when grandpa came to town

i kind of lost the blogging bug. i think it began during my trip to utah last month and now that i'm so far behind, i really don't want to try and catch up. i just want to nap and be lazy, but because i don't think i could ever deprive you, my darling readers, of seeing pictures of and reading about my glamorous life.......

a couple of weeks ago, grant's dad came out with his family to visit. they stayed up in spring but luckily we were able to see a lot of them. our first outing together was to brazos bend. remember our visit last year? yeah, i don't know how i got suckered into this again. it started out fine. we got there too late for the nature center to be open but a park ranger pointed us towards a turtle (tortoise?) making its way back from wherever it had laid eggs:

behind us was this gorgeous tree covered in spanish moss:

so we took a group picture underneath it. i had never used the timer on our camera before and after several sprints back and forth, we got a good 'un:

left to right: larry holding austin, hazel, grant, moi, lucy and aliyah in the stroller, cami, and her sister, carlee

there were tons of butterflies around (which almost made up for the frights to come...but not really):

this one was by the nature center. we found more once we had driven over to the same trail we walked the last time:

in the white flowers beyond grandpa and hazel, there were dozens of butterflies darting around:

so pretty...and non-threatening...

then grant spotted some semi-threatening vultures and had to spend 10 minutes taking pictures:

it all went downhill from there:

"so happy to be here, endangering my kids..."

'gator numero uno:

dos:

at this point there was a small oasis of beauty found in the tall grass:

look at those sweet little chicks!

hazel was enchanted as well:

'gators 3 & 4:

this is just a picture of #3 who was on his way over to meet with #4......i didn't take any pictures....anyway, #2 came swimming up a couple of minutes later and there was some sort of territorial battle. #3 took off and #2 followed:

(just so it could be as confusing as possible, i labeled #2 as #1 and #3 as #2 in the pictures. sorry. #4 is somewhere in the tall grass beneath the birdhouse looking thing.) #3/#2 parked himself on the next bank and showed his length off:

as #2/#1 swam closer, the growling started and i nearly peed my pants. sure they were on the opposite bank, but they were growling! and they have nasty, big, pointy teeth. it didn't come to a knock-down-drag-out fight, just a lot of growling and finally:

that was the end of that. during all of the drama, i noticed this pretty bird:

it stood there unperturbed by the goings on and this is why:

it was hunting for its lunch. it was kind of crazy watching the bird take on the crab and its pincers. he just tossed it around:

until it had pulled the pincers off. then it was just a swallow away from fulfillment.

we moved on and found aligator #5 sunning itself (well, minus the sun as it was a cloudy day.):

on the other side of the trail there was more watery swamp:

and some very smart ducks:

we then came to a fork in the trail. hazel, austin and grandpa rested on a bench:

to the right is the nasty spider path. i refused to even look down it. instead i took a scenery picture:

i actually captured 'gators 6 & 7 in it. they are on the left, across the water, just to the left of that yellow grass. here's a closer view:

we started heading back to the cars and along the way hazel spotted a saltmarsh caterpillar, at least that's what i think it is:

hazel loved watching it:

eventually we moved on and practically stumbled upon the final aligator of the day:

#8 (who could have been #2 or #3) was on it's way out of the water when larry was walking by. luckily, rather than attack, it unhappily sank back into the water:

i skirted quickly by while everyone else just sauntered. and then probably the scariest part of the trip happened (yes, even scarier than the growling): it hissed. when you enter the park, you're given a map. on that map is a list of 'aligator ettiquette'. the last bullet on the list is, "if an alligator opens its mouth and hisses, you have come too close. retreat slowly; make no quick moves. keep your eyes on the alligator." yikes!

 probably because there were too many of us to eat, it didn't attack. i was mentally freaking out and thanking my lucky stars that lucy was still in the stroller. hazel was out of reach too:

once my heart had stopped hammering and we were past the aligators that we had seen, i let lucy out:

and she took advantage of her freedom:

she found dandelion clocks and made many wishes. most likely, "i wish mommy wouldn't keep me strapped in the stroller all of the time..."

ha! fat chance, lucy.

it's electrifying

on our way home from the beach yesterday (eat your hearts out, utahns) there was a huge lightning storm north of us. it lasted for ages and by the time i decided to get some on video, we had gotten off the freeway. hence the many trees.

