Cowboys Stadium Tour!

I took the day off from work today so that I could do something on the very first day of this happening! Now many of you all might think what is so special that you would want a day off from work to go do?

Well, but of course, it was the very 1st day that the tours would be given at the new Cowboys stadium, and unlike the old stadium, Texas Stadium, I would not wait very long to get a glimpse and see this awesome place, home to my favorite football team.

My friend, la Sra. Adriana, Eva & Rebecca came along for the ride as well. I looked up the address to the stadium and just wrote down to take 30 W and exit 28A and I would arrive at my destination.

Although I'm the worst person when it comes to directions, I surprised myself with how smooth the drive was and how easy it was to get to the stadium. Now actually finding the "main entrance" to this giant, took a couple of minutes, but I eventually found it.

As we were going into the Pro Shop, Eva spotted Rowdy, the mascot, and we tried to catch up to him as fast as we could. Eva and Rebecca got their shot at a picture with him first, but this would prove to be quite difficult as those two could not stay still - they claim they were being tickled. :)

Next, it was la Sra. Adriana's turn and I guess maybe Rowdy recognized her from when we last saw him a couple of months ago at the Draft Party, as he grabbed her and planted a big kiss on her, just as he did before. She was beyond herself of course!

Rowdy behaved when it was my turn, thank goodness, as if he had tried to tickle me, I would have been on the floor dying of laughter.

After all that unexpected fun, we went in and purchased our tour tickets at the Pro Shop. Unlike the $15 I was expecting to pay, I only paid $12.50 because according to the cashier guy, it was a partial tour since the place still has quite a bit of construction going on in it AND the turf is not in yet.

We ended up being one of the last ones and caught up with the tour that had just left. Looking back, maybe we should have waited for the next one, as the gentleman giving the tour was difficult to hear and well that forced us to figure out what we were looking at or ask another gentleman, Cory, what on Earth we were looking at or going to or what the history behind this and that was.

Another big downfall of the tour, yes a downfall, was that they were hosting the American Idol auditions at the stadium today and had been for the last 3 days. Because of some contract they signed with American Idol, to protect the secrecy of the show, no photos were allowed in certain areas where you could see the contestants.

Overall though, the tour was AWESOME of course. The stadium is just so beautiful....it's quite a difference from what Texas Stadium was.

Now the icing on the cake would be that the Cowboys come in this season all fired up and win us a Super Bowl! This is not wishful thinking as some of you may be saying. I believe!!!!!!!!!!



What's wrong Rebecca & Eva? Are you all being tickled by Rowdy?



Okay, much better, I'm trying to get your picture here!!!!



Rowdy being bad with the Sra. Adriana.



Too cute!



You had to wear this sticker to go on the tour! I managed to put it back together to keep it.



The best number ever, hands down!



The video control room. According to our tour guide, this is the coldest room in the entire stadium, for obvious reasons and well as you might guess, there is absolutely no food or drink allowed in here. If you spill something, Jerry Jones might not be too happy with you.



A cool chandelier. The picture doesn't reflect just how neat this deal was. The stadium is filled with just cool things all over!



I kind of didn't follow directions and took this picture of the American Idol auditions going on while we were on our tour. As you can see from the picture, the turf has not been put in yet, it's still just all concrete down there.



This arch goes all across the top of the stadium and basically holds it up. It is absolutely huge, you have to be there in person to just take in how big this thing is!



Here is an interesting fact about the base that you see here. That whole block of solid cement goes 70 feet underground....I think that they wanted to make sure that this baby stays up always and for a long time!



The locker room which is only used for 8 of the regular season games. It smelled so new in here...what a difference from the one at Texas Stadium. It smelled like sweat in there...not that it was a bad thing, but I like the smell of new stuff!

The restrooms!



Hey, I see me!!!!



The showers. As you can see, there is still construction going on in here as well!



Sitting in one of the lockers. I wonder who this one will belong to?



This star looks like it might be a light which if it is would be way cool! It looked nice anyway!



The stadium at night....isn't it just beautiful?



La Sra. Adriana & I!



At Wingstop right after a delicious meal!

Surf & Swim!

Surf & Swim is celebrating its 25 year anniversary.

