Becoming Texans

For our anniversary, we decided to visit a part of Texas we hadn't seen before. We have a book called "Off the Beaten Path, Texas" by June Naylor. The book divides Texas into eight areas and suggests places to visit, eat and stay. The book was a bit spotty regarding information about attractions--some didn't live up to the hype in the book and the information regarding hours places were open was often wrong. But the book does give some ideas about things to see across Texas. We'll use it again, but we'll be more careful about checking the information in it next time.

The highlight of our trip (for me at least) was a stop at Washington-on-the-Brazos where Texas independence was declared in 1836. Here are some photos, including a reconstructed Independence Hall, where the declaration was signed.

We also saw some old oak trees that Susan really liked.

Our Granddaughter

One of the real benefits of living in Texas is the time we get to spend with our granddaughter. She visits often (her mom and dad come some, too). She and Ginger get along very well. Each likes to play with the other's toys. Last week our granddaughter decided to get in the crate we used to train Ginger. She teased Ginger with some of the toys that were inside. Ginger was very confused to have someone else in her crate. Here are some pictures.

Queen of the Household

Readers of my blog know that we got a puppy last fall. Ginger is almost a year old now and has turned into an exceptional dog. She is the sweetest puppy you've ever seen and is very well trained in the things that matter most--she's perfectly house broken. She's a little willful, but obedient most of the time. She pretty much runs the house now. Here's a picture of Ginger resting on her favorite spot--our bed.

You may have seen the commercial where the dog lures his master out of bed so he can take his place. Well, that happens around here, too. Here's another picture of her just after I got up one morning. She didn't waste much time taking my place.

One morning this week we couldn't find Ginger anywhere. We looked high and low, but she was nowhere to be found. We hadn't been outside, so we knew she had to be somewhere in the house, but all our searching failed to find her. Finally she poked her nose out from under the ottoman in our bedroom where she had been sleeping. Here's a picture.

 

There are Legacies and there Are Legacies

Another Transplant

At the beginning of June, my mom moved from Missouri to Sun City. We are so happy to have her with us down here. All of her relatives have now moved away from Missouri, so there is no remaining family connection there. Here in the Austin area, she has  a son and daughter-in-law, two granddaughters, a grandson-in-law, a great granddaughter and a niece and nephew-in-law. In short there is a significant family support group here. If only we could get our son and his family and my sister here, the circle would be complete.

I think mom likes her new place. It has just the right amount of space for her and to accommodate a visitor (like my sister, who is here now for a few days). Her place is about a mile from us--easy access, but not too close that we are a bother.

She's still getting settled and adjusting to Texas. Any move like this (mom lived all her life in Missouri except during and just after WWII) is stressful and it has been a challenge for her. She also moved during the hottest June since 1854. The average high temperature was 99.5. But I have to tell you that with the low humidity from noon on, it doesn't seem worse to me than KC or Chicago in the summer. Plus, the air is clean.

We're very happy mom is here and we hope she feels the same.

Another Fun Wedding

The middle of June, we went to Portland for our nephew's wedding (Susan's side--that's where all the nephews and nieces are). It was our second trip to the northwest in a month. All in all, I think I liked Portland better than Seattle, although with such short trips, it's hard to tell. Portland seemed more dynamic with a vibrant downtown. We got to see the famous rose garden and it compared well to the ones we have seen in Victoria and Ireland. (Gino--I've got about 200 shots of roses to send you.) 

Portland has a very well planned mass transit system and we were able to get around with ease. Ironically, we rented a car in Portland where we didn't need one and didn't rent one in Seattle where we did. Oh well, live and learn.

The wedding (on Friday the 13th, no less--the anniversary of the couple's first date) gave us a chance to see some of Susan's family that we haven't seen for years. Some of them grew up while we weren't looking. Susan's oldest nephew has gotten married since we last saw him. It's his second marriage and he acquired a couple of daughters in the match. This is a big deal for his mom and dad, because their sons have produced no girls up to now (of course they had four boys, so they can hardly complain).  Susan's youngest brother's kids are almost the same ages as ours (we just stopped two births sooner than they did). Their second son, who also lives in Portland, has two boys that we had never seen before. They are the spitting image of their father as a child and close enough in age that they are sometimes mistaken for twins. Their father and our daughter Christine were often mistaken for twins when they were younger.

Here are some sample photos from the trip. First, the bride and groom:

Our oldest nephew, his wife, his two boys and her two girls:

Second oldest with his wife and two boys (the boys are all decked out for the wedding):

The youngest nephew with his girl friend.

And finally, Susan's brother and sister-in-law:

Susan's oldest brother and his wife were also there:

 There was a lot of other family present, too. It was really great to see everyone, even for so short a time.

Oh yes, the roses. We must have some pictures of the roses. Here's a small sample:

You can see that they had some very unusual colors as well as some very unusual blossoms. I had never seen purple roses before.

Kristin and Bob's Wedding.

Our reason for going to the far northwest was to attend the wedding of some friends. It was a long trip, but it was certainly worth it. The wedding setting was perfect and all the activities surrounding it were great. The wedding was in an old church on the island. Here are some pictures of the building and its surroundings.

Shots of the wedding party. The bride.

The groom's family is of Irish descent, so they wore kilts.

The bride and groom.

There was even a bagpiper.

The reception was at the bed and breakfast where we stayed. It was a really nice outdoor setting and the weather was perfect. Here are some shots from the reception. ( I have some others that I'm saving for use later as blackmail.)

Mother and daughter.

Visit to Seattle

Posts have been pretty few and far between lately. We've been traveling a lot (not doing my golf game any good, that's for sure!). One of our trips was to Seattle and the San Juan Islands, mainly to attend the wedding of some of our friends from Chicago. We really hadn't spent much time in Seattle before and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We took a harbor tour and a guided tour of the city. We thought they would give us the most exposure given that we didn't have a lot of time to spend there. It was a good visit, but I don't think I could live in Seattle. The weather is just too depressing. Seattlites delight in telling visitors that it doesn't rain as much there as it does in, say, Chicago. Probably a surprise to most people. On the other hand, the sun only comes out about 5 days a year. Mt. Ranier is less than 100 miles from Seattle and is alleged to loom over the city. However, we never saw it while we were there.

Here are a couple of pictures of Seattle's skyline from different vantage points--one from our cruise and one from a hill overlooking the city.

The San Juan Islands were very pretty and the weather was much better. Their geography is such that on Lopez Island where we visited we were actually north of Victoria, British Columbia. 

Here's a shot from the ferry that took us out to Lopez Island. If you look closely you can see Mt. Baker.

Lopez Island was idyllic. It was larger and had a more varied topography than we expected. It was a very nice setting for the wedding--but more on that in my next post.

Grandaughter and Ginger

In an earlier blog, I published a picture of our Chicago granddaughter and Ginger. Ginger loves all our grandkids but her affection is really returned by our granddaughter here in Texas--probably because she lives with dogs all the time. Anyway, the two them play together all the time (see my daughter's blog for some examples-http://drsjulien.blogspot.com/).

Here's a picture of the two of them checking out the backyard for critters.

Far from the Tree?

Here are some striking pictures of my daughter and her daughter at similar ages. Would you be able to tell them apart?