JUNE 26, 2011

The family in Luckenbach

The girls at Hard Rock Cafe

Danny, Emma, and I out early for breakfast. Everyone else was still asleep!
The family on the Riverwalk!

Emma's bird friend!

The whole gang!
Haylie, Alyssa, and Emma in front of The Alamo

We took a weekend vacation to San Antonio with Granny Carol, Walter, Lori, Carrie, Amy, J.C., and Haylie. We headed out early Friday morning. We stopped in San Marcos for lunch at Centerpoint Station then shopped a little at the outlet mall. Then on to our destination. Our Hotel, The Emily Morgan, is rumored to be haunted, but luckily we did not encounter any ghosts! After checking in we walked across the street to The Alamo, then walked around and did some sight seeing. Lori took Haylie and Alyssa to see a late movie while the rest of us turned in early. Saturday morning we went to Market Square and did some shopping and ate some really good Mexican food. Did I mention it was about a 2 mile walk from our hotel and it was about 100 degrees?! After resting a bit we all headed to the riverwalk to take a boat tour and eat at Hardrock Cafe. J.C. and Emma got balloon animals, and Emma ended up with a bird on her head! Sunday, Lori, Granny, and Walter headed back to Chandler while the rest of us took a detour to Luckenbach. There wasn't a whole lot there, but when we hear the Waylon and Willie song we can say we've been there too!! J.C. was the best baby the whole time. I don't think I ever saw him really cry. It was such a blessing for my whole family to be able to go on vacation together and have a great time!

Been a while...

Emma turns 6 tomorrow!! We had a small party at Brookshire's Park with some school and church friends. We're taking her to Chuck E Cheese tomorrow with her best friend to play and celebrate. I still can't believe she's 6, but she said she'll still be my baby!! Awww:)

Alyssa has wrapped up football season. She'll start cheering for the boys' basketball games in January. Tomorrow night we're going to a midnight showing of NEW MOON! The girls are so excited. I just hope their teachers don't catch them sleeping in class Friday:P

We've got so much going on. I haven't been good at blogging. It's so much easier to upload pictures to shutterfly and just post captions. So check us out at http://tashiacookfamily.shutterfly.com/

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Summer Fun

Last night we met the James' at Tyler State Park. They've been camping out there this week and invited us out for the evening. Emma caught her first fish! It was very small, but it still counts. There were tons of little fish right at the dock. We saw a little turtle swimming around the bottom of the lake. We heard lots of frogs, but never got to see them. The kids got to play on the nice, new playground while the guys did a little more fishing. It was a really nice relaxed evening.

Susie made Emma a quilt and matching sham for her bed. My grandmother made me one and I still cherish it. Nanny helped a little so she had to be in the picture too.

Danny and I celebrated 7 years of marriage on July 5th.

We went to Pleasant Hill again this year to watch the fireworks show. I think it was even better than last year. Little Jonah got to see fireworks for the first time. He was so good. He even fell asleep during the show. The Smith's were there too and we saw some friends from church. It was a great way to celebrate Independence Day.

Disney World

I took about 500 pictures so I tried to pick some of my favorites. We arrived in Disney on Sunday and went swimming at our resort, then off to Downtown Disney to shop and eat at Planet Hollywood. Monday we tackled Magic Kingdom. We got there when it opened and planned on spending the whole day there, but by 5pm we were worn out and decided to go back to the hotel and swim and relax a little before heading to dinner at Chef Mickey's. We got to see and get autographs from Mickey, Minnie, Goofey, Donald, and Pluto. It was really fun. Tuesday we went to breakfast and got to take pictures with Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Ariel, and Snow White. Then we spent the whole day at Epcot and got to see the fireworks show there. Wednesday was Hollywood Studios where we ate at the Sci-Fi Dine in Theater which was neat. We sat in old cars and watched old drive in movies. We saw a fun parade there and some neat shows. Thursday we had 8am breakfast reservations which Alyssa and Danny were not thrilled about, but they got up and we made it. There we saw Pooh, Tigger, Mary Poppins, Mad Hatter and Alice in Wonderland. The autographs were just about full. Then off to Animal Kingdom. There were some animals there that we don't have here and the tree of life is really interesting. My favorite show was there, The Festival of the Lion King. On our way out it started raining so we had to ditch our plan of swimming at the hotel and go shopping instead. They have a big outlet mall there which was the highlight for Alyssa. Emma loved it all. She says we're going back when she's 8 which Danny actually agreed to so I guess that says he had a good time too. It was a great family vacation.

Emma's 1st dance recital

She got a 1st year ribbon and a carnation from her teachers!
The big performance

On our way to recital

Emma was a natural on the stage. She wasn't a bit nervous. Of course I think she was the best one up there:-) She had a great first year at Dance N Drill and she's looking forward to going back in September.

Getting back to my roots...

Every Saturday before Easter my dad's family gets together in Garrison, TX for the "Easter Davis Family Reunion". This has been going on since way before I was even thought of. My sister and I spent every Spring Break there as kids and we loved it. I realized today how many wonderful memories I have of being there. It's literally in the sticks so there's no cable, no shopping, just dirt roads and mother nature. The old homeplace, as they call it, where my grandmother and her nine brothers and sisters grew up, is still there. It's atleast 75 years old and it survived the raising of 10 kids, numerous grandkids, greats, and now great greats. Amazingly it's still standing, although one of my aunts refuses to step foot in it for fear of the ceiling caving in or the floor rotting underneath her. It did seem so much smaller than I remember, but I guess I'm a little bigger too. Sadly they did finally tear down the old outhouse. I wanted Alyssa to experience that;)
My grandmother, MeMaw, passed away in 1996, two months before Alyssa was born. I went to one reunion the year after her death, but it wasn't the same without her there so I never went back. Well, one of my cousins started a blog and all the family gets on, even the older ones, and my aunts kept asking us to come. So today, Alyssa, Lori, and I loaded up and first went to White Rock Cemetery, where my dad and MeMaw are buried and placed some flowers on their gravesides. Most of the people buried in that cemetery are our relatives so that was neat to show Alyssa. My great grandparents are buried there, as well as some uncles and cousins who have passed over the years. After that, with the help of my GPS, we ended up on a five mile long red dirt road, with absolutely no cell phone signal, on our way to the homeplace. We were chased by dogs, saw a dead cow in a pond, and almost ran smack into a calf standing in the middle of the road. I so wish I had a picture of that. After those few near death experiences and a lot of laughs we finally made it there. To be honest I dreaded going. I thought Alyssa would be bored and I thought it would make me sad to go back, but it was just the opposite. I think Alyssa must have liked it, b/c she's going back with my sister tomorrow for the reunion. She says she wants a cow. LOL!! I'm so glad I went back to my roots and shared some of them with my daughter. I'm looking forward to bringing the whole family back next year.

I'm a cheer mom...

This past Friday was a very stressful, but proud day for me and Alyssa. She has been cheering since she was 7 years old and tumbling since age 5. She has tried just about every sport...t-ball, soccer, karate, dance, and gymnastics, but cheer was always her passion. All her hard work paid off. She made 8th grade cheerleader. 34 girls worked really hard that week and tried out, but only 12 were chosen. I am so proud of her. It was an emotional roller coaster for her, because her very best friend did not make it. Alyssa was excited for herself, but devastated for Mallory. I'm sure all this means I'll be sacrificing more time and money, but it's worth it to see her doing what she loves.