The First Sleepover

On Saturday night Sophie and Holden came over for their first sleepover. I wanted to get a picture of the kids coming in the door with their backpacks, but they came over earlier than I expected.

We had dinner here at our house, then played and read stories before bed time. One of the stories I read Holden was about dinosaurs. The book told us how some dinosaurs are plant eaters, some are meat eaters, and some eat both. The pictures showed some "mean" looking dinosaurs. I assured the kids that they didn't have to worry about the dinosaurs being around here. Sophie replied, "Of course not, silly. They're all stinked up!" (She meant that they are extinct.)

Holden slept in the guest bedroom with the queen bed. Sophie slept in the twin bed in "her" room. I was going to sleep with Holden, but Sophie was a little uneasy about the sleepover, so I slept on the love seat in the family room. Because she was so excited about sleeping over, she didn't go to sleep until 11:30 or later. It wasn't a problem; she "read" stories to her stuffed dog until she finally went to sleep. Today we played some more and sang songs until Jackie and Dwayne came over to pick up the kids.

The little ones had a great time while they were here and so did I! They said that they would come over another time and have a sleepover. I'm sure that Jackie and Dwayne will love it! Reflecting back on the event, I'm not sure who was happiest about the sleepover - Sophie and Holden, me, or Jackie and Dwayne!

The good, the bad, and the sick

It's been hot here in Austin the past couple of weeks, but not nearly as hot as where some of you live. We've been mostly in the mid to upper 90's with heat indexes in the 100-110 degree range. We haven't done much outdoors because of the heat. I've been mowing the lawn in the evenings with our new lawn mower. It's the first one we've had that I've actually been able to start. That's because we bought one that starts with a key or by pulling the cord. It's self-propelled and I can control the speed. It's really an awesome lawn mower!

Last weekend we helped Jackie and Dwayne with their yardwork. They had several trees with dead branches in them. George and Dwayne did the cutting. Jackie and I (with a little help from Holden) hauled the branches to the woods. I was exhausted by the time we finished in the afternoon.

The next day was our fun day. We went out on Lake Austin with Jackie's family in their boat. It felt so good to feel the cooler air as Dwayne drove us around the lake. We stopped at a little beach area to let the kids play in the water and sand. George stayed in the boat while we waded, jumped the waves, and looked for fish and shells. We all ate our lunch in the boat. I introduced Holden to Fritos. He loved them! At first Holden didn't want to share them with his daddy, but he did after a few minutes. After lunch we enjoyed riding around in the boat and looking at the homes along the lakeshore. The kids quickly fell asleep. Dwayne took us into a little quiet cove where Jackie and I floated in the water. I have to admit, it took me a while before I would get in. I don't like water that I can't see through and that I don't know how deep it is. I wasn't in the water very long before a fish came along to investigate me by touching me. That was enough for me! I was back in the boat in no time! After we left the cove, we went to another small beach area to play and have a snack. After that, we headed back to the dock and parking area. I was even more exhausted than I was on Saturday! Unfortunately, my back got sunburn. I guess I didn't have Jackie and George put enough sunscreen on it. That's not good news for a pale face like me.

So now that you've heard the good and the bad, you're probably wondering who got sick. It was Tori, our bigger and younger dog. We discovered on Sunday that she had licked, bit, or pulled hair off a large area of her inner back leg. It was swollen and red. On Monday I found a vet to take her to. The vet thought that something had probably bitten Tori resulting in her licking and biting her leg which caused the inflammation. She gave Tori an injection of an antibiotic and a steroid and sent us home with antibiotic pills and steroid spray. She said that if Tori didn't stop licking the area, we would have to put one of those cones on her to keep her from doing it. Dr. McShane has called us 3 separate times to give us the results of blood tests and to see how Tori is doing. Fortunately, Tori is doing well now. We are very pleased with our new vet!

What I've learned in a month

We've now lived in Texas for 1 month and 2 days. Here's what I've learned in that time:

• When it rains, it pours in Austin! We've gotten through the rainy season and are now into the heat of summer. I don't think we're going to see any more rain for a while.
• Austin can be just as humid as St. Louis in the summertime.
• There are some really big cockroaches in Texas... really big!
• Nobody in Texas obeys the speed limits; they all drive much faster than what is posted.
• A LOT of people drive pick-ups and SUVs.
• People that drive pick-up trucks drive like bullies. They get right up on your tail until you move out of the way. If you don't, they'll eventually change lanes and whip in front of you.
• Austin drivers don't stop for yellow lights. They keep going!
• Most people don't park their cars, SUVs, or pick-ups in the garage. The garage is used for storage.
• Texas baked beans are not the same as Missouri baked beans. Pinto beans with some spices are what the baked beans are here. In MO, it's more like pork 'n beans with a little brown sugar and some other stuff. We're talking day and night in the world of baked beans.

Our part of town

We live in what is called the "hill country" in Texas. For those of you who haven't experienced it, this picture shows what you would see as you drive to our house. This is a side street in a subdivision on the way to our house. (These are multi-million dollar homes.)

If you continued on your way to our house, this is the view you would see. I love driving from the main road to the smaller roads to get to our house. The roads are curvy and hilly; it's almost like driving in the mountains.

Once you get to our street, you would see this view. I was standing on the south end of our street looking east. My street is on your left, but you can't see it in this picture.

Finally, you would see our house.

It looks like a little cottage to me, but it's bigger than it looks.

If you went inside our house to the second floor, you would discover a small deck off of the family room. This is the view you would see from there (looking east).

I love the open areas, the hills, the trees, and the wildlife in this part of Texas.

I've seen many different butterflies (including several Monarchs), deer, doves, roadrunners (I was so excited to see one fly!), lizards, squirrels, and a teeny little frog about the size of my thumb nail. I also saw a small crested bird that I haven't identified yet. I think I need to stare out the breakfast room window more often so that I can identify it.

I hope you've enjoyed the view to my house!