Race day

Today was the Bellaire Trolley Run. Mary and John ran the 1 mile kids' race and Meg ran the 5K. We all biked over to City Hall this morning just as the sun was starting to peek over the houses in our neighborhood.

The kids' race was first. Meg and I implored the kids not to sprint right out of the gate, but Mary and John (especially John) couldn't help themselves and blew off the starting line at full speed. What was amazing was that John effectively kept up his pace nearly the entire race and finished in 6th place - and ahead of every other kindergartener we could see. He ran 1 mile in about 8 minutes!

John at the start (he's right in the middle of this photo)

Mary finished after John, but we found out later that she had stopped to help some other, smaller children who had fallen or gotten over tired.

John racing to the finish line

Meg before the race

After the kids' race, Meg ran the 5K. She wasn't expecting to run her hardest, but ended up finishing in 26:10 - a very good pace of a little more than 8 minute miles (about what John did).

Meg nearing the finish line

Afterwards we all rode our bikes to McDonald's for breakfast. It was a fun, active morning for the whole family. I'm really proud of all the runners in the family!

John, Meg, Nina (our neighbor) and Mary after the race

Video of our trip to Bolivar Penninsula and Galveston Island

Happy Thanksgiving!

Meg, Mary, John and I shared a delicious Thanksgiving feast with Pa and Nini. Mary and John helped Nini get ready yesterday, then today Mary helped Meg with the mashed potatoes and the pecan pie - both of which turned out wonderfully.

We are all grateful for the health, happiness and prosperity shared by all our friends and family. We hope everyone reading this enjoyed the holiday and found much in their lives for which to be thankful (like proper grammar).

Nini and Millie

Chris and Meg

The Ferris Family in Pa and Nini's backyard

Mary walking Millie

Texas Renaissance Festival

Yesterday, Baba accompanied us to the Texas Renaissance Festival. This was the first time we had gone in a couple of years and we all had a blast. The name is a bit of a misnomer; while there are plenty of Renaissance-related things to see and do, it's not purely Renaissance themed. Rather, anything that looks or seems quasi-European from the 1200s-1600s is fair game there (as you'll see from some of the photos below). For many it's just a good excuse to let their freak flag fly.

Nearly half the people there were in costume: knights, fairies, gypsies, kings, elfs, ogre... you name it. John and Mary dressed up as well.

Maiden Mary and Sir John with one of the locals.

Mary and Baba on a giant swing (all the rides were man-powered -- no engines or electricity)

John and Meg on the spinner (also man-powered)

John, Chris and Mary on the Dragon Egg ride

Meg enjoying the scene

John getting his face painted

The results

Mary with her painted face

All 3 painted faces

Meg's surprise party video

I know this is a couple of weeks late - I forgot to post it to our blog. But here it is, better late than never.



Thanks again to everyone who made it such a great surprise and fun party.

Oh, and I did notice that I misspelled Mission at the end of the video. I was just too lazy to re-edit and re-publish the video.

Trip to La Grange

Last Sunday, Mary, John, Meg and I drove out to La Grange, TX, a remote town about a 2 hour drive from Houston. Jim and Delrena, friends and neighbors of Pa and Nini, invited us to visit their son Barrett's weekend home. Our friend Cara and her daughter Mary O (we call her that to distinguish her from Mary F) also met us up there.

Barrett and his friend Nina were wonderful hosts. We went for a long walk to feed horses on an adjacent property. Delrena hid dozens of Easter eggs for the kids to find. And we all took turns driving Barrett's ATV over his expansive property. It was a wonderful way to spend a warm spring day. We were only a hundred miles outside of Houston, but it felt a lot farther than that -- in the best possible way.

The song in the video, BTW, is called "Free" and it's by the Zac Brown Band. We elected not to use the ZZ Top song "La Grange" for our video. But you can listen to that here.

Trailer for Jumbo Fun Ball

Enjoy the latest action-packed adventure movie from Ferris Films -- starring Mary, Meg, Chris and John!

Friday Night Fun with the Ferris Family

The four of us goofed around last night with the Photo Booth application on our new iMac. The results, which were pretty silly, are below:

Big Rig, Meg and Mary around the fire pit making smores.

(Finally got this photo uploaded!)

Meg and Mary Ferris' Day Off

Meg and Mary are both still home today, although Mary seems a little more lively than yesterday. She woke up closer to 7 and was dressed and fed not long after that. She is essentially asymptomatic other than feeling a little more tired than usual.

The two of them have been reading together and running errands while some work is done around the house (mostly painting some of the interior rooms).

Also, happy birthday to Baba, who turns 69 today. And a belated birthday to Big Rig who marked his 79th birthday on Sunday.

Welcome to the New Ferris Family Online

We're bailing out of the old web site and converting to a regular blog. This will allow us to update the site on the go -- from Chris' iPhone or Meg's Blackberry. For example, the two photos below of Mary and John were taking with Chris' iPhone and posted immediately.

We'll still post longer photos albums (see the links on the right) as well as videos to YouTube (those links are also on the right).

You can get regular updates on the blog by becoming a follower (on the lower right). I think you have to have a google account to follow in this way. You can also subscribe using an RSS feed from the far lower left.

Or, of course, you can just check the site regularly if that's what you prefer. Please make sure to leave comments so we can know how you like the new format.