In Memory of Grandpa

Those of you who know my grandfather know how much he loved Nebraska football.  Well, it turns out that someone is working on documentary about Nebraska football and is collecting people's personal Husker stories via Facebook.  My uncle Marlin sent in his story, and it was published on Facebook a couple of weeks ago.  He also sent it to me, and I had to share it with you:

I have never lived in Nebraska, but I inherited rooting for the Cornhuskers from my father.  Though I was raised in Oregon (and have lived in California for 27 years now), my parents both grew up in Nebraska (Broken Bow), leaving in their early 20′s.  Growing up (I was born in ’64), my family never had a television.  Whenever Nebraska played on TV, my uncle would drive down from Washington state and bring his portable TV.  We watched the Cornhuskers!  Then every year on New Years, he would also come down and we’d watch the bowl games.  I think that is why I love college football so much today.  It is really the only sport I pay much attention to.

In 1984, my dad, my uncle and myself drove from Oregon down to Pasadena to watch Nebraska play UCLA at the Rose Bowl stadium - my first look at the Huskers “live.”  We did the same in 1988, though I was now living in central California.  We try to catch Nebraska as much as we can when they play on the West Coast.  1998 was a great year, as we got to watch them play twice, Cal in Berkeley, and then in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl against Arizona.  Also, I was able to take my dad to the 2001 National Championship game versus Miami in the Rose Bowl.

Though he grew up in Nebraska, my dad had never had the opportunity to attend a game in Lincoln.  My dream was to take him to a game in Lincoln.  The perception from afar is that Nebraska football has been sold out for 40+ years and seats are just not available.  How was I gonna pull this off?  But a number of years ago, my niece graduated from Biola and decided to do her graduate studies at Baylor, a Big 12 opponent.  I had just found my way into Memorial Stadium!  When a game in Lincoln came up on Baylor’s schedule, I gave my niece my credit card info and told her to get us some tickets.  I think we ended up with about 8 seats.  We had a grand time experiencing the Big Red Wave in Lincoln!  One amazing experience on that trip happened in Phoenix, Arizona.  I flew out of Sacramento, and my sister flew out of Portland, Oregon.  We met in Phoenix, and had the same flight from Phoenix to Omaha.  I was amazed that there were no less than 15 or 20 people getting on that plane way out west in Phoenix, headed to Memorial Stadium for the game!  My dad had such a good time that several months later he told me, “That was fun.  We should do that again sometime!,” comment totally out of character for my dad.  So, a couple of years later, we went back for a game versus Texas A&M.  The only disappointment is that our two experiences at Memorial Stadium both came during the rather forgettable Bill Callahan era.  Nonetheless, the game day in Memorial Stadium experience is one I will never forget.  

I lost my dad 2 1/2 years ago, but I will be forever grateful that I was able to give him the Husker home game experience.  The tradition lives on.  In December 2010, I took my wife (married July 2010) on a belated honeymoon to San Diego.  She was less than impressed by the Husker’s performance that day in the Holiday Bowl, but she was sufficiently impressed by the major college football game day experience.  Just wait ’till I take her to Lincoln someday . . .

I remember our trip to Lincoln fondly and only wish I could have visited Memorial Stadium again with Grandpa, Uncle Monkey, and my own family.

You know your child is a Texan when . . .

. . . you take him to the neighborhood park and, upon spotting the large sandbox filled with pretty white sand, he runs up to it, stands in the middle, falls backwards, and proceeds to make a snow angel.

Poor, confused child.

How did mommy celebrate her birthday?

She ate cake . . . and she shared!

Mommy's Little Helper

Little Ted has been very helpful around the house lately.  He has taken a new interest in cooking, as you can see from the photos below (sorry for the poor quality).  

LT has helped me make pancakes (actually, when I turned my back, he tried to eat the dry mix.  Oops!).  He's also really good at stirring his juice mix.

LT cleans up pretty well, too.  He puts his toys away when mommy asks, and if a broom is around, he will sweep the floor.

Here's he's taking a break after sweeping the carpet.

Right now, he's resting - he had a busy morning helping mommy and daddy work in the front yard.  He's an all around helpful little boy.

