Port A Recap

Our annual trip to the beach just ended. We call it Cousin Camp, because the eight cousins on the Kennemer side of the family bring their eight adults along and we enjoy the beach for a week. This year the weather was perfect and the kids were in heaven. The top photo was one of the early nights on the beach. I found my poor old camera fogged up immediately when I got toward the sand and water. So most of my pix are taken inside. These three big boys were together all week and loving it.

The smallest and biggest cousin... Emma had to stop tickling when Alex used his secret (gas) weapon!

Hanging out during the heat of the day.

The little kids really wanted to be with the big kids... swimming, out in the ocean, playing video games, and the big kids were very patient with their little friends.




Tie Dye shirts and photos in the whale always wrap up a successful trip.

Thank you to Grandma and Grandad for hosting us again for another great year.

Befores and After

Two before photos and one after.

The first before is Max's extra tooth. We had it pulled on Monday. He had been growing (fast) an extra tooth right out of the roof of his mouth. One trip to our friend, the oral surgeon and that feature was history. Max did great, his mother, however, almost passed out. Since we are friends with the doctor AND I am working on two Architecture projects for him, I wisely waited until he finished and left the room before asking the nurse to close the door so I could sit with my head between my knees.

Sometimes I wondered if I could have cut it as a doctor, the answer is clearly NO.

Joey: Before haircut.

Joey: After haircut, with our wonderful hairdresser, Darlene. I've known her now for over twenty years. She and Joey really hit it off.

Two before photos and one after.

The first before is Max's extra tooth. We had it pulled on Monday. He had been growing (fast) an extra tooth right out of the roof of his mouth. One trip to our friend, the oral surgeon and that feature was history. Max did great, his mother, however, almost passed out. Since we are friends with the doctor AND I am working on two Architecture projects for him, I wisely waited until he finished and left the room before asking the nurse to close the door so I could sit with my head between my knees.

Sometimes I wondered if I could have cut it as a doctor, the answer is clearly NO.

Father's Day is so Starbell

Happy Day after Father's Day!

I hope all the fathers out there got the love they deserve.


David and the kids watch the Mike Meyers Saturday Night Live Special. Our kids LOVE that they get to occasionally watch that show. They feel like they are onto a funny inside joke because they understand the humor of "Schwetty balls"

This is the very cute turtle that Emma found. We called Grace to tell her how starbell it was.

First Day of Summer....

Hey kids! There is no water there!

We've been at summer almost a week now! That's hard to believe, but on the first day of summer, we met a few friends for River #2 on our Water Tour of Central Texas.

This time we visited San Marcos and the San Marcos River. It is much closer than the Guadalupe, about 40 minutes from home. The Guadalupe has always been my favorite, with its breathtaking big vistas, sheer cliffs, open wide swaths of river. In a way, though, the San Marcos was prettier. It's much smaller with vegetation teeming at the banks of the narrow river. And there are fewer signs of life as you float down. Not too many big houses on the banks. Funky old train trestles and bridges that you have to duck down in your tube to get past.

Ironically, the San Marcos is right in town, practically on the grounds of Texas State University, but it feels more secluded. It is very pokey, however. Lots of paddling and quite a bit of pesky duckweed.

This makes my third river since April; Blanco, Guadalupe and San Marcos. Now there are only about 5 or 6 left to hit.

Mr. Arce's Going Away Celebration

There were slices of cake and LOTS of mustaches!

First Day : Last Day

Joey's Kindergarten year is over.....
Max's third grade year is over... I'm not sure he and his teacher ever stopped hugging...


...and Emma wrapped up her elementary school experience with a wonderful fifth grade year.
Then there were lots of last day photos... Emma with Joey's special friend.... she looks like an American Girl Doll!
This is our principal who is leaving to take a promotion with the district... he has been at Bryker Woods two years longer than Emma, so he's the only one we've known... Emma got her lunchbox autographed by him as a souvenir!
This is Joey's big buddy, River. River always treated Joey with so much respect and love. He was an excellent 6th grade friend.
And our last picture, taken on the way home.... Edward, our fantastic friend and crossing guard. By this point, Max was out with a friend getting a snow cone, and we were on our way out for gelatto.
I'm still a little blue that it is over. This year was by far our best ever. We had three excellent teachers this year. And I realized and appreciated how special it was all year long. I was mentally putting the brakes on every day, but things end and change no matter what.

Girls Night Out...

A bunch of us are going out to see Sex in the City on Tuesday!
We are meeting at a restaurant first, then walking across the parking lot for the movie.

It was one of those situations where I saw the preview for the movie while on a date with David. When I whispered, "I want to see that.."
David whispered, "I think it is time for you to have a girls' night."
What a good husband!

Then the kids have their last day on Wednesday, then it looks like another river trip on Thursday. I am having more fun these days then ever before. When are my sister and sister-in-law moving to Austin!!???

Field Trip Day

OK, you have a choice.

Child A has a field trip to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.

Child B has a field trip to Volente Beach Water Park, lots of your buddy mom-friends are going to chaperone THAT trip, and it is warm and lovely outside... hmmm... get smarter, or have fun???

I chose the Water Park! I hung out with some of my best school buddies, rode water slides- including one terrifying one twice, ate lunch, sat in the sun and chatted, stood in the lake and chatted and ignored the kids since they are fifth graders and want to be ignored anyway.

It was lots of fun. We decided that if you have to spend a day volunteering for the school, this has to be the best way to do it.

