The Ragas Clan

Catching Up

2012-01-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

After getting back from vacation we stayed for a week to visit with our Texas people!

Luke got plenty of time to play with his cousins!

Nothing like relaxing in a hot tub on a crisp 80 degree Texas summer night. How many people can your family fit in a hot tub?

Two of the Ragas Clan's favorite people got married in April and we finally got to celebrate with dinner at the Belmont Hotel in Dallas!!

Dress code black...from the looks of it I opted for naked.

I love this place! Well, I have always preferred Fort Worth to Dallas but after living away for a year , anything close invokes a sense of home.

Luke driving Papa's lawn tractor. I never noticed that they have the same smile...who can show more teeth?

Here is the black and white section of photos. Notice someone has to hold Luke down in each picture. Here we have the triple hold: arm lock, finger squeeze and foot hold.

Single person double extremity hold down while remaining smiley and seemingly relaxed.

Roll over upper leg grasp. Just. sit. still. Luke!

It is a miracle we both look sober in a picture together!

Weee'rrreee Baaaacccckkkk!

2011-07-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

This post was intended to be up in June right after our vacation, however, my computer decided to poop out on me so it has been sitting here waiting to be "published." Thanks to the generosity of my family I have a new computer that feels like magic! I hope you enjoy our blog and I intend to back track a little to "catch up" in the next few posts (because I am totally type A and can't handle skipping time). If you don't enjoy our blog why on earth are you reading this?! Happy New Year...now lets go back in time to mid June...

We got our summer off to an excellent start with an 18 hour road trip to Texas followed by just enough time to relax and eat some Mexican food before an 8 hour flight to Maui! YES it was worth every minute of that flight...even with a 3 year old in tow.

We stayed on Kaanapali Beach at a place called the Kaanapali Alii. It was fabulous as you will see! Here is what we woke up to every morning.

Here is Grandma Judy on our balcony. At some point in the trip Luke "shouted" down to Todd and I that he had to go to the bathroom, we didn't hear him and ...you guessed it he had an accident. Poor Grandma and Grandpa had to clean it up.

"Kitty Cat Pool" as our favorite 3 year old renamed it.

"Hot Coffee Tub" (he has a name for everything).

Many hours spent in this pool...the ocean waves proved to be a little much for the little guy.

Every morning they had coffee by the pool (there is Todd demonstrating how to relieve jet lag). Plus we didn't let a silly old vacation cause us to miss a minute of the Casey Anthony murder trial (it was playing on one of the TV's everyday).

Right off the beach our resort had 8 gas grills, lots of tables and even an herb garden for grilling out. This is the view from that area...

Condo-riffic! Apparently I only take pictures when Todd is drinking...my problem or his?

One of my favorite spots in the world! Seriously, Todd are you drinking again back there? (To be clear when I say drinking I mean water not booze. We are getting old, especially Todd.)

Errr, we're number 1???

If you ever want a resort pool to yourself let your 3 year old repeatedly jump in while you clap and shout and take pictures. Eventually everyone else will clear out!

Gettin ready for the Old Lahaina Luau (otherwise known as the first, last, and only luau you will ever see on this blog) to start. It was a lovely night but after you have seen some hula dancing you have seen it all.

Something about "flowers in her hair." Santa wannabe is photobombing.

Beautiful setting and all you can drink! Shocked I haven't captured Todd imbibing.

Grandpa and Grandma before dinner.

Everybody say MAI TAI!!!

ALOHA

Before the show you could watch crafts being made...

play Hawaiian instruments...

or chill out on Dad's shoulders!

"One day I will learn how to hula."

And the show begins...

He requested getting a picture with this giant monkey? crazy person? monster?

The view of Kaanapali Beach and the Sheraton hotel. Todd and I had our honeymoon in one of those rooms on top of the black rock.

Todd was more brave than any of us getting in those massive (to me) waves.

Nice beach...

What man doesn't love posing for multiple pictures at his wife's request while on the beach?? Thanks for being patient. This picture is now up in our bathroom...

Not Todd but I am pretty proud of myself for taking this. Also up in the bathroom!!!

Todd waiting for a wave and a catamaran.

YAY!!!

Exploring the ancient Hawaiian dwellings in the city of Lahaina. Check out the new (at the time) Bob Marley shirt.

More ancient dwellings (really wish I could remember the official name).

Older gentleman skateboarding on Front Street in Lahaina.

First ever shave ice!

Grandpa...???? Nope just the bird guy. He was so nice and took a great pic of Luke holding a parrot. Can't post it on the blog though, you will have to come visit us to see it!

Biggest Banyan Tree in the world...I think. They actually grow into and out of the ground...I think. Clearly I need to read up on Banyan Trees, but what I do know is that this one was as fun to climb on as a playground!

We all got in on the climbing action.

Kind of spooky...except for the super happy 3 year old.

Ahhhh...the goat farm! What...doesn't your idea of vacation include a visit to a goat farm? I laugh now 8 months later but at the time I thought it was a great experience for Luke, plus we got to sample LOTS of cheese.

Please make your own jokes now.

Teamwork...

So proud...

Forget the goats, Luke was more enamored with the herding dogs.

Are those Stride-Rites you are wearing?

The green pasture, the blue sky, the picket fence...if I was a goat this would be heaven.

Luke wanted to get up close to learn how to make goat cheese. Teacher's pet...

Off the beaten path for sure. In August I took Kona to the vet in Venice, FL and learned that the office administrator had just come back from Maui. We were comparing trips when out she told me that her nephew works at the Surfing Goat Dairy Farm. She described him and turns out we didn't see him but I love those "small world" stories.

We stuffed ourselves silly with goat cheese...

then went to the hippy town Paia for a delicious lunch at...

The location is okay I guess.

First umbrella drink...I think it was a rum punch or was it a shirley temple?

So we figured out this was kind of a fancy place when they brought a tiny gourmet asparagus soup appetizer to each of us. Nice job on the Nike t-shirt right and don't forget we had been petting goats just minutes before this. As always, nothing but class.

I want my house to look like this.

These people were looking out to the ocean. I am not even sure this place had real windows...

Goodbye Mama's Fish House

Grilling out with Daddy.

Dolphin watching trip!

On the boat ready to go...should mention this is his first ever boat ride on the open seas.

In my opinion this guy was surfing too close to the boat but he seemed to know what he was doing and I got this sweet picture (also up in the bathroom).

Looking back on the Lahaina Marina as we go out to see. Too lazy to get up and look but I am pretty sure this picture is in the bathroom too.

Do you know why Maui is called the Valley Isle?

Ready for the adventure.

Trying to get his sea legs as the water gets more rough...

giving up on those sea legs and opting to lay down.

BLOWHOLE!

We cruised up to a pod of Spinner Dolphins...

there were so many surrounding the boat. Truly a once in a lifetime experience...

that Luke slept through. We never figured out if he was sea-sick or lulled to sleep by the rocking. Either way he wasn't alone...

On the way back to shore we saw some bonus animals...4 turtles.

After his nap, Luke decided to drive the boat.

Somebody likes to get their picture taken...

Sarasota Jungle Gardens

2011-06-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

As the school year came to a close and the weather got warmer (slight understatement) The Ragas Clan ventured to Sarasota Jungle Gardens. Not quite a zoo, not quite a botanical garden, it feels like a throw back to old Florida. Very simple and quiet (at least until we got there).

And he's off...don't know if you can see it but Luke had to bring his own camera (dangling from his wrist) to capture the memories!

Just your friendly vulture...LOVE the name though.

It's a tree growing through another tree! The thrills were really one after another at the Jungle Gardens.

Hello Mr. Flamingo, despite being pink I always assume flamingos are boys. Check out how excited Luke was to encounter this fellow.

I know many will disagree-but seeing this black swan was actually more entertaining that seeing the movie. No disrespect Miss Portman, I still love Where the Heart Is.

Luke warmed up pretty quick when we got some flamingo food to share.

*You should know that a.) he didn't really "warm up" more like tolerated feeding the birds and b.) someone took pity on our poor child because we didn't have any cash or common sense to buy him flamingo food until we got ALL the way to the back of the gardens where the flamingos are located*

Funny story-as I am instructing Luke how to "gently pet" the flamingos on their backs one turned around and bit me on the arm. This provided a nice laugh for everyone and I walk off in a jiff, lest anyone see my very sore pride.

I know all flamingos look the same (no offense to any flamingos) but this one reminds me of the one from Gnomeo and Juliet. I can almost hear him telling me to "geeet out beefore your one bite turns eeento 27."

I am keeping my distance from this guy.

Here is Luke and his buddy from school, Austin, having a "play date" at our house.

Stay tuned for the upcoming segment sponsored by the Hawaiian Visitor's Bureau...just kidding but I do have some great pics of our trip!!!

Birthday Boy!

2011-05-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my little boy is 3 already! Turns out Papa had a meeting in Orlando so Nanny came too and we had a great celebration for our little guy. He is still talking about it...

Here we are at Primrose "partying" with Luke's class and some cupcakes!

Two of a kind!

The next morning we packed up bright and early and headed to the happiest place on earth!

Here we are leaving The Port Orleans Hotel off to the Magic Kingdom.

Nanny is excited...not too sure about Papa.

Check out the (free) birthday button we got on Main Street. Hey if it is free at Disneyworld you take it right?

According to Luke this is Tinkerbell's Castle.

Papa and Luke in line for It's A Small World. The good thing about riding this first is you get the song stuck in your head for the rest of the day!!!!

Papa REALLY wanted to ride Dumbo with Luke so he kicked the rest of us out of line.

Waiting for lunch...

We lunched with characters and Luke loved it...this time. In the past he has been very scared of people in costumes but I guess he outgrew it.

My personal favorite and he didn't even care that Luke was rubbing his dirty mouth all over the costume.

Every once in awhile the characters would take a break and here is what Luke do...stand looking all forlorned down the aisle pulling up his shirt.

After Piglet came by Luke got uber-confident and went and kissed her bottom as she walked away. It was just a spontaneous expression of love (at least that is what we are going with.)

After we said hi to Pooh we left the Magic Kindgom to take naps!

Back at the hotel Nanny and I took a walk and discovered a boat to Downtown Disney...

and a giant pool!

After nap time it was back to the park and Pirates of the Caribbean!

Just when we got "It's A Small World" our of our heads it was "Yo, Ho, Yo, Ho A Pirate's Life for Me!" Some of us love the song more than others...you'll see.

Guess what Papa was singing in line...

and in the gift shop wearing a Jack Sparrow hat?

Jungle Cruise in the dark. We made Todd sit far far away.

After seeing the Electric Parade and fireworks it was time to get on the bus and go to bed. Check out that sleepy boy with his mouse ears half off. Can't figure out if Todd is in pain or what...

