Night night, baby

I'm sure everyone thinks their baby is the cutest.  Well, mine is certainly one of the cutest.  Especially when he sleeps.

The baby has been in the hospital the past few days, so watching him sleep becomes more precious.

Putting babies to sleep, most people sing a traditional lullaby.  I sing a few different.

Sure he likes Summertime,




but he really likes songs about Texas.  After all, he is a native Texian, despite being born outside the state.

His favorites are Texas, our Texas



12th man Song and The Spirit of Aggieland.



Recently, I've been working on getting him to sleep to another song from a place I love dearly, Philmont.

Philmont Hymn


Night night, baby.

Generosity

The other night, I was on Daddy Duty with my three kids as my wife was out with some of her girlfriends.  I gave the kids two options, tuna casserole or going out to eat.  Perhaps my tuna casserole leaves much to be desired as they opted for eating out.  Being the smart dad I am, I chose Applebee's to go to because kids eat for free on Tuesday night.  I ordered the Fiesta Lime Chicken, quite delicious, while my kids had the hamburgers and chicken strips from the kids menu, though the baby just ate cereal puffs.

Fiesta Lime Chicken

While we ate, a lady came around and made balloon animals.  My kids got a heart with a parrot and a girraffe.

After we ate, the waiter informed me that our bill was already taken care of.  Someone else had paid for our meal.  I told the waiter "thank you to someone!"

It left quite a positive impact on me that someone did that. I don't know who or why, and pry never will.  Whether it was because I had a Texas A&M shirt on or because of pity for a dad being out with 3 kids, someone was generous enough to pay for our meal.

Many people call this "pay it forward." To pay back the generosity of someone, be generous to someone else.  Now that is not a bad principle for us to live by when interacting with our fellow man, but may I challenge us to take it a step further?" Instead of To pay back the generosity of someone, be generous to someone else, what if it was Be generous to someone else.

Why should we wait to be kind?  Instead of giving kindness to others because someone gave us kindness, why should we not just give kindness anyway?  The Bible tells us that we are to love because he first loved us 

Isn't that reason enough?

Lunch with a Moose

Lunch today was at Locos Grill and Pub in Athens.  The menu was full of deliciousness.  I had the hot chick while my wife ate the gobbler. Neither was disappointed.

Spinning the Wheel

Saw these two mice today at Petco.

 

Going back to Texas

For New Years, we packed up the family and drove to Texas.  We spent 3 days on the road, 3 days in Corpus Christi, and 3 days on the road back.

We all had to pitch in to drive

Our first day found us in Louisiana,New Orleans.
 


We went first to eat dinner at a restaurant called the Courtyard Grill, a great Turkish/Persian restaurant.

Doner Durum

I had the doner durum, very delicious.

Afterwards, we drove to the French Quarter.

Kids on the Mississippi River

We met my cousin and her family and had coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde.

Cafe du Monde

The next morning we returned to the quarter and took a carriage ride.  The kids loved it.


 

Seeing the line at Cafe du Monde, we found we were wise for going the night before.

Cafe du Monde

After the carriage ride, we explored Jackson Square.

St. Louis cathedral and Jackson Statue in Jackson Square

Street Band playing in Jackson Square

St. Louis Cathedral

Nativity scene in St. Louis Cathedral

Magician street performer in Jackson Square

Around that time, it was time for lunch at Central Grocery for a muffuletta.

Line outside of Central Grocery

Line inside of Central Grocery

Counter in Central Grocery

1/2 Muffuletta

Afterwards, we said farewell to NOLA and headed west.

Mississippi River

We crossed into Texas that night and spent the night in Orange.



The next day we had lunch with my great-uncle and great-aunt and had our first Texas BBQ.

That night we made it to Corpus Christi.

While in Corpitos, we hit some of the main sites, the Texas State Aquarium and the museum.

Texas State Aquarium

Watching the dolphins at the Texas State Aquarium

Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History

Big Bugs exhibit at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History

Columbus Ships at Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History

Columbus Ships at Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History

Selena exhibit at Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History

Butterfly in the xeriscape at Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History

By the aquarium under the Harbor Bridge is an observation deck. Now the observation deck is closed because they installed a radar on the 2nd deck, but it is still a cool area to go watch ships.

M/V DHT Cathy passing under the Harbor Bridge

M/V DHT Cathy exiting the port of Corpus Christi

Pushing over the Harbor Bridge

For New Years Eve, the Mrs. and I went to Bleu Bistro for their New Year's Eve dinner.

Afterwards, we went next door to the Havana Club, where the most exciting thing was the giraffe art.

  

 What visit to Corpitos would be complete without a visit to the Selena Memorial?

Our trip home brought us through Baton Rouge around lunch where we ate at Zapata's, a good Mexican restaurant.

That night brought us to Mobile where we spent the night then toured the USS Alabama and USS Drum.

For dinner, we went to Foosackly's, famous for chicken strips.

The next day found us in Columbus, Georgia, where we ate a magnificent lunch at Minnie's Uptown Restaurant. A great cafeteria style lunch, my favorite of the entire trip.

And then we were home.

Back at the Steak n Shake

My first visit to the Steak n Shake was OK. The shooters were cheap, but the shake was good.  Tried the Santa Fe burger this time. Quite delicious! And kids eating free means they can have a shake for desert.