 20 inches from the yearly average. This year, we are around 25 inches over it. I swear I think we live in Seattle.

Here are some pictures of a heavy downpour we had last week - the same type storm hit a couple of days earlier and left the same amount of rain. For perspective, realize the playyard is surrounded by 4x4's stacked two high in the places where the water is flowing OVER the wood. Good times. The pictures are pretty cool but you have to watch the movies to realize how much water was cruising through our yard. Crazy.

Usually, you would need to step off the porch and then up into the playyard gravel. Now, we can just ski.

Right there is where the 4x4 planks are stacked two high.

This is a hole that has appeared in the easement fence in our backyard. What kind of pressure could make water create the hole?

As we zoom back, you realize...

...that the neighbors in the back have a slight drainage problem. Check out the movie to see this in action.

Kerrie did not appreciate me out on the porch taking videos. I think what you hear about 2 seconds into this clip is why.

Be sure to watch for Jackson's ball in this one....I think it is in Mexico now.

Here is the live shot of the hole in the wall.

Finally, this is an overall shot of the yard.

The Front Yard

Back in February or March, Kerrie and I did some major curb appeal action to the front yard. Some folks have been asking to see how everything looks a few months later so here you go. As for the backyard, the patio and playyard project is almost complete. Pictures should be up of that hopefully within the week.

This was the driveway corner before - a little tiller and some rocks dug up from the backyard and you get...

This.

Here is the front bed before.

After.

Side view.

After.

And the other front bed.

After.

On the Road to Abilene....

A couple of weeks ago, I had to go up to Abilene, Texas for a court hearing. Here are some shots from my cellphone of the scenery from a lonesome TX State HWY 83.

OK, so this one was from the interstate before I hit Hwy 83. Not only is everything bigger in Texas, it is faster too.

Mo's Room - All Grown Up

I know, I know, I know. Where are all the horses you ask? Where has the Morgan we all know and love gone? Well apparently being a teenager (and one that watches HGTV and TLC) means that you have to have a room that "Pops" - her word, definitely not mine. So, before she left for the summer, Mo and her mom did a Flip This Room - out with horses, in with black and whites of NYC and Europe. Way grown up.

Vids From The Beach

Here are a couple of videos from the beach....

First up is Megan being really patient with K. As I said below, the game was Megan hits the ball and K goes to pick it up and throw it back.

Here is one of the funnier portions of the trip. On Thursday, we went to a place to eat oysters for lunch . On the way out, they have this machine just like one of those that has stuffed animals and a claw to try and grab it (actually they had one of those machines right next to this one). Anyway, this machine was like that except the stuffed animals were live lobsters. Eat your heart out PETA. For $2 a shot, you get to try and grab the lobster. If you get one, the place would cook it for you for free. This is Camille on her 3rd try to get the lobster. I hate that I didn't tape her 1st try when she got close to getting it and almost went full-blown Britney Spears crazy. Oh well...this one will have to do. I like Rhonda yelling continuously "To the left, to the left" - apparently that "Tootsie Roll" song from the mid-90's was on the radio.

The Osborn Family Beach Trip

So you may have been wondering where we have been for the last few weeks....or maybe you haven't. In any case, the girls and I (sadly minus Morgan for reasons beyond our control) spent the second week of July in Gulf Shores, Alabama at the beach with the Osborn side of my family. You can read that as spending a week with 14 Osborns under one 5-bedroom roof. Thankfully, everyone made it out with their sanity. Seriously, the trip was great. This was the first time in many years that all of us have been able to get together for such a long period of time and I think we made the most of it. Shrimp boils, crab hunting, oysters, all-you-can-eat crab legs, Trivial Pursuit, Texas Hold-Em, lots of swimming, a late-night 4-hour name that tune session with my iPod, one crushed beach canopy, a golf cart that when driven would start "breakin' the law, breakin' the law" (right Baylor?), a brother who got struck by lightening, a rain-soaked convertible VW Beetle, and two wrecked cars both of which are owned by my father. Like I said...just another normal family trip to the beach.

The 5 posts below all include different sets of pictures from the beach - I think 52 pictures in all. I also have a few videos I'll probably post in the next few days. I would also encourage everyone to hit Derek's blog link to the left. He has plenty more pictures of the whole crew plus a rundown of everyone who was there. And yes...we are all wishing we were still there!

Unfortunately, reality set in last Saturday and we had to drive the 850 miles back to San Antonio. We made it in one day and rolled into the driveway around 2:30 AM on Sunday morning. Due to some wonderful scheduling on my part, I had to then get up on Monday morning and drive to Abilene, Texas (a mere 250 miles/4 hours away) to prepare for a court hearing on Wednesday while Kerrie got to ride solo with K for a few days.

Suffice it to say, we spent this weekend sleeping, resting, and then sleeping more. We did make it to see the new Harry Potter movie (much darker than previous ones - good stuff) and pick up the new Harry Potter book for the girls. On an even bigger note, Morgan gets home tomorrow! Pics of her return and our new backyard will be up soon.

Until then, it is sleepy time for me. Have a good week everyone!

The Portraits

Seeing that this was the first time in a while for all of us to be together, we did a WHOLE lot of picture taking. On our last night, we did the impossible - got 14 people ready at close to the same time with only 4 bathrooms and then got everyone situated and smiling (including the little ones) so that a timed camera could take multiple shots. Did I mention it was raining while all of this was going on? Truly a feat to behold. Anyway, the first few below are from during the week. After the big portrait above, we then broke it down wedding-style and did a 30-minute individual photo shoot. Derek beat me to the punch of posting a lot of the individual family shots so I would again recommend heading to his blog for more pics (link is to the right).

Kerrie and I on our date night. We went to her all-time favorite The Gift Horse (also the site of our rehearsal dinner over 5 short years ago) and then met up with Derek and Lynn for drink at the Beach Club. Quick thanks again to Pops, Rhonda, Grannie Jean, Craig and the cousins for watching those baby girls.

Derek, Lynn, and their baby girl Savannah.

The Texas crew.

Rhonda and closet LSU fan Camille.

Uncle Craig and Baylor.

Take 1.

Take 2.

The sanity only lasted for so long...

Grannie Jean has to be proud of this bunch.

Quick story on this one - We almost had to take the family pictures on the porch because it was raining - obviously, it ended up letting up long enough for us to take the picture in the front yard. Anyway, while it was still raining, Derek was taking test shots for the picture and this is what came out of that. Totally unscripted but perhaps the best picture of the week. Really like this one.

Us.

The brothers and their girls.

And again...

4 Generations of Osborn.

The grandkids and great-grandkids.

The Beach

Here was our view at the beach for a majority of the week. The rest of our camp consisted of a lot more beach chairs, a couple of umbrellas so that K could do her damage in the sand, a playyard for baby Sav and canopy that lasted all week but did not end the week in its original form (thanks for a Texas-sized thunderstorm that rolled through).

K playing in the sand.

K and her Poppa getting down to business.

Megan being EXTREMELY patient. This game consisted of Megan hitting the ball and then K swinging, missing, and then running to get it. Again. And again. And again.