This was approximately 12:30 am and:

a.) Debbie is awake and walking

b.) Mark is kind of smiling

c.) Luke is looking perky

Now everyone hurry up and go to sleep because tomorrow is Luke's Birthday!!!!

Not a bad decorating job for being 1 am, in a hotel room after being at a theme park ALL day! Nanny and I work good together...maybe we should go into business. Did I mention there is breakfast on that table too??!

Have you ever wanted to know what a brand new 3 year old holding a donut looks like? Well here you go...

"Holy Moly, Holy Moly those my birthday presents?"

We might get the dragon opened by your 4th birthday Luke. Honestly, I love all the awesome new kids toys out there but I am developing a major dislike (harsh, I know) for all the plastic twist ties that are so over abundant in packaging these days.

We thought we could spend Luke's birthday swimming and relaxing but it turns out the weather had a different plan. It was chilly and rainy so we lasted about an hour at the pool before setting off to try that boat ride to Downtown Disney. On the way we encountered a sign the likes of which I have never seen before...good thing this wasn't a bachelor party I can see things taking a turn for the worse.

Luke and Papa figuring out which way to the boat. Little do they know Todd won a UIL competition in Maps, Graphs and Charts in high school. Look how he is playing it cool in the background...doesn't want to show off his skills!

After disembarking we were in the mystical land that is Downtown Disney. It is like a slightly rougher, hard core version of Disney that has night clubs and serves booze! Practically like being on the wrong side of the tracks...but a great place to do some shopping and eat lunch. Here is a statue outside of the Lego store that is built of...you guessed it LEGOS! Look close and you can see the Mouseketeer gang graffiti--I jest, I jest.

Check out these life size lego statues!

While we shopped we let Luke choose 1 toy for his birthday and he picked a pirate costume. He also delegated a different part of the costume for each of us...Luke got the sword of course, Todd got the hook, Papa got the eye patch and so on. It was very sweet...and that concludes the parental bragging section of the blog.

"Argh, pirates" at least that is what Luke says!

For the birthday dinner we got all gussied up in our purdiest clothes (translation: took a shower and put on deodorant) and heading down to the camp ground for the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue or "the hoe down" as Nanny and Luke like to call it. Make jokes amongst yourselves...

The Fort Wildnerness Campground seems like a great place to stay. While we waited for the show to start Luke played on this huge playground right next to a lake and there was a big porch with rockers overlooking it all. Weeeeeeeeeeeee.....

When we got inside the "hoe down" our salad and bread were already on the table. It was so organized and perfect for kids...no waiting on food and getting squirmy. Those Disney people really know a thing or two. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture!

Whew, thank goodness there was a napkin twirling portion of the show. I am sick of the paparazzi getting pictures of my face! We were having a grand old time.

After the show was over, play time was in full force back in the room(s). Here we are posing with the toys Luke shared with us. If you see the arm swinging motion of Papa and Luke you can be assured that the rest of us were hearing "Yo, Ho, Yo, Ho A Pirate's Life For Me!"

ARGH PIRATES!!! Cutest pirate I have ever seen...

Never mind that we had just Hoop Dee Doo'd it with bread, salad, ribs, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies and strawberry shortcake-- we still brought out the birthday cookie loaded with icing. Ready to throw up yet? At least we got a nice picture of our little buddy blowing out candles...I think 3/4 of the cookie cake went in the trash after we got home.

Before we left Luke had to conquer this climbing wheel on the playground, and boy did he. It was difficult to stand back (I was 6 inches away) and let him do it himself (while wearing flip flops) but he managed just fine. And just when I thought the worry was over he wanted to do it again and again and again. Imagine a 3 year old doing repetitive tasks over and over hmmmmmm...

What Ragas/Brumleve trip would be complete without a ride on a bicycle built for 5? We exclusively seek out resorts with bicycles built for multiple numbers of people. You might be asking yourself why was Brooke steering that bike and not one of the other 4 able bodied people? To that I have no answer except to say I was also controlling the braking mechanism much to the chagrin of a certain backseat driver who thought we were operating some kind of streamlined aerodynamic machine that could make hairpin turns at 25 miles an hour...DAD!

All good things must come to an end. With Papa and Nanny back at the airport headed for Texas we got on our way home and .5 seconds later the birthday boy was asleep.

Post birthday follow up-

Ever since Luke was 3 months old he has loved his pacifiers at sleep times. We had thought long and hard about when to take them away (had a false start on Thanksgiving Eve last year and came to our senses as we were baking, brining and generally stressing out over dinner that that wasn't the best time). So then we learned about these poor babies in need of pacifiers and decided that after Luke turned 3 he was going to donate his to this important cause. We talked it up for months, the day came and here is what happened.

After carefully bagging them up, Luke walked them to the mailbox where he took them out of the bag and placed them gently inside one by one.

*Looking at this reminds me that we need a new mailbox. First of all, it has a fish as the outgoing mail flag, second it is wooden, and third the tree trimming guys completely knocked it off the stand so you have to hold it when you open it or it falls. We also have 2 lizards that live inside so we have to signal them with a knock so they don't get startled before we open it*

After Luke mailed his pacifiers we went to Build-a-Bear to get a new comfort item for him to become attached to. He ended up with a monkey named Simon. That was exactly 10 days ago and I have no idea where Simon is now. I do know that it takes Luke at least an hour to put himself to sleep at night...but there are no tears.

I HEART COWS!

2011-04-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

It is true, I have always loved cows. Ask my college roommate and she will tell you about the trips to Luling, TX (as country as I have ever been) and my interaction with the bovine creatures. Grew up in Texas, moved a couple thousand miles away and BAM, a whole heard right down the street. Had to grab my camera after jogging by and seeing a calf with its mom. Turns out that little thing was scared of me and ran away but this angry fellow held his ground.

I see I have perked the interest of another...

Come a little big closer...

Yep there you are...

We really got to know each other. This picture was taken right before she licked me! Cows have rough tongues but she sure was sweet.

The gang is all here. I would name them the 3 Stooges but my husband gives me a hard time for trying to match everyone we know with a TV or movie character, just trying to make connections honey. For Todd I will refrain this once...

Talk about chicken legs...

There is the elusive calf. Finally got my one picture of it.

We have been doing a lot of landscaping lately. Like going on every weekend for a month spent in the yard getting dirty when we could be at the pool, or beach, or zoo, or park, or aquarium...that is all beside the point. This photo was last weekend after Todd pulled out 3 huge bushes and we planted pretty much everything under 2 feet tall that you see. Good thing our yard looks better now, might make the neighbors more okay with the boys napping on the driveway.

What a charmer!

Really hope no one was driving by at this point...at least the yard is improving!

I think I have a weird child...

Today Luke got an Easter Cookie basket from Brian and Kristin. He was so thrilled (obviously) and kept walking away and coming back just to look at it.

That cookie didn't last long.

Behold the best cookie in the universe!!!

Later, Luke got a really close look at the science of egg dying.

After the process was finished I think we had 2 eggs out of a dozen without cracks.

That egg is NOT the right shade of purple...put it back in!

Close up of our eggs and in the background an underwear adjustment.

GammaGimpa, Alligator and Steever

2011-04-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

Luke loves to "read" his nursery rhyme book. I have it on video and as soon as I remember how, I will download it. So cute...stay tuned.

GammaGimpa (otherwise known and Grandma Judy and Grandpa Mike) came to visit. Luke was so excited about spending the night at their house and playing with his "bayooons" (balloons). Honestly, what will entertain us when he stops having his own pronunciations for everything?

Artichoke dip, beer, cute kid and the neighbors dog, Libby. What is not to love about this picture?

Gator alert. He's back but didn't come too close as we all sat stuffing our faces on the dock.

What are we going to do with that hair? I love it but can't decide if it is too long or too short. Luke loves the new grass as much as Kona. The Ragas Clan gets pretty worked up over yard upgrades!

My two guys digesting Dunkin Donuts before the hard gardening starts.

Let's get a tighter shot of that outfit. Seriously this kid is never fully dressed anymore.

Todd stumbled upon the neatest thing while pulling weeds today. A turtle was hibernating under our garden! Of course we totally dig it up, pull it out and try to build it a temporary home so Luke could see it when he woke up from his nap. Welcome out of hibernation and into your stainless steel tub of fun: a paper plate pool of water, some lettuce and dirt. Here is Luke creating a great photo op with "my new pet, Steever." He was so excited...

until Steever got a little too close and the moment was over.

I would not be exaggerating if I said that for about an hour Luke, Kona and I were obsessed with this little Eastern Box Turtle who, for the record, hates water, can't swim, likes bananas and gets stressed out in captivity (yep, I looked it up online cause that's what I do). Clearly, I did not prepare him a happy home so back to the garden it was for him...and Luke...and Kona...and I. This is the part where Kona got sidetracked by Luke's Peanut Butter Bar but not for long.

There he is forging his way past my new basil plant. Go Steever, go!

Now he is veering away from the big furry red thing...don't give up Steever!

Backtracking to the sprinkler made him feel safe again, I think. According to the internet he is probably 2 to 4 years old. Eastern Box Turtles grow very slowly. You can learn so much online..thanks Al Gore.

If you scroll through these next 3 pics quickly Steever will practically jump off the screen at you. This was the part when he was chasing me down. Come on little guy!

Getting closer, the lapsed time is now 3 minutes.

Almost to the edging! Lapsed time is now 6 minutes.

And Luke is there to help him over the edge with his piece of mulch. Touching Steever with bare hands was out of the question according to Luke.

Next destination...sprinkler hole.

Thus ends the saga of Luke's New Pet Steever. He is now somewhere in our backyard hiding under or in the grass. I hope an alligator doesn't get him, or a snake (is that possible?) or Todd's lawnmower. Darnit, now that I know he is there I am going to worry about him. Should have left him in his turtle condo...

Yard Work and Birthdays!

2011-04-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

We had our whole lawn ripped up (goodbye dollar weed) and re-sodded in March...Luke was quite a little helper. Don't worry there is no fertilizer in the spreader. I wonder why my floors have been filthy for the last 3 weeks??? Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown decided to come to Tampa for my birthday! Those guys are so thoughtful. Here we are before leaving home. BIG thank you to Mom for coming to babysit for the little guy. Steph and Jeff came too! Last Friday I was sent to get a pedicure after work (ummm okay)! I came home to a surprise party for my birthday. Turns out Todd and Steph had been in cahoots all week organizing it. They really thought of everything and it was such a fun evening. Martha Stewart herself...she was responsible for the decorations. Bobby Flay right here... asian ribs, smoked brisket, cheesy potatoes, bbq green beans, cauliflower salad he made all of my family favorite recipes...and bread pudding because it is my favorite! Luke and his buddy Gaven had a great time playing. Again, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get them to both look at the camera at the same time... Except for this picture. Nice looking gentlemen don't you think? Watch out girls, this is what happens to your face when you turn 32! Holly, Gaven and Luke helped me blow out the candles on my bread pudding. YUM! Well how do you get your kids to sleep at night?? Don't judge! We really took the party to a new level with this move. All that hard work and look what he gets... Crazy hair, popcorn mouth boy .