As a way to commemorate the event, they were charging the entry price from 1984. If you are 48 inches or shorter, you pay $2.50 and if you are taller, you would pay $3.50.

Ever since Sydney took her swimming classes, every day has been a non-stop request to go swimming. I figured what a better way to fulfill her request than by taking her out to the pool.

I requested to leave work at 3:00 so that we could catch the pool open at least until 7:00 p.m. which is when it would close. When we arrived, the staff were getting everyone out of the pool and for a moment I thought, oh no, our plans are ruined.

Not so, apparently they have some "safety" deals every so often and we just happened to arrive right as they were going to have another one. It's supposed to be to clean out the pools.

Anyways, we waited about 15 minutes and then everyone was allowed back in the pool. Thank goodness, because Sydney couldn't or shall I say wasn't willing and wouldn't sit still and wait another minute.

For those of you who have never been to Surf & Swim, according to the advertising for the pool, it's a half million gallon wave pool. Every, I don't know 15 minutes or so, when you hear the whistle blow, everyone goes a little crazy.

Now, there's a reason for the madness. You see when the whistle blows, that's when they magically create waves, like if you were in the ocean. It's actually pretty cool. Most everyone is sitting in innertubes that are provided for free by Surf & Swim and so from the looks of it, the waves make being in the inner tube much funner.

I couldn't tell you because obviously my little carcass ain't getting in one. If I don't have control of me and my body and can't put my feet on the ground unless I fall out of a plastic tire, tube, whatever, I am not doing it.

Anyways, we endured the toasty heat in the warm water. It wasn't a big ordeal like I thought it would be to get Sydney out of the water.

On the way back home, we stopped to get Sonic. This is when I realized I had a ton of missed calls from both Liz and Erica. I called Liz first and boy did she have some news to share with me and to her own surprise, she was actually giving me, "Ms. I Know What's Going On All the Time," news that I was unaware of since I had been in the pool all afternoon.

She goes on to tell me that it had just been announced that Michael Jackson died at the age of 50! This was definitely a shocker. I'm sure he'll be in the news for days, heck, months to come!

Anyways, here are some pictures of the fun at the pool!



The place where we spent our afternoon basking in the sun and waddling in the pool!



This sight was awful I'm sure for Sydney. For a moment, we all thought our fun would be spoiled. Not so peeps, we were in that warm water 15 minutes later!




Sydney was pouting here! Can't you tell? Come on! Nothing good can be up when she's got this expression on her face and those arms crossed that way!!!!! Trust me, I'm her mother!



Rebecca posing for the camera and ready to get in the water in her rainbow swim suit!



One last picture before we put away the camera and head towards the water! You can't tell by our happy smiles, but it was REALLY HOT!!!!

U.S. Sends Shockwaves Across Europe with 2-0 Win Against Spain!!!!!!!!

In one of the biggest upsets in international football in recent times the USA beat European champions Spain 2-0 in the first semifinal of the 2009 Confederations Cup in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

With this incredible win, USA now progress to Sunday's final where they will either Brazil or hosts South Africa, while Spain will play for third place on the same day.

Spain, who were on course to surpass Brazil's record of 35 international games without defeat, have widely been tipped as one of the favorites to win the World Cup in 2010; such is the array of talent their squad boasts.



The U.S. team pulled off one of the biggest upsets in soccer history!!!!!!!



U.S. defender Jonathan Bornstein (2) and midfielders Ricardo Clark and Benny Feilhaber celebrate Wednesday.

JB World Tour 2009!

The day of the Jonas Bros. concert finally rolled around.

I went to pick up Liz & Rebecca and head out to Sweet & Sassy where Rebecca would be all "made-up" for the concert, thanks to her winning tickets.

Before we headed towards the store, I had Rebecca pose for some pictures at the fountain area at the mall. There are several "fake" waterfalls with beautiful rocks that make for a great backdrop. I was determined to make this day as memorable for Rebecca as I could.

We showed up at the store at 2:30 and were told to wait until 3pm which is when they would get started on glamming up Rebecca.

3 o'clock rolled around and off she went to the "superstar chair." Rebecca began getting her make-up and hair done.

