May 17-20 Keeping the Girls

Thursday morning I left early and headed to Kingwood to take the girls to school. Kristi went to the lake Wednesday morning to try and get a couple of days to relax. Mike Z had an early flight for a business trip. They are still not able to stay inn their house due to the staining and painting  so they are still at a friends house for now. I got all the kids delivered to school and then I went to Home Depot and got a few things I needed. I went back to the Isoms house and just hung out and did a little reading. They have an eight year old Mastiff and he followed me around everywhere to keep me company. I was supposed to stay until The girls got out of school Friday but things came up and Kristi came back so I headed back home. Friday morning was not great as my Kidney stone was giving me a little issues. Friday evening I met Kristi in Dayton and got Ashley and Sammi for the weekend. Mackenna had a dance that night so she was staying with friends for the weekend. Kristi and Mike Z were headed to the lake. Saturday we went to the movies and then took Ashley to Walgreens to get her passport picture as she needs to get her old one renewed. That evening Ashley did some sewing with Susan and Sammi even made a bag to hold her softballs. Everyone slept late Sunday morning.Susan left early to go to a week long quilt retreat. Later I carried the girls back to Kingwood.

Hooch

Ashley   Sammi

Mackenna

Sammi got up early but her and Maggie went back to sleep

At the movies

May 12 13 Mother Days Weekend

After such a cool spring , the real Texas weather has showed up in May. We are starting to need a little rain but things are still really green. I mowed the yard even though it really didn't need it. Friday night Mackenna received the "Student Athlete of the Year" award at Riverwood Jr High. She will start High School next year , she has grown up too fast. Kyle Kristen and the boys came down on Saturday. Peyton and Luke hit the ground running. They played with toys inside and trucks outside and rode their John Deere Tractors. I  put some chickens on the smoker for supper. Kyle put new brakes on the rear of my truck. We went and got Mom to bring her out for the evening. When it got dusky I took the boys riding on the Ranger. They played right up till time to got to bed. Sunday morning they got up very early and were recharged. After breakfast we headed to Kingwood and they headed to Rhonda"s. We went to Ashley"s Confirmation at Kingwood United Methodist. They had 58 young people getting confirmed and it was a nice service. After church we stayed over there and hung out. Mike Kristi and kids haven't been able to stay in there house for the last 3 weeks and have been staying with friends. We went by their house to see he progress. They have been staining all the wood inside and the fumes are rough. Things are moving along, all be it slowly. That evening Mike Z took us all out to eat. His Mom met us there and so did Adam and Andrea. We had a really great evening.

April 20-23 2018 Taylor Gathering

Since its almost impossible to get a date where everyone can get together at Christmas , we finally arrived at one on April 21. Kevin couldn't make it as he was working out of state. Mike Z and Sammi missed also as Sammie had a softball tournament.  We went up Friday and I came home Monday, Susan stayed as she has another quilt retreat all week. We were very lucky  as the bad weather held off on Saturday.  We all had a good time and the kids had a blast. Somehow we managed not to have any one fall into the water. If we could have had warm weather the kids would have had even more fun playing in the water. No doubt this has been a cool April.

March 29-April1, 2018 Easter Weekend

We went to Kristis/Mike lake house for Easter. Actually Susan was already up there because she had a quilt retreat all week there. I left on Thursday and went up.. I got a late start due to the storms the previous night. Our electricity went out about 4:00 am and didn"t get restored untill till 2:00 pm. I had planned on getting a lot of things done early but that didn't happen. I hooked my little generator up so I could make coffee, run the fridge and watch tv. I didn't want to leave until power came back on for sure because of freezers. Susan called and said the river had really come up overnight and the water was barely over the road on the causeway. All the rain upstream had put the Trinity river in flood stage. It had pretty much crested by the time I got to the lake house that evening. The weather had turned gorgeous .  There was not a lot of yard for the kids to play but they still had a good time. With the high water there was no boating swimming nor jet skiing going on. There were a lots of folks there for the weekend .All the kids had fun dying eggs and playing games.

The water is way over the boat dock

Sunrise

Moon rising

Susan and Susan

Early morning relaxation

March 14-19. Ratcliff Lake with Peyton & Luke

We left Wednesday morning around 9:am. it was a  easy drive and we arrived about 11:30. After driving to our site there was someone still there but  were packing up. We went to a parking lot and  had a little lunch. I took Maggie for a short walk by the lake. We then headed back and set up. With it being spring break it looks like it will be lots of campers.  We had a nice quiet evening.
Thursday morning I left early to pick up the boys.. On the way back Susan called and she said she fell on the stairs but was ok. It looks like now we both are crippled this week as my back is hurting. Peyton and Luke were excited to get there. They played hard all day.  Our neighbors were from College Station and their 13 year old daughter Callie came over and visited. Friday and Saturday were repeats. Peyton and Luke would start playing outside at day break , take a nap about 1 and play till supper time.  They are really easy to keep as they entertain themselves, all they need is a couple of trucks and shovels. They rode their John Deere tractors till the batteries ran down every day. We never went swimming as the water was still a little cold. Saturday night we got a wild thunderstorm so Sunday morning it was too wet to go outside. Kyle and Kristin were coming to spend the day but since the weather was bad so I met them half way with the boys. It sure was quiet Sunday night. Monday morning we headed home.

Waiting for our site to open

Water still a little cold

Our campsite

Maggie getting a little sun

Doing some handwork

chilling by the fire