Happenings at the Ragas House

2011-03-12T06:25:00.000-08:00

Head in the sand...maybe he is part ostrich?

Elephun game when Nanny and Papa came to visit...look how intrigued everyone is.

Making "miley faces" with playdough.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dog Beach for Kona's Birthday...also on Valentine's Day.

Little do they know they are targets for the male dogs to pee on, notice everyone else standing up.

Can't believe Kona is 9 years old now.

At the aquarium. I just love Manatees.

Now your life is complete...you have seen a turtle riding a manatee.

Attack of the killer sea turtle...watch out Luke!

GET A ROOM! I love this statue, it sits down in Sarasota Bay. When we first moved here we admired it then it mysteriously went away and now it is back.

Love that face even with food coming out.

Catch Up

2011-03-02T18:55:00.000-08:00

Here you go Dad...

Luke likes to accessorize himself.

Trying out some different picture taking styles with my new camera. I asked Todd to hold Luke so I could capture the sunset and both of them...this is what I got.

Obligatory sunset shot...ooooh aaaaah

My boys fishing at the beach.

I have a slight obsession with black and white photos...love it!

Beach bum

Crazy eyes!

Holidays 2010

2011-01-17T16:53:00.000-08:00

We made it through another fantastic holiday season in the Ragas house! Decorations are put away and we have been enjoying the sunny 70 degree weather here in Florida (pics of that to come later). As I sweated my way through summer it was hard to imagine how lovely the "winter" would be. I guess those snow birds are on to something...

As we geared up for Christmas, Luke got to make a Gingerbread House (really just because I had an extra from my class making them). It lasted 1 day and then all of the candy was eaten off!

We celebrated a "White Christmas" (nice pun, right) with Jeff and Steph. The guys really put some muscle into popping open their party favors before dinner.

Bet you can't guess what was inside the favors...

Luke got one of his favorite gifts from The White's, Buzz Lightyear.

Jeff got a bacon pirate mug...

Too much partying Luke??

ROAD TRIP...we left Primrose at 5:15 pm on Dec 23rd and arrived at the Brumleve house around 10:00 am on Christmas Eve. Todd pretty much drove the whole time and we had a delightful Christmas Eve breakfast at Waffle House. I am thinking it might be a new Ragas Family tradition...

Here we are (sort of) rested up at Christmas Eve dinner. Thank goodness we had Nanny and Papa to watch Luke while we slept.

Everybody...apparently the party favors with hats were a hit from Florida to Texas!

After dinner Luke made a lovely pointillism letter to Santa and after bribing him with other desserts, finally left some cookies out for Santa.

I don't care how cool you are, everyone gets matching pajamas at Christmas! Thanks Mom! I bet even Clint Eastwood has a picture like this in his personal files.

Merry Christmas Luke!

Uncle Brian played Santa (with lots of help from the older, more surly elves).

You would think I'd remember why I took this picture but I can't. Special boys...

Hasn't caught one in the glove since. Good thing I got this picture.

Funny things about gift giving this Christmas

1. I made an elaborate plan with my dad to get my mom a certain book by one of her favorite people. I told him not to worry about getting it, I would take care of it...totally forgot. Don't worry she got it from a friend.
2. As you can see from the pic below- mom and dad had a classic case of receiving the same exact gift...from each other. Classic...

Obligatory pic of the Ragas Clan heading off to Christmas #2 at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Luke was asleep of course.

Piles and piles of presents...and Raymond.

Luke didn't get the memo that we weren't wearing our jammies this year on Christmas. Honestly, he has got to start checking his email.

Here are the "cousins" eating and watching the History Channel...

This is the part where the pictures switch from my old camera to my new one. Hopefully they are better quality but keep in mind this was my first time using the camera, hence all of the black and white (what a cool feature!!)

Here is our Gram and Aunt Debbie getting some grub.

Uncle Bruce and Luke watching Despicable Me.

Everybody!

Luke helping Papa put air in the truck tires. He was in full get-up: hat, mittens, shades, boots, jacket and spent maybe 7 minutes outside.

Sassy Todd!

Ahhh Uncle Julios...only to be surpassed by Joe T's. Even if you don't know those Mexican restaurants you can agree that Allison was the child whisperer at our dinner.

All My Single Ladies...and by single I mean married or in committed relationships but that just doesn't sound as fun!

Child whisperer #2...Uncle Brian.

Tortilla faces

The boys creating more tortilla faces

Not bad for my first action shot...

Nice breakfast Luke

So dedicated to the sport of miniature table tennis he sleeps with the paddles.

Zoo Day!!! The Fort Worth Zoo was so fun and crowded. What was it Christmas Break or something? But we persevered and had lots of exhausting fun...
Avri on the merry go round...

Luke and Raymond were there too!

Quick everybody whatever you do, don't stick your hands in the touch tank!

Camp Counselor Todd says to always find a buddy or two and hold hands in the parking lot. Just kidding this was totally spontaneous (the first time, then we made them do it over and over to get a good picture).

Joe T's after the zoo!

For New Year's Eve we met both sides of our families at Bucca Di Beppo. Since there were so many of us we got to sit in the coveted "Pope Room." Okay I am not sure if it is really coveted but I at least had to ask for it special when I made the reservation. The draw is obviously the giant lazy susan and Pope watching you eat.

The Palkovics...what a good looking group.

Nanny and Papa were on Luke duty. It was our last night in Texas and I wanted them to get plenty of quality time with him. I also wanted to sit by my husband and drink a glass of wine slowly without flailing arms all over. It was a win/win.

I love this picture of Todd, Mike and Judy.

Gram and Uncle Bruce

My family...

Flailing his arms right into Nanny's mouth...I told you!

Stealing Papa's face parts. You had to be there.

Cousinly love

Hey mom I bet you can't hold that curtain up for more than an hour. This is one of my favorite pics too.

NEVER. GETS. OLD.

Back at Grandpa and Grandma Simm's house we got the New Year's Party started!

Jumping on the bed...

Riding on Todd (always a favorite). I like to think Luke is looking at his dad with concern but in reality he was probably just telling him to go faster.

Finally, all the little people crashed out during a movie...Oh no wait that would be Luke still awake after everyone else passes out. He seems confused by the scene...

Sassy Luke

I hate titles

2010-12-18T06:35:00.000-08:00

Not the Ragas Christmas Card...

We have been trying to go to the beach every Friday night and eat dinner there. This was just our second time but look what we found! Yummy...

I know what you are thinking...good looking family!

The only way to keep Luke still.

We took a Sarasota Trolley around looking at Christmas lights. Our driver was a trip, his name was Siggy and he entertained us with stories about drinking "wodka" and "Santa Clouse."

Luke sat in the entertainer's chair.

The night ended at Grace Baptist Church where there are TONS of lights set to music. The church had an organ player playing Christmas songs and hot chocolate and cookies. Luke walked right in, sat in the pew and grabbed a Bible.

The lights all came from an english teacher who realized they were too much for his yard and donated them to the church along with the rudimentary "computer system" he set up to play the music and synchronize the lights. It was really fantastic even if we felt like the strobing lights were going to cause a seizure.

Thanksgiving and more...

2010-12-12T05:21:00.000-08:00

At Siesta Key Beach they have an annual sand sculpture contest before Thanksgiving. I was prepared to see a couple of 3 foot tall sea turtles...was I wrong. These sculptures were at least 10 feet tall and held together by a mixture of Elmer's glue and water. It was amazing and all that was going through my mind was "please don't let Luke destroy any of these."

This Mommy dragon guarding her eggs was by far the best. Look at her back with the buildings and arches! Incredible...and we found out it was made by Crazy Walter from South Padre Texas (a cousin of Stephanie)!

Taking some time out for quiet reflection...

No throwing sand Luke!

Trying to capture the sunset and dragon... such an amateur.

Call me Sandra Lee, here is our Thanksgiving table scape.

Starting off the holiday with some waffles and yes, crab legs in the background. YUM!

Trying to figure out if he wants to try the crab legs or not...turn out he loves them!

Beautiful girls having a cocktail and a mocktail. Eden's was such a mocktail that Todd ended up stealing it and drinking most of it thinking it was his mimosa.

We are pretty serious about food around here.

Nap time with Eden!

Getting all fancy for the occasion...someone should tell him we aren't in Texas anymore!

Wouldn't we all love to end Thanksgiving day nude, with just a diaper and a cup cake in hand and a little football playing in the background?

We are learning quickly that the people around "these parts" take their holiday festivities very seriously. Chairs were put along the street 4 days in advance of the Christmas Parade down Venice Ave. We were lucky to get a spot. CHEESE!

Ah the Venice Police boat, just what comes to mind when I think of Christmas!

Clapping for the parade...

Ragas family Christmas tree. Our first fake tree and it looks way better than I thought it would!

Happy Birthday Todd! Being a little out of practice, moving toward the "mid thirties" and living so close to the ocean we thought it appropriate for Todd to get the kinder, more gentler long board to rediscover surfing with! Looking forward to a trip to Cocoa Beach after the holidays to test it out...

Hidden talent alert...While throwing around a couple of Luke's balls Todd discovered he can juggle so we got him some "professional balls" for his birthday!

On the way to Disneyworld for Mickey's Christmas Party! A night when they close down the park except for the (tens of thousands) people who bought a ticket to stay late and enjoy the fireworks, free hot chocolate and cookies, Christmas shows and snow falling on Main Street! Luke was so excited as we drove up to the hotel...

We have arrived

Not bad for a picture taken while driving by...we stayed here for 1 whole night but it was lovely.

Looks just like our tree at home :)

Just make yourself comfortable Luke.

Just in case you want to know what a room at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort looks like...

Taking a "school" bus ride is almost as fun as the real rides for Luke! (Every bus like vehicle is considered a school bus to him)

All he could talk about was riding the merry go round on a "up and down horse."

Still a little scared of the big dressed up characters but at least I didn't have to hold him.

I am not (totally) mystified by the Disney experience but have to admit this is impressive.

Through out the park they give away as many cookies and hot chocolate as you want! We were pretty excited about that.

First time on Dumbo. Luke's favorite ride hands down...

You are now getting sleepy...

