Let It Rain!

It had been such a long time since Houston had had rain, so Ainsley seemed excited and wanted to go outside after it stopped. She loved holding my umbrella and pretending it was still raining.

Thank Heavens For Little Girls...like Ainsley!

My July visit to Houston was a wonderful one. It's always so much fun to see how much Ainsley has changed and grown since the last time I saw her, which in this case, had just been one month. On Saturday, we went to lunch at a favorite Houston restaurant, Backstreet Cafe. It was a little on the "swanky" side, so Carolyn, Colleen, and I talked about how Ainsley would have to behave like a "big girl," in order to go with us. She decided she wanted to wear her hair in a French braid down the back of her head! If you have ever tried to put her hair into any kind of style, you will know how difficult this was for her mommy. Her hair is very long now, but still very fine and her many interesting cowlicks make it super challenging to try to fix! After a couple of tries, the mission was accomplished! Check out Ainsley's sitting position!

Voila!! The finished product! A French-braided ponytail!!! Colleen has hidden talents which emerge from time to time! Carolyn said she used to French-braid her own hair when she was younger! So, off we went to The Backstreet Cafe...

Now, remember, Ainsley, only big girls get to come to places like this. Are you going to behave like a big girl? Yes, m'am!!

The menu was a little over-whelming!

Ainsley ordered blueberry pancakes with apples and she loved dipping the bacon in the pancake syrup, just to make it extra-yummy. She did a great job of eating like a big girl and using her best manners!

Like most girls, she loves flowers.

Later, in the evening, her mom and dad went out to dinner with friends, and she wanted to go to her favorite restaurant, Chick-Fil-A. She ate well and headed for the indoor playground! Forget acting like a "big girl!" The little three-year-old girl romped and played with complete abandon!

                                                           

I wish I lived across the street so I could see her every day. She's changing by the week. She loves reading and she talks like a ten-year-old instead of a three-year-old. When we were driving to the restaurant, she was sitting in the back seat of the car looking out the window, and she said, "There is a car similar to my daddy's car." She can count to twenty in Spanish and ten in French! She knows all her colors in Spanish too! Recently, she asked her mother what day of the week it was and Colleen said, "Wednesday." Ainsley thought a minute and said, "Oh NO! It's MAID-PREPARATION NIGHT!!! I HAVE TO CLEAN UP MY ROOM!" The maid comes on Thursdays. She's a delightful little granddaughter, and I am so lucky! Thank heaven for little girls!

Thank Heavens For Little Girls...Like Macy

Having my grandchildren one at a time is always a special treat. One day this summer, I was lucky enough to have Macy, all alone---all alone WITH Hannah Grace, her favorite doll since she was about two years old. We had planned to go see a movie, but we had a couple of hours before it started and I asked her what she wanted to do. She said, "Go to the blue doll house!!" This is a store in San Antonio which only sells dolls, doll clothes, doll furniture, and doll houses. It is a little girl's (and a grandmother's) DREAM-COME-TRUE! We went last year, and she loved it, so off we went, a year later!

Recently, I got down my box of Madame Alexander dolls from when I was a little girl, and let Macy begin playing with them. She was gravitated to these dolls as soon as we walked into the store. I only have two of these little dolls, so seeing so many was pretty exciting! You can see by the look on her face how happy she was. Hannah Grace, too!

Pointing to some favorite ones.

Macy has always loved baby dolls. She says when she grows up, she wants to work in the nursery at church, as her full-time job! When we walked upstairs, this is what she saw!!! This was a very happy little girl, for sure!!!

We looked at these dolls for a long time, and she finally zeroed in on this one, with coloring just like hers!

Of course, she loved this round baby bed, and said she'd LOVE to have one for her bedroom. Her bedroom is so full of dolls and stuffed animals now, there is almost NO room for her own bed! But a girl sure can dream!

Macy said Hannah Grace wants more brothers and sisters!

