Dallas Daily Doings

 When Kent offered to fix his dad's teeth with eight new crowns, George was so excited to take him up on it.  So, we planned a date when Kent would be coming to the practice in Dallas, and off we went.  I couldn't believe how touching it was for me to watch Kent as he worked so diligently.  Nothing gives a parent more happiness than seeing their children working hard and being respected for what they do.  In addition,  George never has any Novocaine, so all the drilling was done without deadening.  George was pretty amazing, I must say.  He is one tough guy! 

Kent wasn't able to get all the teeth done in two settings, but we will get together with him again soon.

With having three of our children and their families in Dallas, George and I so enjoyed staying at each of their homes and playing with the grand kids.  Lola's favorite game was this game where you had to guess what you were by asking questions.   

I don't know how many times we played it, but she never got tired of it.  Isaac played it with us a couple of times, too.  Here Lola is with her doggie, Frisco, and her Papa with the special doggie blanket.

When Kennedy came over, Frisco went back in his little playground.  I'm not sure for whose protection that was!  Hah!

Even though Kennedy loves her cat, Mia, she, also, loves doggies!

One activity we all love doing together is bowling.

I love seeing all the reactions after they turn around . . .  Here's Garrett when he only left one pin up.

Jaxon gave a big smile before he threw the ball . . .

and then did a little dance when he left only one pin.

Sydney's reaction is an Olympic smile!

The next time when she got a strike, she did a gymnastic jump!  Fantastic, Sydney!

Gavin got a high-five from his mom for doing so well.

He wanted me to see the scoreboard.

Can you tell how happy Riley is to be at the bowling alley?!

And he was pretty happy about how he bowled, too!

Lola got the closest thing to a pink bowling ball as she could find.

She left three on the first ball, but . . .

actually got all three down on the second ball.  Wow!  I need to take lessons from all of these grand kids!

Mason only left one pin, too!  Way to go, Mason!

I love Mason's smile!

Then Isaac stepped up and bowled a strike.  Can you see Lola's hands clapping?  She was pretty excited for her brother!

After he bowls the strike, he turns around very seriously because he is so competitive, and then . . .

goes to the table to give his grandpa and mom a high five!

Sydney and Grandpa.

Yes, it was so much fun watching all the grand kids, minus Kennedy, of course, having so much fun.  It won't be long until Kennedy is right out there with them.

At Christmas time, Craig and Cassie gave us tickets to a Broadway play in Dallas.  We were so excited when it worked out that we were able to see "Wizard of Oz"!  Here is Dorothy with her real dog, Toto!  Neither of them missed one cue in the entire show.  It was fantastic!  The special effects, acting, and music were spectacular!

Craig and Cassie have season tickets for all the Broadway plays that come to Dallas.  George and I had the best tickets we've ever had at a play!  Thanks so much, Craig and Cassie, for the wonderful evening!  We loved the play and loved being with you two for the evening!

Walking out of the show, the trees were all lit with little lights.  It was a beautiful evening!

Another evening, we had a basketball game with all of the older Copeland (and Barlow) boys playing along with some of the guys in the neighborhood.

We had a great cheering section!

Even Kennedy was having fun watching!  No one could break away to get the poor little girl a Kleenex!

I think these guys all think they are still young like when they all played on teams in high school and college.  They all are looking pretty tuckered, but no one would stop--you know the competitive nature of this family!

Jaxon played with the big guys, and he could definitely hold his own!

So much fun! 

Now, it was break time while the little guys had their turn.

Notice how much more the parents get into it when it's the kids?!

Cute picture of Anne and Amy.

And soon, it was time to quit for the evening.  But, it was so entertaining for George and me and brought back many fun memories of watching the boys play many times through the years.

On another morning, we went to watch Riley at his swimming lessons.  Gavin went along, too.

We were so proud of how well Riley was doing.  Each lesson, they have the kids swim to the edge and then have to get out by themselves for safety reasons.  One lesson, they have them dressed in clothes and shoes to make sure they can do the same if they fell in.  Not being a swimmer myself, I am always thrilled to see everyone in my family learn to swim!

George and I then took the kids to McDonald's while Craig and Cassie went to a meeting about their taxes.  However, our watches were still on Florida time, and they didn't have chicken nuggets ready, so we got pancakes for the kids, which they still loved!

Oh, and did I mention that they had ice cream, too?  Grandpa's idea, of course.

Then it was back to Sol River Dentistry for some more work on George's teeth.

Kent's wife, Natalie, designed all the decorating, and did such a great job.  As you can see, the office is decorated in a space theme. 

 Kennedy really liked the space tunnel.

 

After awhile, she had climbed through, climbed over, slid down, anyway she could think of, and this is what her hair looked like--but she was having so much fun!

I told her I wanted to take a picture with her because we were wearing kind of twin outfits.  She didn't want to take time out of her busy playing schedule, but at least we got a couple of poses.

 

And here she was with her mom.  We got her good and worn out, so she could have a good nap later!

Amy was the one who assembled all the chairs, tables, and helped hang all the decorations with Natalie.  I don't know where Amy got this ability--it surely wasn't from George or me!

There are now six dental rooms, with the possibility of two more.

The supply room.

Kent's office with his balloon wishing him a happy birthday of about a week ago.

Another evening we went to Craig and Cassie for a family night of fun and a shrimp boil!

This is Presley--so adorable.  Her mom and dad are named Jeff and Amy, too!  Both Kent and Natalie and Craig and Cassie knew them in Gainesville when they went to school there.  Her dad just graduated from dental school eight months ago and now works in Dallas, too.

That is an NBA dunk by Jaxon!

Isaac takes his practicing very serious.  He will not go to bed at night unless he's shot for an hour each day!

Lola brought bubbles.

Riley loved the sidewalk chalk.

And Kennedy just wanted to cruise the neighborhood.

And then came the highlight of the evening--the big basket of potatoes, corn, mushrooms, onions, and of course, shrimp, was removed by Craig from the boiling cauldron and just dumped on the table for everyone to get whatever they wanted.

Cassie is a Louisiana girl, so she definitely loves shrimp.  We all thought we ate a lot that evening, but, I believe Jeff beat us all!

This is Jeff's pile after he peeled the shrimp--his alone!  Yes, I think he took the record for eating the most shrimp that night!  It was so fun.  The great thing is, after everyone has eaten, you just roll up the tablecloths and throw them away.  What could be easier!

Well, that's pretty much a run down of the great fun we had in Dallas.  Thanks to Amy and Jeff, Cameron and Anne, and Craig and Cassie for opening up your homes to Grandpa and me.  We felt so loved!!!  And, to Kent, for all his hard work on Dad's teeth.  We all are so excited for the finished product!