Not Nascar, Baseball

Back in April, NASCAR came to the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.  Dave was all about going because:  1. the race was on a Saturday (they are always on Sundays) and 2. we actually know a little bit about some of the drivers and have watched some portions of a few races since Miles has been in to it and 3. it would be a "once in a life time" kind of thing.  Well.  We didn't plan too far ahead so tickets were OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive.  For NASCAR?  Blew my mind.

We still really wanted to get out of town, though, and it just so happened that the Astros were playing the Rangers so we did that instead and stayed the night with Dave's brother and fam!  Miles always loves any time he gets to hang out with cousins!  Also, on Dave's bucket list: to go to every major league ballpark.  Basically a win-win-win-win-win-win (got us out of town-was way cheaper-got to see family-visited another ballpark-Astros were playing-was fun).

 The ballpark was cool!  It had a real Southern feel to it.  And the weather could not have been better.  It was lovely.

 Miles is really fun to take to sporting events.  He really enjoys it and is always in to the game.

They also had fireworks after the game!  It was a good show and a really fun night even though the Astros lost that game.

Miles was also way in to the fireworks:

Fun times!

Phone Dump

Time for a phone dump, I'd say!  No particular order and often no particular reason.

 No explanation needed.

 Field trip to the Children's Museum. 

  Got to ride on the bus this time!  Party!

 There was a "Try Hockey for Free" day at a rink in Sugarland.  That's Miles in the net and Dave shooting on him.

 Dancing.  To Radioactive by Imagine Dragons, according to our receiver.

 Posing like Steven Stamkos.  Imaginary hockey stick and all.

 Reading in bed.

Miles got mildly attacked by a medium, husky looking dog walking to the mailbox in our complex.  I was super irritated at the owner for not having the dog on a leash.  It was somewhere between kind of  and pretty traumatic.  Miles was already pretty uncomfortable around dogs, so the attack really didn't help him get any more comfortable.  Any time he sees a dog now, even if it's a little yappy thing, he side steps away.  We were pretty unsure if Miles needed to be seen for the scratch/bite he got on his elbow.  It didn't seem to break the skin but was raised and had a little tiny blood blister.  Having Dave be in healthcare came in super duper handy.  We pretty much walked in to the ER and had a little sidebar conversation with a doc and all agreed that Miles was good to go.  Thank you, Dave, for saving us HOURS of waiting around for nothing.  Tell you what, it's all about who you know!

 Eye exam/dilation.  Poor kid is pretty blind.  And he's 6.  Yikes.

 Museum of Fine Arts.  I dig it.  Miles did well.

 Torychy's.  So good.

 The last time Miles and I had to wait for Dave to count tithing after church.  He's a gospel doctrine teacher nowadays.  And while we are mentioning callings, I had been in Activity Days for a long time (like 2.5 years), but just got put in Young Women's as an Adviser.  Party on, Wayne!

 Settlers.

 Did I ever tell you that Miles got his tongue tied-ness snipped last summer?  Slowly, but surely, he's learning to use that disgusting muscle.  This is me, trying to show him how you can lick/clean your teeth.

 Building Legos in Dave's office.

We see rad cars in Houston all the time.

 Dave thought I looked outrageously ridiculous so he took a picture.  See if I care.  (I don't.)

 Sweet wings, buddy.

 Kite day at school.

 A night at the observatory at Brazos Bend.  We saw the moon, Jupiter, and Orion's Nebula.  It was cool.  Miles was excited about it because he checked out space/planet books all school year and had been asking me when he could look through a telescope.  Delivered.  You're welcome.

 Pool.

 Easter Sunday.

Scarlet Fever

Miles got scarlet fever over his Spring Break.  Nice timing!  Man, it was awful.  I knew he was for sure, hands down sick when he fell asleep on the couch:

Since he NEVER naps and avoids sleep like it's a disease (or a bee.  He really hates bees and, in paranoia, thinks anything that flies is a bee.  I chalk that up to the time he got attacked by bees and scored like 5 stings at once when he was 4 or 5.), I knew we were dealing with something real.  He had a bad sore throat, fever, diarrhea, a rash on his neck/face, wouldn't eat and threw up Tylenol.  I made him this "sick bed" on the couch and he fell asleep.  I kid you not, he woke up 10 minutes later with an immediate, "Huh?"  In typical Miles fashion, he didn't really know he'd been asleep.  I told him that he in fact had slept and asked him how long he thought he was asleep?  Two hours, he thought.  If only.

We aren't a super rush-to-the-doctor kind of family, but I remembered a mom from Miles' kindergarten class telling me how her son had scarlet fever and that it was basically strep throat with a rash.  So I immediately made him an appointment and sure enough, it was scarlet fever.  I was really glad that mom had shared that information with me or else I never would have even imagined it!

Since scarlet fever is so contagious, the Doc had us keep him isolated for 3.5ish days and I was constantly disinfecting everything.  It was pretty miserable since he's not a big TV kid and we don't have a ton of space, but we all lived to tell the tale!  The first thing Miles wanted to do once he was out of his isolation period was give us hugs, which he did.  He's a good kid.

Accepting the Parking Lot + A Bike Ride

Miles rarely gets to ride his bike.  You know, the one we got him for his 4th birthday?  For one, it's in a corner, trapped behind our dining table in the multi purpose room and just not very accessible.  I really don't have anywhere else to put it.  Well, I lie, I guess I could put it in the bathroom.  For dos, there really isn't a good place for him to ride it where we live.  However, this Spring, before it got too hot, I finally said "forget it," accepted my less than ideal circumstances (first world problems, I know), set up a camping chair in a vacant parking space and had him ride around in our parking lot.  It really wasn't the safest situation because there are not very many kids in our complex so drivers aren't really on the look out and are coming and going often.  But he stayed safe and he was happy.  Training wheels and all.

Concentrate.

In typical Miles fashion, he pretended he was in some kind of skills competition and had a certain "track" he followed.  As long as he didn't get too close to the speed bumps or parked cars, it was good with me.  I had the most awesome videos of him riding his bike and talking about his victory in the skills competition, but we seem to have lost them.  So sad about it.

Happy as a clam.

I wish I knew what this little series of photos was in response to:

Pretty awesome.

In the meantime, we all long to move on to a more family friendly environment and lifestyle.  Even Miles tells me, "I want to move" or "I want to live in a neighborhood with a yard."  I hear ya, buddy.  Someday.