Watching the Christmas parade with a strategically placed Mickey sticker.

The only thing this parade was missing is the Venice Police boat...

Toy Story float

Girls Night Out, Beach and Steph's Bday

2010-11-20T07:48:00.000-08:00

In late October Allison came to visit and we had a wonderful Girls Night Out! It had been a long time since just the 3 of us went out (we were rarely all in the same zip code)! Fun times as you will see...poor Todd, we made him take a million pictures before we left.

Raise the roof Allison...

Not really sure if what we are doing is offensive or not...probably safe to do in Central Florida.

Three Amigas...

Steph and Allison had very different ideas of how this picture should go...

Who likes to wear bright blue shirts out on the town? What are the chances?

It was too cold to wear bathing suits but we took Allison to Siesta Key to check it out.

Luke and Daddy...

Some of the girls in Luke's class wear pig tails and he is very interested in them so we tried it out...

For Steph's birthday we went and ate hibachi, then had a "party" back at home.

Such a helper...

Halloween Celebrations!

2010-10-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

Finally getting ready to carve...Luke was fulfilling that age old tradition of hugging your pumpkin before carving it!

Anything but the seeds NOOOOO...

He recovered from the freak out and actually scooped some "yucky, gross" stuff out.

Friday the 29th Luke had his class Halloween party and parade.

I crashed the party and brought him to my classroom but first his teacher took this picture.

Saturday evening we met up with Luke's friend Gaven and his parent's to go Trick or Treating on Venice Ave. They shut down the street and all the shop owners come and pass out candy to the kiddos. Once the boys got the hang of it, they were hard to keep up with.

Looking forlorn little lion man!

I think they were trying to break into this shop.

After all the Trick or Treating we went to Sharky's for dinner and play time in the sand. It never gets old, the whole falling and rolling in the sand routine. It just sticks around and keeps getting more entertaining, much like all the sand that has accumulated in my car!

Playing with sticks and sand. It takes the boys an hour to warm up to each other then they jabber incoherently (but crack each other up) and end up playing side by side.

On Halloween night our first stop was Jeff and Steph's house. Luke just walked right in...we were hoping he wouldn't do that at all of the houses we went to.

Woo hoo this is fun.

Leave it to Steph to have some cookies laying around to be iced. All I have to say is she is a brave soul and smart not to clean her floors before the sprinkles came out!

Clearly there are not enough sprinkles yet...

The scariest thing about this Halloween was how fast our pumpkin molded!

Luke allowed Kona to go Trick or Treating with us as long as she promised not to take his candy.

First experience with Milk Duds...I think it must have been heavenly.

Oh man these things really get stuck in your teeth!

Back at home, now it was Luke's turn to pass out candy (we got about 5 Trick or Treaters).

Here comes Halloween...

2010-10-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Friday night Luke, Grandma Judy and I went went to the Mote Aquarium for the Halloween extravaganza. It was fun and very crowded.

The giant pirate ship had REAL pirates onboard!!

Grandma and the little lion.

Creepy...

Too cool to have his picture taken with mom.

Underwater pumpkin carving is actually a lot cooler than you think!

Have you ever seen a cow wearing a bikini carving a pumpkin while a shark swims overhead???

Believe it or not this was the best picture I could get because someone is in (what the experts call) "terrible two's stage."

Morning before the aquarium..."you mean I have to go to school??"

2010-10-17T05:34:00.000-07:00

So this is how we spend our Saturday mornings...

-yes that is Will Smith

-yes that is a magicians wand

-yes he learned his dance moves from Todd

Grandparents are in the house!

2010-10-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

Luke's Nanny and Papa came for a long weekend and we had a lot of fun but it seems like we didn't stop moving the whole time.

We visited the Mote Marine Aquarium on Friday. Some things never change...Luke still doesn't touch the ground much when he is with his grandparents!

America's Next Top Model here we come...would it be too much to ask that we all just look in the vicinity of the camera??!

The official entrance...

Not to toot my own horn, but I think this is a fine picture if you ignore the reflecting glare of the overhead lighting.

Those clever aquarium people put "Dori, Nemo and Marlin" in the same tank. It was basically parents elbowing each other to get a picture of them all together.

Mickey hat, Vegas hotel t-shirt, plaid shorts and crocs...believe it or not he is a local!

Oh the Ragas' love to put our heads in holes!

Checking out the sharks with Nanny. I once caught a fish THIS BIG!

Everyone's favorite marine mammal.

Stopped for lunch at the Sarasota Marina.

We took advantage of our babysitters and had a night on the town with Steph and Jeff. Synopsis of the evening: it is obvious we don't get out much!

Everybody all together...awwwwwwww

Wrong way Jeff, Steph why is your face so white, wake up Todd and Brooke close your mouth! Yep, that is all I have to say for this one...

Anyone else laughing out loud right now? Calm down back there boys.

My favorite picture in a long time. They both look so happy who would have thought all it took was a shopping cart?

Hey, you are not Stephanie...

The next day we took Luke to the Pumpkin Patch in Sarasota. I was so pleased to see all these boxes of bees in the parking lot.

While waiting for the pony rides Luke spotted this baby goat off by itself and decided it needed to be pet. I was so proud of him for a) not being scared to approach the little guy and b) touching it gently, unlike the way he drags Kona to the ground head first while giving her a "hug" sometimes.

Who is having more fun?

Those Ragas' still love putting their heads in holes and now we have influenced others!

Just sliding.

Train ride and sassy Todd in the background. Thanks for the pose! Notice the caring mother who rode with her child, we just allowed Luke to go around the pumpkin patch in an open moving vehicle unattended.

As we were leaving we took a few pics of Luke and the pumpkins which turned into Luke climbing all over them, stopping to look at the camera and waiting for me to take another picture. It got out of hand and we may have had one pumpkin casualty. But hey, he looks cool.

That is the one...we chose the Ragas Family Pumpkin 2010! This is just the precursor to choosing the Ragas Family Christmas Tree 2010 (also known as the day Brooke and Todd might not be speaking to one another).

Random Pics

2010-09-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

I don't think these have ever been posted before. Just (re) found them on the computer and got amused...

I was probably not so amused at the time but this is about 9 days after moving in to our Florida house. I was organizing the closet and separating Todd's clothes from mine. Believe it or not, this is his side of the closet that fell! Which elicited a complaint from me about the abundance of his clothes, naturally he took this as a challenge to actually count each piece. Turns out I had 1 MORE article of clothing than he did.

This is a long time ago at Primrose in Texas. His teacher wanted me to see how much he was enjoying his barbeque sandwich! Look at that baldy...

One of my favorite pictures. He was a little under the weather around Easter last year (judging from the plastic egg behind him). Poor little guy!

On Friday, Sept. 24th we had a multicultural festival at Primrose. Luke's class dressed up like Egyptians. He loved his costume so much he wore it out to dinner that night!

Company!

2010-09-11T18:57:00.001-07:00

We are back in working mode at the Ragas house. Luke and I are enjoying our new school but it is a BIG adjustment this working until 5:15 at night...ha!

We did sneak in some fun with Uncle Brian and "Kicken" (Kristen) on their visit in August. Steph was a peach and watched the little guy so we could have adult beverages and do some terrible dancing! Good times. This is the cute couple eating somewhere in Siesta Key that had a very LOUD steel drum/singer/MC and we sat right in front of him...something that entertained us more was the table changing colors through out dinner.

Tall glass of wine is a great way to start the night!

Raspberry daquiri is a great way to move on to the middle of the night...at the Daquiri Deck also in Siesta Key. They have like 15 different frozen treats all the time, reminds me of New Orleans.

Someone mentioned jazz hands which, of course, propelled the situation into a full on "Spirit Finger Competition" (thank you Reeds). Brian won
in case it wasn't obvious from the photo.

Look mom Brian does dance!

In early September the Palkovics invaded Florida. Luke had a blast with his cousins "Ray Ray" and Avri. What started out as a fun idea to get some pushups in and give the boys a ride quickly went awry. You can see the longing in Todd's eyes for me to take the darn picture already.

While Todd and the boys were working on their fitness Kona and I were taking the opportunity for a make out session.

Raymond loves the camera. No matter what crazy position he was in, he was always looking right at me when the picture was taken.

Todd can be rented out for babysitting...or scare tactics. Who is having more fun?

Avri, I don't think you want any part of this...

Eating dinner on the Palkovics last night. What an adorable family, right?

What does Todd need for a dinner out with 3 kids? Caffeine and beer!

Palkovics!

Cousins

More Cousins

The Ragas Clan Invades Disney World

2010-08-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

What a summer we have had in our new home state! Since I am about to start working again and Luke is obsessed with "Micka Mouse" we decided to take one last hurrah to the happiest place on Earth. It also made sense because after turning 3 kids are no longer free at the parks. I know what you are thinking...at 2 years old he will never remember, and you are probably right but he sure did have fun and so did Todd and I. We ran around and did everything we could possibly fit into the 2 nights/3 days of our trip. We stayed on the property at the All Star Movies resort. It is one of the "cheap" ones and it was perfect for us.

When we arrived "Micka" was on our bed!

Shiny happy people...sun screened up and hydrating before going to Hollywood Studios.

Walking to the buses...apparently we were in the Fantasia building. Personally, I can't stand that movie but the building was delightful.

Waiting for the Disney buses to pick us up.

While waiting we captured each other's most happy, excited face...umm maybe Luke didn't understand.

Woo hoo!

Apparently Todd and I both associate happiness with opening our mouths. There might be some correlation to eating in there somewhere.

Luke watching the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Show. A must for the under 3 crowd. Also...you can sprawl out on the floor and it is air conditioned!

Fans will recognize June and Quincy (a Ragas favorite) from the Little Einstein fame.

Okay so the first ride we went on was a Toy Story themed extravaganza. That being the case we waited 1 1/2 hours for it (it was the ONLY thing we waited to ride the entire trip). The people in front of us ate dinner in line and took pity on our poor, starving, little guy by giving him french fries. He ended up with the entire plate and was even dipping in their ketchup. Hey, it's Disney there are no germs right?! Outstanding parenting all around on our part.

Did I mention we waited for 1 1/2 hours? Sometimes strange things happen when trying to entertain a 2 year old.

Ready to ride!

Day 2: fueling up with a nutritious Pop Tart on the way to Magic Kingdom. Hey it's Disney there is no need for food groups beyond carbs and sugar, right?

Multi tasking with mom. Riding rides and reading maps...

Todd and Luke outside the castle.

"No, no, no, no pirate's life for me..." Pirates of the Caribbean has now been updated with Jack Sparrow for anyone who is curious.

"We are NOT going to take a 2 year old to a character breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is too expensive and we will save it for when he is older." File that one under famous last words...