While she did that, Liz and I waited for her nearby. We were approached by a lady that I had noticed taking pictures. I am not for sure if she was the owner or something to do with the store, but she asked us who would be riding with Rebecca to which Liz responded, we both were. (You see she had called earlier in the week and asked if she could come along as well on the limo, and was told yes).

The next thing we knew, the lady came back and told us that only one person could ride with Rebecca. A gentleman who seemed to be possibly her husband also came up and told us he would see how to get this resolved so that Liz could come along, as she insisted I go with Rebecca so that I could take lots of pictures of her and the day's events.

While we waited, Liz got a call from Albert telling her to meet him at a nearby gas station so that she could get the extra ticket he had that would get her into the concert. I volunteered to drive and get it so that Liz could stay behind with Rebecca.

I barely made it back in time to get in the limo, as it was almost getting ready to leave. When I returned, I could tell Liz was not all that happy and when I asked her what was wrong, she basically told me that the lady that was given her trouble (and who happened to be taking pictures of the winning girls, or so we thought), had acted completely rude towards Rebecca and she called her out on it.

I felt really bad for Liz because I could tell that she was hurt, I mean this is her daughter that was getting "dissed," and if it was Sydney, I'd be upset too - heck, I was upset because it was Rebecca we were talking about, but I decided not to let it get to me. Luckily Rebecca had me there to document her every step - who needs anyone else taking pictures when she had me!!!!

Anyways, we finally all made it into the limo, the PINK limo people! This thing was so cool and for someone who's never ridden in one, ummm, that would be ME, this was the coolest deal ever. As it was on the outside, it was PINK all on the inside. Right before we left, the gentleman choose me from the adults riding in the limo to be in charge of the "remote." This remote would control the video, sound, lighting, you name it, this little baby controlled it.

Once the instructions were given about the rest of the day, the doors closed and off we went to the concert. On the way over there, we got to talking to one of the other 2 winners, 16 year old Lindsey from Wylie, and her mom, Nola. It was so much fun talking with them. It turns out that we know some people they know, which made it even more interesting. This is definitely a small world.

On the way to the concert, the girls did several sessions of screaming, "We love the Jonas Brothers!" As the time went by, I began to get more and more excited about going to see this boy band that all the little girls are dying for.

We came to a stop at 360 & Clyde where we met up with 6 other PINK LIMOS from other stores that were also headed towards the concert. We weren't allowed to get off because we were literally "pulled over" on the side of the highway and it would be too dangerous! I handed my camera to a lady that was documenting the events for Sweet & Sassy, and she captured the cool "pink limo caravan" that would be heading on 360 for the remainder of the drive.

We finally arrived at the stadium, "The Cowboys Stadium!" I seriously almost fainted. I couldn't believe that I would be minutes away from being in there thanks to the Jonas Brothers & Sweet & Sassy & well of course, Rebecca being lucky and winning tickets to the concert!

The limo driver pulled up to the stadium where we were treated like movie stars - a group of people opened the doors for us and helped us out. We asked for directions where to enter for our seats and immediately headed that way. I was more than excited at this point, as my feet were walking on the grounds of the new stadium.

We found our entrance "J" and made our way up to our seats. We didn't get tickets on the floor like some had thought, but instead had tickets in section 328. Let me tell you though, the seats were still AWESOME! The way the stadium is made and thanks to the ENORMOUS screens that Jerry Jones put in there, it doesn't matter where you are sitting, the view is great.

While we waited for the concert to start, I told Liz I would get some nachos and drinks so that I could get my hands on the souvenir cups for the inauguration of the stadium. Liz and I headed towards the concession stands and purchased two drinks ($6.00 each) and 1 order of ultimate nachos ($8.50). The young lady asked if I wanted anything on my nachos and I told her just extra cheese. I got my nachos and they were loaded with yummy melted cheese all over.

Liz and I started making our way back to our seats and when we got to our section, the usher turned around to ask for our tickets and ran right into Liz. In case you haven't figured out what happened next, let me explain. Liz had almost every ounce of that nacho cheese on her chest, blouse and arm. It was cheesy all over her. The usher lady was so apologetic and the first thing Liz said to her in response to her apology was, "May we please get new nachos!" I thought that was so hilarious. I do have to say that Liz remained a good sport in spite of what had just transpired. We got our new order of nachos and back to our seats we went - this time with the usher following behind us - per her own choosing!!!!

