Saturday, April 18, 2009

TEXAS - DAY 6 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!

Last day in Texas. :(

Successfully convinced my father that it was actually okay to do something HE wanted to do today, so we all loaded up and headed for the Naval Air Show in Corpus Christi, about an hour from the ranch.

These redneck social experiments...air shows, car shows, guns & knife shows, monster truck rallys, small town parades and rodeos, and random parking lot carnivals...will forever remind me of my father, which is why I still find myself so drawn to them as a parent, I suppose.  And I know Amy is completely baffled whenever I announce excitedly that the Guns & Ammo show is at Cow Palace this weekend, but the small town girl inside of me that aches for cowpatty throwing contests and mud races is the same one that allowed me to fall so head over 4--inch heels for a redneck of my very own. 

So, except for the fact that I'd had ZERO sleep between checking in on Saia and trying to make the little king comfortable (Chago doesn't typically adapt well to new environments) -- and the fact that they stayed up til MIDNIGHT with their cousins for their first-time-ever slumber party -- and let's just nevermind the fact that all week long I'd been seriously jonesing for my Starbucks and had been without chai or even a remote B-version for, oh, let's see, 6 FREAKING DAYS NOW -- but except for that, except for all that, I was good to go.

Click the PLAY (>) button below to watch the NAS Air Show slideshow.

But, man, the oh-so-warm salty breeze coming off the gulf.  That forever Lonestar sky.  And even the bar-b-que joint at the end of the day was all just so well choreographed, I couldn't have asked for a better culmination to our trip.

Until my family pulled an all-nighter with me.  

And we laughed. And joked. And it was easy and fun and perfect.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!  WE'LL MISS YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!



2 comments:

elaine said...

i just read your blog on your visit back to good ole san diego :) i know exactly what you mean about the smells and the all too familiar sites of san diego. But only after a week or so of visiting i am reminded as to why i left that oh too small town :) i love all the memories and the closeness of the people in the town and the bbq's with family but thats what going home to visit is good for. once i get my fill of missing south texas im the hell out of there. i enjoyed reading your blogs and seeing pictures of you and your family your children are beautiful and i see your hands are full as well as mine are too. i have 3 kids(demons) lol. i have a 11(going on 20)yr old daughter and a 6yr old son and a 7yr old son..yes what was i thinking!! but i love my kids to death and i would not ever regret that part of my oh so fucked up marriage :) that is the only great thing i got from it...but all that is behind me and i am in a much better place with a much better man. well just wanted to share about good ole San Diego..take care and God Bless

Jo Anna Guerra said...

Oh, honey, don't I know it! Not looking to buy property there anytime soon, that's for sure.

And it definitely sounds like you've got your hands overflowing with demons!!

Thanks for the comment. Stop by anytime. :)

J.