Three reasons to love the train 1. it is not crowded and 2. no chasing a toddler while riding 3. it lasts more than 3 minutes.

Luke didn't get the memo about the midday napping break and continued to be "oh so 2" on the bus back to the hotel...

After napping we took a dip in the pool...

Still day 2: back at Magic Kingdom and Todd's favorite ride, the people mover. See train picture above for the reasons we love this ride.

Disney is not a place for glamour or looking hot...it is however, a place for hats of all shapes and sizes.

Having some tea in Minnie's kitchen.

Standing outside Mickey's house with a few other stalkers errr, fans.

"Look people I am experienced at these fountain things. Spread your arms wide and scream."

Getting set up to kick it old school at the Electronic Light Parade.

Right before the camera went dead I snapped this shot.

Day 3: Rearing to go see the sights at Animal Kingdom.

In the cleverly named "affection section" they had goats, sheep, more goats and you guessed it, more sheep to pet. I am all for Disney's policy of doing what is best for the animals and not over exposing them to people but that was the most boring petting zoo ever. And we trekked it to the back of the park with a little guy in tow just to see a few sheep and goats?

The highlight of the trip to Animal Kingdom is the Kilimanjaro Safari (I am 97% sure that is spelled wrong). This is one of the buses as it pulls out for the adventure.

The king of the jungle or maybe just Orlando.

Getting ready for the 4D:It's Tough To Be A Bug show. I guess we couldn't be bothered to wipe Luke's face after lunch...

Our new neighbor

2010-08-08T06:40:00.001-07:00

I am not even sure why we came outside in the first place but check out our new neighbor. Don't know where it came from and we just let him carry on his way. He did have initials written on him so apparently we weren't the first people he encountered. Luke tried to feed it some of his snack and Kona was totally unfazed...

One of Luke's favorite things to do is go to the fountains in Venice. They are free, provide a shady area for me to sit and hours of enjoyment for the little guy.

You can see that Luke gets pretty intense about his fountaining. He likes to plug up the holes where the water comes out and squirt unsuspecting elders. We just laugh quietly to ourselves and pretend we don't know him.

We can see your tonsils...

New York and Texas

2010-08-03T06:15:00.000-07:00

In July we went back to Texas so Todd could attend some meetings and we could have a visit with family. We took advantage of grandparents that hadn't seen Luke in awhile and took a grown up trip to New York City for the weekend. I had never been before and Todd had only been once.

Turns out our hotel was very close to Grand Central Station...I didn't realize it was so beautiful.

Here are people crowded around the information booth. Keep in mind we were there during the "slow" tourist season.

Times Square/Broadway...waiting in line for 1/2 price show tickets.

All ready for a night on the town. What in the world are we doing in this picture?

Our Broadway show of choice (and one that was 1/2 off) Rock of Ages starring American Idol alumni Constantine! This was my first show and I loved it (I think Todd did too). It was perfect because we actually recognized and liked all the music. It surprised me at how pretty the inside of the theatre was with large chandeliers and crown molding. Quite different from the outside...

The next day it was off the Bronx (via my first subway ride) and Yankee Stadium!

We were torn because the Yankees were playing Tampa Bay our new home team... (update...we are absolutely NOT Yankee fans).

After the game it was off to Queens for Thai food. It was so great to get out and see some other areas rather than Manhattan. Thanks to Tim and Allison for navigating us around the area and suggesting awesome restaurants. Waiting for the subway after dinner.

I am a dork and had to take a picture of the train...it WAS my first experience with them after all.

On a Greyline tour bus. I am a fanatic about taking tours if we are somewhere we have never been just to learn more about what we are seeing everyday. Anyway, here is the Empire State building with a very old church in front of it.

Our crazy tour guide. She actually said that things looked "like butta."

On day 3 we biked 2 laps around Central Park. It was exhausting and sooo hot but very pretty.

After Central Park we headed to the Brooklyn Bridge. We can still see you Todd...

Looking back at Manhattan from the bridge.

Taken from DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). We stopped to refuel with giant slices of pizza.

The highlight of our trip was probably getting tickets to see David Letterman! We went to the taping on our last day and ended up getting 3rd row seats and got to hang out in the (air conditioned) Ed Sullivan Theatre and even...use the bathroom! This was so special because everyone else waited outside in the heat.

Back in Texas Luke's Nanny and I took him to Chuck E Cheese. He was a little unsure of why these big plastic animals were riding with him.

Playing a water game with Nanny..

Eating Oreos with Austin.

Yep that is the face we have to say no too...

Eating pizza with "my Cooper" as he told me when looking at this picture.

COUSINS!!!

Swimming with Tim and Allison...

We found Tim's calling...water basketball. He did this move twice and made it both times!! Eat your heart out LeBron...

Saying goodbye to Grandma and Mike...or staring intently at a pine cone?

Last night in Texas...Joe T's for dinner.

Our visit coincided with my cousin's visit from Indiana. Todd, Me, Luke, Keith, Brian and Kristen. First time a pic was taken at Joe T's with NO margaritas in it! WOW...

Florida Travels

2010-07-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

We have been living in Florida for almost 2 months now. Still fixing up the house so those pics will come later but here is what we have been up to...

Kona's first trip to the dog beach. I was bummed to learn that dogs are not allowed on any Florida beach (even on a leash), but then we found the dog beach about 10 minutes from our house. She really liked it and even swam out to us in the water. If you have ever seen Kona swim it is comical...she splashes more than Luke but darn it, she was really trying.

The dangerous part of going to the dog beach is when your belongings get peed on while you are swimming. We lucked out...

Oh look Kona made a friend...

Da, da, da da da, da da da da dog beach! That was for you Todd...

We were so proud of our old girl!

It occurred to me half way through our stay that we were going to be taking home not only a soaking wet dog but also one covered in sand. Luckily they have a station set up to wash your pet before you leave.

We visited St. Augustine (the oldest city in the U.S.) and also the home to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in early July. Here is the elusive albino alligator from the swamps of Louisiana. Legend says it is good luck to see one in the wild.

Honest opinion of the alligator farm...once you have seen 30 alligators or crocodiles you've seen them all...

As it happens with a 2 year old, Luke was having a tough day. He totally interrupted the alligator feeding show with his screaming and then spent his first 2 minutes at the farm in time out. This picture was shortly after, we were recovering and gaining a more positive outlook (or trying not to curse too loud and lose our minds).

This crazy lady gets into the big alligator cage and hand feeds a select few gators everyday. Wonder what kind of life insurance policy is available to her? She taught us if you ever encounter an alligator, run away. They can't out run you on land and you don't have to run in a zig zag...it will just make you look like a panicked idiot!

Todd and Todd Jr. feeding the baby alligators. Luke's favorite because pretty much EVERY animal is a baby to him. Much of the food he threw was landing on the elderly gentleman to our right. He was a good sport and gave it back though.

Maximo the 15 foot 2,000 lb crocodile. He is the largest at the park and apparently very mean.

Maximo's baby mama guarding her eggs. Turns out crocodile mothers are very maternal. They lay their eggs, bury them and guard them until they hatch.

Someone had to have control of the drink AT ALL TIMES!

The 3 Stooges...

Crocodile stand off... Or maybe they were comparing snouts?

After the Alligator Farm we visited the historical area of St. Augustine. It is very beautiful kind of a cross between New Orleans (but cleaner) and Savannah (with more bars).

A nice lady volunteered to take our picture...

Where's Luke???

We took a carriage ride around the city to appease Luke's desire to "ride" a horse and my desire to hear some ghost stories about St. Augustine.

The next day we headed off to Daytona Beach to party. Ha, parenting a 2 year old is not condusive to anything remotely resembling partying...but we did have ice cream after dinner. My guys enjoying the "big" waves that we don't get in the gulf.

Everyone show your teeth...

Rewind...

2010-06-22T17:47:00.001-07:00

It looks like my computer is going to cooperate tonight! This is my "catch up" post and everything afterward will be current! So rewind back to April...
We thought we were going to close on our house but due to lender/bank incompetence we didn't. We were already in Florida for the weekend when we found out the closing fell through, so this is as close as we got to our new house...(more pics to come)

We ended up being beach bums all weekend, which happened to be my birthday, so it was a nice vacation.

Me, Steph, Todd and Jeff at Nokomis Beach

We arrived back in Texas on Easter Sunday and had an egg hunt for Luke.

Just a little nude Facebooking...admit it, you do it too!

Our friends Timm and Sally got married in April and Todd was a groomsmen. It was a great night and we are so happy for them. Todd and Mike look a little suspicious (probably not a good idea to put them together).

Hello Mr. Ragas

Allison and I enjoying what looks like iced tea. Don't get crazy...

Todd off groomsman duty.

Our friends Colin and Katie had a going away party for us the last weekend of April. The food, drinks and company were wonderful. Here are Tim and Allison holding Baby Claire (Colin and Katie's daughter) what a cutie pie!

Luke took over Conner's "bike" and Nanny helped him drive around.

Gram, Mom and Jen toasting to the Ragas Clan getting out of Texas (just kidding).

Birthday Boy!!! Luke turned 2 on May 6th! We celebrated by going to Babe's Fried Chicken Restaurant.

Everyone got to join our little guy for dinner. His grandparents and great grandparents all the way from Indiana!

Staying up way past his bedtime Luke enjoyed opening up some presents. Don't pay any attention to the Christmas wrapping paper, we were living out of suitcases at this point.

Love this picture of Mark and Debbie hands on hips and Brian in the middle. So perfect...

For Luke's party we had farm animals come to Nanny and Papa's backyard. This rabbit was an escape artist. Wish I could post the sequence of the rabbit getting out, hopping around the yard while my mom and Todd chase, and my dad yells how to capture it.

You can see that Debbie/Nanny finally caught it.

Luke's friend Austin liked hanging out with the goats.

My friend Amy acting every bit the child/animal whisperer as she helps Austin stay on the pony. Papa and Luke. Ride em cowboy!

Conner was really excited about the animals or getting his picture taken.

Kai and Nadia with the pony.

Cooper choking...er checking out the animals.

Luke's cousin Raymond hitching a ride.

Blowing out the candles with Daddy.

Luke's birthday party was the same weekend as Mother's Day and we were lucky enough to have all of Luke's great grandparents over for dinner along with grandparents. We took the opportunity to take generation pictures...

Luke, Papa, Great Grandma Brumleve and Mom

Luke, Nanny, Great Grandpa and Grandma Mercer, and Mom

Luke, Grandpa and Grandma Simm, Gram, and Dad

My favorite picture...Luke and his Great Grandparents!! FYI, it is just as hard to get grandparents to look at the camera as it is 2 year olds.

Back in Business!!!

