Battle of the Bands

Well, the most anticipated event of the year took place this weekend - the Rock Band Battle of the Bands competition. This event was hosted by our super spirited neighbors - Mike & Lisa - and featured artists from fellow neighbors (Sarah, Gi, Neal, and myself), as well as others from the "regulars group" of Rock Band fanatics. We have all been playing like real rock stars over the last few months (some of us even jumped one or two levels on our instruments!) so Mike thought it was time we really see who's boss. He and Lisa put together three bands with four members each: a singer, a drummer, a bass guitarist, and a lead guitarist. Each participant was assigned a band based on instrument played and skill level (to even out the bands). Our mission was to dress up as if we were really going on stage in front of an audience, and show up prepared to rock the house.

And that's just what we did. No one in the competition was lacking a great costume. We all got very into our roles, as did our host and hostess, who had orchestrated a full-on stage, complete with elevated platform, overhead sign, fog machine, black light, and colored strobe lights. They had even prepared framed CDs with a laser Rock Band inscription and group photo to present to the winning band. This was the real deal.

We had a blast, though neither my band nor Neal's band won (through no fault of our own I must contend! :o). It was certainly a memorable evening, with great costumes, great company, and great music.

The Black Mambas:

Monica, Neal, Lisa, Joan

3rd place

The Dingleberry Shortcakes:

Jonathan, Sarah, Kelly, Scott

2nd place

The Infected Dorks:

Gi, Angela, Mike, Chad

1st place

Don't you love the kilt?

Amadeo

Neal flew to Arizona over the weekend to become a godfather to Amadeo, the son of his good college friends, Adam and Cindy. From the great photos, I'd say they had a beautiful ceremony and a nice time.

Neal, Jenny, and Amadeo

Adam and Cindy (to the left) with their family and friends

Happy Birthday Neal!

This weekend we celebrated Neal's birthday. The party started on Friday night (when Neal received a suspicious looking package at work from his mom and sister :) and ended on Sunday with a nice dinner out.

Here's the suspicious looking package.  Lynn is so cute, she 

even wrapped the gift inside with Transformer wrapping paper!

Hmmm....what could it be?

What else but Guitar Hero 3!  Neal has been wanting

this for quite some time and now we have a second

guitar to use on Rock Band so that we can have a

bass player.  We've already had a full band practice

on Saturday night with our neighbors, Sarah and Gi.

It was a blast!

Neal's sister, Carolyn, found this shirt tucked away 

at home and sent it with the package.  It was his dad's

 old Harley shirt.  What an awesome gift!  

Breakfast at iHop on Sunday morning.  There's nothing

like starting a birthday with a nice, big meal.....

....and finishing it off with another big meal.  :-)

For dinner we met up with Christine and Tony

at a place we haven't tried before - Cafe Adobe.

Supposedly they have the best margaritas in town.

It was a fun atmosphere and a nice time.

Opening gifts:  First, a Harley card from Mom and Dad

Continuing with Mom's wrapping paper theme, 

Christine included some Transformer tattoos 

with his gift.

For Neal's gift, I bought us some concert tickets to see

The Police.  He's been wanting to see them for the longest

time but has never been able to make their shows for one

reason or another.  Now he finally gets to go this month!

I'm really looking forward to it too.  They're kind of a blast

from the past, a band that anyone who grew up in the '80s 

grew up listening to. 

The spot on my right shoulder is water after having to clean

myself when one of the busboys dropped a bowl of salsa and

it splattered all over me.  Other than my salsa shower,

we had a good time.

Congrats Christine and Tony!

They're engaged!  We're so happy for you both and look forward to a beautiful spring wedding next year. :-)

Neal looks like a very proud big brother.  :-)

Look at that ring sparkle!  

Dad's Visit

On his way back from a business trip to Atlanta, my dad swung by Houston to hang out with us for the weekend. We had so much fun! Here are some of our memorable moments.

For our first dinner out we took Dad to our favorite local

Mexican restaurant - Las Rosas.  The food is delicious and 

every weekend they have a live band playing.

This is a historic moment:  Dad's first time ever on a bike!

We took him around the neighborhood and he loved it.

For as long as I can remember, my dad has wanted three things:

a Porsche, a red and white '56 Chevi, and a Harley.  This Harley 

store was right up his alley and he had a great time checking out 

the bikes and gear.  To remember our trip to the Harley store, 

he bought himself a Harley hat and he bought Neal and I our 

first Gremlin Bells.  Gremlin Bells are a biker tradition where 

you hang a bell under your bike to ward off bad spirits.  We're

not superstitious like that but thought it would be fun to 

participate in the tradition.  Wherever we ride now, we'll carry 

a little Harley with us.  :-)  

I'm quickly falling in love with Harley myself.  Not only do

they have the cutest biker gear but now I discovered they

have a bike that fits me too!  Uh oh....  :-O

It was such a beautiful day that we decided to venture out

to Kemah - Galveston's bay and boardwalk.  

