Summer fun in Houston

Before summer 2014 ended, Carl and I took a few of the school age grand-kids on a "date" to the children's theater production of "Mulan" in Hermann Park. 

Aunt Jessica joined us.

After the show, we enjoyed a picnic lunch by the duck pond.

Evan, entering kindergarten, was so excited since this was the first time he was able to join his older sisters as an official school kid for this annual "back to school" date.

It was really hot out there,

so we really enjoyed a shaved ice treat before heading back home.

Goodbye for now Sam Houston.

Summer fun by the water

Still reflecting back on this summer on the blog. Hopefully by 2015, I'll be caught up with events.

 Due to high volumes of stinky seaweed on the beaches, the family made it to Galveston only once. We had fun visiting Emily's family while they had their annual Ochoa reunion, which was in Galveston this year. We had fun exploring the old home, in the East end historic district, the Ochoas rented for the week. 

It had a pirate themed basement.

Baby Rae slept through her first beach outing.

It's always fun to see the little cousins get together. We had a fun day with the Ochoas in Galveston.

Dahlia especially enjoys her baby cousins.

Our other water fun this summer (besides the neighborhood pool and Galveston) was in Jeremy's backyard in Tomball. 

Which pool was more fun, our neighborhood pool in Friendswood or Jeremy's kiddie pool? Maybe next summer Jeremy can splurge and get a bigger pool.

I think the kids had more fun in Jeremy's yard -- at least Jeremy did!

So what did Grandpa do this summer?

Carl never had a dull moment. 

He fought a never ending battle getting rid of two overgrown Crepe Myrtle trees which were causing problems with our garage foundation. Here he is with the huge root ball that took hours of toil to dig up. The trees refused to die after having been cut down and the stumps ground down. 

Grandpa had a working vacation, going to Nauvoo on the youth trip with our brother-in-law Bill, who is the Stake Young Man's President. This photo was taken at the end of the trip, when they were both exhausted, but still smiling.

 Carl was part of the kitchen crew. Besides burning several trays of Italian bread and causing a red stain on the ceiling of the mess hall, caused by tripping and falling while carrying a huge container of salsa, I hear he did pretty good job. Between chopping fruit and cooking bacon, he managed to sneak off and see the Nauvoo Pageant.

It was fun for him to be with our oldest grandchild, Elayna, who was part of the huge youth group.

Grandpa stays pretty busy for an old retired guy!

Good Bye to Uncle Philip

After graduating magma cum laude with an associate's degree from Alvin College, Philip headed off in July to Utah to earn a degree in aviation management from Utah Valley University in Provo.

The grandkids will miss his silly faces.

After a farewell Tex-Mex lunch at Gringos, it was time to say adios.

We will miss you here in Texas Uncle Philip!

He's a bit crazy, like his momma.

Summertime Chillin'

I'm still trying to bring the blog up to date, so here's another look back to this summer.

We hung around at the city park with some of the grandkids after the 4th of July parade.

The kids enjoyed these fun activities. 

Avery is flying through the air like an acrobat.

Elayna is focused on not being thrown off the rodeo bull, so she doesn't notice photo bombing grandpa in the background.

This is Evan scurrying like a hamster inside this inflated ball.

Kyla scampered up the rock climbing wall like a pro.

The kids enjoyed chillin' at the library for a few fun events, such as cupcake decorating day.

Evan thinks it's never too hot for a warm furry hug by the dinosaur who visited the library.

Summer in the city (of Friendswood)

Baby Ben is ready to hit the neighborhood swimming pool in his nifty new swim suit and hat.

The girls and I had a movie date, followed  by lunch at Cheddars, where Uncle Carl was our server.

Aiden came up with the idea of doing a lemonade stand.

The library had a fun summer program for children (and the adults who accompanied them!).

Our 4th of July barbecue was the best. Not only did we have Sweet Baby Ray Barbecue Sauce, but we had our own very Sweet Baby Rae!

The rain didn't cancel the firework show in Friendswood.

Jessica and her beau, Dr. Cameron, and Lady enjoyed the fireworks under an umbrella. 

 At the end of the summer, I took Elayna on a  birthday lunch date to Friendswood's ladies' tea room.  Then we went school clothes shopping as a specialresent to celebrate entering high school. What! Just yesterday our first grandchild was born!

Kyla memorized all the Articles of Faith, so I took her on a D.Q Blizzard date.

Lorelei got to have her own special library date.

This summer in the city was much warmer than our previous two summers it New York, but it was so great to be back with family, enjoying leisurely activities and grandchildren.