{yesterday}

i did this:

before:

about to start:

and 34 minutes, 3 seconds later:

don't mind the sick look on my face. i thought for a minute i was going to lose the little breakfast i had eaten but luckily for that volunteer cutting off my timing chip, i didn't. and the rain was much appreciated. no, really, it felt good.

p.s. i'm grover.

{not} feeding ducks

as i mentioned briefly in my previous post, last wednesday evening the girls and i picked grant up from school and headed for hermann park. it was later than usual because his final paper had taken longer to finish causing him to start his long greek final late. it was a nice evening (other than a lone fire ant deciding my foot looked worthy of a chew) and the sunset made for some pretty pcitures. in my hurry to leave, i forgot to bring bread for the ducks. i had grabbed it initally but when i ran back inside to get water for the girls, i put the bread down on the table and that's where it stayed. oops.

first things first, i made the girls stand still:

cute, eh? after this picture hazel took off and lucy had a thoughtful moment:

then it was time for the kids to scare the parents:

mission accomplished.

hazel bolted around the pond to find the largest congregation of ducks.

and i had to explain again that i'd left the bread at home. she tried to get the ducks to come anyway:

it looked like it might work but then the ducks realized that they were in range for the flying bread and that it wasn't coming:

poor hazel. snubbed because of her mother. how often will this happen in her life, i wonder?

once hazel recovered her composure, we headed round to cross the bridge:

what are they looking at? these:

a mama turtle and baby turtle playing. precious.

and just after the sun completely set:

 hazel found a nice platform from which she declared, in the form of a song, that she is the leader:

don't mess with her.

it's all fun & games....

...until somebody gets burned. and that 'somebody' is usually me. by my own fault, i freely admit. it still hurts. i can hear my mom saying, in her exasperated tone, "you won't be told, ruth!" by the way, happy mother's day tomorrow. you're a fab mum and i love you to bits.

back to the burn, i mean fun:

wednesday was grant's final day of the semester!!!! he turned in his last paper, took his 3-hour greek exam, and his forgot his stress (for at least the next week. then german starts. hooray). the girls and i picked him up and we would have fed the ducks in herman park, had i not left the bread at home, instead we frolicked and played (i'll post about that later). thursday was the real treat. we finally made good on our promises to hazel about taking her to the beach. she was happy:

funny kid! lucy was excited too. both girls jumped right into beach appropriate activities:

grant tested out the water:

and then we convinced the girls to get in. first, ankle deep:

then knee:

they took it from there:

lucy went especially crazy:

she began jumping over the waves and ended up dunking herself in so many times we lost count. it didn't faze her, she would come up gasping and gagging, and then start laughing.

note the sopping wet hat:

it was a very windy day:

lucy started shivering and turning purple, but didn't want to get out of the water. finally grant convinced her to play in the sand:

she chased some birds around:

and then grant buried her:

hazel made a sand angel:

and grant buried her too:

hazel's dirty little piggies:

and lucy's:

then it was time to go. it was oodles of fun cleaning the girls off. and once we were heading home in the car, it was no surprise what happened next:

the snoring was really loud.

oh! the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me...part 1

day 1: 4.20.10:

12:20pm:

r sitting in car, nervously biting nails and mentally kicking herself for a) taking the time to make guacamole for lunch, and b) eating it. stomach churns...

g: stop biting your fingers, you're making me nervous. did you pack a phone charger?
r: sorry, i'm nervous. and yes, i did. don't ask me any more packing questions, ok? i'm trying not to freak out.
g pats r's leg, rolls eyes and starts heading towards the 610 loop.
r: you know our flight leaves from iah, right?
g: i thought it was hobby?
r: no, it's bush. sorry, i thought you knew! quick turn around. we're already late!
....
1:00pm:

g pulls into airport parking. girls are successfully leashed, lucy rebels by shrieking and going limp at the first hint of restraint.

....
1:05pm:

r stands in line waiting to check her suitcase. g tries to entertain the girls while they entertain the crowd with their theatric meltdowns.

