South Beach Update

Maybe it's the ocean air or the higher humidity, but Tag's interests and abilities are really going into overdrive.  Long gone are the peaceful days at church or at restaurants.  Tag has no desire to sit still and he let's us know it with newly found loud screams.

When we let him down to explore, he is immediately happy and begins to explore, often leading to happy looks from other patrons and bystanders.  His small size, mixed with his surprisingly agile walking ability and friendly smiles makes him a very popular young man.

Case in point:  Yesterday I took him on walk early in the morning and he found a large group of retired Winter Texan women in the pool.  He walked up to the pool's edge, captured their attention, and proceeded to entertain them all for about 10 minutes.

We also had the pleasure of attending a basketball game of Tag's 2nd cousins, Helena and Giselle.  Giselle was a cheerleader during Helena's game and then played the next game.  While I struggled to keep Tag off the court during most of the game, I couldn't believe how exciting Giselle's game was.  I mean the score was tied 0-0 at the end of the 3rd quarter and we were cheering like it was a March Madness game!  Here's some photos of these cute girls:

Giselle cheers for Helena.

Lulu

Helena

A Day at the Beach

Joann, Tag and I checked in to our condo at Saida Towers in South Padre Beach, Texas last Monday morning.  We were going to come visit the area for a week, but when we noticed a month rental was only a few hundred dollars more than a week, not to mention the view of snow we had out our window in Utah, we decided the month rental option was more to our liking!

My new company, where I do local internet marketing, allows me to work from virtually anywhere so why not?  Our first week here has been rather cold, so we didn't venture out to the pool or beach much, which was good because I just landed a big client that required my focus.  That didn't stop Tag from checking out the view from the deck.

Tag Arrives at South Padre Island

Taking Tag to see new things is a great time.  It's like I get to relive it again myself.  He loved his first visit to the beach.  I took him down to the waves too fast though and it kind of freaked him out when the remaining waves came up the beach to cover his toes.  He hasn't gotten close to it since.  Still, he loves all the birds and sounds and shells and people.  His favorite thing to do is ride on my shoulders while I run toward the birds yelling -- and they fly off.  He laughs out loud at this wild ride.

This week is supposed to be in the-mid 70's and we are looking forward to some sunshine.  Here are some pictures of our first week.  Today...oh today, was gorgeous!

First Ocean View

Focus on Tag, and not Jo's black socks (her other socks arrived later) -- ha

So many birds!

Rio Grande Valley

Joann, Tag and I decided to leave the cold Utah weather and head down to South Texas, where Joann grew up.  She has many friends and family in the area and she couldn't sleep for two days before we left for all the pent-up excitement in her soul.

The plane ride was ridiculously long given the cold weather in Houston and the crazy route we had to take on Southwest Airlines to get to Harlingen, Texas.  We took off from Salt Lake, flew to Oakland (the opposite direction), then to Houston and finally changed planes to Harlingen.  All told, over 10 hours.

This was Tag's first experience in airports and in the air.  His ears were fine, it seemed, and this was a relief because he has had several infections and the doctors have said he has quite a bit of fluid in his ears.  He was fine.  He really had no clue he was 10,000 feet in the air.  He only knew he was confined and couldn't move around at his whim, which now means he screams bloody murder.  We let him roam the aisle quite often in the plane and his social skills made him lots of friends.  He even got to visit the cockpit and high five the captain on one of the legs of the trip.  This kid is only one!

Anyway, we stayed the first few nights in Raymondville at the home of Allan and Lynn Spence, Joann's Aunt and Uncle. Tag immediately bonded with Allan, as he looks so much like his grandfather Charky. The home was pure Texas Longhorn, full of animal mounts and "Hook 'em Horns" paraphernalia.  I loved it.

Uncle Allen (nicknamed Wulf) with Tag, Beowulf, and cousin Helena

Joann's cousins came from all over Texas to see us and it was so nice to meet my Texan relatives.  Seriously, Chas and Laura even came 5 hours from Austin to see us.  Then again, a 5-hour drive in Texas is nothing for these folks -- ha.

I kept hearing that the guys were taking me hunting and I was anxious to experience this family pastime.  Allan has access to a 10,000+ acre ranch and took his son, Chas and I out hunting two days in a row.  This entails riding around on endless trails in a big truck with a bench mounted high on the truck bed.  The ranch has all kinds of wild game, including Oryx, Gazelle, Neilguy, Javelina, and a bunch of others that I can't remember or spell.  It was a cool experience and Chas shot a wild pig with some interesting spots.  As a greenhorn, I wasn't allowed a gun.

Chas' pig

Jo's aunt Lynn knew all about us, as she follows this blog, so all my stories were old news!  She is such a great hostess and made us feel at home. The whole family went out to the old ranch house on the ranch one night and we had fajitas and sat around the campfire.  It was straight out of an old John Wayne movie, except for chasing Tag all over the place.  Good times...