2010-06-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

The Ragas Clan blog is back up and running! We have our computer back and sooo much has happened while it was in storage. Being the type A person I am I have to go back and finish what I started with Spring Break Grand Cayman pics then move on from there. Don't worry Mom, I will post Florida pics soon.

The first day we got to Grand Cayman our luggage didn't. That is why Luke looks homeless...although he might be wearing more clothes than a homeless person I don't know.

Beautiful beach!

We all look normal in the same pic. Way to coordinate Ragas Family!

Take it easy there Todd. Try to relax and have fun like the TWO YEAR old to your left!

Shiny, happy people...

Our condos had the perfect baby pool for Luke to play in.

Margaritaville...have you ever seen a man more jolly??

At the turtle farm...

You can call me the turtle "wrastler."

Smiling despite the smell of 50 or so turtles right behind us. Yuck!

So Much To Say

2010-04-28T18:36:00.001-07:00

Is anyone out there?? If you haven't given up on reading our blog thanks, I haven't totally forgotten about it. We are currently staying at parent's houses and our camera isn't compatible with the computer so Grand Cayman pics might come later. In the meantime here are some random shots from our activities.

Side note...we have CLOSED on our Florida house (just today!!!). On June 5th The Ragas Clan will embark on the 3 day drive to our new home. We need some good vibes our way to keep our sanity for the drive!

I guess we are kind of doing a whirlwind tour of our favorite things about Texas since we have only a month left. We took Luke to Scarborough Faire last weekend. He let us know that riding a horse was something he was interested in. Todd conquered his fear of animals larger than him and rode along with the little guy. Check it out...he even smiled!

They had the most adorable petting zoo. For an extra dollar you could buy a carrot to feed the "furry" animals. Luke was so brave with all the animals walking around him, the ONLY thing he was afraid of was the turtle. Ummm, we will have to discuss that when the ability to reason catches up to him.

Trying to get rid of that dang carrot.

Don't any of you want my carrot?? And note turtle creeping up in background!

Since one of our cars is in Florida we have been borrowing one from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Mike. Just for fun we took out "Ma's" convertible and went to visit Allison and Tim in Dallas. It was a fun ride but I think we all got a little too much sun. Ooops, didn't think about sunscreen. Good times!

On Sunday the realtor who sold our house threw a picnic at Dove Park and hired a clown to do face painting and balloon animals. Luke fluctuated between amazement and horror but in the end go Elmo on his face and a puppy dog balloon. On the way home he put the balloon in his mouth, got it taken away and Elmo dissolved in a stream of tears down his cheek!

Grand Cayman Part 2

2010-03-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

Okay Blogspot...you are not making me happy tonight. This is part 2 of my post because the website is messed up and won't let me upload anything else. Part 1 to come later.

Over Spring Break we visited the tropical paradise that is Grand Cayman. Todd's mom and step dad were brave enough to invite one VERY, VERY 2 year old (yes I am using 2 as an adjective) and two exhausted parents (who were seriously ready for a vacation...have I mentioned we are in the process of selling/buying/moving/working/packing/planning/parenting?) The pictures to follow are from the ending portion of the wonderful trip.

Leaving the Turtle Farm. I feel kind of spoiled...this wasn't even a scenic destination just the view from the parking lot.

Judy and I went to get massages and upon returning met Freddie the Free Diver. He free dives to 100 ft and catches lobsters which he then offers to the tourists staying in the condos where we were. For $25 we enjoyed some delicious lobster tail to go with our hot dogs (serious). Judy and I did not want anything to do with killing the crustacean and Todd and Mike had never cooked lobster before so Freddie came right in and gave the guys a lesson in boiling fresh seafood.

This is just bad karma...

Relax Luke you are on vacation.

Like father, like son...Todd wouldn't let me post any of his diaper pics.

On one of our last days on the island we drove to a place called Rum Point. When you think of paradise this is it. White sand beaches, clear water, hammocks in the trees, beachside restaurant. It was beautiful...

This was the shady cove where we set up camp for the morning.

Luke loved this lizard.

Self portrait

How do you spend your vacation with a 2 year old? Running after him as he takes off down this pier... Over and over and over and over and over again.

Eating at Casanova's. Just beyond the table was a beautiful view of the water. I guess it was too dark when we took the picture.

Todd and Luke playing at the public beach.

Group photo. Why are we all squating down?

We ate at a very kid friendly restaurant, The Reef Grill, for our last night. They had a huge sand pile and stage to play on. Needless to say Luke loved it and danced all around the platform while all 4 adults yelled at him to be careful not to fall off...

He clearly wasn't ready to stop the performance so Todd had to interfere.

Change is in the air!!!

2010-03-08T19:01:00.001-08:00

For those who read this blog and don't already know, the Ragas Clan is about to embark on a new adventure. Due to Todd getting a new position within his company we are packing up and moving to sunny Florida!! The move has been in the works for quite awhile and things are finally starting to get going. Our house is (mostly) sold..looooong story for another time. We took a house hunting trip in February and found the (pink) home of our dreams! We will live just south of Sarasota in Nokomis. 5 minutes to one beach, 15 minutes to another, Disneyworld is a couple hours drive...we do expect visitors!!! I will finish my school year at Primrose here in Texas with Luke, while Todd juggles his new territory (south eastern states), new home base and finding time to hang out with us. We will be living with the grandparents in the meantime. If everything goes as planned (ha) we should be working on our tans by early June and again WE WANT VISITORS!!!

In between getting ready for this enormous life change we have been enjoying ourselves. Luke has officially moved up to the "big boy class," Early Preschool at Primrose. This is the class where they learn to drink from a regular cup and start to potty train. Scary!!! He is talking more and more, even putting words together. Todd has been traveling so much that everyday on the way home Luke questions me, "Da da, bye-bye, airpane? Da da bye-bye, airpane?"

We are taking a much needed vacation over Spring Break with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Mike. The trip perfectly coincided with Luke breaking our digital camera so naturally, I had to get a new one! This first pic is a test of the new camera. It is also a rare find because you will notice that Luke is sitting still and playing quietly in his bedroom.

Kona got to pose for her own pic too!

Saturday Luke stayed up late partying, so Sunday morning he did what his Papa calls a "re-sleep" on the couch.

Our friend Dominic had his birthday party at Putt-Putt on Sunday. It was Luke's first time and he loved it. It was raining so no actual golfing took place but have you seen the new arcade games? Very exciting for an almost 2 year old!

Admiring the bumper boat pool and animal statues.

First time playing Skee-ball. Every single ball rolled all the way back down...

Driving a boat. I probably could have left him at this game for an hour (with no tokens put in). I think he loves the steering wheel.

Later on Sunday night we had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Luke is into showing his muscles and he taught Grandpa Mike how it is done!

Snow Day

2010-02-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

We got about 10 inches of snow on Thursday/Friday. It was amazing, the snow literally fell for 24 hours.

Luke loved wearing Todd's gloves.

We can't take credit for this but it is pretty awesome. Our neighbor (yes 1 man) built it using a shovel and inclined plane!!

Happy snow boy!!

Are you looking at my hat??!!

Kona the trick snow dog. She loves nothing more than to destroy anything we build in the snow.

Busy Busy Busy

2010-01-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

Right after Christmas, Luke and I went to Indiana with the Brumleve's to visit family. This was Luke's first plane ride and he did pretty well (plus he had his best friend Papa and his Nanny to entertain him).

My Nanny is so fun!

Cousins night out. Basically, we got kicked out of the house and told to go to a bar...ummm okay??!! The dogs were allowed to stay home but look good in the picture.

At Nicks on the IU campus, we learned to play Sink the Bis! A drinking game in a bar, who ever heard of such a thing?

Thank you Kathryn you are a good cousin for bending down to meet me!

Luke at Great Grandma Brumleve's house. Riding quite possibly the oldest exercise bike ever.

Couldn't leave without Uncle Brian getting a turn too!

The traditional trip to the Pizzaria.

Luke and his Great Grandparents...and Papa.

In February my grandparents will have been married 65 years! Here they are with all of their children. It is so interesting to think that none of us would have been together in that room at the pizza restaurant if it hadn't been for these two people.

At the airport waiting to come back home. "We're the two best friends that anyone can have." (Sorry, I just had too.)

What not to do when traveling with a 20 month old-

1. Arrive at the airport 2 hours early.

2. Skip nap time that day.

3. Have a flight that is delayed. (Okay I know you can't help that but seriously try too. For your own good)
Here is a rare moment of rest for Luke. It lasted about 15 seconds and he was off terrorizing the airport.

Oh wait... maybe these are "the two best friends that anyone can have." Conner came over to visit and eat dinner with us.

Luke was a little under the weather but insisted on giving baby Claire multiple hugs that entailed sticking his head in her car seat, grabbing her around the sides and saying "bye, baby."

Last Sunday we went to the drive through Wild Animal Park in Glen Rose. It is 9 miles long and has lots of different animals that will come up to your car and eat out of your hand (okay you aren't really supposed to feed them by hand but we did). Luke was totally into feeding the animals, climbing around inside the car and "driving" all by himself.

Pretty deer here is your 1 tiny piece of food...yes The Ragas Clan is a generous one!

Luke seriously had no fear of these large animals coming at him...

even blew kisses to all of his four legged friends...

and gently placed the food into the awaiting mouths...

until this slightly aggressive (and hungry) animal stuck it's entire head into our car. Notice Luke's face as he quickly scoots over to Todd in the driver's seat.

(Side note: we later learned we weren't supposed to feed these animals because they did in fact get overly aggressive and stick their heads in your car...oh is that why the cashier handed me a flyer that said don't feed the big brown antelope things?? )

Ahh, Luke on the Savannah.

Maybe this animal would rather taste Luke's fingers.

Helping dad drive. This has become a bit of an obsession for Luke.

Please keep your toddlers inside the vehicle at all times.

The giraffes were the most popular by far. Too bad we didn't ration our food enough and were pretty much down to scraps by the time we got to them.

As the giraffe was approaching from Todd's side, these two crazy deer were trying to start something on my side of the car. Want to place bets on the winner?

I told you we were out of food by this point and the animals were not having it!

Luke, don't be such a follower!!

Finally, the giraffe made its way to us...and promptly drooled on Todd's face.

It was lunch time by now. We were starving and had no food left to give the animals so Todd tried to just drive through to the restaurant but we got stopped by the zebra. We heard they could be mean so we rolled up our windows, apologized profusely for not having rationed our food supply very well and tried to get by. Let me tell you these two guys were really ticked off and just stared at me as we cruised by at 1 mile an hour.

In the middle of the drive there is a surprisingly tasty restaurant with a great view. Luke was not really into getting his picture taken, thus the motherly crotch grab to make sure he didn't fall.

