Texas Renaissance Festival

Beautiful weather, fun activities, a few freaks, and even more fun.

Matt got us all tickets to the "tex ren fest" this year, we thought the boys would be really into it. Every weekend is themed, and this weekend it was 'All Hollows Eve', with plenty of costumes (not like there aren't already people in costume) but there is trick-or-treating for the kids, so it's extra fun for them. Jason didn't want to dress up, but Ian was all for going in costume.



A funny little thing about Ian's costume, 99% of the time people don't know who or what he is, but at a renaissance festival, he's very well known, in fact we even saw an older Link (after the temple of time of course! ...and if you get that reference you're a nerd!) Ian had complete strangers taking pictures of him, saying 'hi' to him and asking him where Zelda was, by the end of the day he would wave and pose for their pictures! However, tonight for Halloween he was back to being asked if he was a pirate... oh, well.

Jason really wanted a new sword (because the 10 that we have arn't enough). With the purchase of a new sword you got to fight the man who sold it to you, Jason loved every second of it.

This was a show we watched where this guy trains his "seconds" (the little kids) to help him fight the bad guy, it was funny and impressive, The boys had so much fun.  

Yes, here is Link's new accesory.  It's a real working Ocarina, it even came with Zelda sheet music. Both the boys have even mastered a few songs, so far, no atmospheric or time changes have occurred (If you get that reference, then you're a really big nerd).  

Who knew centuars liked trick-or-treating!

Hagrid stopped to ask the boys if they had seen his pet spider, Aragog! He gave them spider rings, I stole them and wore them all day.

The boys got to pick out what they wanted to ride, they both picked this bungie bounce thing (did they have bungies during the renaissance?) This guy attaches you to some bungies, and bounces you way up in the air, they don't seem to care if you're 20, 10 or 5, they shoot you as high as you can go.  Anyway, they were terrified, it was so funny to watch, actually I was a little worried that Jason was going to puke, thankfully he didn't, but let's just say they won't be spending their money on any bungie type thing for a long time... I'll remind them of this if they even want to bungie jump later in life.  The picture of Ian is classic!

Finally! House Picures

See, good things come to those who wait.  We've done lots of painting, decorating, and unpacking and the house is starting to feel like home.

The office/Guitar Room

 


Living Room

Master

Master Bath

Family Room

Kitchen (painted) with breakfast area inluded.

Front Entry

There are a  few more rooms to paint but we're almost done!  We still have some blank spots on the walls, but those are getting filled in quickly too. We are looking forward to a weekend where we are not working on the house, but we can just enjoy it.  Oh, and we love our garage.  I should have taken a picture of that...it's not pretty or anything, it's just that we have a garage!  After living in 2 apartments, we moved into a townhouse with a carport (and that was really special), then we moved to Texas into another townhouse and had a 1 car garage (wow, what a treat).  Now we have a 3 car garage, it feels like a luxury! Also our back yard is huge, so is the side yard, oh and the other side yard.  So if you visit, we don't have beds for you to stay in, but you can stay in a tent in the back! :) I didn't take a picture of  it because it's kinda boring, we need landscaping (and a good mowing).  I know my sister would be jealous of just having grass, but we are looking forward to making the backyard a retreat... just not anytime soon.

Pics

I know what you want, but I'm just not ready to post house pictures yet... You'll just have to wait till it's ready, you're all voyeristic monsters! :)

You get my most recent Tri pictures and report!

Here is my cheering squad... they didn't really do anything, but that's okay they had a good time. I toyed with the idea of making signs and having them hold them, but it would be like me cheering for myself, and that wasn't as fun!  Matt was awesome, he was at every transition cheering for me on and being my personal photographer, Thanks Matt, for getting up early with me, being my personal roady, and being the best dad!

 

Can you see me?  (Don't worry, I can't see me either) I'm one of the people in the pink caps!

 I couldn't catch my breath when I first got in because the water was FREEZING!  I had stopped  training for the swim, and I was worried how it would go, (it was hard with the move to find a pool), but I dropped my time by almost a minute and came in 3rd overall in my age group. So no worries after all, I guess swimming is like riding a bike... but not really.

 The bike was much better this time around, I pushed a lot harder, and I got passed, but not as much, I even did some passing.  I felt great! It was the best part of the race!

