Drought......AND Mosquitoes!!

It really seems like a sick joke? We are in the worst drought EVER....no exaggeration. Estimated 66 million trees will die...just in Houston. People's foundations are cracking.....crops gone, lakes dried up! We've seen the carnage already. Two weeks ago we had an entire day of rain. It felt like we could all breath for one day. Not enough to rescue anything but enough to say.....we've seen rain!! That one day of rain hatched the "flood water mosquitoes" that have been lying doormat in coastal dry tidal areas. They said it was just the right combination of the way the tide came in and the rains came that hatched the worst epidemic of mosquitoes here EVER!! One mosquito catch that normally catches about 200 mosquitoes/day...this week caught 15,000 mosquitoes in ONE DAY!!!!!!! It feels like a cruel cruel joke to have DROUGHT and MOSQUITOES!!!!!!!!!!! Say it isn't so!!

Anders is finally SIX!!!

A gaggle of kids.....had a good time playing in the backyard at Anders "airplane party" on Friday night. This is the group after the water balloons!!
Anders' good friend and special guest to his party...Col. Pat Forrester (astronaut)
Painting planes...
Anders has taken a keen interest in airplanes. He and Gunnar had an argument the other day while Gunnar was watching the Aggie football game. Anders said "let's watch this movie about the astronauts walking on the moon" It was a library rental.... Gunnar replied "this is still the first quarter Anders!" Anders said quickly..."but this is real Gunnar. Science is real life and that is fake" Gunnar responded with confidence.... "that is why you will be a scientist someday and I will be a professional Football player"

GIg 'em!

Lee...Tanyi (behind man in white hat), Joey & Chris. I took this picture across the field where Jill, Colette and I sat squished on a bleacher near the much smaller Baylor crowd and a very large Aggie student crowd.
Midnight Yell Practice....these bleachers were completely full just a few minutes later
Joey and Tanyi at the Aggie game Saturday...... Aggies vs. Baylor

Aaaahhhhhhh this is the crazy life! Jill called Thursday to say "what do you think if we come tomorrow morning" and off they flew....MSP to Houston and up they came with us to Bryan-College Station with the Whitlocks to an Aggie Game..... 87,000 fans....Aggie tradition and Lee giving us a play by play. So good to see family!!! and so much fun!!

Then......and now

I can with no hesitation say that it seems like last week we took Audra up to school for her very first day of kindergarten....that we left her, in what seemed like an enormous building with large children and hurried grown ups. She was precious then..... and
She is precious now. This was her 5th grade school picture day. I took her picture at home and could hardly wrap my mind around the fact that it's her last year in elementary. We're already experiencing life changing. The homework is by far more intense and girl drama is ramping up. But Audra is still Audra..... just a tiny taller (not much) and a little smarter:)