When Brother told me he was going to the Derby, I told him to get two additional tickets...

I don't get my feelings hurt easily...if ever...Good thing, because when I thanked Brother for inviting me to go with he and his family to the Kentucky Derby, he assured me he had not invited, I just simply told him to get two more tickets--one for me and one for Better Half. 

And he did...

I am most happy he did...What a fun time we had!  Better Half bet on the race; however, because I had already lost my bet the day before, I had no desire to lose any more...a gambler I am not...

Let me explain--just so you'll know...The Derby race is Saturday--that's when the boy horses run...The Oakes race is Friday--that's when the girl horses run...got it?
The museum is closed on both Friday and Saturday--the days of those two races, so we needed to go to the museum on Thursday, if we wanted to take the tour and learn a little bit about the place...

I didn't know any of that...Now I do and now you do...

Both days everybody dresses to the nines!  (Son-in-law--that's an ol' Southern adage)  Friday is pink dress and Saturday is just plain fancy dress...Both days everybody is beautiful!  beautiful!  beautiful!  I'm convinced that's why ALL those people were so nice and friendly and polite--they all just looked fabulous...not an ugly one in the bunch. No really--you'll see what I mean in a little bit...

OK, so Thursday, we head to the museum...it's to the left as we entered Church Hill Downs.  We got there about a hour before closing, so we didn't have much time to see everything; however, it was just the right amount for me...I hit the high spots!   I'll hit them with you, too! 

Located at Gate 1 of Churchill Downs, the Museum offers two floors of pretty cool
exhibits giving visitors like Better Half and me an in-depth look into thoroughbred racing and the Kentucky Derby – the first step of racing’s Triple Crown.  The other two races include the Preakness and  Belmont Stakes...Only three years olds may apply...You may have known all of this; however, I didn't... 

I found this most interesting...When we followed the signs--we noticed right across the street from the race track--people screaming for us to park with them...It reminded me of a LSU home game day! 

So, we followed those signs...

There is a neighborhood directly across the street from the Derby grounds and all the homes designate parking for Derby visitors!  Off we head into the unknown...rows and rows of houses with signs telling us we should park with them...We chose to park with a guy on a bike, Tank, followed him to his yard, paid him $20.00 and told him to take good care of our car.  He assured us he would. 

Dang, this is weird, I'm scared and hope my car will be here when I come back.
 
Dang! Where did we park? Will I remember where?  There's so many people here, so many cars, so much going on...

I am smart...I took a picture of the house # with my trusty cell phone...

Actually, the parking spot is pretty much right across the street from the entrance to Churchill...

All along the walk, there are golf carts with golf cart drivers wanting us to hire them to take us to the entrance to Churchill Downs...we decline the offer...

Seriously, they are everywhere.  There seems to be as many golf carts as there are people. (OK, not really)  Notice the house in the background--just rows and rows of houses just like that one...Now you know why I was worried about our car getting lost...

Into the entrance, past the horse and to the left...We are now entering the museum.

The auditorium, to the right, showed a brief film on the history of the race.  We sat on short stools and viewed the film from all directions, turning as the film indicated. From there, we just wandered around... 

Up close and personal with a starting gate...

How could one possibly have a Kentucky Derby Museum without a hat section?  This part was actually very interesting. 

OK, I found this section most interesting...

Huh?  Where's Better Half?

Riding a pretend horse, pretending to be a jockey, watching and racing in a pretend derby...oh yeah--what could be more fun?
 
Winning!

That's what could be more fun...  

This guy was having a great time!

...plenty of interesting information...

We were about to leave and to the left of the exit, caterers were working like crazy...After I initiated a conversation, they told me they were setting up for a party happening that night...They were preparing this beautiful ice sculpture...

I remembered to watch the local news later that night and sure enough, I saw the sculpture and plenty of local and national celebrities...

OK, I'm ready to do this thing!  I know a little about the derby and its history.  Off we go to meet Brother and his family at our hotel...

In my next entry, I'll talk about the Oakes...

The move started early Sunday morning...

Tents being taken down, firewood loaded up, bikes--plenty of bikes--latched up and attached to the back of the RV, ice chests stuffed into the back of the van...

All the weekenders heading out...going home to get ready for the work week.

The regulars stayed behind...to enjoy the quiet of the RV park...

A little bit sad, really...

Not to worry, I'll get over it...

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I have decided...I need these for my girls!  Two pink tents!  Side by side!  Mom and Dad will not let the girls camp out with them, I'm sure, but we can set them up in the living room!  Yep!  That's what I need...

I am pleased to report I am back among the living and Better Half and I are back at the RV park...

We work in the area--as do most of the regulars staying here.  Regulars don't sit outside much, don't cook outside much and generally stay to ourselves much.  The mosquitoes are pretty plentiful starting right now and West Nile has already been reported in the area.

And now, it's spring time!  The park is completely full!  With families and bikes and dogs and tents and bikes and grills and ice chests and bikes--and noise and laughter--and I love it! 

Did I mention there are plenty of bikes here this weekend?  It's as if the security guard would not let anybody in unless they had a bike on their truck or trailer...

Now...look at all these bikes...each bike owns a kid, okay?  That's how many kids are here!  It's the darndest thing!  And they all appear to be in a great mood...

They're running...

And swinging...

And sliding...One's even trying to slide up!

