Back in town

Arrived home yesterday to the glorious dull autumn weather in Auckland…after another busy warm Texas weekend of family and Friends.

A fun Friday evening by the pool catching up with some of Russell’s classmates .

Swimming lessons for the adverse water challenged puppy, Koa, who was determined to get no more than his feet wet! Until Al carried him deeper for a moment until he could escape and give Chuck an unwanted shower!

We all wandered to the lakeside, where we were sure we could hear the Alligators calling each other…and sure enough about 2 meters from the edge this guy was wallowing in the weed…

Just staring at us! Close enough! There is some debate as to whether the honking sounds we heard were alligators or bullfrogs…but the alligators are there for sure…

Saturday was another trip into Houston to see George and Jess before their flight home meeting at Pappasito’s (another Mexican establishment) for a late lunch, this time a wise call where Jess and I shared a plate as the meals are so huge…

And so are the Margarita’s! A two hand job for Kelly as they met us on their way back from baseball!

Then it was the drive back on the freeway with a naked man running erratically across the five lanes and everyone slamming on the brakes…we avoided a wreck but who knows how long that continued…it wasn’t pretty!

Sunday morning was church, and saying goodbye to my new friends, followed by a shrimp boil for lunch with Jai Leigh and Al before they headed back to Austin.

I then jumped on my suitcases and closed them for the journey home and visited with Travis ( their son) Ashleigh and the kids before that last haul back into Houston to catch my plane….hopefully Tona and Chuck will have a break from the Houston-lake Jackson drive for a bit…

I lucked out on the flight, booking a window seat (of only two) and the second one was empty!!! So it was armrests up, legs up and a 10 hour sleep after 10pm take off…only having 4 hours of reading and breakfast to endure before landing on home soil!

A bit of yard maintenance is in store for me when the rain stops…as the storms over here, while I have been away, have not only taken down fences, they have drowned the last of the summer veges and flowers and it’s time to clear them out and lock them down for the winter!