Uncle George Comes to Texas

Last Sunday we picked up Uncle George from the airport for a 3-day visit. (Nigel's sour face to the left is because an older man had just said to him, "Thanks, I'm glad to be in Texas, but my name's not Uncle George.") The weather wasn't super the entire time, but we did have fun. We took a trip to the Stockyards, played at home and went to swim lessons.

One evening, George, Tim and I went to our first Texas Rangers game. It was so much fun. The stadium is really cool. We got to see two home runs and former President George W. Bush up on the Jumbo Tron (You can see it here.)! George and I also did a 9.5-mile hike along the Trinity River.

We're looking forward to seeing Uncle George — and the rest of our family and friends — this summer.

LaLa Does D/FW

We had our first official overnight guest last week: LaLa (aka, my mom). She arrived on Saturday afternoon and left Thursday afternoon. Nigel was really stoked for her arrival; he even made a sign for the airport — and wrote his name! Her visit had some hiccups (LaLa was bumped from her flight from RVA to ATL, but made it on at the last second when someone gave up their seat; her luggage arrived on a later flight so we had to return to the airport that evening; and we had some roadwork on our street and our water was unexpectedly cut off — for the second time that week — for several hours), but all in all it was a really fun time.

When we picked LaLa up from the airport we met Aunt Nancy and Uncle Dan at Bartley's BBQ in Grapevine for a Texas barbecue dinner (rated among the Top 10 for barbecue in North Texas by D magazine; great smoked sausage, but bland greens). The following day, LaLa and I drove to Parker, Texas, to Southfork Ranch, where the TV show "Dallas" was filmed. It's a beautiful property, and the tour was interesting. I hadn't really watched the show, so LaLa was definitely more into it than me. Then we headed to Grapevine for lunch and shopping. Tim, Nigel and I had been to Grapevine several times before, but I'd never had time to look around. I was a tad disappointed because there were actually more restaurants than shops. When we returned home, LaLa and I took Nigel on a wagon ride around the neighborhood so we could see the gorgeous view of FW by the NBC station. That evening we went out to Los Molcajetes for dinner since the water hadn't yet been turned back on. I had the most amazing chicken (pollo a la plancha. It was such a good value, too. I ate it that evening, and then my mom and I finished it the following day for lunch.

On Monday, LaLa, Nigel and I walked around the FW Botanic Gardens and enjoyed a picnic of veggies and leftover Mexican food. Then we headed over to the FW Zoo to show LaLa Nigel's favorite animals. After a quick drink stop at Starbuck's (the temperature wasn't supposed to get above 83, but it was close to 93 by this time), Tim walked over from work just in time to take LaLa by the FW Water Gardens.

On Tuesday morning, LaLa went with Nigel and I to storytime at the library. After lunch we went to Sundance Square for some shopping and another drink break before picking Tim up from work. Then we all headed down to the Stockyards to see the Heard ushered down the street. After another Texas barbecue dinner at Cooper's (decent chopped brisket, good smoked sausage and very peppery beans), we were pooped and called it a night.

On Wednesday, LaLa's final full day in DFW, we went to Cavender's so LaLa could buy some cowboy boots and played at the mall play area. That evening LaLa and Nigel stayed home so Tim and I could have a date night.

There are several things we didn't have time to do, such as tour the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, but I think we packed a ton into this visit. Too much, perhaps. Although we had some time for finger painting and reading stories, next time I'll plan for lots more. Because when it comes down to it, let's face it, everyone really wants to come just to see Nigel!

How Sweet It Is: Ram Fam

Tim and I have 4 VCU diplomas between us (Tim's the one to be impressed with... he has 3 of the 4), so watching the Rams advance in the NCAA tournament has been very exciting. Tim's dad and stepmom have season tickets to VCU basketball so they were able to score seats to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games in San Antonio last weekend. In between the games they drove up to FW to spend some time with us. The timing was perfect since Nigel's birthday was Friday. We saw Grandma McDonald not too long ago, but we hadn't seen PaPa since September. Needless to say, Nigel was very excited! After lunch and Nigel showed everyone his new toys, we drove them around downtown FW and to the Stockyards to see the longhorns walk down the street. On the way back to the house we stopped by Riscky's for dinner so grandma and PaPa could sample Texas beef barbecue. Then we had birthday cake and opened some presents. Grandma and PaPa gave us a Wii for Christmas, so to go along with it they gave Nigel a race car game and steering wheel. Nigel had a really good time playing the game. Our visit was short since they had to drive back to San Antonio the next day, but it was so nice to see more family. We're looking forward to spending more time with them this summer when we visit RVA.

Our First Visitors: A Little Bit of RVA in TX

We were so excited to see three RVA folks this week! On Sunday we met my friend Melissa and her hubby near Dallas for breakfast. They live in San Antonio, but were in town for a birthday celebration. I hadn't seen Melissa in nearly two years, so it was good to catch up. We're looking forward to making the trip down to San Antonio soon.

On Tuesday, Grandma McDonald flew through DFW on her way to Oregon for work, so we got to visit with her during a long layover. We stopped in Grapevine, had an early lunch/snack in Las Colinas and drove by the stadiums. Traffic is usually a nightmare, but it was so light that day that in hindsight we could have come home for a more relaxing visit. And this afternoon Nigel and I returned to the airport to have a quick lunch with Grandma McDonald as she headed back home to RVA. In addition to lots of hugs and her carry-on bag (which Nigel loved to pull behind him), Grandma McDonald also brought with her a Wii game for Nigel. It's perfect for his age because he simply moves the controller and doesn't have to push any buttons. We're still pretty limiting with screen time here at Chez McDonald, but this is definitely a cool thing.