The concert finally got started. The opening act was a group from New York, "Honor Society." They played about 4 songs which were pretty cool. Next came a girl, sorry, I don't know her name. She sang like 2 songs - she was okay.

Finally, the American Idol contestant, Jordan Sparks, came on stage. She put on a riveting performance, rocking the crowd and getting everyone even more excited about the main performance of the night, "The Jonas Bros."

After a brief break, the lights dimmed and the crowd went wild. All you could hear was a roar of screaming girls with their shrieks and yells waiting for those boys to come on stage.

A cool backdrop lighted up and from the inside of the stage up came the 3 brothers singing away. Now, I'll admit that I don't have names for any of their songs as I am not a big fan - but boy did they put on a heck of a show. Before I knew it, I was up on my feet dancing away with my little buddie, Meagan, that I met at the concert. I was having so much fun.

I can't tell you how long the concert went on for, as I seriously lost track of time. After a brief break, out came Jordan Sparks again and did a number with them. That girl has a powerful voice. They did a number of songs and then began to wrap up the concert. After that night, I'll never ever leave a concert when the singer or group leaves the stage for the first time.

Not that we did anyway, but a lot of people, including Meagan, her dad and sister left thinking I'm sure that the concert was over. Maybe at the most, 5 minutes went by and then out of nowhere, a girls voice was heard.

The crowd went nuts again. I didn't obviously recognize the voice but all the girls in the packed stadium DID. Out she comes and I couldn't believe it - it was Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) herself. Okay so for those of you that don't know, this was a total and complete shock to everyone - she was NOT part of the lineup.

She did a song with her ex-boyfriend, whichever one of the boys that is. It was actually really nice. Off she went after the one song and then all 3 appeared again and performed another song with some rapper guy.

After this song, then it was bye bye for reals this time. Everyone came back on stage and bowed to the crowd. Now you would have thought that our fun ended there, well you are wrong - our second round of fun was just getting started.

I'll spare you all anymore reading and just say that we walked almost the entire parking lot back and forth and then back again all to end up crossing the congested street with a police officer in tow to jump into our limo before the light turned green so that we could get back home.

All the while we were, I was, laughing my head off - it was so much fun! This night will definitely go down in the books.

I've got no complaints whatsoever even though I got home at 1:00 a.m. instead of the predicted 10:30 by Sweet & Sassy!



Rebecca all dressed up for the concert!



Liz & Rebecca!



Rebecca & The Coolest Tia in the Whole Wide World - ME!



Thank you Sweet & Sassy!



All made up and ready to roll!



Strut it girl!



In the limo!



Everyone that passed us up would just stare at the PINK LIMO! We decided to have some fun and roll down the window and wave to people passing by. Most of them were good sports and waived back!



The limo caravan that was about to head out towards the stadium!



Finally, what I have been wanting to see for so long now & I'm actually going in!



All the Sweet & Sassy limos pulling into the stadium!



The tickets!



On Cowboys Territory!



2 of the 3 contest winners: Rebecca & Lindsey!



Pretty!



The stage!



The awesome roof. Too bad Jerry Jones didn't open it that night!



The unmistakeable star! No more needed!



Jordan Sparks!



Rockin' the crowd!



Here they come!



Are you ready?



The Jonas Brothers!



The lights & laser show were spectacular!



Beautiful!



No more instruments needed!



For part of the show, the center of the stage was replaced with a trampoline - the boys did all sorts of acrobatic moves - it was pretty cool!



During a break, this video clip of Joe Jonas came on. It was hilarious - he was dancing to the Beyonce song, "If You Liked It Then You Should Have Put a Ring on It!"



Here, they were lifted on a crane and went into the crowd and sprayed them with foam!



Jordan Sparks back again for a duet!



Powerful!



The surprise of the night - Miley Cyrus!



The crowd went wild!



Wrapping up a great performance!



Great concert!



Away they go!



BEAUTIFUL! WHAT A SHOW....WHAT A STADIUM!