....
1:20pm:

r's turn at the counter. check-in agent (who r suspects is the manager) makes small talk, gets confused about the kids each having a seat ["lucy's under 2?" "yes, but i purchased a seat for her to sit in her carseat." "you didn't have to do that..." "i know. i thought it would be easier on me..."] and struggles with the computer.

agent: ok....[click click].....um hummmm....[click click click]....alright, let's see....you're on the 4:30 to salt lake city, right?

r, in slightly panicked voice: uh, no. the 1:40?

a: ooooooh....hmmmm...........[click click click]........cough.....[clickity click].......well, let me try.......[clickclickclick].....well, it looks like you've missed the 30 minute luggage deadline.....[picks up and mutters into walkie-talkie]. i'm just trying to see if they've closed up the plane.....

r really starts shaking/panicking/sweating. overhead the airport intercom blares, "final call for boarding flight 1234. will ruth, hazel and lucy a------ come to gate a12, please. final call....."

r, very flustered: uh, that's me. they just called us to the gate....

a: [picks up phone and calls gate] yeah, hi...i have ruth here checking her bag. they won't be making that flight. thanks. [hangs up].......huh....well......[click click click]....ok, here's what we'll do...[furious clicking]....i'm putting you on the 4:30 flight....[click click click]...do you need three seats together?

r: yes, please. the kids are too young to sit by themselves...

a: no problem..................[click click click]......hmmmmm, well the only three seats together are in first class...[click click click]......you can have them with no extra charge...[click click].

r: wow. thanks.

....
2:00pm:

r has told everyone involved of the plane change, and she and g are waiting outside of the security check point trying to kill time and keep lucy from running over, and being run over by, travelers walking to and from the gates.

g: i think i'm getting sick.

r: it's probably from stress and lack of sleep. maybe you should go home. i'll be fine. [big lie]

g: no, i'll stay until it's time for you to go. [love him]
....

2:30pm:

girls have worked their way through most of the activites planned for the 3 hour flight:

....
3:30pm

the security line starts filling up. r gets anxious. g convinces her to wait a little bit longer.
....
3:50pm

r stands in the security line, pulling the carry on bag with lucy's carseat strapped to it and keeping hazel from sitting on the carry on bag belonging to the man in front of them. grant carries lucy until the last second then hands her tail/leash over. r barely has time to wave good-bye to him before the gauntlet begins...

....
3:55pm

r frantically stuffs her id and the itineraries in her purse. lucy stubbornly walks off in the opposite direction and wails when she's stopped short. already red-faced, r slips off her shoes, tells hazel to take hers off and reels lucy in to get her shoes.

woman in line: you've sure got your hands full. can i help you get your bags up?
r, flooding with relief: yes, please. thank you so much!

shoes, backpack/leashes removed: check. purse and carry on/carseat on conveyor belt: check. r sends hazel [smallest flight risk] first through the metal detector, then lucy, then........

security person at conveyor belt, shouts: whose bag is this?!

r looks over in horror to see that the carry on with the carseat strapped to it is too big to go through the x-ray machine. torn between hazel waiting and lucy wandering free, and the bag clogging the belt; r freezes. the head of security, a nice middle aged man, askes lucy to sit on a chair. amazingly, she does and hazel stands by her, so r is able to separate the carseat from the suitcase.

....
4:00pm

through the security, r tries to quickly put shoes and backpacks on the girls. conveyor belt gets clogged because r doesn't pull her bags off. the nice head of security man helps carry everything over to a mostly empty table (presumably used for individual searches). r continues to put shoes on and keep lucy from disappearing:

suddenly, beep! beep! beep! beep! beep! hazel has figured out how to turn on the search wand and is holding it against the metal table. r, wishing the ground would swallow her and put her out of her misery, frantically finds the switch to turn it off.

[same] woman in line: can we [gestures to her husband] help you with your kids? my daughter-in-law did this a few weeks ago with her three kids and i wish there had been someone to help her.

r, red-faced, sweaty and nearly in tears: yes,thanks!
her husband puts the carseat back on the carry on bag, she holds onto lucy's leash and keeps her content with conversation and r finishes tying hazel's shoes.
....
4:10pm

that unbelievably nice couple walks r to her gate, sees that she gets somewhere to sit and wait, and head for their gate. a few minutes later, r boards the plane. there's more confusion about lucy and the carseat:

flight attendant: how old is she?
r: 22 months.
f a: then she can sit in your lap and you'll have to check the carseat.
r: i purchased a separate ticket for her.
f a: oh. well, ok then.
....
4:25pm

r breathes a deep sigh of relief:

hazel is strapped into her roomy, first class seat and enjoying her sky magazine, pillow, bottled water and attention from the flight attendents:

lucy is strapped in and sits calmly as the plane starts to move:

and before the plane finishes taking off, she's out (no benadryl needed):

hazel enjoys a dum-dum:

and watches out the window as we "drive on top of the clouds":

before long, lucy wakes and demands entertainment:

finally, r looks out the window and sees this:

mountains! snow capped mountains!!

to be continued...