 |
| We celebrated Sadie's fourth birthday a day early. The cupcakes were a hit! |
 |
| Fox, Sadie, and Jim with birthday balloons |
 |
| Papa Tom and grand-nephew Jim, age 3 |
 |
| Sarah, grand-niece Lucy (8 months), and Bekka. Twin Jake stayed home with Kirk, so we sent them cupcakes. |
 |
| Started out as Super Girl and Princess Sadie in her Rapunzel dress |
 |
| Transformed into Anna from "Frozen." |
 |
| Pelicans |
 |
| Learned something: this guy was applying boat wax (?) with an electric polisher, just like you'd use to wax a car. |
 |
| Papa Tom, just before Trish took us to the airport for the trip home. Thanks for a great time, Trish! |
 |
| Trish knew about a great place for cafe con leche down the street from her office (she works for Wells Fargo) |
 |
| A toast to 54 years of friendship! |
 |
| The very lush and colorful Cubano Nueve parking lot |
 |
| Papa Tom with the Al Pacino poster depicting the casts from "Scarface" and "The Godfather." |
 |
| We went to a meeting at Trish's church Friday night and, dumb-dumb me, I decided to plug my phone in for recharging while we were there. Well, of course, I forgot my phone and didn't realize it until the church was locked up. Our flight was leaving Saturday; no time to wait for the church to re-open on Sunday. No answer in the church office Saturday morning. Argh! Brilliant idea to climb the church fence and get into the building (Trish has a key to the building but didn't know the code for opening the parking lot gate). Steve loaned us a ladder for the job. On the way there, I told Trish she had to obey all traffic laws lest we get stopped by a cop who would question us about our "burglary" tool in the back seat. |
 |
| So glad the gate was open when we got there! Turned out the church school was having a lacrosse tournament. Inside, the phone was plugged in, right where I left it. Never so happy to see my baby phone! Felt "nekkid" without it! |
 |
| Before Trish and Steve bought their house, it was owned by the Rock, who'd bought it for his Mom. So I'm wondering: did the Rock sleep in the guest bedroom where Tom and I slept? Trish's office has at least two walls of shelves originally built to display the Rock's trophies. |
 |
| Trish assured me that no crab was killed in the making of this meal. What? She said crabbers take only one "arm" of the crab then toss it back into the sea so the "arm" can grow back. Okay, but a crab was harmed, right? |
 |
| Trish's friend David works at Joe's. Great fried oysters and Key lime pie too! |
 |
| The orchid trail was magical to me. But I found out later that it's no big deal in South Florida. Orchids thrive there. Not unusual for someone to have a bed of orchids in their yard. Thinking I might be able to grow some indoors in Austin; we'll see. |
 |
| The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami contains 83 acres of rare tropical plants from all over the world. |
 |
| Papa Tom sits next to a sculpture of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, whose 1947 book "The Everglades: River of Grass" was influential in preventing the Everglades from being drained for land reclamation. Ms. Douglas, a native of Minnesota, moved to South Florida in the 1920s and died in Coconut Grove in 1998 at the age of 108 after working for decades as an environmental activist. |
 |
| Sausage tree from Africa. Gorillas are crazy about the hanging fruit! |
 |
| This is as close as we got to a gator (as far as we know). Do you see him sunning on the point? |
 |
| On the orchid trail through the rain forest section of the garden |
 |
| Do you see the lizard? |
 |
| An 85-year-old baobab tree. The oldest known baobab tree is 1,275 years old. The largest baobab tree had a diameter of more than 50 feet before it split into. |
 |
| No, we didn't travel from Austin by blimp. But we did see a blimp over Trish's house. Trish and I have been friends since fourth grade. Life took her to Florida for college, Miami for work as an attorney, then Richmond, Virginia, St. Louis, and finally back to Florida. So good to reconnect! |
 |
| Cuban food for dinner: tostones (twice fried plantains) dipped in garlic/lime sauce. As crunchy as potato chips! |
 |
| Papa Tom is refurbishing the gutters. Will be a big project to reinstall them! |
 |
| Papa Tom prepared black beans while Amon tried some of Ryder's Carolina Reaper home brew. Good stuff! |
 |
| The grandparents took Fox to Mt. Bonnell on Presidents Day. Mt. Bonnell, at around 735 feet, is Austin's second highest point. Great view of downtown and the Colorado River from the top. |
 |
| Fox took a photo of Mia, Papa Tom, Papa Jay, and Lala. |
 |
| She wanted to ride on my shoulders. Fox now weighs 44 pounds. I told her this is probably the last time I'll be able to walk around with her on my shoulders. |
 |
| Papa Tom will be able to carry her for a couple of more years though. |
 |
| Papa Jay and Fox on the stairs to the top. I think it's about 95 steps. |
 |
 |
| The years have passed so quickly. This photo is from October 2000, in Galveston, Texas, from when we stayed in a beach house to celebrate Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary. Papa Tom's truck (which he still has), was brand new that year. Took the kids for a ride on the beach. Not sure where Ryder and Ramzi were. But here's Amon (age 13), Blake (age 10), Colton (age 4), Destry (age 7), Michael Craig (age 12), and Skyler (age 18). |
 |
| Woodrow and Alguno Road; around mile 20 of the Austin marathon |
 |
| Neighborhood support for the runners. Cheering and water, and a block further down, beer for the runners. |
 |
| Neighborhood kid dancing to "Sunshine of Your Love," courtesy of an all girl band. |
 |
| Plenty of Gatorade |
