...and a little Texas....

We took a little side trip over to Lake Jackson and Victoria, TX. We first stayed with Brian, Brenda, Madison, and Allie, and they were nice enough to take us to Surfside Beach for the day. Andy and Sam had TONS of fun in the waves. It was nice and warm, no rain, and no seaweed or jellyfish. We all had fun - it was a good day. And I was impressed at how much Surfside had recovered from the hurricane that went through there two years ago (a week after we sold our house down there). It was hit pretty hard, but it looks better than ever.

A parting beach shot of the kiddos before we went back to their house for the night: Allie, Sam, Andy, and Madison. :o)


The next morning we attended worship at St. Timothy's, our beloved church in Lake Jackson. Some were on vacation, but it was great to see so many of our friends. We stopped by Amanda and Joe's house. It was nice to visit with Amanda (Joe was working), AND to meet their cutie-pie little girl, Adah, who was born right after we moved. So this was our first face-to-face.


Andy and Sam had fun catching up with Josiah (on the left, who was in Andy's kindergarten class) and older brother Caleb.


We then headed to over to our old neighborhood, to Hantie and Johan's house. I think the boys changed into their swimsuits and were in the pool five minutes after we arrived. We all visited while watching the World Cup final (TV outside by the pool - nice setup, Johan!)


The boys swam until bedtime, woke up, ate breakfast, and swam again before we left for Victoria.

A couple hours of driving later, we arrived at Bill and Renee's doorstep for a short, but nice visit. Renee and I chatted while Bill and the boys played Candyland. When we lived in Victoria and would go over for a visit, Bill always played Candyland with them. They're looking good! See?

We then headed around the block to see Steve, Rhonda, Sarah, and 6-month-pregnant Kacie. (Stephen was... either in College Station or Houston working, can't remember.) We went to dinner at Veracruz (yay! and YUM!), then headed out to Rhonda and Steve's new-to-them house on Coleto Creek. It was dark when we got there, but we explored the next day.

Here's a view of their property from the back.

And a view of the creek from their bank.


A couple cicada shells stuck to the tree. I miss the sound of cicadas.


A dead cicada that Andy was inspecting.

After we went to town and ran some errands, we came back and Steve was back from work. He took the boys and Sarah on the little boat, that came with the property, out for its maiden voyage.

I got a ride on the boat, too.


And THEN the boys got to do a little fishing. Sarah had to bait the hooks; Andy and Sam squeeled and would have none of putting worms on a hook themselves.


The skeeters were getting bad as the sun set, so we packed it in and headed to the house. Kacie and Rhonda had been cooking up some AWESOME crawfish etoufee while we were out playing.


I think we tuckered them out.