Relaxing Weekend

After a couple of busy weeks back at school and a big vacation last weekend, this weekend was a much slower pace.  We cleaned the house, took care of grocery shopping, and caught up on sleep.  Sunday afternoon we were happy for football to return and even grilled out some burgers.

Adi and Daddy relaxing and watching football.

Love the fire pit!

First time I've ever seen a praying mantis "in the wild".  It was hanging out in our backyard.

We were washing out Adi's doghouse and saw another praying mantis hiding in it.

The best part of the fire pit...Smores!  Don't feel too sorry for Adi...she got a marshmallow.

We call this one "Senior Portrait."

Viva Las Vegas

 The Ticer clan traveled to Las Vegas over Labor Day weekend to celebrate Mom's recent milestone birthday.  We had a fabulous trip!  Here we are outside the Bellagio waiting for the dancing fountain show.

This is at the MGM Grand.  We took in a couple of shows while we were there.  Ka (a Cirque d' Soleil show) and David Copperfield.  Both shows were good, but I think David Copperfield was everyone's favorite.

 The shopping was also awesome.  At the Nike store they had a mannequin dressed out in every NFL uniform!  Very impressive, and a fun way to get pumped up about the new season.

Dancing fountains at the Bellagio.

Here we are squeezed in for a couple of group shots before the David Copperfield show.

                           Here is Bryan under the glass flowers in the lobby of the Bellagio.

 I'm posing with Bumblebee and Allan (with Baby Carlos) from the Hangover.  Ok, so we didn't realize until after the picture that you were supposed to tip them...rookie mistake.  And below is a picture of me at Coca-Cola world beside the wall of coke from all over the world.

Here is one of me in the gardens at the Bellagio.

 Here is Dad with the birthday girl outside the Bellagio.  It was a great show of the dancing water.

 Here's Bryan near the wall of M&M's at M&M World.  They even had his new favorites...raspberry M&M's and the dark chocolate and mint M&M's.

 Since the MGM is famous for it's boxing matches (and the movies/lion logo) we took a pic of us duking it out beside the ring containing the gold lion.

 We checked out the shark reef at Mandalay Bay.  Here Bryan is checking out the octopus.  Below, Mom, Dad, & Avery are waiting for the sting rays to swim by so they can touch them.

 We had such a great time!  It was fun to check out the sights in Vegas, but the best part was being together.

GOOOOOOAAAAAALLL!

Okay...so I realize it is quite a shock to see me in a soccer uniform instead of a tennis uniform.  Here is what happened.  Bryan is playing on an coed indoor league (1 keeper, 3 guys, 3 girls play at a time).  We got to his game last night and they only had 2 girls.  Approximately 4 minutes before the start of the game, Bryan informs me that they will have to forfeit unless I fill in as the last girl.  I know, right!?  So I step up as wife of the year and fill in.  They scrounge around and find extra shoes, socks, shin guards, shorts and a jersey and tell me to take off all my jewelry (I didn't even know that was a rule in soccer).  Did I mention this all happened in 4 minutes?  And, since most of the team members are soccer coaches they of course have all kinds of extra gear to get me suited up and quickly explain that instead of hiding in the corner near our goal and trying to stay out of the way...I will be hanging out near the opposing team's goal!  What?!  Thank goodness they are patient coaches and can kind of coach me along and are so nice when I mess up (you know...not making contact when I kick at a ball or getting right in the way when they take a shot...minor mistakes like that).

I quickly realize why they want me by the other team's goal.  1--it keeps me out of the way during the all important defense.  2--There is no offsides in indoor soccer so I literally hang out by the other goal and try to run around and act like I know how to play (the other team had this big guy defend me the whole first half before they realized I had no idea what I was doing and he could be better utilized somewhere else).  3--if by some crazy stroke of luck I happened to toe poke (new soccer term I learned) a shot into the goal we would get two points instead of one (girl goals are worth 2 points).

The game is tied at 1-1 at the end of the first half.  Midway through the 2nd half there is a wild frenzy near the goal I am attacking (okay...so maybe I AM NOT attacking but the team is).  Anyway, suddenly the heavens opened and music played and time stopped.  I looked down and the ball is right in front of me with the goalkeeper over to the other side of the goal.  I kicked with all my might and for the first time ever I actually made contact, solid contact, and rocketed the ball into the back of the goal.  WHAT?!  The crowd erupted, fireworks exploded, and I ran to midfield and slid on my knees as I ripped of my jersey Brandi Chastain style!  My team ran in to hoist me up into the air like the true Olympic hero I was.  Oh wait...that last part didn't happen.  But I did score a goal, the team did cheer, and we did take a commanding 3-1 lead (remember my goal counted for 2 even if really just proved that "even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then" as my dad would say).  Full of confidence, I had an assist a few minuted later.  Okay, actually I was trying to shoot but rocketed it off the wall instead and one of our guy players rebounded it into the goal.  But I'm still counting it as an assist.  The last few minutes of the game showed me prominently "whiff" a ball when I was wide open.  The ref actually said to me, "Wow, I felt that breeze from here."  Oh well, pride cometh before a fall right.

