Day 63

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Robert made plans with our Hungarian friends to visit them at their new apartment and spend the day swimming with them.  Melinda was excited to get the chance to visit with people from Hungary...sort of a little piece of home.

We left home and made the drive to their new place.  It was located within a neighborhood, which made it very quiet and cozy.  Their apartment was right next to a small playground and backed up to a little pond with ducks.  What a perfect location for a family with a three year old little boy!!!  

Robert and his friend needed to do some work, so the ladies went out for a short visit to the local plant nursery.  My friends cousin is also in town from Hungary and she is a landscape architect.  We had her look at our lack-luster yard while they were here for Fourth of July and she wanted to take me to the nursery to show me some plants that would work well in our yard.  We walked around and she made notes of plant names and when we got back, she drew out a picture with various plants and their names.  I am so excited to implement her suggestions and see our amazing front yard.

Once the guys were done, we headed to the pool with the kids.  My friend, her cousin, and Melinda stayed behind for a few minutes while the my friends baby was finishing up his lunch.  The pool was great.  There were two smaller 3ft pools and one larger pool that went up to 8ft deep.  There was a ledge that the kids could jump off of into the deeper end.  Abigail was the first to brave it and then she pulled me up there.  Ally soon followed and they went round and round several times.  After a little while, our friend went to pick up the pizza while Robert and I stayed in the pool with the kids.  It was so nice and quiet...very relaxing and just what we needed.  

We all got out to have lunch and visit.  The kids got back soon after finishing, but Robert and I stayed out to visit with our friends for a little bit.  We told them that we are planning a trip to Hungary in two to three years.  Melinda's family have invited us to come and visit them and I'd really like to get to meet her parents and uncles.  We've talked with them on Skype several times before she arrived and they were all so very nice and appreciative of us having her come stay with us this summer.  Hopefully we can be diligent over the next year or two about saving up little by little and make our dreams of traveling overseas come true.

We all swam for a little bit longer before we had to get out and start getting ready to head back to Forney.  We said our goodbyes and off we went.  When we arrived in Forney, we stopped at a local restaurant called Appleby's for lunch.  My friend and Abigail's first grade teachers' husband is the manager there.  We got to say hello and he was very happy to meet Melinda.  After dinner, we came home and everyone got cleaned up and ready for bed.  School will be starting very soon and I start back to work on Friday...we won't have Melinda with us for too much longer! ;0(

Day 62

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Abigail was playing in the end of the season tournament and was very excited to have Roberts mom and dad in town to see her play.  They arrived a few minutes before we had to leave the house and then we all loaded up in our van to make our way to RISE in Rockwall.

The good news is that Abigail's team won the tournament, but the bad news is that Abigail didn't play her best game.  She had several defensive stops which really helped her team out, but she was a little timid on the offensive side of the ball.

After the game, the parents had arranged a small team party for the girls at a local restaurant.  One mom got the girls a cake and I made each of them a small gift.  They laughed and played together and I hope that they are able to stay together as a team for awhile.

Once the party was over, we came back home to visit before they had to head back to Waco.  We showed them all the wonderful things that Melinda brought us from Hungary and they were able to visit with her about her stay here in Forney and what life is like for her at home.

The Waco Grandma and Grandpa had to leave around 5:00 p.m., so we said our goodbyes and waved as they drove out of sight.  We got something put together for dinner and then sat to enjoy a relaxing evening at home.

Day 61

Friday, August 9, 2013

We had made plans with a friend of mine to go to her house for a day filled with sunshine and swimming.

It also happened to be 'tax free weekend', so the girls and I headed out to the Terrell outlet mall first thing in the morning to get some of their school uniforms.  Each August, the state of Texas offers a couple of days where you can purchase certain back to school items without having to pay tax.  Now, this basically means that you will save $8 for every $100 you spend.  I'm not one for crowds and fighting for sizes to save $8, but we planned it out just right and were able to avoid the crowds and get a good majority of Abigail's clothes.  Ally was only able to find a few things in her size, and liking, so we cut our losses and headed to the pool.

I stopped and picked up some pizzas on the way and we sat and had lunch before going outside to swim.  My friend has a few horses and Melinda was super excited to go down to the barn and see her horses.  I stayed at the pool with the kids and floated around while they swam, sprayed each other, and jumped off the diving board. 

They even went down to the pond to do a little fishing. 

We enjoyed swimming with our friends until mid afternoon.  We dried off and loaded into the van to head home.  Ally had a volleyball game that evening, so we all got cleaned up and rested until it was time to go to the game.

Ally played very well and we were all so excited to see her in action.  We stopped to get ice cream afterwards and then went home to get ready for another long day on Saturday.

Day 60

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Ally was invited to a birthday party, so we were all up early and getting ready for the day.

We all went inside to visit for a few minutes before Melinda, Abigail, and I left to go back to Wal-Mart to purchase all of Abigail's school supplies.  This is one of my favorite times of the year.  I love all the nice, unused school supplies and always pick up a few things for myself in order to restock my classroom.  I try to buy a few extra things each year so that the girls' teachers, or any other teacher at the school, end up needing things during the year, I can send them a few items to help get them through to the end of the year.  By the time we were done shopping, we had just enough time to get back home, make something for lunch, and then go pick Ally up from the birthday party.

