Quick Update

This is probably the last time Joseph will have free evenings for the next three years (or more), so we are determined to party as much as possible this summer. We have done a lot of fun things. A few of the highlights include:

• Twisted Root. We went to Twisted Root in order to celebrate Joseph getting done with his first year of medical school. The restaurant has fabulous gourmet hamburgers and surprisingly good shakes.

• Wicked!!! It was a first class production. We were lucky enough to get cheap group tickets through Joseph's medical school connections. We absolutely loved it and it will be one of the highlights of our summer.

• Chickasaw National Park in Southern Oklahoma. We heard about this place through Mary Ruth's blog (Joseph's cousin). It was a wonderful break from city life. We went hiking in the morning and saw some beautiful spring. We had a picnic lunch and then played in the cool water the rest of the afternoon. It was worth the two and a half hour drive.

• Gaylord Texas. We went up to Grapevine a week ago. We walked through a lovely botanical garden and then we went to Gaylord Texas and toured this huge hotel. They had an Alice in Wonderland exhibit going on. We then watched fireworks down by the lake.
  
  
  
  
• Hard Rock Cafe. On the 14th, Hard Rock Cafe in Dallas celebrated their founders day by reverting the prices of five entrees back to what they were when they first opened in 1971. I got ribs for $1.10 and Joseph got a hamburger for .71 cents. We had to wait in line for two hours, but it was an adventure. We do a lot of these cheap dates thanks to a website called mydallasmommy.com, which tells us where to get cheap/free meals. In the past week, we ate for free at IHOP and got a really cheap meal at Quiznos.

• Gardening. We have picked a couple of tomatoes, tons of cucumbers, basil, oregano, some okra, some beans, and lots of peas from our garden. The cucumbers have taken over our whole backyard. We are going to do a lot of things differently next year, but we are calling this garden a success.

• Whirlyball and Donuts. On National Donut Day, we went to Krispy Kremes and got free donuts. We then went and played Whirlyball with the med school life support group. Whirlyball is a cross between bumper cars, lacrosse, and basketball. Joseph was pretty good at it, but I spent most of the time trying to learn how to drive the car.
  
  
• Movies. We have spent a lot of evenings at the movies. A nearby theater has 50 cent Tuesdays. We also went to Studio Movies Grill and saw Ironman 2 with some friends. I'm about to call it quits with taking Nicholas to the theater. We still manage to get through the movie with only a couple of grunts getting out, but it is now becoming too much work to make it worth it. I think we will have to resort to Redbox.