So after a wonderful evening of praise & worship at Alameda, I'll round out the Night Before Call with an update to the blog. These pictures go back about a month, so it will be a pretty big update...
So as usual when the 4 Koch Granddaughters get together, a grand time was had by all, at least all of them. The rest of us should just get out of the way. This time Buddy was caught up in the excitement:
Allison came home from school one day, and told us she had to make a 'trash pet' for her class. Susan thought we'd just toss something together, but I knew the gauntlet had been thrown down. No one challenges Jamie Koch to a craft challenge. With only two days to work with, Al & I pieced together "Puff the Trash Dragon". Sometimes I feel like Michelangelo with a hot glue gun in my hands.
Allison turned 7 somewhere along the busy way. She celebrated with all-day passes at Andy Alligator's with her best buddy
Laughing with Grandma Koch...
Cuddling with the Bud-ster...
Six Flags Trip for the David Crowder Band* Concert:
Do any of you remember the old SNL skit for "Bad Idea Jeans". Well 'Somebody' had this big idea to get Six Flags Season Passes this year. BAD IDEA. Then that someone drug his family down to Six Flags on a Friday Saturday during the spring break weak (for the entire state of Texas) BAD IDEA. Then this somebody had the idea to take the kids to the DCB concert (down and back the same day) at six flags and that concert just happened to be the Grand Re-opening Day for the Texas Giant which had been closed for the last 2 years BAD IDEA. I may just be a Disney World Snob Now, but Six Flags has gone down the tubes in a bad bad way. It was always too too hot, and often very crowded, but the ratio of (Gandpa voice) 'teeny-bopper-hooligan-punks' to "Normal people" has gotten way way out-of-whack. Or perhaps more sadly - I've just got a gross idealistic misperception of what "Normal" really is any more - but I digress. Anyhow it was a BAD IDEA - though we made the best of it.
Katy had to have a turkey leg, like her Grandpa I guess, and so we ponied up the $400 for the Turkey Leg and managed to split it between the 4 of us with ice waters and bunch of pickle chips from the toppings bar. Susan was on a popcorn diet.
Allison waiting in line for the Swinging Pirate Ship (with a horde of 'teeny-bopper-hooligan-punks') - The funny (and sad) part of this picture is poor lonely Susan sitting this one out over her shoulder.
(Inside the Six Flags Planning Committee meeting)
Manager - "So we've got think of a ride to put in the hottest little corner of the park - the 'desert-scape' over by the Titan"
Employee A - 'How about we put the 'scrambler' ride there. It's bare metal will bake in the scorching Texas sun and after waiting in an unshaded ride line our guests can suffer 2nd and 3rd degree burns from sitting in the metal oven cars"
Manager- "That's Brilliant!! Our guests will be miserable!"
Employee B - 'And to further add to their misery we'll put the absolute slowest teenage employee we can find operating the ride alone with complete incompetence. That way not only will the guests cook in line in agony, but when we actually get them into the molten oven cars, we can make them suffer through a ridiculously long pre-ride safety check to ensure maximal customer discomfort!"
Manager - "Let it be so!"
BAD IDEA
Fortunately for me I recognized the incompetence of the park employee early and decided to pass on this torture chamber of a ride - but Susan and the girls thought they'd rough it out. After suffering through the agony of the line and safety check - they managed to crack a smile - though I think it was only because once the ride started to move they caught a tiny bit of a breeze to soothe their scalding burn injuries.
This next one is:
Totally
Awesome
Al-ittude.
I don't know where Allison came up with this hand signal, but after she kept doing it, Katy and Sue joined in.
So we couldn't handle the heat so we escaped to the Grapevine Mills area for dinner before the concert. This next one is a total inside joke. "Patricia" is a code word with my girls. If you don't already know, you don't want want to. But if you do know - you know it all Allison.
Back at Six Flags - waiting for the concert to start:
Again Al with the hand signals????
Crowder onstage. We had good seats. Unfortunately a full day in the hot sun wore the kids out and we didn't make it all the way through. The long drive home to OKC so I could be in the ICU at 5:30 am - BAD IDEA!
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So this last weekend we made a long long ovedue trip up to Grandma's House. They treated us to a BBQ dinner - and I don't know about you readers - but nothing is more 'Grandma's House' to me than shucking corn for a cookout on the back porch. Lots of good memories!
Katy showing Buddy Grandma's tree swing:
So the girls and I decided to make it a picnic - as it was a relatively pleasant evening by Oklahoma Summer standards. We strung lights from the trees, got some Tiki torches, lawn chairs the lawn darts, and horseshoes, and set up the picnic table in the shade. Grandma was overwhelmed by it all and fell asleep for a little nap (she actually fell asleep mid-sentance while talking to us). We'll give her the benefit of the doubt as she's on narcotics for her knee surgery.
The picnic party - it is a shame we don't have more 80 degree evenings in Oklahoma.
This was really an ideal meal for the girls - seeing as we were only minutes from the possible 'End of the World". For dessert we had Allison's favorite food (brownies) - Katy got to eat her favorite food - Ribs! She dug in as you can see. Allison declared she didn't want Jesus to come back that night as she wanted to see what her baby would look like...
Allison chowing down on Corn on the cob.
'Susan the Pirate' Looks on with a wary eye.
