Kemah

The day before my mom left, we took a day and went to Kemah, TX which is about an hour away.  It's basically a boardwalk (one of the cleanest we've ever seen) with rides, restaurants and shops.   We spent a really lovely day walking around, shopping and getting a bite to eat.  It was perfect weather (beginning of October and high 80s, you know I'll take it!) and a great way to spend part of our day.  

 My mom was frightened by the wooden roller coaster.  

 Behind bars

 Biggest pumpkin....you had to try to guess the weight.  

 The square

My mom loved this ride...not because it was a police car, because of the model.  

It was way too short of a visit from Mom M.  She was so helpful in our house and just great company for the little time she was here.  Already looking forward to your next visit!

Mom M comes for a visit and bowling tournament

As you probably know by now, my mom is really good about coming to visit us :)  She's a pro at looking at flights and when she finds a good one, she jumps on it .  A few weeks ago she booked a ticked for a 4 day trip.  It happened to fall on one of the days that Eric was hosting a tournament through his job to raise money for a well-known charity.  The event took place on a Friday afternoon at a near-by bowling alley.  The theme was "Hollywood" and each team was to dress up as a something having to do with the theme.  Our team decided to dress up like the Pink Ladies and the Thunderbirds.  Knowing me and my mom, we don't take dressing up lightly, we need to go all out.  So, my mom found these awesome jackets at the Halloween store in NY and brought them down.  We raided a store for some cool props including our scarves, shades and fake eyelashes!  We had a great time dressing up.  Our team even won best dressed! 

 My mom, Eric, me

 The host and greaser!

 Lol she found a cigarette to pretend to smoke

 Best dressed team!

 These ladies took the cake...but weren't in the contest..they definitely would have beat us!

 Some of the prizes

 The centerpieces

 They really went all out on the entrance way

It was a well-attended event and they ended up raising a good amount of money for charity...way to go!

Troy!!

One of my very dear friends from college, named Troy lives in Phoenix.   The funny thing is that he was Jedd's (my older brother) friend first.  We all went to the same college.  Troy and Jedd went to college their first year in Florida and then transferred to Virginia.  They played tennis together in both places.  Once I got to school, Troy and I became friendly as well.  Originally from Trinidad, he's lived in many places since college in the US but surprisingly, we've stayed in touch quite well, (apart from this past year where we lost touch a bit mostly due to him living in AZ and us living in Qatar = big time difference...and of course, laziness/busyness on both of our parts).   So, when we found out we were coming to Phoenix, I called him and told him we must get together.  Of course, while we were supposed to be in Phoenix, he was going to be in Vegas, go figure!  Luckily, one of our days overlapped and he drove an hour to our hotel to have brunch with me and Eric.  I cannot say how wonderful it was to see him again...last time was summer 2008.  It is true what they say, with good friends, time and distance can keep us apart, but we were able to pick up right where we left off like we'd just seen each other last week.  It was great.   So wonderful to see you Troy and let's try not to let 3 years pass again!!

Trip to the Sonoran Desert

One of the activities I got to take part in while we were in Arizona was a jeep trip to the Sonoran Desert. 

One of our guides

Some sights on the way...

Oh yes, our jeep drove over this

Another one of our guides 

Explaining us the dangers of the desert 

 This type of cactus was interesting and also scary.  The cowboy and indian (our guides) were telling and showing us how dangerous they can be.  Basically, if you get pricked with one of the quills, it burrows into your skin, or whatever it's attached to and continues to do so until it can't go any further.  

 Do you see that?  He literally touched his skin with the little quill and it is stuck

Now it's stuck on his boots.  He explained to us that if he let it stay there, it would eventually reach his skin!

 Rare cactus

Loved all the cacti

 Our guides told us that the cactus takes many years to grow and the reason they do not get blown over in the wind is because they are aerodynamic even though they wobble a lot if you touch them. 

 Burnt

 Our ride

 Our friend Kim and the cowboy

Group shot

After this, we were on our way back (and fast) to listen to Frank Abagnale (subject of the movie, Catch Me if You Can).  His story was unbelievable (the delivery was key) and so interesting.  He left us with a powerful message.  It was definitely the highlight of the conference.