JanMa's 60th Birthday Party!

Mom and Bill both had been asking me what I wanted to do for my 60th birthday party. Then one weekend I was visiting with the Jeremy and family, Jennifer asked me what I wanted to do for my 60th birthday. It struck me like a lightning bolt, a inspired vision - all I really wanted was to have all the grandkids present to celebrate with me, because they are what make my life so special right now. And what would the kids like? A bounce house! So that is what we did....

Taylor in the bounce house.
Taylor and John get an early start while Mimi watches from outside. Mimi's present to me was the rental of the bounce house, she may not have understood why I wanted it, but after spending the day watching the kids play and interact with each other, she now knows.
Claire, John and Jake jumped til their legs were probably ready to fall off!
At first, William isn't too sure about this bounce house thing!
Later, William gets the hang of hanging with the Robin kids.
Jake shows the way up the ladder, after much practice. See video below.

John, Jake and Claire make the climb up the slide ladder to the top of the slide.

William's first time in a bounce house, he did great!

Before long, most of the adults congragated inside the bounce house too! Bill, Jeff and Jaime got in the bounce house, as did nephew Blaine and fiancee Erin.

For lunch JanMa got to have her favorite foods, pizza and cupcakes! Jaime and Jeff made the cupcakes, and they were delicious. I had also invited cousins Allison and Travis, who came with their mom, the other Jamie. Later on, Ashley's friend Lorissa stopped by with her kids, Heidi and Brooks. By then I had left the picture taking to Ashley, so missed some of those photo ops.

Taylor sure enjoyed her cupcake!

Uncle Jason pushes various kids in the swings, others played in the sandbox.

Claire listens intently to Uncle Jason. Such wise eyes in a cherub face!

By mid-afternoon, the adults and even some of the kids were slowing down.
John is the first grandkid to master Hook 'Em Horns sign.
We tried to get some family pictures, Ashley was using her snazzy new Nikon for that, can't wait to see how they came out. Meanwhile, I managed to snag a few of the 4 grandkids.

Jason and his family and Diane and Richard all drove down from Dallas (not together) and I so appreciate them being there. Mom came all the way from Asheville and had to put up with me for a whole month waiting for this event! It was a terrific way to spend my 60th birthday, and I thank everyone who made it special! I will always remember this one!

Easter with the twins

Mom and I made a quick trip to visit the twins before Easter. We drove the Miata, picked up lunch at Chick-Fila, then sat on the back patio at Jeremy's house and watched the kids play.

They also got a few minutes in the Miata, they know about seatbelts!

On Easter Sunday, we joined Jennifer and her family at her Dad's house for burgers on the grill and an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Cousin Travis had a toy talking parrot, and Claire was quite taken with it.

In the video below, the parrot is snoring, asleep, and Claire is trying to wake it up!

Grady took the kids for a ride on the Kubota ATV. Jeremy, Jake and Claire sat on the seat,
and Jamie and cousins Travis and Allison sat on the top.
Jake was quite taken with the ATV. Jake seems to like all things mechanical.
Then the egg hunt was on!
Claire collected quite a few eggs.
After Jake cracked open the first egg and found it empty, he wasn't much interested in collecting any more eggs.
He was much more interested in his Easter basket, which had toy cars and a collection of chocolate! Jake has a sweet tooth.
Claire liked her basket too, it had lip glosses and some coloring books as well as chocolate. Great job to Carrie for her Easter basket selections!

Love springtime in Texas

Mom and I have been busy buying her new house, arranging for the move, looking at new furniture, getting homeowner's insurance and so on. But Bill and I did take a Friday to watch a B-17, B-24 and a little fighter plane, all WWII survivors, land at Conroe airport. These planes are all WWII vintage and part of the Collings Foundation Honor Flight Tour.

Tail gunner of B-24 with list of names written on the side.

This group tours local and large airports and for a price you can fly on one of these planes. We watched several guys who could have been WWII vets get off the planes when they landed. There was also a number of folks there to meet the planes, many of them wearing red "Freedom Isn't Free" t-shirts.
We talked to one lady (Montgomery resident) who was a survivor of labor camps in Berlin during the war who had finally made it to the US and is now a citizen. She was sharing her story of escaping from Lithuania ahead of the Russian forces to go to Germany, because the Russian troops were worse than the German troops. She was there to thank all the veterans, and gave out business cards that said "Thank You" on it.

Video of Honor Flight planes at Conroe airport.

Bill and I also got out one evening for a sunset flight over Lake Conroe. The sun went down and darkness came quickly, so Bill made the landing.

Video of landing

Mimi and I took time to have lunch with newphew/grandson Blaine and his fiancee, Erin. We took them to Vernon's Kuntry Catfish; they had never been there before.
Here are a few signs of the times. Filling Easter eggs for the grandkids to hunt.
Neighbor and his son, prepared for the Easter bunny.
Mimi and I out in the Miata enjoying the weather.
Now a few comments about living in Texas. Last week I put on a pair of white crop pants to wear out somewhere with the temps were hitting 80+ degrees.

Mom: You're not wearing white pants, are you?
Me, looking down at my legs: Yes, that is what I am wearing.
Mom: But it isn't Easter yet.

(side note: I was raised, or rather reared, cause cows are raised, to know better than to wear white pants, shoes or carry a white purse before Easter. )

Me: True, but here in Texas, especially close to the coast, we wear white as soon as the azaleas bloom or spring break, whichever comes first. You wouldn't take bluebonnet pictures of kids wearing dark colors, would you?
And I did see lots of bluebonnets on my drive to Round Top a few weeks ago, but I didn't get any pictures. The wildflowers are really pretty in some places.

Another thought about Texas summers, as the sweat rolls down my face from just a walk down the driveway to retrieve the trash can and mail. Humidity is good for your skin! It must be, I have lived nearly my entire life within a short drive to the Gulf coast and my skin is used to the humidity. My facial routine consists of some outdoor work to bring up a sweat, then a shower with a light scrubbing liquid Dove soap on my face, followed by towel drying and a few drops of cheap WalMart moisturizer. I just had a birthday and I think my skin is holding up pretty well. Remember this when the sweat rolls down your face this summer!