At the children's area you can pet and brush goats and pigs. I promise this goat's neck is actually in tact and it is alive.

Nice horns...

All done with our day at the Wild Animal Park.

Here is how Luke entertained himself and everyone around us on his first plane ride.

Watch out world, only 14 years and 4 months...eyes on the road Luke. At least he wasn't on a cell phone.

What Do Owls, a White Christmas and Mustaches Have In Common...

2009-12-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

Now that the suspense is killing you I will reveal the answer: Owls, White Christmas and Mustaches were all how the Ragas Clan celebrated the holidays this year.

The Wed. before Christmas we rushed home to get the house ready for a showing only to find the cutest little owl perched on our neighbors meter. As it happens, this was just outside our front door and we totally annoyed the poor thing by stepping out and taking lots of pictures as it tried to sleep. By dusk it flew away and I was hoping it would come back but it didn't.

On Christmas Eve it snowed ALL day and stuck around for Christmas morning. We went out to eat with Todd's family at Olive Garden and braved the icy conditions. What a perfect Christmas Eve.

Todd and his "snow dog" about to build a snowman.

Luke wasn't so sure about the snow. He was outside for about 5 minutes, stepped in a puddle of freezing water and had to go change. I think he is more of a warm weather kid.

Santa Toddler...

The first peak at what Santa brought for Luke. Hey kid, there is a door you could use!

Happy Christmas baby.

We continued our Ragas tradition of BLT's, banana french toast, mimosas and The Brumleve's coming over to watch Luke open up his presents on Christmas morning.

Crazy arms...

Too much present opening can wear a boy out! Here we are on our way to Mike and Judy's for the annual Christmas day extravaganza.

Still on the way...

Raymond and Luke teaching Todd how to transform "those new fangled toys."
The Simm's are now proud owners of a state of the art karaoke machine. Here is Avri throwing up a gang sign while rapping to Snoop Dog. Just kidding I think it was "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie.

Guess who found Grandma Judy's chapstick??? And loved it???

The day after Christmas we got to have lunch with a big group of friends who hadn't been together since last New Years. Here are Allison and Tim before Luke attacked.

What a beautiful family! There were a couple different ways I thought of captioning this pic but that seemed to be the most entertaining to me. Really this is Jeff holding Avri and Mike holding Raymond (both children belong to Mike).

Yes, ladies and gentlemen we are at the bunny ears stage. Funny though, I don't think Avri was the one who started it. Jeff and the beautifully, banged Steph. Have a few drinks guys???

Luke really thought Tim needed some pacifier therapy after lunch. What a good sport he was.

Who is having more fun Steph or the kids?

For Christmas both Todd and Jeff received fake mustache kits. We laughed so hard playing with them. It was the first annual Ragas/White Mustache Party.

"That's Officer White to you."

Of course Luke enjoyed his mustache too! The Mustache Party spawned a hilarious new facial expression we have creatively deemed "the mustache face." Will take a picture for later blogging...

Have you ever seen a better looking group??

Winter Fun in Texas

2009-12-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

Last week Luke and I had a date with some friends. First we met at Boomerang's Bounce House place and then moved on to Pizza Garden for dinner. Here is the little guy with his friend from school Kai. They have an area especially for toddlers and it was the perfect size.

So happy to be bouncing. This trip coincided with Todd going to check on a "sleeping" Luke the other day only to find him jumping on his crib.

Luke's other friend Nadia thinks she is his big sister! I personally think he needs the torment of a sibling from time to time...

At the top of the big slide...wheeeeee

Action shot...

Monday night we took Luke to ICE! at the Gaylord Texan. It is basically a huge area full of real ice sculptures. They give everyone a parka because it is 32 degrees inside the building. This year the theme was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Luke was very puzzled by what was going on and probably wondering why we were all about to put on giant coats. What puzzles me is the expression on Todd's face...

There you have it...

Waiting in line to get in. Throughout the exhibit we asked other people take our pictures but inevitably Luke would look away, so the best family shots were the ones we took of ourselves. Not that he looks good here but at least he is facing the right direction.

Not made of ice...

Where are my hands? A little help please...

Blurry pic but you can see Luke busting out of his coat to try to touch the ice. I am thinking it is a good thing we don't live in Minnesota...he was not impressed with the cold weather gear.

Finally, Todd reached the real entrance...

This sign is in fact made of ice...

All ice...

Little rosy cheeks

Yep, it is made of ice. I had a problem because they made Luke slide by himself and then I wasn't allowed to catch him at the bottom. He started down on his bottom and ended up on his stomach but didn't seem to mind.

Leaving the slide room in an ice cave...

So awesome...

Yes he is wearing 2 coats. His normal green one from home and the giant one they provided us with. This created a penguin like walk which was very entertaining.

More "Who's" eating dinner...

The ice Grinch with his turkey...

Trains, 1st Hair Cut and Birthday Fun

2009-12-07T11:26:00.000-08:00

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving we took Luke to North Park Center to see the trains. They were very detailed and exciting for the little guy to watch. He refused to wear the conductor hat so I tried it on...Check out Washington, D.C. and New York City. There was even a Primrose School set up.

Luke got his first haircut on Monday November 30th. It was hard for me but as you can see it needed to be done. Todd was tired of him being mistaken for a girl and Allison's professional opinion was that it looked like a mullet. So we went to visit Allison at her shop...

Always a little helper.

No tears or anything. I am not sure how Allison does it because he didn't quit moving for 1 second.

Luke's cousin Raymond had his 3rd birthday party at Safari Park on Sunday. It was so fun for the kiddos. Here are Luke and Joey waiting patiently (yeah right) for a ride on the animatronic animals. Check out the "after" from his haircut.

Riding a cheetah...

Best picture of the day. Avri fell and bumped her head in the ball pit. She was fine but obviously sad. You can see how sympathetic her dad is...he is taking a picture too.

Luke's favorite things #1 bounce houses #2 slides #3 BALLS!!!

Trampolines make me happy!

Luke's Day at the Museum

2009-11-24T15:36:00.000-08:00

Luke went with his dad and Grandma S. to the new and improved Fort Worth Science Museum today! I think he looks like an Oompa Loompa in this picture.

Watch out on the road! This picture really showcases the black eye he got on Saturday. He slipped on the floor and bumped his eye on the coffee table. Wouldn't you know that the next day was when we got his Christmas pictures taken...

Digging for dino bones.

Halloween

2009-11-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

I have had a few requests for Halloween pics...sorry it took so long. Luke's Papa and I took him to a carnival down the street from their house. He was a little young for it but had fun. Sorry the pics are so jumbled, my default settings reverted back...

Here he is inside the storytelling fort, before the stories started.

Luke, it is not real!!!

We also visited with our neighbor Cooper the elephant. What a cutie.

I guess elephants can do what they want to monkeys...

We caged them up!

Fall Fun

2009-10-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

This Fall we have been able to take Luke to more places now that he is old enough to enjoy and explore them. These pictures are from the pumpkin patch close to our house. I have said it before and I will say it again, we are lucky to snap a picture with his head pointed in the right direction...extra lucky if he is actually looking at the camera.

The white pumpkins were really neat...

Good thing I have been working out, I can probably just lift these two beauties by the stems...
Entering the house made of hay! In case you didn't know, they are pretty much the coolest thing ever for a 17 month old.

Hi mom, I think I see you through the window. There are lots of big boys and girls in here.

Starting to like this hay stuff. Looks like fun when the other kids throw it in the air.

Focusing, watching, learning... could you look less like a criminal Luke??

How sweet, the big kids are brushing the hay they threw out of my hair.

For this pic he ran out of the hay house, we thought he was done, but oh no, he ran right back in.

There is my mommy looking at me through a very tiny window!

Hey ladies, just chillin on some pumpkins.

Family shot. Some woman felt sorry for us trying to take it by ourselves...

Later than night Todd and I performed a Halloween party fail- dressing up like characters no one has heard of. I wore mine with pride all night, Todd on the other hand decided he was Dirk Nowitzki half way through the party. We were supposed to be dressed as characters from the show True Blood (waitress Sookie and vampire Eric). One person at the party shouted out "Hey Sookie Stackhouse" (and I was thrilled) otherwise no one had a clue who we were.

Todd had fang malfunction and only one stayed attached to his tooth. Luke having recently learned what teeth are, found this situation very peculiar.

Luke stayed with his Grandma and Grandpa S and cousins Avri and Raymond while the parents went to the party. Luke is hiding his head in the pic because he was very scared of Mike's costume ( Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas)

Here is the little guy at Green Meadows farm in Grand Prairie. We met some friends there and had fun petting and feeding lots of animals. Upon arrival we checked out the baby goats. Luke was warming up...

Here is Ian, our friend's son petting the baby goats. Later he ran toward the cage out of excitement and the baby goat jump about 5 feet back.

We weren't worried about anyone messing with our stroller since scary skeleton boy was protecting it.

Luke and I visited with the turkeys and I didn't realize how pretty their feathers were. Since we bonded, I guess it is tofurkey for me this Thanksgiving.

We were at the farm for 8 minutes and Luke fell right in the mud. You can't really tell from this picture but it was gross. Our first family hay ride!!!

Here you go Mr. Sheep enjoy this 1 piece of food I am handing to you with a closed fist.

Checking out the ducks from a safe distance. He got closer than Todd, who wouldn't even come inside of the cage.

Big, muddy, disgusting boy...wouldn't have it any other way!

This chicken had the right idea, just get inside the food container. We thought it was stuck but eventually it jumped right out.

Not too sure about this. I think the chicken heard we were going to eat at Chic-fil-a after the farm.

We tried 10 different pictures and this was the best we could get...

Luke's hair is blocking the look of sheer terror on Todd's face. Remember the last blog that involved Todd and a horse? Way to be brave for your child! Now that I look closer it seems that Todd is using Luke as a human shield between himself and the horse.

Petting the mommy cow. How sweet...

Upon my suggestion, Todd attempted to milk a cow. You see how delighted he was with this idea...Ben, Ian, Jill, Luke, Me and Todd...Didn't occur to me until now that we were extremely color coordinated. Should have taken more group shots... It should probably also be noted that we prefer to surround ourselves exclusively with people who have only 1 syllable in their names.

Resting with the calves. Wake up Ian!!

I like your big floppy ears baby cow! No trying to hide it, I love the calves and I had hoped that Luke would too.

At the end of the trip, Luke got to pick out a pumpkin to take home. From the look of this photo he really put some thought into it, but still looks unsure of his decision.What do you do after you pick out your pumpkin? You pose for pictures with it!!! The William's pumpkin was apparently possessed and took 2 adults plus 1 child to hold it still for the picture.

