Great Trip and Good Eats

We are back from our two weeks of travel... youth camp the second week of July, and this past week in Corpus Christi visiting my family. I must say, the trips were pretty easy, thanks to Southwest Airlines and their peanuts and new plane crackers, Crayola Color Wonder Markers, juice boxes, Laurie Berkner and her Band, and a two month old who loves to sleep on trips.

We had lots of great moments on our trip, but I must thank Cami for inspiring me to write about some key experiences that are not available in good ol' MO. Can you say Whataburger? For those of you who may have had the misfortune to have never eaten there, let me just tell you that no other burger joint cuts the mustard. (ha) Sure, we've got Steak n Shake, Wendys, Hardees, McDonalds (no we don't own stock-can't tell you how many times people ask that and it's never been funny), and Sonic, but my yearning for those yummy burgers, fries, and especially their special recipe Ketchup only grows with time. I missed the orange and white striped roofs and actually got to have a WhataReunion with them this past week. I love how their workers (at least in Corpus) visit the tables with the oh-so-neatly organized trays of napkins, salt, pepper, condiments (Ketchup Ketchup!) and mints. Their peppermints are even orange and white!

Ok, no one who lives inland gets to experience the best seafood without shelling out a lot of clams for the experience (I'm on a roll) I NEVER eat seafood up here unless it's the easily accessible variety...salmon, tuna, tilapia. Boy, I miss the good stuff. We went to a local restaurant called Catfish Charlie's in Corpus. Some places attempt to serve good fried catfish, but none do it like this. We didn't get to make it to King's Inn this time (amazing fresh fried shrimp and drum, with the best onion rings and avocado salad), but if you're ever in the Corpus area, don't miss the chance to go!

Another memorable moment: Mexican Food! I don't care how many times you go to El Chico, or even to a madre&padre mexican food restaurant here in Missouri, you'll go away from the visit wishing you'd had real mexican food. There's a little place in Corpus called P.O.E.T.S. (name is a long story) that has the best chicken fajitas, salsa, flour tortillas and flour tortilla chips! Mmmm. Delicioso.

Kudos go to my mom, though, because although we long to visit Whataburger, Taco Bueno, PF Changs, Pei Wei, POETS, Kings Inn, Catfish Charlie's, or Freebirds, the best food of all comes from her own kitchen. Roast with potatoes and carrots...Blueberry Scones...Pico de Gallo...Snicker Cake...and homemade rolls. Mmmm. It's a wonder they didn't have to roll us onto the plane to come back.

Caleb-isms

1. "When Anna touches me, (reverts to high pitched voice) it's SO NICE!"
2. "Uh-oh! One of my shoes is unfixed!"
3. "I'm all tangled up in you!" when wrestling
4. "This night after I sleep today will be Sunday!" on Saturday, looking forward to the next day's trip to Texas
5. "I like my new shoes. They're called 'Cwocs.'"
6. "You're the man!"
7. "One diaper, coming up!"

Putt-putt and Go Carts

Last Saturday, we took some college students into Branson for dinner and fun at one of the many golf/go cart establishments. It was a blast, and Caleb was exactly the minimum height to ride the go carts! Here are some pictures.

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sweet girl ---------------almost a full smile...

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and there's the tongue.------------ ready to drive

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Can you see Caleb gripping the sides? during...and after

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Caleb's thoughts on the go carts: "I thought it was tooooo bumpy." By the way, the track was an elevated wooden one that was very rollercoaster-like. Cool!

When you least expect it...

Check out this link for the most amazing rabbit picture! (Credit to Phillip Bethancourt for the post where I discovered it)


We just returned from an exciting week at youth camp in Miami (Oklahoma, not Fla.) Scott and our college students were in charge of recreation for the week at Sky Ranch's Okla. camp, and Caleb, Anna, and I tagged along. It was a good week, despite the bunkbeds we slept on each night. I don't have many pictures, but I'll see if I can acquire a particular photographical gem from one of our students...

Sunday afternoon we're off to Corpus Christi to see Mimi and Pawpaw!

Gimme Your Two Cents...Update

This is an update to the "Two Cents" post below...

I feel so savvy to have figured out the html code to put in the Currently Reading section you'll see on the right. :) I've also included a link for you to access our book blog and leave your comments! We're always looking for good reading material!

Success! Lasting I hope...

As a college student, I never thought that the topic which would occupy my conversation most frequently would ever be the bathroom habits of a three year old. Sure, I knew that when I had kids there would be diaper issues and potty training, but would I talk about them to my friends? Nah.

Yet now here I am, once again discussing our struggles and victories in public with family and friends! After a few frustrating bouts with Caleb being unwilling, then unable, to go #2, we've got that issue resolved (lets hope permanently). We've chanted the mantra "It's good to push out poo-poo" and practically developed our own brainwashing potty propaganda. Then this morning, our sweet boy, who has been #1 trained for several months, decided that after going tee-tee, he wanted to just sit for a while. And to our surprise and sheer delight, he called to us with the wonderful news that he went in the potty! Let's hope this is the first successful day of the rest of his life as a big-boy-pants wearing, no more pull-ups, boy! Sure, accidents may happen (a la Christine's Freebirds story :) ), but we can still hope...