"The time has come," the Walrus said....

Yep, the time has come for us to fly to California for the joining in matrimony of our Annemarie and her beloved, Brett. The countdown at our time of departure is at 3 days, 10 hours....and the clock ticked ever forward to 7.10.10 ~ 1830 hours.



We made it! What a lovely welcoming mural.



Here is our humble cottage located behind the main house rented by Brett's family. Taylor, Annemarie, and Erika are sitting upstairs in the large bedroom. The downstairs had a small kitchen and living/eating area. There was a nice playground area for the children, but Erika and Aedin preferred climbing a tree.



Annemarie and Brett, the Waldorfs, Taylor, and we headed over to the beach area. When we pulled in the parking lot across from the ocean, lo and behold we saw an "Art Car". No it wasn't decorated up for the Art Car Parade held every year in Houston, but this guy was a genuine hippie as his vehicle attested. Couldn't resist giving a peace sign...or two.



Olsin decided to take a photograph with Mommy's camera. He looks ever so much the professional as he holds the camera still for a good shot. People set up all sorts of displays along the beach area. We came across a group of hip swaying individuals twirling hula hoops to their own boom box music. Olsin was the first to give it a try, soon followed by Annemarie and Brett.



We crossed the street and went out on Stearns Wharf, the number one visitor attraction in Santa Barbara. Built in 1872, Stearns Wharf is still built primarily of wood and has weathered wars, fires, and earthquakes. Not only are pedestrians allowed on it, but cars as well. There are several restaurants along the wooden structure jutting out into the ocean. Colin was fascinated by this displaced Brit who was probably trying to earn some money to get back home by balancing on a basketball as he threw and caught the sticks. Dylin got a birds-eye view on Uncle Brett's shoulders. At the end of the wharf, the big attraction was the 'put a quarter(s) in the slot to activate' binoculars to see a seal perched on a buoy a good distance away.



As we left, the sun was setting on a beautiful first day in the Golden State.

WooHoo for Independence Day

Went to the fireworks display at La Centerra this evening. The fireworks were spectacular, my photos aren't....Isn't it ironic that no matter how many fireworks displays one sees, the sight of the colors blasting in a darkened sky still elicits 'oooohs' and 'aaaahs' galore.

Rain, Rain, Everywhere

What generally is a 30 minute drive home after the play turned into 90+ minutes. You're asking, "Why?". Rain falling everywhere. Roads flooded, cars stranded, roads closed.



Can you believe this guy in front of us? All the law abiding Texans were attempting to merge into the already traffic laden left lane after seeing the police car blocking the entry to the Grand Parkway. But noooo, this guy from LA decided to pull a fast one and go around the police car to join the BMW in the swimming hole. Yeah, Beaudreaux, not a good idea. And, of course, TX's finest did not appreciate his sleight of foot on the accelerator, gave him the evil eye, and directed him back into traffic.

Now this wasn't our truck going through the water, but we also parted the waters in several places on the way home. However, this can't be recorded as a miracle.



Now, listen to the rhythm of the falling rain....

Cinderella

Aedin and Dylin attended a week long acting camp at the Fort Bend Theatre. It culminated in today's performance of "Cinderella".

I watched Aedin, Dylin, and Olsin on Wednesday while Erika went to shoot a commercial for the CBS affiliate KHOU. Her parting words were: "Make sure the girls practice their lines." Well, we did, over and over, with me reading all the other parts except Aedin's and Dylin's. I wasn't too sure we had done a good job.


They proved me wrong with their performances today. They are naturals. The first photo of Dylin was taken after she had sung in her first number. As she was exiting she waved to us in the audience but I wasn't prepared to take a photo.

Zippidee do da, Zippidee - Hey, what was that??

Aaaah, the tremendous bang of a tire bursting. I'm used to that; Marque had that problem for awhile. But...this is the YMCA bus. It's taking 12 of us AOAers (Active Older Adults) on a field trip. This is not supposed to happen!



L>R: Here's Jeni, our intrepid driver who deftly pulled the bus off to the inside of the interstate by the barrier separating East and West traffic. This is where we waited for the replacement bus to arrive. Does it look like we're having fun yet? The errant right rear tire that caused our delay; and the replacement bus that had no a/c and a horrible droning that lasted our entire trip and home again.











