"The Secret Garden"--on Emma's birthday: August 24, 2013

Do you see Emma?  Hint:  she's Dr. Craven, with the goatee

Dr. Craven appears to be unconvinced

Joyce and Emma, after the 3 p.m. perormance, with the 5 p.m. performance to come.

Wishing sweet Emma a happy birthday

With Al, after the show

The Leo boys: August 23, 2013

Tom's best friends Roy and Greg are also August birthday boys.  Every year, we celebrate all three birthdays.  This year, we grilled burgers and chicken at the house.  Roy and girlfriend Mary at the table; I was trying to put horns on their heads in the photo, not flash the peace sign!  Oh well.  The peace sign is appropriate too for this bunch that came of age in the '60s.

I tried to get a photo of the three birthday boys, totally against Greg's will.  He lucked out; the shadows worked in his favor.

"One Night with Janis": August 22, 2013

Dear friend Sharon Reed, from our newspaper days at The Williamson County Sun in Georgetown in the late '80s, came with us to the Zach Scott presentation of "One Night with Janis," about Janis Joplin, and spent the night in the Princess room.  We talked until nearly 2 a.m.  Luckily, I had a light day at work on Friday.

Emma's 13!!!

Emma made this sign for her party, held a week early on August 17, 2013, at Austin's Park and Pizza.  The party began at 2:30 p.m. and Emma and friends closed down the park at close to 11 p.m. that night!

Emma and Joyce add candles to her cake, which is chocolate with white and orange icing, of course!

Time to open gifts

New use for the gift bag, with Holly looking on

Emma with Austin friends Lily (far left) and Hannah (far right) and Waco friends Holly and Evon (center of back row) and Lily's 7-year-old sisters.  Emma wore her favorite "Luigi" cap from the Mario Brothers video game.  And orange tennies, of course!

"Little Shop of Horrors": August 16, 2013

Every year, a musical is presented at Zilker Hillside Theater in Zilker Park.  We'd tried to go on Thursday night, but the performance was rained out.  This year, the show was "The Little Shop of Horrors."  Maybe you've seen the 1986 film version with Rick Moranis and Steve Martin?

Audrey, in red, with the Audrey II, a mysterious plant that grows larger and larger thanks to a secret ingredient that only Seymour, the plant's caretaker, know about: human blood!

Seymour must resort to . . .well, I won't spoil it for you!. . . to get enough "food" for the Audrey II.

Oh my!  Seymour's taken very, very good care of the Audrey II!  Now what?

Cousins: August 16, 2013

Emma and Jade in the "ball room" at the Austin Children's Museum

Jade patiently waits to add balls to the bucket being hauled to the top of the "roller coaster"

Emma and Jade spin coins into the "black hole"

Pancakes by Emma: August 16, 2013

Emma treated us to "chocolate chip" pancakes Friday morning.  We didn't have chocolate chips so chopped up a Hershey bar.  P. Tom wanted strawberries and bananas added to his pancakes.

And bacon too!

Breakfast on the deck.  Emma and I discovered that we're each the only people we know who insist on having straws in our drinks.  Genetic propensity?  We definitely didn't learn it from each other.

Emma's visit: August 15, 2013

We had pizza at Emma's favorite pizza place: the Mellow Mushroom on the Drag.  She'd never been to the Austin Mellow Mushroom before, but discovered the restaurant in Raleigh, NC, in May while there for the Duke TIPS recognition ceremony.  There's also a Mellow Mushroom in Asheville, where we've been with Ryder, Brandy, River, and Mya.  Not with Piper yet: maybe on our next visit!

Yes, it is possible to suck warm cheese through a straw!  Emma ate the middle of her calzone first, documenting the event on her iPod even as I documented it on my iPod.

Emma in front of the really crazy bathroom door in the ladies' room.  

P. Tom, Emma, and . . . .????

Thanks for dinner, Lara! : August 14, 2013

Lara took us to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Kerbey Lane.  Thanks, Lara!

Yum!  Tomato pie.  One of Kerbey Lane's seasonal dishes is tomato pie, made with whole wheat crust, vine-ripened tomatoes, basil, feta cheese, and Parmesan.  Too good!

An afternoon with Jade: Sunday, August 11, 2013

Jade likes to play with the hippie salt and pepper shakers.  They're magnetized to come together for a kiss.  She also likes for us to light the candle and sing "Happy Birthday" before she blows it out.

Spa time: making bubbles in the air bubble massage tub

Monk Parakeet in the sunflowers

We keep sunflowers in the front yard for the monk parakeets (also known as Quaker parrots) that live at the intramural fields at 51st and Lamar, about six blocks from our house.  We can watch them eat dinner from the media room window.  That's our neighbor's white picket fence in the background.

August 9, 2013: Papa Tom is 62!

The Birthday Mom and the Birthday Boy, celebrating at North x Northwest.

Kirk and Jim

Sarah and Evelyn

Mmm!  Chocolate cheesecake!

Papa Tom's birthday surprise:  chocolate cheescake!  Even more surprising: he's 1 year old!

At the "jumping place" with Jade Fox: Sunday, August 4, 2013

The "jumping place," as Jade calls it, also has a Lego room.  Jade wanted to make a gun.  She's quite the sharpshooter, as I discovered back in March in Portland when she and Otis zapped me with their dart guns.

I think she looks a lot like Amon here.

Reaching for the iPod Touch

She's a photographer too: took my photo with the iPod Touch.

On our way home: July 30, 2013

We flew over island after island on our way from Puerto Rico to Orlando, where we changed planes

Old San Juan (Part IV): July 29, 2013

Sculpture and refreshment cart

Shady street

Papa Tom 

Back at Cuatro Sombras to pick up fresh-roasted coffee beans to bring home to Austin

Gated, arched gateway to ....???

Entrance to art gallery

Old San Juan (Part III): July 29, 2013

El Morro, the fort built by the Spanish to guard San Juan Bay, is at the top of the hill.  The cemetery and church (red roof) are in the foreground.  Sir Francis Drake (known as "El Draco," the pirate) to the Spanish, is one of the few who was able to get past El Morro into the bay, setting Spanish ship on fire.  But a cannon ball blown into his cabin, mortally wounding his second cousin Jack Hawkins, forced him to retreat.

Replica of the soldiers' sleeping quarters.  Did they really sleep on wood or were mattresses there back in the day?

Senior Iguana now guards the bay

Looking back from the fort to the church, cemetery, Old San Juan, and the high rises of San Juan off in the distance

Flags over El Morro: the US flag, presumably the Puerto Rican flag, and I'm not sure what the third flag represents.  Good news: I don't see a skull and crossbones!

The bay below the fort

One of the sentry posts at El Morro

Inside the chapel

Papa Tom on El Morro's wall