Blowing Hot Air

Pretty boring week around here, so I'm just not going to post.

Hahahahaha.


Like I would ever be that nice.

Actually, the week wasn't action packed, but it was cool. Actually, cool is an ironically inappropriate word, since our AC died sometime Tuesday night, which led to us writing a check for $4,100 before 9 am on Wednesday for a new outdoor unit. OUCH! but I'll stop there lest the tears and profanities both flow, again.

Back to the fun stuff.

First an old pal from high school, Elana, stopped by with her 2 year old daughter Lillian (sp?) while they were in town from Seattle.
Things didn't start off well, because Riley has some problems with liquefied innards, which led to a horrendous rash. Changing his diaper was probably the most pain I've seen him in since his stomach problems when he was a couple of months old.
Eventually though, he perked up and became his usual goober self. He and Lillian ran amok, made noise and acted like kids should act. It was cool.






on Thursday, since her big important case had simmered down some, Joan took a little time off and headed down to Erath to see her grandparents. Riley got to see his great-great-grandmother, who will reach the century mark in October. He probably asked her how many hits her blog got when she was a baby. He's so arrogant.





Then he found the piano, thus indicating that we need to start scheduling lessons for him. Or is it too early?





Friday evening was spent at my grandma's to bid farewell to Darren, Sangee and Hailee who flew back to Connecticut on Saturday. Sadly, our flash battery was dying, so no good pics.

But knowing Riley's love for all things spinnable, they picked up a top for him in San Antonio that has been played with every day since.





Saturday morning we had nothing in the works, so Riley watched me mow the yard while he mowed the patio.






Then, thanks to the power of Facebook, we found out that this weekend was the annual hot air balloon festival at Pennington in BR.

We rounded up Joan's Mom, made arrangements to meet Paul and Caroline and headed east into the smog of corruption and arrogance that we call our state capital.

First, we hit the outlets in Gonzales since OskKosh is one of the few brands that fits Riley properly (he's skinny but almost tall).

Then we headed into the city (pronounced like City Wok on South Park) in hopes of catching the scheduled liftoff of 30 balloons. As we approached the festival site, it was storming and obvious that no balloons would be flying. Calling an audible (football season is here) we headed over to Nagoya Japanese Buffet. If you like sushi and you like buffets this is the place for you. Way different than your common Chinese buffet.

After sucking all of the flavor out of a spring roll, Riley marveled at the sticky properties of Nagoya's neatest dish, pineapple rice. (rice with pineapple chunks, cooked inside a pineapple)






Caroline just stared, almost distressed, as if to say, "why won't this little kid just eat the food instead of smearing it everywhere?"





then the kids played the clapping game in the parking lot and Riley showed us that he is a trained monkey, programmed to dance and to give hugs and kisses on command.









Since the weather had cleared up, we headed back to Pennington, hoping that they would still have the balloon "glow" at 8.
We got there just as the balloons were starting to inflate.







While we waited for darkness to fall, Riley had fun playing with the balloon balloon that his granny bought.








Finally, the real balloons fired up. It was a pretty cool sight and sound. Fortunately, Paul got a video clip.









If the weather is nice and your kids can stay up late for fireworks, it's probably worth the drive over to BR to check this festival out at least once.


After all of that excitement, a normal kid would have slept late on Sunday, but this blog is about Riley who was up at 4. Maybe the lack of sleep put him in an altered mental state because he was cheese-ing it up at Target.






The good mood didn't last long enough to make it through our lunch at Burgersmith, the new restaurant on Camellia. Ended up with lots of walking around outside.





and since I don't pass on any chance to pass judgment on a dining operation, here's my thoughts on Burgersmith, which has been open only a week.

The burgers seemed to be of good quality, and the prices were fair. I'd compare them to Backyard Burger but a dollar or so more. They have a variety of toppings, but I didnt find the meat to be noticeably better.

The most distinguishing feature of the place is that they not only carry, but put a spotlight on local beers (Abita, NOLA, Heinerbrau).
The fact that they have cheap big brand domestics is almost an after thought on the menu. That's very nice to see. (track down the DVD Beer Wars if you want to know why)

The downsides were hopefully all things that can be worked out with time.
First, the place was a madhouse, with all of the tables full and nowhere to really stand while you wait for the next table to clear.
Its not a fast food joint, but the food was really slow.
Neither of the two employees that I had contact with were at all friendly or helpful. I'll attribute that to the stress of the frenzy, which is understandable, but still not acceptable.
Finally, despite having a nice patio, full of chairs, there were no tables outside, which could have relieved a good bit of the pressure inside.
All in all, it's a place I'll try again, after they have a chance to work a few kinks out.

Oh, and be prepared if you order the spicy fries. They don't just sprinkle Tony's like most places. These things have a spice mix, plus crushed red pepper flakes. Lips be warned.


Finally, Riley finished off the weekend on the patio with his Step 2 Kangaroo Climber (we finally remembered to go buy more foam squares so he doesn't lose his precious few brain cells).




In closing.... the end.