Macy could have spent many hours in this store. There was so much to see, it was almost over-whelming!

She said for Christmas, she only wants gift cards to this store!

I think she was dreaming about taking all of these dolls home with her!

Our time, however, eventually had to come to an end, and we headed over to E-Z's for lunch and then to our movie! The "blue doll house" is a wonderful place for little girls as well as BIG girls, too! Macy and I will continue the tradition of visiting this special store and dreaming about the beautiful dolls. I imagine Santa will bring her some gift cards and next year when we visit, there will be one less doll in the store. I can't wait to see which one she'll pick out!

Mt. Rainier, Washington

Mt. Rainier can be seen from all around the Seattle area (when it's clear) and stands over 14,000 feet high. The day before we left Gig Harbor (see post below), we took a day trip to visit it. It was a beautiful, two-and a half hour drive from where we were staying.

I love the way the trees made a V as we drove closer to the mountain through the Mt. Rainier National Park.

This forest was as pretty as any I have ever seen in Colorado and Canada.

The park newspaper asks that people not walk in the natural areas of the forest, but stay on the trails only. There is much vegetation and a short growing season here.

Some of the trees here were huge---this picture as we were moving, doesn't do them justice, but the literature we got says they rival some of the giant sequoias in California.

This picture gives you a good idea of just how large these trees are.

A great picture that illustrates "from death to re-birth." Forests are amazing!

There is even life on rocks up here!

Beautiful little trillium growing on the forest floor. It obviously doesn't need much sun!

We were no where near the top of the mountain, but this was as far as we could go by car. This was at the Visitors Center at Paradise. They had had over two-hundred inches of snow last winter, and in June, it was still this deep on the side of the road!

You can see the people hiking into the trails from the visitor center. Most of them had on snow-shoes, but we saw one lady in a long dress wearing flip-flops! The temperature was in the high 40's.

A few years ago, Larry really wanted to try to climb this mountain, and Sally sent him a lot of information about it. Now, it's easy to see that this is not a mountain for amateurs. Even in the summer months, hikers have to wear special clothing and have all the right equipment and extensive training. Maybe snowball fighting is the better sport for Larry now!



Trip to Gig Harbor (Seattle) Washington

Land in Seattle, head over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge...wow!

And you end up in Gig Harbor, Washington, a beautiful little harbor town just southwest of Seattle, between Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean! It was founded in the late 1800's by some men in a "gig" who sought refuge during a bad storm in this little harbor. Hence, the name, Gig Harbor."



During dinner at a beautiful little restaurant on the harbor, the sailboats came out! Temps were in the high 60's!

Looking across the harbor from our restaurant, were some beautiful homes.

Several men also paddled on boards with the sailboats.

My delicious scampi caesar salad at The Green Turtle Restaurant.

 

Some of the beautiful lupines growing in Larry's daughter's yard in Fox Island, just off Gig Harbor.

A safe "harbor" for the birds.

Larry, with two of his sons-in-law, John Goforth on the left, from San Antonio, and Bob England, Sally's husband.

There's just something about a front door with a pretty floral wreath on it. This is Sally's door.

Some of the gorgeous fushia growing in the area.

Lillies

 

Beautiful rhododendron in every color, in full bloom!

Rhododendron up close.

Impatiens

We had a wonderful lunch at The Tides Tavern on the harbor. Fish and chips for Larry, clam chowder for me!

A large painting in the restaurant, looking at it from the harbor.

The whirly-gig at The Tides, which was whirling around like crazy, proving the wind to be a little too much to eat outdoors on the deck, like some people did.

The view from the table at lunch.

Some people travel to the restaurant by boat.

This is a view of The Peoples' Dock at Gig Harbor, where all the action was when it was first founded.

The little Gig Harbor Lighthouse, which was built in the 1980's to help boats find the harbor from Puget Sound. We can't wait for another trip to Gig Harbor and Fox Island! What a beautiful spot in our country!