Cool Weekend

We had a pretty fun filled, busy weekend!

First, on Friday night, we went to a chili cookoff at church. Our friend L. entered chili named "World's Most Expensive Chili!" Can you believe it had 7 1/2 pounds of ribeye steak in it? It was really good. . .she didn't win from the judges (no taste, I guess--how could a native Texan not win a chili cookoff??) But, she did get third place in People's Choice!

Some of the people (including the entrants) had never been to a chili cookoff or even HEARD of one! Crazy! It is a staple fall event in small towns across the Lone Star State! I love them and miss them A LOT! S. remembers going to a chili cookoff with my grandfather and he helped cook! The cooking pot was so big that they stirred with axe handles!

Anyway--the church chili cookoff seemed to be a success. We had a good time--even though it poured down rain for a few minutes. We were all able to get inside and no one was the worse for wear! The cowboy theme was, of course, embraced by R. who plans to be a cowboy when he grows up. J. participated too, but only due to force from his mother. He was NOT thrilled with the "get up" I put on him!

On Saturday, we got up early to go to the Air Show at the Marine base. As soon as we got to the parking lot, a light drizzle started. By the time we were getting the kids out of the car, it was raining. We weren't totally prepared, but we had some emergency blankets and ponchos, so we wrapped the kids, stuck them in the stroller and started walking toward the flight line. A few hundred yards into the hike, it started POURING! S. stopped and said "You need to make a decision. I don't mind to get wet, but if you are going to want to go back, let's go now." N. was having none of that. He immediately said he was going to see the planes and kept walking. We followed and a few minutes later, the clouds broke and the sun was shining.

It turned out to be a great day! We found the Army guys and hung out with them for a while. The kids did push ups with one of the recruiters, and he gave them Tshirts (he gave me one too, and I didn't have to do any pushups! He must have looked at me and known immediately there was no chance I would ever make it in the Army so no need to waste his time! The kids, however, are prime recruiting targets!)

They got to go through the virtual trainer, and our friends, the chili cookin' C. family, joined us and they went through too. They also got Tshirts (they had to do pushups for them too--daughter #1, at 12 years old and with a broken finger did 35!!!!)

We went to the grandstands to watch the Golden Knights jump (AWESOME) and then came out and got their autographs! (Another cool note--by the time we got there, the grandstands were full. There was one section that was roped off, but it was for USAA members! Since we had our card, we got to sit there! (I love that company--not just for that, but it WAS cool!)

After that, we walked around some more and the kids climbed on vehicles, held some weapons, and tried on equipment. They made a cute helicopter crew! Finally, we went back to the grandstands and watched the Blue Angels! REALLY REALLY COOL!!!! Scary, loud, and TOTALLY AMAZING!!!

The only down thing about the day was that early in the day the soccer association said that all the games were cancelled, so we didn't rush back for N.'s game at 3pm. Apparently, some time in the day, they changed that and the game was played. I feel really bad about it, because I should have checked with the coach and I didn't. I know that it isn't a professional game or anything, but I feel like I let N. and his team down.

So--Saturday evening we went to a birthday party for our friends' little girl, and then Sunday was church and AWANA. Both boys earned awards at AWANA, and S. and I had a great dinner with our friend, J.

All together, a lovely weekend!