When we got home, we relaxed at the house until it was time to take Abigail to soccer practice.  Everyone loaded up this time.  The house has been really hot in the afternoons, so we've been escaping the heat at different places around town each evening for dinner.  We dropped Robert and Abby off for practice and the rest of us went to Staples to purchase all of Ally's supplies.  Again....I'm in heaven!  That store is entirely made up of school and office supplies.  It ended up taking longer than I thought, and we barely made it back before practice was over.

We decided to take Melinda to another of our favorite Rockwall eateries, Chiloso.  It is a Mexican Bistro and is oh-so-delicious!  Afterwards, we went to Dick's sporting goods store to get Ally some new knee pads and volleyball for her game tomorrow night.  Next, we stopped at Petco to get the dogs some more dog food and play with the kitties while Robert stood in line.  This is always Melinda's favorite part.

Once we had everyone loaded up, we headed back to Forney and our much cooler house.

Day 59

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

I had another doctors appointment that morning, so the girls stayed with Robert while I was gone.

When I arrived home, Melinda and I made a quick trip to a local boutique.  She wanted to order some Toms, but was unsure of what size to get, so we went to try some on.  The pair she found online were a patriotic red, white, and blue to remember her time here in America.  She is so excited to get them in the mail in a few days.

Later that day, I picked up Abigail from her friends house and took them to piano and then we spent the rest of the day home enjoy our afternoon.

Day 58

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

We actually had plans for the day, so I had everyone up early to have breakfast and get ready for the day.

Melinda, and many of the friends we've met from Hungary, are fans of the t.v. show Dallas.  Primarily the original show, but many do like the current one as well.  We decided that this would be the day that we make the trek out to Parker, TX, where South Fork ranch is located.

When we arrived, we drove down a long, tree lined road that lead to the gift shop and museum entrance.  We bought our tour tickets and walked through the gift shop while we waited for our tour to start.  We got lots of pictures before making our way out the back doors and onto the tractor/tour bus.

The nice gentleman started the tour and we slowly made our way through the ranch.  He explained the history of the ranch and a little bit of the daily goings on of the place.

Once we got to the house, we were met by another tour guide at the back door.  She lead us into a small room where she explained more of the original home owners history and how the house came into the current owners possession.  After this was done, she lead us through the house, describing each room in great detail and allowing everyone to take lots of pictures.

After we made our way through the entire house, we were free to roam the property and see all the various barns that housed the horses and cattle.  Abigail and her friend wanted to see the two 'baby cows', so I took them one way while Mom, Melinda, and Ally went another way.

We made our way back to the gift shop so that Melinda could get a few things before we left.  We found a Freeb!rds nearby and stopped for lunch.

Once we were back in Forney, I took Abigail to her friends house so she could spend the night with her this time.

Day 57

Monday, August 5, 2013

I had a doctors appointment first thing in the morning.  When I returned, I loaded up all the girls so we could make our weekly trip to the grocery store.  On the way home, we picked up one of Abigail's friends who was going to spend the night with us.

The girls played together all day before we left for Ally's first volleyball practice that evening.  Once it was over, we got something for dinner and headed home.  The little girls slept in the tent in the living room, which is always such a treat for them.

Each evening, Melinda will ask what we will be doing the next day. Robert always responds with,"same thing we do everyday, take over the world." It is a saying from a popular cartoon from the 80-90s called Pinky and the Brain. Search for it on YouTube and you'll see what I'm talking. Melinda decorated her cup at chick-fil-a with the saying. 
 

Day 55

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Everyone was able to sleep in a little bit after the long day we had at Sea World.  Once everyone started getting up and ready for the day, we helped clean up around the house before heading to my nephews birthday party.

We went to a local amusement type park for an afternoon of games and rides.  We started off inside playing arcade games and winning lots of tickets.  Naturally, we stuck to the 'push the coins off the cliff' type games.  We typically have good luck winning on those.  After that, we headed to the party room for pizza and cake.  After everyone had eaten, we went outside.  They had bumper boats, putt-putt golf, and go-carts.  Everyone enjoyed their time on the bumper boats, but tragedy struck on the go-carts.  After waiting a really long time, Robert and Abigail were rear-ended by a lady who was not paying attention.  They both had bad headaches for the rest of the day.

Having fun in the bumper boats

Who got sprayed the most?

Ready to Ride!!!

The Rangel clan

Once the party was over, we went back to my brothers house to rest.  Mom had purchased a game called Chalupa while we were at the Market a few days before.  She sat down with all the kids and played with them while most of the adults napped.  She had prepared some chicken for my brother to grill outside and I worked on some mac-n-cheese and corn on the cob.  We had a wonderful dinner and spent the rest of the evening visiting with each other.

Melinda playing Chalupa

Tita calling out each card

Starting the young ones off right.  Playing for pennies just
like our grandparents used to.

Day 56

Sunday, August 4, 2013

It was time to head back to Forney, so everyone got up, cleaned up, and packed up so that we could head home.  We had a wonderful breakfast before we said our goodbyes and loaded up in the car.

Making our way back to Forney

We made a pit stop in Waco to visit with Roberts mom for a little bit before we made the final stretch back to Forney.

Once we got home, everyone unpacked and rested until it was time for the COWBOY GAME!!!!!  Melinda has been waiting all summer to watch American football.  Robert was very excited to teach her about the game.  At one point, he got out a pad of paper and a pen to help with his explanations.  Simba and I took a quick ride to Dairy Queen for a late night snack.

Getting up close and personal with the Cowboys

It's Football teaching time!!!

Waiting patiently for my ice cream