Meet the 3 year old

Last month, this guy . . .

. . . turned 3.  We can hardly believe how big he is!

On the day of, we marked the occasion with Angry Bird cupcakes.  Little Ted was a happy camper.

A few weeks later, Ted's parents hosted a birthday party for LT at their house.  Here's a couple pictures from the event.

Of course, we had to take our annual "Ted" photo to showcase 4 generations of Teds.  

Pretty impressive, huh?

Laughing

Our blog has a notable lack of activity, not because we are doing nothing, but because we've been a little too busy lately.  That said, we have lots to talk about, like Little Ted's 3rd birthday!

But before we get to that (I still need to upload the photos and video to my computer), I give you this video of Little Ted enjoying a YouTube cat video (one of his favorite activities).

Shirley Temple

Little Ted enjoyed his very first Shirley Temple at Mi Tierra last week. His favorite part? The whipped cream, of course!

Bike Ride

At the beginning of the month, we took our bikes out. We could do this thanks to a new store in town. They are located at the edge of downtown, within walking distance of Cameron Park, and they have a bike trailer for rent.

We are in love with this thing and will probably break down and buy one eventually. It can seat two children, and some models convert into regular and jogging strollers. Neat!

Little Ted had a blast on outing. We rode to the playground and stayed there for about an hour. He enjoyed chasing the other kids and watching them play. I almost convinced him to try out a slide, but he changed his mind at the last minute. We'll have to face that challenge next time.

Super Hero

A week or so ago, we had to run an errand in the rain. We put LT in his rain jacket for the very first time (thank you grandma Gonzalez!).

He knew the coat was different and inspected himself in the mirror after I dressed him. Apparently, he liked what he saw because he would not take it off. The coat became a kind of super hero cape, though I admit he looks more the Gorton fisherman than he does a super hero.

Eventually, we peeled the coat off of him, though it did take some effort.

Yes Sir, Mama!

Lately, we've been working with Little Ted to get him to say "yes sir" or "yes ma'am" when he is asked or (as is more often the case) repeatedly reminded to do something.  He's catching on, for the most part.  It has become his go-to phrase, especially when he has done something he knows he's not supposed to do.

Sometimes, he says the phrase in response to just about any question.  For example, I was feeding him breakfast a couple of days ago, and his yogurt cup was just about empty.  I asked him, "Are you finished?"  He answered, "Yes Sir, Mama!"

I don't so much mind being called sir, so long as it's followed by 'mama' and is said by my little boy.

More Weekend Pics

When we visited Bryan and Amy this past weekend, they planned to take us to the zoo to celebrate Little Ted's birthday (what good godparents they are!).  Well, that didn't really pan out - the zoo was packed and we got a little turned around trying to get ourselves there using the rail system.

Instead, we ended up at the Museum of Natural Science. It was a nice change of plans - we had air conditioning, we were out of the sun, there were plenty of places to sit, and the museum has a McDonald's in it!

Of course, there were also great exhibits, including a full dinosaur skeleton, terra cotta soldiers in the "Warriors, Tombs, and Soldiers" exhibit (the pictures you see below), and a pretty cool Titanic exhibit that makes you feel like you are actually on the ship (we also took a picture that, thanks to Photo Shop, shows us inside of the ship).

 When Little Ted got bored, we enjoyed the front of the museum, which included a fountain, tables, and lots of shade from big trees.  My favorite moment: a little girl, probably about three years old, entered the museum with her mother and grandmother.  They were obviously out that day to take pictures of the little girl (the museum is on the edge of Hermann Park, a large recreation area near the hospitals in Houston, which also serves as a good backdrop for photographers).  She was dressed up to look like a bee, with yellow and black leggings and wings to match.  Little Ted, who has only limited experience with bees (he's familiar with the ones in Dr. Seuss), spotted her and correctly identified her costume.  He shouted, "A bee!  A bee!  Bzzzzzzzzzz!"  Luckily, he didn't panic the way he usually does when he sees flying bugs, so I guess not all flying bugs are monsters in his mind.

Before we left, we shot this pic of Little Ted and our hosts.  Overall, we had a great time, and Little Ted is ready to go back and visit his pet friends.