On his visit, Dad not only went on his first motorcycle ride

but he joined a band too - Rock Band that is.  He held his

own on the mic.

Boys and their toys.  Neal borrowed Tony's jigsaw so that he

could cut down the windshield on his bike.  I love this photo - 

he looks like a man on a mission with a dangerous weapon.

The Stallcop tradition (and quickly becoming the new Bailey

tradition!) is to take advantage of some good ice cream whenever 

possible.  With Dad in town, we just had to make a quick stop at the

gelato shop on the way to the airport.  What a great way to end a trip.

Years ago, after finishing a difficult project at work, my dad

was rewarded with his choice of nice gifts they had for him

to select from.  He chose the Harley Davidson black, leather

jacket.  It was his pride and joy but since he has never owned 

a bike, figured that it should go to someone who could wear

it riding.  This weekend he passed this beautiful coat on to

Neal, who is already enjoying it on rides.  Thanks, again, Dad,

for everything.  We had such a great time with you and we look

forward to our next visit soon!

Lake Tahoe

This week we joined my parents and sister for the annual ski vacation in Lake Tahoe.  The weather was chilly enough to make for fairly good snow conditions and we had clear skies for amazing views. Neal continued to improve his skiing, and after only his second ski trip, is starting to look like an old pro.  We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with family.  

View from our room - the face of 

Mt. Heavenly

On our first day out, we took a lunch cruise on the M.S. Dixie II

around the lake.  It was a gorgeous day and we got a nice

view of our surroundings.

Dad loves hanging out with his son-in-law  :-)

The gals

My sister, Ana, is quite the piano player.  

Every year she plays at the resort for fun and 

always has a crowd of admirers.  This year her 

skill grew to a level of professionalism and her 

admirers became paying customers.  She earned

$16 in one night!  She makes me proud. :-)

Family dinner at our favorite Tahoe restaurant -

Villa Roma.

Welcome to Nevada!  Neal, dad, and I making the most of a 

beautiful day, crossing the mountain from California to Nevada.

Here is a view from the gondola.  You can barely make out

the "strip" with the casinos down on the right.

My sister joined us the second day out.  She was the only

brave snowboarder.  :-)

There's Neal - he's a pro!

A trail we took all the way down the mountain

Although we were surrounded by casinos, we preferred to

entertain our kid at heart and play in the arcade.  

They had a fun motorcycle game at the arcade so of course,

we had to try it!  It's so much easier to ride a bike in real

life than to play this game.

Here We Go Again....

For as long as I've known him, Neal has owned a sport bike but has always talked about getting a cruiser. After I got my Rebel, he was the only one in our neighborhood biker "gang" who didn't have a cruiser, and so he made the decision to sell his sport bike and get one. Apparently, it was meant to be since our neighbor's friend (who's name is also Neal) just happened to be looking at buying the same bike Neal was selling. He bought the bike with no problem and we were able to go out and get Neal the bike he wanted - a Yamaha V-Star 1300 touring model. It's a beauty and Neal has already has such a good time riding it the last couple of days. We've gone out with the "gang" to explore a bunch of the nearby country roads and are impressed with how much driving you can do without even getting on the highway! It's liberating to be out on the open road with just you and the air, feeling the temperature changes and smelling the air around you. We're enjoying this much more than we ever imagined.

Neal's bike in beautiful black cherry

Ready to ride home!

Neal's lookin' good on the bike :-)

Today we went out riding with Mike and Lisa and she was gracious

enough to pass on some of her Harley Davidson apparel.

This picture is in honor of the bike Neal just sold.  We had some fun

times on this bike, like the time here in Virginia when we drove up

George Washington Parkway to visit Mt. Vernon.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter!  We had quite a busy one, as we were blessed to spend the day with family, friends, and some new friends whom we just met this week.  Between the great company and delicious food, it was quite a memorable day. 

Here we are with Tony and Christine at her apartment.  

After mass she made us a wonderful brunch.

For the last few days we've been hosting a group of college aged

kids who are part of a Catholic group called Net Ministries.  They

travel by van around the country putting on retreats for youth in

schools and parishes.  Our next door neighbor, Barbara, has a

daughter who is leading one of the nine groups they have nation-wide.

For Easter they came to Texas to visit her family and while the girls

had a 5-day slumber party next door, the boys hung out at our house

playing XBox and swimming in the pool.  After brunch today some of

the group came over for a dip in the hot tub. 

For dinner we went to Mike and Lisa's (a couple doors

down) and spent the evening with them as well as our 

other next door neighbors, Sarah and Gibron.  

Back at Barbara's to say "good-bye" to the girls

The whole group together

On Saturday we joined the group for dinner at Salt Grass

before they headed off to Easter vigil.