Fashionista Mya

Mya has her very own look!  Attending New York Fashion Week last September has obviously influenced her! (That's Marley in the background, checking out the turf.)

Swinging River

Thanks for sharing these great photos of River with us, Brandy.  Brandy says after five minutes, River is fast asleep in his swing.

Celebrating after "An American Carol"

We enjoyed "An American Carol," a Waco Children's Theater production, on Friday, June 24.  Emma sang and danced.  Afterwards, Papa Tom, Emma, and I had dinner at Summer Palace, an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet.  Emma's dessert creation started with chocolate ice cream topped with Oreo cookies and sprinkles; the crowning touch was chocolate syrup.  Mmmm!  We all had some.

Who's taller?  For now, Shanana (with 1.5 inch heels to Emma's flat shoes).  That will probably change in a couple of years though, unless Shanana gets much higher heels!

Justin's visit

My nephew Justin Lewis visited from Maryland the weekend of June 24th.  He and Amon are both mixed martial arts afficianados.  Here, they're covered the sunroom floor in mats Amon borrowed from his mixed martial arts teacher.  They grappled for several hours.

Justin and his girlfriend Kim are slated to appear in an indie film this fall.  They'll keep us posted.

More changes on Alguno Road

The driveway bathtub is gone!  Junk dealers totally cleared Jay's lot, including debris around the garage that collapsed. 

What's next?  The real estate agent told us the house is more than likely a tear down.  Will someone buy the lot and build a brand new house?  Try to renovate the existing house?  We're curious, since this is what we see every time we open our front door.

Across the street and two houses down, John and Sybil are building a 3200-square-foot house.  The neighborhood is changing!

Somebody's growing up!

Fox is now taller than a bag of Costco tortilla chips. 
The organic tortilla chips are among the best I've ever had, by the way.

Father's Day with my Dad

I drove 12 hours round trip on Father's Day to be with my Dad, Mom, sister Martha and husband Craig, and brother Charles.  It was so good to spend a few hours with them!  A book on tape and the zoom-zoom car made the trip a snap.  Papa Tom was working that day, but sent tomatoes, a two-legged carrot, and a bell pepper from our garden for a lunch salad.

Grandpa Jay with Jade Fox and Anjanette

Grandpa Jay and Grandma Laura came over to celebrate Father's Day on Saturday

Father's Day for Amon and Tom

The Friday before Father's Day, we celebrated at the Walburg Mercantile.  That's apple streudel or stressel (I don't know the difference), black forest cake, and carrot cake, all made on the premises and soooo delicious!  Luckily for Anjanette and me, Amon and Tom agreed to share with us.

Fox was all eyes for her first Father's Day celebration

What else would grow in the biergarten but a tree of beer bottles?

Austin will be a little less weird....

Our neighbor Jay--Alguno Road's resident Celtic wizard, Rice graduate, Harley rider--has moved on after 30 years.  His house, right across the street from us, has been sold, probably as a "tear down."  It's truly the end of an era for us.

Jay was almost smushed by his garage a few months ago, when the entire thing collapsed moments after he bolted out

Tom's tomatoes

How does Papa Tom do it?  Does it help that "tomato" starts with "Tom"?  This is only part of his harvest from our front yard garden.

New Orleans/Nawlins/Crescent City/City That Care Forgot/Big Easy

We spent a few days in New Orleans with Donna, Destry, and Colton, and my high school classmates from 40 (!!!) years ago.  Here are Colton, Donna, and Tom at a table at the Rue la Course coffee shop.  Love the ambiance!

First thing Friday: po boys and red beans and rice with Colton and Donna

Streetcar barn.  I LOVE the streetcars.  They clanged past my high school all day long, back in the day.  Wooden seats, open windows, the sound of metal wheels on the tracks....

As of Friday, June 10, Destry is officially a UNO student. Here he is with girlfriend Camille before leaving for Arkansas with his Dad.

Papa Tom on the levee a half block from Donna's house.  Hikers and bikers use the path on top.

Louisiana river birds viewed from the levee

Okay, so it wasn't Mardi Gras. But it WAS New Orleans.  And this is New Orleans king cake served at one of my high school reunion events. Yum!

June 10th = 16th wedding anniversary.  We celebrated with giant platters of seafood at New Orleans Food and Spirits on Lake Ponchartrain and a roomful of my former high school classmates.

About one-third of our class of 111 made it back for the 40th reunion.  Here we are in front of our school, a former courthouse built in the 1800s.  The only difference: air conditioning has been added since we graduated!

Stonehenge? Easter Island?

Usually everything is bigger in Texas, but this Stonehenge replica is 60 percent as large as the original.

Not sure how the Easter Island replica measures up, or if this is even an accurate Easter Island statue replica.  The artwork is in Ingram, in the Texas hill country.

Summer starts at Barton Springs Pool

Amon springs into the Springs.  Luckily, the duck is a decoy.  But the chlorine-free Springs do have fish, crawfish, and other wildlife in them.  Fun to swim with goggles to see the fish and rocks under water.

Jade's first time at Barton Springs Pool.  At 10 weeks old, probably the youngest "swimmer" there.  Barton Springs Pool was on Amon and Anjanette's must do list before leaving Austin.  The "Adios, Austin" list?

Emma and Lily

Emma and Lily entered the Pokemon Tournament at Dragon's Lair in Austin on May 30th.  Emma's wearing the Pokemon T-shirt she wore for her school presentation about the developer of Pokemon.  She and Lily designed Lily's shirt that morning.

Lily and Emma prep for Pokemon play.  





Ryder, Brandy, Mya, and River

One of Mya's first swimming adventures, back in 2008.  Brandy, the mobile upload you sent of Mya in your pool this week didn't save completely to my computer; the bottom 2/3 was gray. :-(  So I borrowed this one from your FB page.  Mya might like seeing herself as a baby swimmer?

Otis

We haven't seen Otis since January, so I've borrowed a couple of his mobile uploads from his FB page.  Looks like he's on a train, one of his very most favorite things in the world.  We'll ride the Zilker Park train next time you're here, Otis!

Otis is showing Bananas how to operate the four-wheeler and Bananas is paying close attention

River

River's ready for Mommy's Seminole games.  I need to get a Longhorn onesie in the mail right away!

Brandy says River is a jumperoo natural.  She's posting video; can't wait!

Sleeping Jade

Blueberry pickers

My sister Martha sent this photo of herself with our Dad on their blueberry picking outing in the Shreveport, Louisiana area.  I wish I could have been there too!

Otis and Bananas

I can't believe how grown up Otis looks.  He just turned 3 on May 8.  Bananas is a good friend who watches over Otis.