We made it. We're visiting the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Houston. The structure to the right of the church is the bell tower. We were treated to a melodious noon concert. The wood for the massive beautiful doors came from Brazil. The co-cathedral was dedicated 2 April 2008 by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston.



The altar is made from Ethiopian red marble. The wood behind Christ on the cross is American Linden covered with gold leaf. A hand-crafted Opus XIX organ with 5499 pipes was still being installed in the choir loft whilst we were there.



The many thousand pounds statues of Jesus and Mary appear to be floating in front of the backdrop. The supports are artfully concealed behind each statue.



After a short ride through town, we went to Treebeards at The Cloister of Christ Church Cathedral for lunch. We all tried different menu items, cafeteria style, and vowed to return again some time. Sandy, Carolyn, and Beth enjoyed some great Southern fare.

We returned to the Y grateful that we didn't have to drive downtown. Many more excursions are planned {Carolyn, Beth, Peggy (the cute little gal in the third row on the right in the bus photo),and I are on the AOA committee} on which we will continue to enjoy each others' fellowship. Looking forward to the next trip and hoping the Y gets the a/c fixed on the buses.

Hither and Yon

Just a trip to get out of the house...who knows why when we are leaving the air-conditioned comfort of home for the air-conditioned comfort of the car, but we just like to see new places. So today we decided to drive around in the 'cone tree' or as country as you can get in this part of Texas.

We headed towards Magnolia and Rose Hill, beautifully named towns. Taking the back roads affords us the opportunity to stray from the beaten path and explore at will. Such a difference in landscape from where we live which is converted rice paddies. There the areas were heavily treed. The houses built on large acreage were practically invisible from the street. (Just so you don't think I am losing my marbles, these houses are not the ones that were invisible...the others really were not visible therefore no photographs). We've already decided on a John Deere riding mower with an umbrella top to reflect the summer heat when mowing the estate. = ) The local deer can keep the trees trimmed to the same height as they chew on the leaves and the Roadrunners can keep the grasshopper population at bay.

The only downside to the trip was our choice of places to have lunch. The Magnolia Diner seemed to be the local gathering place aside from the fast food choices. We joined the masses. All I will say is that dining with flies and the occasional mosquito is only acceptable when on a picnic. We'll definitely try some place else next time.

Took back roads home as well and I was falling asleep ~ fortunately I was not behind the wheel. This hot weather makes one very lethargic. We won't be making any more of these spontaneous trips until the weather cools down again...cools down a lot!

WooHoo - It's Frenchy's Chicken for a late lunch

We hadn't heard of Frenchy's Chicken until reading the obituary of its founder in the Chronicle this month. This afternoon since we were already down in that area, I suggested we pop on over and get some of this "I've got to get me some" food.



We were in the MKX, so programmed in Frenchy's Chicken on the GPS. It actually directed us right to the spot albeit telling us it was on the right when it was on the left. As we passed it by, I noticed the cars were in two lines to go through the drive-thru and lined up into the street. Hmmm, that indicated to me that this must be one darn good eating establishment. The restaurant celebrated its 40th year in 2009 asking their patrons to join them in the celebration on 3 July from 6-9PM. Judging from the number of people there at 3 in the afternoon today, the place must have been overflowing.



We didn't join in the drive-thru lines as Sneed has always had a disinclination to do so. Instead, we went inside the small ordering area and joined the stand-in lines. The lines were all quite populated, mainly by the indigenous population of that part of town. The lines were moving quite slowly - I remarked to Sneed we might be there at dinner time. After being offered a place in a line which was almost empty, we got to order. As this was our first time, we only bought a 4 piece white meat box with red beans and rice, a biscuit, and as we found out when we got home, a lightly cooked jalapeno pepper which Sneed will be suffering from for the next few days.






Here's a satisfied customer. He'll tell you it was worth the wait and to borrow an advertising phrase from another chicken establishment, it was "finger lickin' good". We definitely will return...but only in daylight. = )