Cabo

Our trip to Cabo was nice. Apparently it was "off season" which helped keep the prices and crowds down, but it also made it a little chilly... at least for me. Cary did agree though that the ocean was cold. For me to get into the pool, I'd have to wade down a few stairs, get use to the water, and then go a little further in. Eventually I'd make it, but if the wind started blowing I was back out!

I really didn't know before hand, but you can't swim in the ocean in Cabo except for certain little pockets, due to the undertow being so strong. This was probably the most disappointing information you could tell me on a beach trip!

So, we didn't get to snorkel. You can go out to some specified snorkeling areas, but when we asked about those we were told it's too cold still. Cary did rent a jet ski, but there was no way I was getting on it! If I fell off into that COLD ocean water it would not be a good thing!

We stayed at the Rui, and it was nice. All inclusive usually makes life easier since food and drinks are at your finger tips without having to take money with you everywhere. There were even shows and entertainment every night. One night we watched Mama Mia and another night we saw Grease.... I'm sure these were high on Cary's list of favorites.

Us enjoying a glass of wine on the balcony before our steak dinner that over looked the ocean.
Us at dinner
The view from the pool of the famous Cabo arches

A fun elephant made of towels greeted us one night when we returned to our room.

The majority of our pictures are from the day Cary played golf. It was beautiful!!! I'll save those for my next post. We all know how I love capturing "critters" in pictures while on the golf course.... Cabo had several fun ones to share!

Oh! And this is Cary hiding (with the pillow) the fact that he is OBSESSED with the game Brick Breaker on his Blackberry. Any chance he has he plays this damn game! Maybe I'll start pulling out the camera and documenting it. He pulled up the pillow because he knew I'd take a picture and post it on my blog; at least he knows me well. The plus for me- we got bumped up to first class on the way home. A movie, big chair, glass of wine, and fruit, meat, and cheese tray make every trip better!

Wimberley

My parents wanted a few days to "get away" so they graciously took all of us (me, Bobby, Kacee, and Cary) with them to Wimberley, TX. They rented a cute house that was on a creek. We spent our time playing in the water, fishing, shopping, playing golf, and eating and drinking around town. These pictures are all from our favorite "watering hole" that was on the creek in town. Mom has more pictures on her blog as well; you can find her on the right side of this page. There are also some good pics of us all in the water, but that requires bathing suits and I'm just not going there on here.

Tree Man. We later found a place where you can find the faces to attach to your own trees, but we decided to let this be a Wimberley thing.

Richters are always drawn to water. We saw some big catfish in here too.

More Tree People

Me and Cary. They had good Texas Martinis there!

Sad news

Yes, we're back from Wimberley and Cabo, but first....

Looking back on this week, it's kinda sad. Many deaths occurred- some expected and some not.

While working at Oleson Elementary one of my 4th grade team leaders was Mrs. Martha Wernick. She was wonderful and reminded me so much of my maternal grandmother. Mrs. Wernick loved her granddaughter, her bright yellow Mustang, and Oleson. Sadly a few years back, Mrs. Wernick had to stop working with us due to a brain tumor. Being the fighter that she is, she lived a year longer than expected but left us last Friday. Unfortunately, with me being out of town, I couldn't attend the services. I hope the Wernick family knows that I'm thinking of them.

Then yesterday in Cabo, I woke up from a nap, turned on the TV, and was sad to learn that both Michael Jackson and Farrah had passed. I later learned in a text from Mom that Ed McMahon died as well.

I know, I know, Michael was a bit strange but those weren't my first thoughts when I heard of this icon passing. I remember his music that my brother and I love! Some of my earliest memories involve being scared of the Thriller video. We lived in California when I was in kindergarten, and my best friend at the time was Kelly. Her older brother, Brian, would watch the Thriller video and it scared me to death. Hearing the beginning of that song scared me for years; now I think of the weddings I've been to where we all have a great time trying to remember each step to the dance! Today when I hear a Michael Jackson song I usually think of my brother singing, at the top of his lungs, all the songs off the Bad album while in his room; I swear he thought he was going to be the next big thing. Last night, Cary and I decided to slip into the Disco at the resort in Cabo and dance awhile to the Michael Jackson tribute they were playing. Great fun!

What ever your thoughts of Michael, we've lost someone that was an American icon. He seemed to have a very sad life, but hopefully now when people think of him the music and memories, like I described, will be what they remember.

I wouldn't say Farrah had much influence on my generation, but we all knew who she was. It was sad to read of the painful cancer that was taking this beautiful woman from her loved ones. Hopefully now she is pain free.

Who knows, Mrs. Wernick could be out there dancing with Michael and Farrah right now!

Coming soon: Wimberley and Cabo pictures

Matagorda

This weekend some of us traveled down to Matagorda where our friend Lindsay (Tim's girlfriend that we love!) has a bay house. Surprisingly, the drive is only an hour and a half from our house!

As you can see the boys are playing their favorite game, Crispy Wickets, in the background.

I was surprised at how many shells were everywhere!

The water doesn't look great, but we played in it anyway. It was warm. I kept seeing fish jump and thought of them while walking out there. I'll be happy when I can see my feet and the floor of the ocean when in Cabo soon. Too bad we couldn't see the bottom- Nick lost his nice sunglasses.

Me and Cary

See how Cary looks white here- parts of him are now bright red. Poor kid; I think some of my sun screen is expired. Luckily he put 70 SPF on his head and that worked. We tried vinegar on him last night- I read all over the Internet that it helps draw out the heat and painful red of a sunburn. Didn't work as much as we would have liked, although the washcloths did come off hot after putting them on him for five minutes. We need to draw more of that heat out. I have a great after sun lotion that he loves, but it's almost gone. I'm ordering more today. If anyone has any ideas, please share. My poor tomato would appreciate it!

Twilight golf

I love being on the golf course, especially summer late afternoons/evenings. Cary came home a little early from work, we went and worked out, and then headed to the Cinco golf course.

I love this GPS thing. I guess I haven't been to a nicer course in awhile because this was my first experience with the GPS in the cart. No more looking around on the ground for the distance marker!I've never been on any of the Cinco golf courses; they are nice, but you don't see as many critters as you do in Kingwood.

End of an era

Good bye room 10

I taught in Aldine ISD for seven years, six of which were at Oleson Elementary. Friday was my last day as an Aldine employee as I'll be teaching in Katy ISD next year. I worked with some amazing teachers, several of whom became my close friends. Randy Guerra and Susan Becker are two of the best teachers I've ever seen, and they taught me a lot.

Luckily, I'm not moving out of the Houston area so Happy Hours, parties, weddings, baby showers, etc. will all still be possible... I just get to leave some of the other stuff behind. :-)