After an 11 hour trip the first thing Wilson wanted to do was ride his Harley.

Happy we all made it to St. Louis. And dead tired.

Nate batting.

Poppy giving Wilson some fielding lessons. Nate, Amber, and I got those same lessons, though I'm positive Poppy is far less picky on Wilson's technique than he was on the three of us...

And here he is - future major league second baseman, Wilson.

Wilson and Great-Grandpa Jay.

Nate introduces Wilson to Adison for the first time.

Wilson loves his new cousin very much.

By the time we got to Grant's Farm it was hard to find any goats that were still hungry enough to want milk...

...but one goat was really enjoyng eating Adison's sock.

Wilson with Aunt Amber and Bernie.

Aunt Christy and Wilson checking out the lizard. Wilson wasn't really excited about this particular animal.

Wilson LOVES camels.

Nate, Christy, and Adison waiting for the bird show to begin. I won't say the bird show was bad, but I think we must have gotten the third string performers that afternoon...

Wilson and Bernie looking at birds.

Ready to go home and rest after a long day.

Uncle Nate was able to get tickets for the guys to go watch the Cardinals play Sunday afternoon. This is the last year the team plays in this Busch Stadium. Next year they'll have a brand new home - so we'll have to take Wilson to see it.

Watching the Cardinals play with Poppy and Nate.

Uncle Nate, Wilson, and Poppy.

Wilson in Honey's garden.

Wilson and Adison

Sheri, Adison, and Wilson on Memorial Day.

Saying goodbye to the lillies before we leave on vacation.

Survivor - Family Vacation

We are going to visit my family tomorrow. We are driving (11 hours) in a Ford Explorer. This Explorer does not have the "Billy Graham seat" that I now wish we had sprung the extra money for. (For those who are not in the Davidson clan, the "Billy Graham seat" is the optional 3rd row seat that is available in many SUVs. Why is it called the "Billy Graham seat"? Because my parents had never needed to use their 3rd row seat until my dad got volunteered to drive an Expedition full of women down to see a Billy Graham Crusade. And so, that is the "Billy Graham seat". My family uses a different vocabulary for several things.) So Chris, Wilson, and I will be traveling with our luggage and the two dogs on this trip. There is a good chance someone will get voted off the trip and left on the highway somewhere between Fort Worth and St. Louis.

We originally were going to board Callie at the vet's. Vet offices work like hotels - peak weekends you will pay much more than the room is worth. Callie's little stay at the vet was going to be $150. No way. That's what my family calls "The Ponderosa". (Ponderosa is a steak/buffet place that was located between our house and church while we were growing up. Every Sunday dad would take us there and inevidibly they would be "fresh out" of whatever you ordered. Why we even ate there was a mystery. So, when someone takes advantage of you or you get a bad deal, we say you've gotten "The Ponderosa".) I'll take my chances with the dogs in our car. So we are packing light and leaving really early in the morning, hoping that the dogs and the boy won't even get up until we are more than halfway there. I give us to Muskogee Oklahoma before that end of the vehicle wakes up. Let's hope that is the case.

On the Road Again...

Last weekend we went to visit Chris' grandparents in Victoria. We took some photos to share with you all. In two days we will be in St. Louis visiting my family, so we'll have some more adventures to share with you.

We apologize for not doing more updating recently - between work and traveling, all I've gotten done is catch up with work and with laundry. It's off to fold the whites... We'll post more in a few days. Love you all!

We always stop at Baylor on our way south to visit family. For one thing, Baylor is at the perfect spot on I-35 for Wilson's potty break. Besides that, it's good to get out and walk around - or sit in a swing with my boy for a little bit.

Wilson doing a good Sic Em Bears.

This is the photo that will accompany his application for admission. I used to work in admissions at Baylor - I had to look at enough of these photos during my time. So someone else will have to look at photos of my darling. It's what we call "fair"...

Baylor has these beautiful old live oak trees (that's the type - live oak, it's not that there are some on campus called dead oak...) and Wilson likes to climb them.

His father will kill me if I don't tell you that instead of "cheese", Wilson said "I LOVE Texas!" for this pose...

Wilson and Judge REB Baylor.

As you may know, Baylor is currently searching for a new President. I get an e-mail weekly for my input and I'm half-tempted to submit this photo of Wilson and tell the search committee that their search is over. Reasons Wilson should be President: 1. He's got leadership skills down - ask his preschool teachers. 2. His mommy could be his secretary. 3. I'm sure the President of the University would get free tuition - and that's what it's all about. 4. His 2nd cousin, Rob, played football for Baylor, and he could be Wilson's 2nd in command. No one would mess with either of them.

Wilson trying out his parking space.

Wilson and his great-grandpa having lunch together at Christ's Kitchen.

We spent Saturday afternoon at the beach in Rockport. Great day - and hardly crowded at all! This was Wilson's first trip to the beach.

It took him a bit, but finally he decided he would play in the water. His only complaint is the water was "too salty". So we'll just not take him to the Dead Sea...

"Baywatch" pose.

Wilson enjoying the day at the beach.

Most Requested Wilsonism - "Remember the Alamo"

This is our most requested Wilson story, so even though it happened last October, we want to give the readers what they want (this is a true story, you can't make stuff this good up):

I am not a native Texan. I married a native Texan. I'm told there is no marriage counseling that can actually fix the issues that arise from that. So "The Alamo" was out on DVD and Chris went and rented the movie. He came home and asked me if I wanted to see it with him. It was a Saturday afternoon and I told him I was busy cleaning the house and doing the laundry. He said it was my loss and asked one more time if I wanted to watch "The Alamo". From down the hall a small voice started yelling "I watch it with you Daddy! I watch it too!" and Wilson came running top-speed down the hall into the living room. I honestly had not seen Wilson that excited about a whole lot of things and I told Chris "Gosh, he's really excited about the Alamo." That one remark got me a lecture on "Native Texans", "The pride of the Alamo", and something about "understanding that Texan blood was spilt"... Anyhow he let our then two year old settle in for the lengthy movie. Every time I passed by them watching the movie Wilson was focused intensely on the screen. He sat and watched the whole movie and never moved.

