Greg and Nelson

Greg has been working on his Kawasaki Jet Ski he got 20 years ago. It is the old stand up kind. (Not so easy to stand up on, but really easy to fall off of.) He tries to get it going every summer so he can play on it. A couple of summers ago he took Nelson out on it. They were out in the middle of the lake and Greg fell off. That left Nelson on it alone and he was heading straight into the neighbors dock. You should have seen his face - pure terror. We were all in the yard watching. All we could hear from Greg was "TURN, NELSON, TURN!!!" Right as he got to the end of the dock he turned left right into the swim area. Someone had jumped into the water to help him by that time. WHEW!! They went out again this weekend. Nelson is old enough now to understand the way it works. The water was really choppy so they didn't have much success getting up on it. It was still fun to watch them having fun. Here are a few pics. Also, a picture of Greg teaching Nelson how to tie his tie on Sunday. (His zipper tie broke and we had to go with the old timey kind.)

Beauty and the Beast

Every summer Zilker Park puts on an outdoor theater production. This year's play was Beauty and the Beast. It was AMAZING!! It is unbelievable how they can bring the magic of an animated movie to the stage the way they did. They kids LOVED it. It was Alli's first time seeing it and she had so many questions. Greg and his parents staked out the perfect place on the hill with blankets and umbrellas four hours before the play started. Alli and I joined them after I got off work. We had a picnic and Judy took the kids swimming in the Barton Springs pool (a fresh water pool right next to the theater.) During intermission the kids got to have pictures taken with some of the characters. Gaston (pictured with Alli) was perfect. Nelson liked the bubble girl - go figure. My favorite part was the kitchen scene and the song "Be Our Guest." Who doesn't love dancing dinnerware? At the end of the play, I took Alli up to the stage where she got to meet Belle. You should have seen how cute Alli was watching Belle talk and move. She was SO excited to meet a real live princess. I can't imagine there being anything more exciting than this for a four year old princess-in-training.

Fourth of July - Family Fun





We had a great 4th of July! I am proud to be an American and feel extremely blessed to live in this free land. We spent the night out at Shawna's parents' house on Thursday and woke up to Papaw's famous pancakes. After breakfast we had archery target practice in their front yard with my new compound bow and arrows. It was tons of fun. After an hour or so we were all able to keep most of the arrows on or near the target. It was a beautiful sunny day.











We had a nice lunch together and then Greg and my dad and I went in search of a shooting range to try out Greg's new rifle. (Marlin .17 HMR for anyone who is interested.) He wanted it for target practice only. It is a beautiful gun as far as guns go. We found a range not too far from my parents' house. We paid $10 and got lifetime memberships. :) The gun worked great after we got it sighted in. We took Nelson back the next day. He did great for his first time shooting. After the shooting range, we loaded up the car and headed home for a watermelon cutting with then neighbors and then fireworks in our circle. Fireworks are a HUGE family tradition for us. We had tons of fun, as usual. My brother-in-law, Richard, and my niece and nephew came to join in the fun. Richard and Greg really got into lighting multiple fireworks. It was fun to watch them play. The kids went through about 50 sparklers. It was a great day!

Nelson's Second Grade Graduation











I was able to attend Nelson's graduation on May 28th. It was fun to see him with all of his classmates and his sweet teacher, Ms. Bassett. I always get a little teary eyed at these functions especially when the principal says "Now lets give a big hand for our NEW THIRD GRADERS!!" It is hard to keep it together when you children grow up right before your eyes. The kids were all wearing these cute graduation hats they made in class.











Two days later, I was able to go to his classroom for their end of the year party. There are a few pictures from it as well. So . . . now he is a big third grader. I can hardly believe it. He is growing up so fast. It won't be long before he is as tall as me. He is so handsome and fun to be around. He is smart and kind hearted. Okay, okay, I'll stop embarassing him now.