Normally this would be a common sight in Texas, but this time, we didn't see rain until we'd been there more than a week! But though it didn't last long, it was a real Texas soaker, and Kate had a good time running around in it until she was thoroughly saturated.
Max, on the other hand, preferred the more indoor pursuits associated with Uncle Z and his awesome video game setup. Max never likes playing video games as much as when he's with Z.
Gracie and Kate snuggle with Grammy (sitting down for a rare break from everything she does) under Gracie's Tink quilt. Note Grammy's keen Astros shirt — we went to a couple of games and had a great time, even though the 'stros didn't win. Sigh. There's always next year!
Hannah making sure she has excellent UV protection as we drive around Galveston.
Max and Bel enjoy Stewart Beach in Galveston. We had a great day: had a seagull fight waiting in line for the Bolivar ferry, saw dolphins galore on the ferry ride, checked out the hurricane damage and rebuilding on the Bolivar peninsula, and came back to Galveston for fun on the beach! Galveston is a great family beach because there's warm water and it's very shallow for a long, long way out. The little kids floated on tubes and made sandcastles; the big kids boogie-boarded and watched out for jellyfish and sharks.
DeDee enjoys a refreshing beverage on Stewart Beach.
Hannah stayed mostly dry that day, but she ventured down to the water to take some pics.
Gracie in the water. Note the goatee-looking thing on her chin, which is a butterfly bandage. A couple of days before the beach trip, she fell getting out of the pool and cut open her chin. We went to an insta-care-type clinic, where they applied that Super Glue stuff to bind the cut. Then, Grace got to worrying about not being able to go in the water at the beach, so she ripped off the glue and tried to tell me it fell off naturally because it was healed. The fresh wet wound sort of proved this wasn't true, but we bound it back up as best we could with butterflies and she did OK. She wouldn't have missed the beach for ANYTHING.
One of the fun things to do at the beach is sit down near the water line and dribble super-wet sand onto yourself. It's weirdly relaxing; I've done it a bit myself. Here are Grace, Kate and Faith in various stages of muddiness ... or is it sandiness?
Max is very safety-conscious. He wore this pink beach ring even when he wasn't actually IN the water.
Bella, Max and Kate snuggle on the bench outside Grammy and Ba's side fence as they watch Jeb and Ba play baseball.
Jeb has Gracie try on his batting helmet. He looks so handsome in his uniform!
A tough baseball guy steps up to the plate!
I just love this picture. The green lawn, the sun-drenched trees, the grandpa tossing the ball to his little grandson, who's doing a perfect batter's stance. It's summer at the Johnsons!
Em and Hannah lookin' fancy. They were ready to go to a Young Women's activity to see Haley Palfreyman perform in "Godspell." I got to see it too, and really enjoyed it. Great music and some very touching moments (not to mention a hilarious riff on 'Star Wars'!).
Max gets to try out the baseball stuff. Ba bought him some of his own, and he loves playing with it in our own backyard. But doing it with Jebby and Ba was the best of all.
Even after everyone else went in, Max kept batting for about 20 more minutes. After he took off the batting helmet, he was totally sweaty and red-faced!
Luckily, he got to get in the pool with Ba and Rick Sherley, who came over to give the kids a swimming lesson (we had to cancel their scheduled ones with Jen's friend Melissa when the LICE INCIDENT occurred). Thanks, Rick!
Jebby was mad about something, so he was floating around and pouting. I just thought he looked incredibly cute.
This was the sight that woke me up most mornings while we were in Texas — and what a wonderful sight it was! My little boy ready to climb out of his crib and snuggle with me to start the day.
On the first leg home between Houston and Dallas, Mom and I and Z (and the kids, of course) stopped for lunch at a sparkling new Buc-ee's off I-45 in Madisonville. We got lots of treats, including filling up our Buc-ee's mugs one last time. We love you, Buc-ee's!
Kate and Max enjoy a horsy ride at the Wal-Mart in Cheyenne, Wyo., on the way back to Utah. We were almost home ... but not for long!
The highlight of our reunion was the 50th anniversary party for Bud and Marilyn (that's Mom and Dad to Greg, and Grandma and Grandpa to the kids!). We had a lot of fun preparing for the party, and maybe just a little stress (especially when all our flower arrangements froze in the church fridge!), but once the night arrived everything went just great. We had a family dinner at a neat little African Methodist church next to the Kratzes' church (Bud and Marilyn in the pic above are in that church, in front of the buffet), then went next door to the "pilgrim hall" of the United Church of Christ Congregational for the big event.
Here are our three little songbirds. They sang at the family dinner — "I Often Go Walking" for Grandma and "When Grandpa Comes Home" for Grandpa — and did an absolutely beautiful job. I was amazed by their poise and skill. They are our darlings! And, by the way, they loved having those pretty corsages!
