Sunday, October 26, 2008

Saturday was sooooo much fun

We had really been glad to see Eric, Dustin, and Kelsey on Friday. We tried to have dinner at Trail Dust, but they had had an electrical issue and the exhaust fans were not working. We decided to go on to papadeaux instead. It was really yummy. We had a lot of fun just being together.

When we got back to the hotel, Dean and I headed to bed like the old people we are and all 4 of the kids went out to go play on the skateboards. They played a little then came back.

We got up early for a Saturday and headed off downtown for them to go to the Tut Exhibit. This was what JoyAnna had been waiting months to see. She was ecstatic. I didn't really care to spend 40 to get in and then have to pay 15 or 20 to park the car, so I decided to drive around downtown and maybe find a place to stop and take some photos. Boy, did I find a photo op.

I was driving down Elm street and see a lot of people standing on the sidewalk with cameras. Hmmm, I think to myself, Is this something I might want to see, too? I drive around a little and finally see a man walking down the street. This one did not look homeless, so I asked him what was going on. He explained that they were filming a commercial with a huge beach ball. Ok, sounds fun, so off I went to see the huge beach ball.

I turned a corner and there it was - it was only half inflated, but it took up the entire street. I found a parking spot and headed off at a fast pace. I caught up to it just as it turned a corner. That was when I ran into the whole commerical set - complete with a director on a fold up bike and all the things you see in the movies when they are filming a commercial or something. It was pretty cool. I walked up and started snappoing photos. No one seemed to notice me. I think the big camera made me look official. It wasn't long before I noticed they were sending people who did not have a blue band back behind the barricade. They didn't send me, but I moved to the outer edges of the crowd to be on the safe side.

After chit chatting with a few folks near me, I found out they were filming a cruise ship commercial that might be shown for the super bowl. I took what I hope are some great shots of the whole thing. They called it a wrap just as Eric called to tell me they were finished.

After I told them I had seen it, they wanted to see too. We headed back down into down town. It was pretty funny since they didn't realize I meant the ball was as big as it really was. It was so funny to watch them. I wish I had had a video of the four of them running down the main streets of dallas chasing a giant beach ball. I will be posting some photos on my other site as soon as possible.

After the ball episode, we went to eat lunch, then to Ikea and to REI. We really enjoyed all just being together. We didn't buy hardly anything, but we did have fun.

We got back to the hotel right after Dean did. We then decided to go on and try the steak house again. It was very good and we really had a great time. Tons of fun. really. Then we checked out the half price book store and had a blast going through old vinyl records. We laughed and laughed. I really hated it for the evening to end since I knew we would be leaving Eric bright and early in the morning.

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