Way back in April

Way back in April I went to visit my sisters in Houston. I also got to see the rest of the Houston family while I was there. It was, as always, a good time to be had. I am including a few photos here and there are quite a few more, too. The link is below.

We had a barbecue at Randy's. The kids all had fun playing in the backyard. For some reason I didn't jump on the trampoline. The reason for that omission is unclear to me now.

More niece and nephew madness

Christy is studying the night away.

Jenny and I posing for your delight.

Here I am with Joe and Oliver

For more pictures, you can click here.

Randy and Jamie visit Georgia

Randy and Jamie and kids came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. The first night I came down, they had a picnic and a water balloon/gun fight. Since I was dressed in work clothes, I didn't join in for the festivities. It was fun to watch, though.

The next day it was decided that we would hike up Stone Mountain. Anyone who knows me well knows that this was not my suggestion. Hiking is my least favorite form of exercise, and I'm not a big exerciser. I didn't think we were going to do anything that active, either, so I didn't bring any shorts with me. I only whined a little bit, though, hiking up in my jeans.

There were some weird sights to be seen on the way up. People had engraved names and dates all over the mountain. It really looked like tombstones, but I think it was more of a "sweetheart" kind of thing. Some of the dates were from the 19th century, which was pretty cool. There were also a couple of gum trees. Of course, they weren't actually trees, but whatever.

This picture is from one of our many breaks on the way up.

I do have to say it was a pretty good feeling when we reached the top. A true feeling of accomplishment. Then, Skylar fell and hurt her knee and was really dreading having to go back down. Fortunately, as she walked she realized that the way down was a lot easier than she had expected. Unfortunately for me, my way down was much worse than I had expected. My joints have always been bad and the granite slope wasn't too good for my knees. It wasn't quite as bad as the lava cave, but almost. Supposedly walking on a regular basis builds up the cartilage in your knees. I could try that, but I'd rather just swear never to hike up another mountain made of stone.

More photos are here.

Fourth of July

Coming in a month late, my Fourth of July photos. I think I forgot to warn y'all that I am one of the worst photographers alive. Having a digital camera only helps me a little bit. I take a million pictures in the hope that my skill will improve, but so far no luck.

Anyway, for the Fourth, my brother Greg, his wife Rachelle, and their kids came to Georgia form Houston.

We sat on the sidewalk and watched a parade. People came and stood right in front of us, which would have been more annoying if the parade hadn't been so boring. It was mostly kids on bikes. Few of them even dressed up and a quite a few didn't have the least bit of decoration on their bikes. There were also politicians in cars. Exciting.

My mom and grandma brought their dogs. Here is Tom making a scary face at them. The dogs had fun up until the fireworks started, at which point they were scared out of their wits.

Greg's kids enjoyed making silly faces for the camera. It was really good to have a chance to spend more one on one time with the kids. I have mostly seen them in bigger family gatherings that can be total chaos. Yay for family!

If any of you are interested in a few more pictures of the gathering, you can find the pictures here.

Houston

So, I'm just ekeing (eking?) out these posts. This is about being in Houston over a month ago. After the family reunion, I stayed and hung out with my sisters for a few more days.

We celebrated Oliver's birthday.

It was a lot of fun, except that half the kids couldn't skate and that made it a little stressful. I was completely surprised that I still knew how to do the basic moves and didn't fall at all.

Christy got Oliver the cutest cake ever.

Jenny and I like to take random pictures of ourselves making faces. This one is angry, I think. I am an awesome actess.

We also watched "So You Think You Can Dance" and did our own fancy dances.

For more pictures of my Houston trip, you can click here.