What’s happening this Spring

We are so happy that winter is finally over and spring has decided to visit!  Our trees are in bloom, we have  had three sets of visitors, so far and many “critters” we haven’t had  in the past three years.   Cyndi and the boys came for their Spring break, Bob and his family stopped by for a short visit (sorry, no pictures) and Pepa came to visit. 

 

Nathan “teaching” Pepa to play Sorry.

 

 

 

 

We had a nice visit at Shelly’s and Pepa got to meet Joy and Bella.

  On the bridge feeding the fish.  Pepa, Glenn, Nathan and Mandy. 

We also have had many “critters” that we have not had before and no, I am not that fast with a camera.  We have been woken up several times lately with the dogs going nuts and encircling the house.  We believe it is coyotes trying to get to the chickens.  We have seen three, so far.  We have also been “skunked” twice by visiting skunks and we have also seen possums and a covey of quail.  We also have the usual raccoons and many, many beautiful birds.  We do have a rather strange female cardinal.  She keeps flying to the Magnolia tree outside our bedroom window and flying into the window.  She will kind of shake her head and then try again.  Strange cardinal.  We have our usual barn swallows nests and they are full of birdlings.  We also have blue buntings that have made nests in our bird houses.  Here are a few spring pictures and one of Mandy climbing our Magnolia tree the day before her surgery

.   a bush by our garage.       The view from our front porch.

 

 

 

Mandy in our Magnolia tree

Thoughts while in the waiting room

Yesterday Mandy and I went to Texas Children's Hospital for a Pre-op surgery visit.  Never mind that she had seen the surgeon less than two weeks before anyway we had to be at the Medical center at 8:30 on Monday and 9:30 on Tuesday.  Monday we left the house at 6:30 am to get to said hospital.  We arrived one hour and 40 minutes later.  Tuesday we left at 7:30 to get to said hospital at 9:30.  It took me one hour and 40 minutes.  Interesting - I would have thought it would take me longer as it takes one hour and 30 minutes to get there normally.

Yesterday we were sitting in the waiting room/pre-op room to fill out yet more papers and to weight and measure Mandy two more times.  Guess what? she weighed more in the doctors office by one pound but was 1 1/2" taller in the pre-op room.  Strange.  As we waited for the second person to also weigh, measure and take her blood pressure a family came in carrying a little girl.  I think it was a little girl, she was bald and wearing hospital issued pajamas.  The whole family, Mom and Day, Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts.  I don't all but they were clearly there to support her and probably her parents.  She was getting ready to have an operation.  My guess is that she had cancer.  I then stopped thinking bad thoughts about nurses and waiting and started saying my thank you's for all we are blessed with.

Mandy had her surgery today.  We are home and everything is going well.  She will rest several days and then should be up and around.

Dinosaurs, dinosaurs everywhere!

Cyndi and the boys were here last week for Spring Break.  On Monday we went to the Museum of Natural Science in Sugarland.  We had a great time.

 

Jacob giving Michael a love.Digging out the dinosaurs.  Jacob and Mandy having lots of fun.

  Andrew jumping for joy on top of the dinosaur.

 

 

 

 

Nathan needs lots of equipment!

 

Michael enjoyed the trucks and scoopers.

Uncovering the back-bone.

 

 

 

Cyndi even got in  on the action!Almost there.   Together we will overcome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dig pit was the greatest.  How cool to find bones!

Can you imagine having these two dinosaurs chasing you?  We next went to the see the gems, petrified wood and the coolest fluorescents. 

 

This was a large piece of petrified wood.  It honestly looked like stone.

I have never seen amethyst like these.  I am not sure what the green stone around the amethysts are but the amethysts were remarkable.   The rock below was such a beautiful aquamarine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  This was showing the eye of a storm being unmoving.  I liked the picture because of Andrew’s reflection in the rock face. 

In the section with the fluorescents the colors were spectacular but when I tried to take a picture with a flash the rocks were unremarkable.  Nathan suggested I try it without the flash and here it is in all of the color.  It was a wonderful exhibit and showed the limit of the human eye.           Next we went to the terrariums and saw some really strange looking frogs.  Here is the African Bullfrog:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at the sharks we found in the gift shop!  SCARY  Here we are watching the video about walking with the dinosaurs. 

 

On the way back, just a cute picture of our Michael.  We had a great visit and lots of fun!