When you have a daugher, you get to drive girls to the water park, not boys.
Volente Beach, in the background notice the white thing. To ride that you have a two person raft, and you hike to the top of a tall staircase. Then you start at one side of the slippery taco shaped ride, and they launch you down the hill. It is truly scary and I rode it twice!
Emma and Helen and Maddie
Two of these are teachers. At our school, they actually hang out socially with us after hours. We have the best school!

Lance Letscher Show

My favorite Austin Artist has a new show. I got to drop by the gallery yesterday and take a look. Wonderful work, as usual.

Just had an urge...

... an urge to do something fun during the three day weekend. The thought of griping at the kids about video games, and cleaning the house (to no avail) as the first day of the Memorial Day weekend was more than I could bear. I went out for a walk early and it was clammy and muggy, and when I got home I decided that I wanted to have some fun today.

So I informed the family I wanted to go tubing on the Guadalupe. Even though I knew it would be crowded, and a long drive, I wanted to go. David didn't, but I can still force the kids to do fun stuff... so here is our day.

Summer has begun

As if 90 degree days aren't enough (since those can actually happen in Spring!), we had the first REAL sign of summer.

The ice cream truck rumbled through at 6:30 pm tonight. Playing its endless loop of Rock-a-bye Baby it got David outside even before the kids knew what was happening. Of course, since we don't even eat until 7:30 the treats went to our freezer until after dinner. Nonetheless, summer is really here now.

Emma Rocks (actually, she Classicals)

Emma accepts her "Third Year Trophy" for making the Music Memory Team
yearly since third grade.

Emma and church friend, Sara, with their trophies.

Emma has a freaky memory for music.

Specifically, classical music, and jazz and musicals. Our school participates in a city-wide competition called Music Memory. In the fall, the students start learning the songs that are covered that year. There are 16 songs in all. By the spring, each school gives tests to narrow down to a team which is entered in the district competition. It is sort of like name that tune for classy music. They listen to short snippets and have to name the piece and composer.

This is what Emma's mind does best. She's been on the team each year she was eligible. On the following Monday, the team members receive their awards at the Monday Morning Assembly. That is when they find out how they did in the competition.

Each year, Emma has earned the highest honor, the Malcolm Gregory Award for having a perfect test paper. And this year, despite her certainty that she messed up on some of the answers, her freaky brain came through.

Yippee Emma!

River Mamas

On Friday, we dropped off the kids, and hit the road! We are the River Mamas. We were floating on the Guadalupe, drinking beer by 10:15 am. It was very fun, and very relaxing. And a nice surprise for us, a record hot day with the temp reaching the mid 90s... perfect for the icy cold water of the Guadalupe! Yee ha!

Our lunch potluck. We found it easiest to circle the table and shift every five minutes or so. That way everyone got to try a little of all the food.

If your vision is for a year, plant wheat,
If your vision is for ten years, plant trees,
If your vision is for a lifetime, plant people.
~Chinese Proverb

Happy Birthday to Us!

Outsider Art - Exhibit A

Although the artist left this piece untitled, I like to think of it as, "Ples Pass the Catsup." The composition is dominated by a huge chandelier and a candelabra, which symbolize two sources of light for the feast of the century. The catsup, emblematic of yearning and nourishment, has dwarfed the humans in the work, giving us a sense of the futility of eating when we will only "want more catsup" at the next meal. Thankfully, as the superimposed text intones, it's all good.

Jeremiah Wright and Bill Moyers

I just watched the Bill Moyers interview with Rev. Jeremiah Wright. It was full and complete and thoughtful. It was exactly NOT what sound bites and our media have suggested about Obama's pastor.

I would vote for Barack Obama, Bill Moyers OR Jeremiah Wright to be our president. They are three thoughtful, intelligent Americans. And what is done during our political campaigns, the business of politics as usual, is so anti-American and anti-Democracy that it is shameful.

Watch the video of the interview for yourself (or read the full transcript) before you vote in November....
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04252008/watch.html

River Girl

I had a big epiphany while laying on my back in the middle of this river Saturday.

I am a river girl. My mom and sister in law are really beach girls, and don't get me wrong, I love the beach.... but in my heart, I'm happiest in a Texas Hill Country River.

I was laying next to a little waterfall on a rock in the middle of the Blanco on Saturday afternoon. I felt the warm sun, the cold water, saw the blue sky with big hawks circling overhead. Heard the rushing water and birds and frogs. Felt the breeze blow by. It was absolutely perfect. The water was crystal clear. And there was no buring sun, or sand in my swimsuit.

I had so much fun that I've decided to act on a plan I formed a couple of years ago. Here is my flyer, it goes out this week:

Butts Up!

Please join your buddies for the “First Annual Moms Only Before the Kids are Out of School For the Whole Summer River Trip”

When? Friday May 16 (if raining, we’ll go May 30)

Time? We drop off the kids at school at 7:45 and start driving to the River at 7:46. We’ll head back in time to pick up our little ones by 2:45.

Where do we meet? Near the BW parking lot

Bring? $15 for tube rental + $20 for tube deposit + a bit extra just in case, cooler (Styrofoam not allowed!), beverages, food to share potluck style for lunch, camp chair, hat, sunscreen, towel, river shoes, and your funky self!

Who can come? Fun moms, the more the merrier! Forward this.

What if I have to work? Call in sick!

Little Max's Ghost

Because there may be ONE person who doesn't read my sister's weblog who reads mine... this is a long lost photo of Max. What is remarkable is the little person on the TV behind him. It is the future brother trying to call to Max.....

"M....mmmm...... Max-eeeeee....... I'm going to torment you in the future......."