Wings Over Houston

(Still updating)

Even though we can see the planes flying overhead, we decided that we just couldn't miss this year's Wings Over Houston airshow with the Blue Angels! The Blue Angels haven't flown in a Houston airshow since before 2001. Both girls love the airshow, they've been two or three times since we moved here. One of my favorite memories of Brenna is she was about 14 mos old holding onto those big ear protectors, big eyes and pointing at the planes. Cameron still hates the roar of the jet engines, but likes viewing the static displays.

We started with the most common aircraft seen over our house, not a commercial 737, but the NASA trainer T-38. You can see these planes flying overhead daily.

We walked around looking at various aircraft both on the ground and overhead. The P-38 from this years Heritage Flight is Glacier Gal, rescued in 1992 from the ice cap in Greenland where it crashed fifty years before.

We stood in line to tour the C-130 used by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, more commonly called the "Hurricane Hunters." Wouldn't you know that the Tora Tora Tora WWII bombing demonstration started (and ended) while we were inside the plane. Brenna and I darted outside twice to get a look at the Mustangs and the pryotechnics.

This particular plane flew into Hurricane Katrina. They had a list of all the storms they've flown printed inside by the weather station.

Brenna bought a small metal airplane toy with her own money and could be found during various parts of the show mimicking some of the aerial maneuvers.

The Blue Angels were amazing. I would say this was the first time we saw them fly, except we saw them from the highway the previous weekend when we were in Ft. Worth!

After the Blue Angels flew, we figured we could sit in the parking lot trying to get out for an hour, or we could walk around for another hour. We were able to see the Blue Angels land and the pilots come over to the fence line to sign autographs.

The pilots stayed in one place and let the people crush each other trying to get an autograph. We only did a few, because it was a bit crazy. I wonder if the pilots think the hardest part of the job is signing autographs and meeting people. They were such professionals. Over and over guests said Thank You, and many had stories to tell them "My dad was a pilot for such and such unit..." If the guest was a veteran, the pilot always made it a point to tell them Thank you for your service.

We were pretty tired at the end of the day, but really happy. The United States has one amazing and impressive cadre of airmen/women and aircraft!

Quick trip

The first weekend after our week of sickies (Feb 10) we decided that it was too beautiful of a day to stay cooped up in the house. We had originally planned to go to the Sabine River that weekend, but Brenna and I were still not well; in fact I found out at Monday's Dr. appt that I was harboring a nasty sinus infection.

We spent an hour at the San Jacinto Monument and Museum. It's very close, but Brenna has never been and Cameron was too young the last time to remember it. First we went through the museum. We chose to use our limited time to go for a hike on one of the marshlands boardwalk trails instead of taking the elevator to the top. We wanted to spend as much time outside as possible.

While on the hike we saw many birds, including a roseate spoonbill, egrets, herons, and many red-winged blackbirds, who were very vocal this evening. But the best was when Brenna and I saw an alligator! Bryan and Cameron had walked ahead and they didn't see it. Brenna, who was frightened, ran to catch up with Daddy, who promptly made her turn around and show him where she saw it. Disappointingly for him, the alligator had already turned the corner into another area.

This was the view we had of the monument as we returned. At 570 feet, the San Jacinto monument is the world's tallest memorial column. (Oh yeah, it towers a whole 15 feet above the Washington Monument.)

The girls at the base of the monument. If you're not familiar with the Battle of San Jacinto, take a moment and read about it at their website. In this photo, the reflection pool is behind the girls, with the six flags that flew over Texas, and though you can't see it, the Battleship Texas is a little farther back - at the sight of the Texian Army camp.

Memorial Day at SBR

I haven't blogged anything about our last visit to Silver Belle Ranch, and we had such a great time. I'm having a hard time selecting from the 150+ photos we took during this weekend stay. But here are a few highlights. This weekend marked our 8th year at SBR.

"A young girl, two hands on the wheel

I can't replace the way it, made me feel

And he'd say, turn it left now, and steer it right

Straighten up girl now, you're doin' just fine...

When Daddy let me drive" - Alan Jackson

I carried this picture with me during my Society of Southwest Archivists meeting in Oklahoma City. I couldn't believe how much both girls have grown in the last year.

Each day at SBR, Dad and the boys smoked meat. Ribs and chicken one night and brisket the second. Yum. But Sunday, for some reason, they pulled the pick-up into the yard and we all sat or stood around it eating smoked/grilled stuffed jalepenos wrapped in bacon.

And drinking. Did I mention the drinking? It was a lovely, relaxing, lazy, afternoon.

I'll leave it tonight with this photo of the kids and the calves. Dad sold all of the older calves this past weekend, so several of the ones in this photo are no longer at SBR.

I think we can take 'em.

One great Sunday

Sunday after church, we took the girls to the Musuem of Fine Arts, Houston to see the exhibit "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800-1920". As I remember it, the Metropolitan Museum is undergoing some renovation and so they sent 135 pieces to go on display in Houston. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see these paintings outside of New York. I've been asked WHY did we take the girls; I suppose most people would go themselves alone or with their spouse, but we wanted them to see these paintings. For the most part they were very good and surprisingly, each had their "favorite".

Brenna loved Degas' dancers, including this one "The Dancing Class" from 1871.

Cameron decided her favorite was the "Young Woman Drawing" by Marie-Denise Villers, 1802.

Bryan had a hard time deciding on one particular favorite; there were so many "-isms" of art on display, but I know he enjoyed this one by Maximilien Luce, titled "Morning, Interior" from 1890.

As for me? I love Monet, and was astounded by the color and light in Edourd Manet's Boating. But when I stood before Van Gogh's 1889 "Cypresses" - I knew I had found my favorite. This photo from the Metmuseum.org website doesn't truly represent the art. There are so many minute details and colors that cannot be picked up in a photograph.

After a few hours in the museum, everyone was ready for a picnic lunch at Hermann Park a few blocks away. We love Hermann Park, though we haven't been there as often since Bryan left his job at HMNS.

We created our own piece of photographic "art" - a collage of our faces.

And we had such a great time letting the girls run up and down the hill in front of Miller Outdoor Theater - I can bring it to you via YouTube.