I was very hot, tired, sweaty, and thirsty after the game even if it was only a 40 minute game.  I guess team USA will not be contacting me for the 2016 Olympic team.  I also guess my spectating days of Bryan's coed team are also over...I don't think I can risk a similar situation again.  Better to go out on top.

Aloha!

 Aloha!  Bryan and I had the opportunity for a wonderful vacation in Hawaii this summer!  Bill and Lou (Bryan's aunt and uncle) hosted us for a trip of a lifetime!  We had a wonderful time viewing one of the most beautiful places in the world, relaxing, and visiting with Bill and Lou.  It was a fabulous trip!

 One of the neatest things about Hawaii was the dramatic views and sudden changes in scenery.  You would be walking through a forrest (at least a forrest for a Texas girl) and suddenly it would open up to a beach, or the caldera of a volcano!  Trees, like the one above, would be high in the air and have roots dropping from above your head.

 Here we are by a double waterfall in Kauai.  Yes, you are just driving along the road and suddenly there's a waterfall over on the side.  Gorgeous!

Bryan and I took a few days to make a side trip to the Big Island and Oahu.  Here we are at Hawaii Volcano National Park.  Behind us the the crater that still releases steam and has magma in it.  At night it glows red.  You can't tell from the picture, but the volcano is in the middle of a rain forrest.  Yes, you are walking along in a rain forrest and all of a sudden it opens up to the floor of the caldera.  We hiked all over the park.  It was amazing!

 Here we are in the park outside a tunnel.  Lava used to flow through the tunnel, and now you can walk through it...it's about as long as a football field I would estimate.  It reminded me of a cave or Carlsbad Caverns.  By the way...we also saw caves in Kauai.

 Yep, we took a helicopter ride over the volcanoes on the Big Island.  Yep, the helicopter is missing the doors!  It was definitely a little scary at first, but it was such a cool experience.

 It's hard to see in the picture, but Bryan is pointing to a tiny little spot of lava.  The volcano was huge!  We are about 1,000 feet in the air, but there is hardened lava as far as you can see.  This volcano was actually almost flat and the lava flows out towards the ocean...it was such a cool sight.

 On Oahu, we took a tour that took us all over the island.  We went to Pearl Harbor, the Dole Plantation, and the Polynesian Culture Center.  Here I am beside some pineapple plants at the Dole Plantation.

 Pearl Harbor was a very special place.  We were so proud to be Americans.  Here we are at the Arizona Memorial.  I took a picture above us...I loved how they had the American flag above the actual memorial.  In the picture below, you can kind of see how the sunken Arizona is below us and the U.S.S. Missouri in the distance.

 Here we are back in Kauai.  The picture doesn't do justice to the beautiful sunset.

 Here we are at a beach in Princeville.  I love this picture of Bill and Lou!

 This is us at Queen's Bath in the North Shore of Kauai.  This was one of our favorite places from the trip.  You hiked down a beautiful path and it opens up to lava rocks meeting the ocean.  Gorgeous!

 There were a couple of places at Queen's Bath where you could climb down and get into some pools.

 Here we are hiking near Queen's Bath.  It's kind of hard to see the waterfall above but it was no small feat to climb up to it.  Below is a different waterfall on the path down to the baths.

We had such a wonderful trip!  It was so neat to see the beautiful scenery and appreciate what God made.  Thanks Bill and Lou!

Texas Motor Speedway

This past weekend, Bryan's Dad and Wendy came to visit us.  We had a great visit with them.  We took in the Fort Worth Stockyards, the McKinney Square, Bryan's half-marathon, and an Indy race at Texas Motor Speedway.

The Indy race was awesome!  A friend from Bryan's work got us awesome tickets to watch the race from their condo.  Our tickets included passes to the garage during pre-race tune-up and inspections as well as access to the pits before the race.  Amazing!  The cars come in on big 18 wheelers.  They ride at the top of the truck and they lower them down on lifts.

Here I am beside the official pace car.

Check out these tires!  These have been used...even in the picture you can kinda tell how chewed up and blistered they are.

Here's Bryan beside the #12 car (Will Power's car).  We always cheer for Will Power.

Here's a close-up of the Andretti logo on Marco Andretti's car.  One of the lady's in the condo got to ride with Marco in the parade lap on the track before the race.

Indy car races are supposedly a lot more fan-friendly than Nascar.  The entire field of drivers had an autograph signing session out in front of the speedway for anyone to come get signatures.  We decided not to wait in the line, but I got pictures of Helio and Will Power.

By one of the merchandise trailers we did get Will Power and Ryan Briscoe's autographs on our race tickets.

Back in the garage area, here is Will Power's car going in for pre-race inspection.

Here's a pic of Bryan in the pit.

Look at all these pre-race tires.  One of the pit crew guys told us they could use as many as 9 sets during the race, but they were expecting to use 5 or 6 sets.

And, here is the Sonny's car getting gas from the big tanker right before the race.  Little did we know, he would go on to win the race (too bad I forgot his name...Ha!).  We had a great time at the race.  Checking out the pits/garage and sitting in the air-conditioned condo enjoying delicious food definitely spoiled us to how all sporting events should be attended.