We have watched Paisley grow from a shy quiet little girl under her big brother’s arm at family gatherings, into a confident and very capable young high school freshman!  Her proud grandmother, Mrs. Garcia, will quickly tell you that she has never made a “B” in school.  This is in no small part due to Mrs. Garcia, by the way, and we all congratulate her as well.  Paisley gave an impressive “Student Reflection” speech to her graduating class, riddled with a dry sense of humor we have come to know and love.  Very few of her classmates were unscathed:)  She has been under the protective umbrella of this fine charter school, Ehrhart, since Pre-K.  I can just imagine the apprehension as they all leave for high school, but Paisley reminded them that their spark lives on wherever they go.  Her great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and Aunts Paige and Rita wouldn’t have missed this for the world.  It was more than worth the drive from Galveston to Beaumont through the monsoon.  Can’t wait to see the rest of the story…

Who doesn’t love the beach on Memorial Weekend? Evidently no one if you count the traffic headed down to the island this weekend.  For once we had perfect weather, gorgeous blue skies with winds high enough to blow away the mosquitos, surf big enough to hold up the heaviest surfer and plenty of people and pets for entertainment.  The “Shark Tank” famous Cousins Lobster Truck enticed us with Maine lobster rolls (glorified hot dog bun stuffed with lobster salad) for a mere $15.  Of course, the best part was the time with family, and I’ll bet everyone there would agree.  Brother Drew & Tera came down to enjoy some great food and even better company with Sis Paige.  We reminisced about beach time of years past on Bolivar when we had fewer wrinkles and more energy:)   Matt & Ika joined in for dinner and sunset at Waterman’s, taking a break from his studying for upcoming annual testing.  We discovered Galveston Farmers’ Market Sunday morning where Drew attempted to haggle the rancher down on his organic corn-fed brisket, with no luck.  As you can see below, he bought the brisket anyway:) We also wound up with a bag of organic squash, salad greens, lemon-lavender jelly, and a few pounds of jumbo shrimp.  This is what memories are made of, AND the weekend’s just getting started.

Every time I visit, it gets harder to come back.  The grandbabies are walking and talking; showing off their personalities in so many ways.  I do remember taking great delight in the boys as they reached the early childhood milestones, however girls are different and grandbabies even more different.  Tres would ask for “bites” when it was dinner time and Matt would call him “Tes” because he couldn’t pronounce his r’s.  Ivy and Hazel bring back some great memories.  They take great joy in torturing the family dog and cat, adding jewels to their necks.  As you can imagine, the pets just love it so much they run and hide under my legs whenever possible.  Laura, being the math and science teacher at heart, has provided them with a window-box bird feeder to watch from the dining table, a screen enclosure for the chrysallis to open for the emerging butterfly, and best of all their very own vegetable garden.  There is so much fun to be had in their backyard.  For their sixth anniversary I babysat while they developed a plan for an outdoor playhouse and headed for Lowe’s to gather the supplies.  They promise that the next time Mamou visits there will be more outdoor fun to share with the girls.  It’s the simple things!

Needless to say this “salt water soul” has a passion for aquariums, and this one was on the bucket list for sure.  It did not disappoint, even though the Saturday crowds made it difficult to get up close and personal with my favorite sea creatures.  I met folks from Russia, Israel, Mexico, China, Japan, and even Chicago (home of Shedds).  That made it even more special.  The belugas were happily entertaining us with a graceful ballet that made me believe they were happy there (although I’m not a huge fan of capturing whales in aquariums).  The main tank appeared to be at least four stories deep and we had viewing balconies at each level.  There were not one, but two whale sharks that seemed to get along with sawfish, blacktips, stingrays and just about every variety of offshore tropical fish perfectly.  Of course there was the dolphin show with no cameras allowed.  I can just tell you, don’t sit in the “spalsh zone”.  The kids around me were fascinated, so I feel a “grandbaby” trip will be required in the not too distant future.  I wonder if they take volunteers to feed the fish?  I don’t scuba but am willing to learn.  What a great job!

Daddy’s away so the girls did play!  We woke Ivy early every morning for her half-day of Montessori, a little break for Mom to spend some time with Hazel.  The good news about Austin is, as you can see, there are great playgrounds everywhere; so after school playtime was a no-brainer.  Seems like all the great family restaurants are next to a Big Toy:)   We girls played up an appetite, then ate ourselves full.  Great setup for naptime!  Little Mermaid is Mamou’s salvation.  When all other entertainment failed, we have the prequel, the sequel, and of course The Little Mermaid original DVD.  Then we had to shop till we dropped for Mermaid memorabilia.  Hazel slept in her new tail and Mamou went home to Diamond Beach looking forward to trying her’s out in the pool!  Well if I drown trying, I died happy.