Later that evening we three were working out in the yard, moving gravel piles. I admitted to Chris that there actually might be something to that whole Native Texan tie to the Alamo, after all, a two-year-old had been totally focused on that whole movie. Chris started in again on his Republic of Texas rhetoric. He said our son just understood "the power of the Alamo". Just as Chris was building his praise of our Native Texan son, Wilson climbed up on top of the gravel pile and raised a stick up in the air. Just as serious and loud as he could he yelled "Remember Elmo!"

And then Chris knew - all preschoolers understand the power of Elmo.

Our child had watched that whole movie and expected a red muppet to come out at some point in that movie to defeat Santa Ana and the Mexican army. And I suppose that was the day Wilson learned about disappointment and the day Chris learned humility.

How Well Do You Know Wilson?

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Wilsonisms

Here they are - some more Wilson insights:

Color on Paper Please
I have freckles. It's something I was told I would grow out of, but I'm closing in on 30 and still look a bit like a Pippi Longstocking impersonator. I don't really pay much attention to my freckles, but apparently Wilson has just noticed them. We were reading a few nights ago and Wilson said "You not supposed to color on your face with markers, Mommy. That's bad choices."

Use the Force, Daddy
We're having some trouble eating our vegetables recently. We've done best telling Wilson he may have dessert ONLY if he takes 5 bites of vegetables. There is always much wailing and gnashing of teeth and whining with this approach, but the veggies do get eaten. Eventually. Chris latched on to a better way - Jedi beans, Dark Side carrots, Light Saber lettuce, Yoda yams... If the force is with the vegetables, we don't have to ask twice; they're gone in light speed.

My Name Is...
One interesting thing I have learned since having a boy is that they are really into role playing, heros, and dessert. For several days Wilson would approach me and say "I'm Spiderman", or "I'm Superman", or "My name is Yoda". This is fine, except that sometimes he tells other people his alias - like at school. I'm all for pretend and I'm all for make-believe, but I want to make sure Wilson isn't getting make-believe and reality confused (I also don't want the Sunday School teachers trying to figure out what we're teaching this kid at home). Yesterday I was preparing dessert when "Spiderman" greeted me. I said "What's you're real name?" "Peter Parker." That's what I get for asking - of course Peter Parker is Spiderman's real name. Not in the mood to play this game I said "What is your name really?" Wilson smiled and said "Spiderman." "Well, Spiderman doesn't get any pudding." Suddenly he held out his hand and said "Hi, I'm Wilson, Wilson Crouch and I love chocolate pudding."

Celebrating

Today we celebrated Mother's Day. After church our friends Kenneth & Lesley and their two children came over for lunch. The men had planned to pick up food and take us on a picnic, but the forecast was for thunderstorms and hail, so we had everyone to our house instead. Of course, no rain or hail... Kenneth, Lesley, & kids are from Johannesburg, South Africa. They are here while Kenneth is in school and sadly I think he will be finished with his degree next May. That means they will be leaving us and going back home. Lesley and I met about a year before they came stateside during the application process for school - so we like to tell people we met on the internet. :) They are such great friends - and they have beautiful accents that you could listen to all day!

Chris and Wilson gave me a wonderful apron from Williams-Sonoma. It is personalized with my name, "Mommy" (because that is my name as far as Wilson is concerned, and he helped pick it out). You might think this is kind of a strange gift for Mother's Day, but I LOVE cooking and I HATE laundry, so I've always wanted an apron. And this one is great! I love it, so thank you boys for getting me such a great gift!

We had another great day together as a family - of course, we are missing our own parents. Today my beautiful niece had her baby dedication and then there was a lunch over at Mom and Dad's. We would have loved to have been there with everyone, but we will get to go up in a few months. That's good, because I would like to be able to hold Adison before she gets to big to cuddle.

We hope all of our friends and our family had a beautiful Mother's Day. We love and miss you all very much.

Celebrating Mother's Day with my boy - and our outside kitty, "Meow". (If you look in the back left you will see some Calla Lilies that were attacked by a green light saber.)

Kenneth and Lesley - our lovely friends from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Brandon & Kerry-Lea with Wilson at our house after lunch.

This is the six of us waiting for Chris to get the camera set up...

Kenneth, Lesley, Brandon, Kerry-Lea, Wilson, Chris, and me after Mother's Day lunch - provided by the men hot and ready from Boston Market.

Lesley and her beautiful children celebrating Mother's Day.

A good way to end another perfect Mother's Day.

In honor of Mother's Day, here is me with my mommy. I think I'm about 1 here, so that makes Mom in her very early 20s. This is my all time favorite picture of me and my mom. (I know the couch and the carpet look awesome.) Happy Mother's Day Mom! Love you!

Dinosaur State Park in Glen Rose Texas. We decided to go down and see it as a trip for Mother's Day. We aren't drawing any similarities here between Mother's Day and Dinosaurs, but we thought it would be fun to do as a family.

Mommy and Wilson by the dinosaur.

The boys impersonating a dinosaur growl.

"This one is too scary Daddy."

Good to know there is a use for old bleach bottles. I don't know if this should be an indication that we should not go to the river or what. We were tempted to see how they worked.

Wilson