The run... what can I say, you're tired, you're sore, you're legs feel like crap and your lungs were done working 10 mins ago. I pushed through, and ran the whole thing (slowly but I did it)!  It feels great to pass the 21 year old guy with the smokn' abs!

 I felt awesome when it was over! Check out my sweet medal (they were for first timers, and eventhough I did one before, when I signed up for this race I hadn't done one yet, and I got it at the end, oh-well!)
And yes, I am still wearing my medal!

Overall Time

‎1:16.31 431 out of 850 overall 5:30 Swim, 33:59 Bike, 32:20 Run!

CMPS

Here are my little guys in their uniforms (fairly relaxed uniforms) but cute still! And yes, this was the best picture I got!  After years of scientific study I found there is a mutation at the genetic level only found on the xx chromosomes of the Cannon family, that prevents them from being able to take a good picture.  The most common problem is usualy an inability to hold still, and a desire to do the opposit of the photographers desires ie. serious when happy, or goofy when serious etc. The end result is a bad picture and an even more bad tempered kid and parents. It is yet to be determined if the conditions symptoms decrease with age, but evedence thus far have suggested that it does not.  Also, further studies on how the male offspring of a female Cannon are affected by this mutaion (Becky & Julie, will you fill me in on these findings?) I have named the condition Cannon Male Picture Syndrome or CMPS.  Any further data is appreciated regarding this condition is greatly appreciated. I will publish my results on this blog. Thank you.

Finally Moved in, sort of

Well, we're all moved in (as in our stuff is in the house) we're far from unpacked, perhaps it's because I'm blogging rather then unpacking.  Oh, on that note, I also have unpacking ADD (just ask Christine), I can't quite focus on one box before I get distracted and start doing something else. We still have a ton to do, like painting and putting up new blinds and that's on top of  the towers of boxes.  We all love the new house, love the new elementary school and love our new neighbors!  The boys look so cute in their school uniforms, I just want to eat them up.  We are feeling so blessed for good friends who have helped us, like keeping our stuff, helping us move (twice!) and some who even came from spring to help us unload here. We are excited about our new friends and neighbors, who are amazing and friendly, I've never felt such a sense of community on a street before.  My kitchen is all unpacked, so here are pictures of it.

Haven't you moved yet?

I keep getting the question "Haven't you moved yet"?  I know it's not supposed to sound like "what's the deal, how come we can't get rid of you, you big fat liar, didn't you say you were going to close already" but that's what my ears keep hearing.
No, we havn't moved yet.

I usualy don't like to post things till they've happened.  So mid-way news is not news to me, but because people are asking, here's the answer (and mabye because unpleasand news is not fun to repeat, and maybe because it seems like people want to get rid of me, and maybe because I like to write run-on sentences) whatever the reasons the simple explination is that we are held up on both houses in underwriting.  Our current home is getting held up because of the other properties the buyers have, I'm assured that everything is fine, they just need verification of everything, and it's taking longer then planned to get it, plus it's just hard to do things when you're moving across the country. Our new house is even more frustrating, the underwriter wanted to the appraisor to go back to one of the compariable houses to double check some meausurements.  Really, what does that have to do with my ablility to pay my mortgage? I was watching CNN (shocking I know- it was on at the gym) and they were saying how underwriting is taking twice as long as usual, and they are having to veryify everything, and how this is hurting the housing market.  Somehow this makes me feel a little better, at least the rest of America is going through the same thing.  What is frustrating is that we are living on air mattress in our own house, we have no furniture, no toys, no chairs, no entertainment (internet is not entertainment it's nessisary, like oxygen), we are living out of suitcases, and oh, yeah I turned off our gas.  The funny thing is, we are really doing fine, the boys are hanging in there like real troopers, the cat is happy that we are still all here, even if all the comfy places in the house are gone.  We are greatful for family and the things that we are we don't have now, but we will soon. I am well aware that this is just a blink of an eye in our lifetime and have the prespective to not be come stressed.  I just wish we had news... real news.

Grandma Ortega

Thanks for being my Grandma, for always being supportive, for teaching me about being strong. For showing me how to stand up for myself, I used to be shy.  I watched you being a good neighbor, and a great friend.  I saw you love your family, all of them. I saw you struggle through hard times and come out laughing.  I saw one of the funniest ladies I have ever met. Thanks for telling me stories. Thanks for taking the time to get to know me, and teaching me how to enjoy life.  Thanks for the laughs! I miss you.