FALL TEXAS TRIP: Day 6

When we arrived this morning at Jesse and Di's, Jesse was out watering his "barometer bushes" (technically known as "leucophyllum). They had been in pretty bad shape when they moved into their new place a few weeks ago, but Jesse has been giving them lots of water and ... look ... they are beginning to bloom with this tiny lavendar flower ...

Aren't they beautiful?

There is a card table on their back patio area, so this morning I got out the foam stickers and contruction paper and we shared them with Gabriel and his sister, Theresa. The kids made beautiful pictures ... as always!

It was nice to be able to combine the beautiful weather outside with an art project at the same time!

We went inside to eat a yummy casserole for lunch that Diana cooked up for us, and then we drove across the base over to Biggs to enjoy the splash pad over there for a little while this afternoon.

This is Emma underneath the mushroom fountain. She doesn't usually like to have water pouring down on top of her head, so she felt quite accomplished that she was able to run through the "shower" part and into the safety of the mushroom.

Matthew had a great time in and out of the water ...

I'll just run a few more pictures here for you to see ...

Can you see Christopher and Matthew?

The splash pad isn't a big area, but the children really had a lot of fun there today.

Emma was a little bit tired of having her picture taken, so she kind of eluded our cameras today. That's OK. It can be rather annoying to always have a camera pointed in your direction, and I wouldn't like it one bit myself!

For dinner this evening we went with Jesse, Di and the kiddos over to their friends' house ~ Heidi and Matthew's. They were celebrating Matthew's birthday, and since his heritage is Cuban, the food was too. It was very delicious. This little baby is their youngest (until the new baby is born in January) ... her name is Makayla and she naturally LOVED Grandpa Jones. He was thrilled (of course).

On our way back to the hotel tonight, somewhere between 6:30 and 7:00, it was STILL 100 degrees. I think the heat is taking its toll on us ... we are quite weary! This is not a humid kind of heat, but it is still draining. Well, the children return to school tomorrow. Grandpa Jones and I are going to do a little shopping tomorrow morning and then we'll be ready to play with the kids after their school day has ended. My goal tomorrow, though, is to take a few pictures of Jesse and Diana ... together!