We had better luck with ours...

A tired boy and his pumpkin.

Later that night, Luke was practicing his routine for "America's Got Talent" on our big, family pumpkin.

Tada!! I think we can probably just stop contributing to the college fund now.

Grandma and Grandpa S came for dinner and brought a scary monster cupcake. Luke proceeded to gouge the eyes out before ripping it apart.

The child spent all day in mud covered clothing but wouldn't put his hand in the pumpkin to get out the seeds..

Austin City Limits

2009-10-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

This is as "artsy" as I get...

Todd, myself, Allison and Tim headed out for Austin on Thursday night (Luke stayed with Nana and Papa). We stayed at the Austin Motel and the best way to describe it is kitschy in a good way. Friday our friend Jessica and her daughter Madelyn met up with us for lunch. Here are all of us ladies...

Friday, Saturday and Sunday we made the 2 mile trek from our motel to Zilker Park where the festivities were. Along the way we were given lots of free stuff, including Shiner Beer. Here we are enjoying and toasting. That is Allison, Tim, Josh and Todd. Weird to think I have known Tim and Josh longer than Allison and Todd...we went to elementary school together.

One of the many port-o-pots we saw over the weekend. This one had the best sign though.

Nice view along the way to the park. I realized on this trip what a great place Austin is. Nice people, nice outside areas, good food and shopping...

We have arrived!!!

Beautiful sunny day...on Friday! This was one of the 6 or 7 stages total in the park. It was the most well organized event I have ever been too. To keep noise down one band would play and as soon as they were done another band would start up on a nearby stage.

Another stage on Friday. I think they said 65,000 people attended the show in all.

Couldn't get close to the stage but ahhh, John Legend.

Todd and Allison accompanied me to see The Zac Brown Band. Mother Nature must like Zac Brown too because while he was playing was the only time the rain stopped.

We managed to get pretty close to Zac and the guys... during the show security would come over the top of the hill, dance and go back down the other side. Two forms of entertainment rolled into one show.

Tim and Allison

Couldn't get too close but here is Dave Mathews on the big screen!

Watching Ghostland Observatory with Allison and Todd. They put on a good show with laser lights and TONS of dancing.

After the shows on Saturday night. Todd, Tim, Allison and Josh

Todd's muddy legs and shoes. This was just Saturday night...it got worse.

Group photo! Each room at the Austin Motel has a different theme and ours was the enchanted forest (or spooky forest according to Todd).

Same stage as before but on Sunday. Check out what a difference 2 days of rain make.

Sunday night during a great performance by Girl Talk, some people were enjoying the mud more than others. By the way, the mud smelled like manure and we saw a handful of people peeing in it. YUCK!

Fun Times!

2009-09-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

On Friday we had a Multicultural Parade at Primrose. Every class made flags to march around the parking lot with. Here is Luke getting ready, he ended up waving his flag so vigorously that the stick broke. You can see he was respresenting Canada!

Why does it look like only adults attended the parade? I swear there were other children besides Luke. He was a little awe struck...this being his first parade performance and all.

Our little guy was under the weather on Wednesday so he stayed with Nana B. Here he is playing with Uncle Brian's old ninja turtles.

On Saturday night we had some friends over for dinner. After Luke went to bed we felt the urge to try on his hats. Nice looking group, don't you think???

Best. Game. Ever.

2009-09-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

Luke came up with a new game after getting clean tonight. I think there might be some rules that are unclear to me and I did get the sense that he was heckling me at one point even though I wasn't asked to play.

Busy Times

2009-09-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy it seems like we haven't had a spare moment, hence the weeks long hiatus from blogging! School started on Aug. 24th which meant back to school time for me and Luke...

Todd and I were cleaning and noticed Luke had been quiet for a few minutes. When we found him he had done this...it required him to climb onto a desk chair and from there climb onto our desk. After that he just found a nice place to sit and make some phone calls. SCARY!

At the end of August Todd and Colin took a trip to Jackson Hole to fish and visit Todd's uncle Bruce. If you look closely you can see a grizzly bear on the river bank.

Very beautiful. Next time I think Luke and I should go...

This was a baby elk that had a broken leg. They called the park ranger who hopefully came and took it to get help.

Master fisherman

For our parent's anniversaries we took them out to Reata in downtown Fort Worth. It was delicious.

Update on the horse bite from New Orleans. It did get worse if you can believe it.

Luke at school in the "big boy" class.

Mom you are embarrassing me with all the pictures. My friends are around.

Dancing I guess??!

Let the Good Times Roll!

2009-08-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

From Thursday to Sunday we were in New Orleans for our friend Ryan's 30th Birthday. It was a great time but I really thought I would get more sleep not chasing Luke around...I was wrong!

The first night it was just Todd and I. We stayed on Bourbon Street and this was the view as we walked to dinner.

At Gumbo House for dinner. We actually ate in the courtyard and the weather was so nice!

On the way back from dinner we walked around the French Quarter. Right in front of St. Louis Cathedral all of the horses line up to give carriage rides. Well, apparently one could smell fear on Todd because it reached out and bit him on the arm. Here is the wound about 10 minutes later. You can see he required no stitches or shots...

A side street on the way to Cafe Du Monde! Yummy, yummy frozen cafe au laites and beignets!! That is the breakfast of champions.

On Friday afternoon we switched hotels to join the rest of the group. Funny to see Todd walking down Bourbon St. wheeling our luggage. Notice the giant puddle he is about to walk through. Surprisingly, we weren't the only people bringing luggage down the street. A few even had strollers full of liquor while the kids were walking.

MOTHERS! MOTHERS! Tommy and Julie at MOTHERS! I think the guys would have eaten every meal there. Delicious soft shell crab and Ferdi Specials...but Todd is going to get the Jambalaya next time, unless they let him go to the kitchen and make up his own sandwich which would include fried oysters, soft shell crab, ham...I told you we talked a lot about MOTHERS!!!

Ryan and Brandy at Mothers.

Julie making a friend at the Hand Grenade Bar.

Spirit finger contests. Ryan won both...I think the judges just knew it was his birthday.

I think Brandy called these the Melrose Place pictures. It took Todd and I a few minutes to find Ryan in the picture. Hint:he is wearing a black shirt but is not the guy with the hat in the background.

At Aunt Tiki's. We noticed Todd had his mouth open in nearly ALL of the pictures we took.

We ended up at Bourbon St. Blues Company and they had a great band called Oceans 13. I am willing to bet Brandy and Todd are singing one of Bon Jovi's hits in this picture.

Saturday at Pat O'Briens on the patio.

The table next to us had an interesting guy who kept insisting that some of us try on his masks. Here is Brandy's cat impression.

We stayed at the Hilton on Saint Charles and the restaurant was called none other than...

I had read online that our hotel had a rooftop deck. So we searched for it, found it after some time and enjoyed ourselves overlooking the city. Shortly after getting everyone coordinated enough to meet up, we were asked to leave because it is for special occasions only. Oh well, fun while it lasted.

Rooftop...

more rooftop

cool parking structure

Nice purse Todd.

Saturday night we ate at Emeril's NOLA.

Maverick and Goose trying to organize the Top Gun high five. Notice Ryan coaching from the bar stool.

Last Day of Babysitting

2009-08-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day for Luke's Nanny Brumleve to babysit him this summer (she watched him while I helped out a couple of days each week at work). He showed up bright and early with some flowers and a card on the doorstep to say thank you. (Trying to raise a gentleman, you know).

Of course, when Papa answered the door he got a big smile, but we had to have a redo to make sure Nanny got the same effect...and so she could go get the camera and take a picture.

Just so happened that Muncle Brian (you know how my dad is with nicknames...just go with it) was in town and got to hang out with Luke too!

Muncle Brian, are we cool dudes? Yes Luke we sure are!

Muncle Brian your caterpillar eyebrow is attacking me!!

Brian, charmer of animals and babies world wide!

Napping with Papa. When I see this picture I am worried that Luke might not be comfortable or warm enough. I see at least 3 pillows surrounding the child and about 3 layers of covers. Nanny and Papa take good care of the boy.

It's Play Time!!!

2009-08-16T18:50:00.000-07:00

On Sunday morning we had some friends over to play outside. We used the sprinkler, newly acquired swing set, water table and a ghetto fab pool (Todd noticed that there were holes in it about 10 min. before everyone came over so he ran to Walmart only to find out pools are out of season already, the only alternative - duct tape). Sorry to everyone who had to wake their kids up early or set the alarm to make it over! Just know I am truly jealous of you. Luke was in need of some time with the smaller crowd especially since he is getting ready to go back to a full class at Primrose on the 24th! Not that he played with anyone per se but he sure stared a lot and played near them.

Luke, Blake and Cooper in the pool.

Kona enjoyed stealing toys from the pool and chewing them up in the yard.

Avri and Raymond running in the sprinkler.

Luke and Blake teaching Cooper how to use spinny toys and swim.

Poor Dominic he was the oldest boy and I had promised that the Wii would be available. That was before we discovered that Luke broke it. Okay, we don't know for sure if he broke it but who else is a better scape-goat? We also chalk up a lost hair brush (yes, Todd's infamous hairbrush from an earlier post...devastating), cordless phone, and tv remote control to him. Anyway, here he is getting wet, kind of.

Bathing beauties and a giant crab.

Conner and Blake figuring out the features of the water table that I have trouble putting together.

Luke and Nadia in the pool. As I get to know my son more I think he has a tendency to go for older girls. He loved being around Nadia especially when she was pushing him on the swing.

Kai splashing in the water table.

It was brought to our attention that Colin is an excellent blower. He might have had more fun than the kiddos. What a good dad!

Lesson #1 learned today: it is IMPOSSIBLE to get more than 1 child to look at the camera when taking a picture. Sometimes if you get 1 to look you are lucky. Lets hear it for candid photos!

Conner, Kai, Luke and Nadia

Come on Luke lets go over here.

I imagine they are discussing their stock portfolios...

Lunch time!!! Nothing like drinking milk in the sun, outside when the temp is 98 degrees...

and getting a little turkey stuck to your nose.

Luke's Play Day

2009-08-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

Luke's cousins Avri and Raymond outgrew their "swing set" and generously gave it to Luke! He loved it and didn't seem to mind the 100 degree temperature but mom did. Needless to say after 15 minutes of play time I was dripping with sweat and he was not happy about coming back inside. We will play in the early morning or late afternoon next time!

Luke and Kona checking out their new toy.

Mommy, help me swing!

Getting ready to go down the slide...

Luke, keep your eyes on the road!!

Avri and Raymond also gave us their Elmo costume! How cute.

Just randomness from our day...not sure why I am encouraging my child to say "no."

Tired boy with cream cheese face...