They're four wheeling, too!  Not to worry--the four wheeler is electric...

Pretty ingenious, if you ask me!  This may be the safest place for this little guy...

And of course, there's the dogs, too. This one is plenty friendly with proud owners.  They had him pose for me...

Tons of fires are going, grills heating up...getting ready to cook the old stand bys--hotdogs and hamburgers...

Ah...the game's on...

Okay...I've made a decision...I'll buy the girls the pink tents, their parents two like the the ones to the left of the pink tents and Better Half and I will camp out in our trusty Cameo.

Sounds plenty fair to me...

I love camping...

Remember how Harry toasts George at the end of It's a Wonderful Life? 
He says something like, to George, to the richest man in town...

That movie just happens to be my go to movie each and every Christmas...Literally, no really, I watch it every Christmas...
That's pretty much how I get the whole season started...

Anyhoo, lest I regress...

Of late, I feel like ol' George...I'm the richest woman in town...
rich in wonderful family and fabulous friends...

You see, I just had eye surgery--21 days of down time.  It's being fixed and I am glad.  21 days has allowed hours of telephone time with friends and family, visits from folks I wouldn't normally visit with,  watching old movies and reconnecting with friends I have been remiss with keeping in touch...

I answered the door a few days ago and look what I received...

I answered the door a few days later and look what I received...

This morning, I combined the best of the two and
created this beautiful arrangement...

Yep...the perfect description of me...
the richest woman in town...

Thanks, family and friends...

I can't remember a time when spring has had such a hard time getting here! 
It's just plain cold! 
In April? 
Really?

We had lots of rain, last night, accompied with lightning and thunder...
This morning... cold again...

By the hardest and in spite of everything, it's giving it a shot...
Spring is trying to get here...

Seriously...the holly berries are still hanging around!  Beat it!  See you next fall!

Ahh...good to see my azeleas attempting to add a little color to the driveway...

The big tree in the field has budded out...

The one right beside it...not so much...

I'm betting it's going to happen soon...

Cause and effect, chain of events
Both of them together makes perfect sense...

Just think about...
 ...what if I had done this...
...what if I had done that...

What if
I had not met Better Half...
I would not have married him...
I would not have had my children...
My children would not have been born...
My children would not have grown up and married...
My children would not have had children...

And I would not have this...

An introduction to our newest addition...
A beautiful baby boy...
Born on our 36th wedding anniversary...

Boy! I'm sure glad I did that! 

It makes perfect sense!

You know, I've shared the parade information from Houston; however, I failed to mention where Better Half and I stayed--the Lancaster Hotel...

I wanted to stay close to  the parade route, googled the address of the way it was going and decided on this hotel.  Located just two blocks from the route and after reading reviews, I knew this one was the one...

I was right...

Upon entering the foyer (for lack of  better description) I smelled fresh flowers, wood and leather...A great combination, especially when horses and parades are on one's mind..

The cool part of all this...the Lancaster continues to be  family owned and operated!  For five generations!  Five generations!  Really? 

Can you imagine a family--any family--agreeing on anything for five generations?

Well...apparently the agreeing on anything is not always the case with this family, either...

While having an early supper, the evening before the parade, the hostesses were changing tablecloths from white to black...I asked why...One hostess said the managers could not agree on black or white so the compromise was white for the breakfast and lunch crowd and black for the evening crowd...

Oh! I get it!  In order to get along with family, one has to compromise...hmmmm...

I'll end with this note...Remember I told you we had an early supper the night before the parade?  Well, the food was pretty tasty, but the mints sitting in this big silver bowl--on the way out of the restaurant--were, like, the best I've ever tasted!  I'm just saying, I stuffed my leather jacket pocket full of them...Supreme!

I love spring! 

Better Half and I went for a walk--to the cemetery below the house...

The walk started out all bright and beautiful...I commented, several times, how
much I love spring time...

However, (add scary music) the more we walked into the woods,
the darker it became...
and a little scary...

And then...it became alot scary...
and darker...
and quieter...
and very forlorn...

And then we were at the cemetery...

That's all...end of story...

"Are their heads square yet?"  Better Half and I used to glance in the back seat, view our kids with their eyes glued to the TV/vcr positioned up top and in the middle in that surburban...I can't believe it's been 20-25 years ago...We made sure we had, at least, two or three Disney tapes--Jungle Book, Cinderella, etc...and of course Gulliver's Travels...

Fast forward to today...Little Girl with her attention glued to my iPad that had been filled with 20 minute segments of Mickey Mouse and Dora, legs hiked up and over the safety car seat sides, eating Cheetos...

Pretty much, we'll do anything humanly possible to make long trips more
comfortable for little ones...

Son-in-law's job--you know he's in the Army--has transferred them to another military base...we've had Little Girl for the week...

Now, on the road we've gone...with Little Girl and the iPad...taking her to Mama and Daddy...

She's an awesome traveler--very unlike her mother was 25 years ago...

I will miss Beautiful Daughter and Little Girl and wonderful Son-In-Law,  too...

Hey--but that's why roads were created, right?

In preparation of the stork, the Little Brother and I'm the Big Sister shirts are here, my bag is packed, so is Better Half's...

Dang! This is pretty exciting...

Beautiful Daughter-In- Law has made this beautiful wreath...

...oh, and by the way, it's a boy!