Harvey Relief

Remember Harvey? About 80 people died. It caused a couple of hundred billion dollars worth of damage to the Texas coast. H for Harvey comes one before I for Irma and five before M for Maria. Evan's cub scouts, as their first activity of the year, organized a drive pack and send bags with tooth brushes, paste, deodorant, shampoo, lotion and hand towels to shelters in Houston and the Beaumont/Orange/Port Arthur area.

  

Settling In

Vivian is settling into her new school remarkably well - academically, socially, and in the volleyball team - though she's apparently not setting the bar too high for herself. Occasionally she's happy to sneak back into the comfort of her old Magellan friends.

The other day we got her report card. That's the first ever report card for either kid in combined 9 years of k-12 education. It was interesting. Evan wants a report card now.

Evan's Art from 1st Grade

We finally caught up with Evan's art portfolio from 1st grade well after the end of his summer vacation. Here's a sample.

The Solar Eclipse

We went to Dawson, Nebraska for the 2017 total solar eclipse on August 21st. Jo and Nicolle's house was smack in the middle of totality. Joe and Miki went up there a few days ahead and set up an amazing array of telescopes and cameras and computer monitors. We would be those people that snagged the amazing photo of the solar flare during totality. But it was cloudy.

So I took photos of people looking up at the sky.

A Brief Stop in Austin

Finally back in Austin for the last two weeks of the summer break, we did vacation things. Art camps, sailing, swimming with friends.

And It's Over

Finally - after a month and having traipsed through Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Maryland, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine, we headed home. Vivian, Evan and I were done with traveling for a bit. Jo was wondering where to go next.

Thank you, Aaron & Family, Nicolle & Family, Uncle Tom and Co., Carol, Vicky & Family, Alu and Michelle, and Cara & Family, for putting up with us at various times.

Living History

We went to Strawberry Banke - a huge outdoor living history museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Vivian and Evan dressed up in different period costumes multiple times. Here they are at the Governor Goodwin Mansion. Evan takes dressing up very seriously.

When we returned to our humble abode in Rye, through the power of Facebook, we were reminded that it was the seventh anniversary of a certain photo. So Vivian and Evan recreated it for the third time. Their own little living history museum.

Maine in a Single Picture

These New England states aren't very big. So we only needed one photograph for Maine :-)

We visited only one town in Maine - Ogunquit - a pretty little village with well tended flower beds and rainbow flags. Alu and the kids and I had a running joke about rear ends for a majority of the day (Q: What are roads made off? A: Asphalt. Hahahaha), much to Michelle and Jo's disgust.

More New Hampshire Beaches in Pictures

The first few photos are from the Wallis Sands State Beach at the other end of Rye. The next set are from the lovely island of Wentworth right up at the corner where New Hampshire meets Maine. We tooled around in the white convertible mustang that Jo rented and ate breakfast at "Henrys' Market".

New Hampsire in Pictures

We stayed in an old building in the tiny town of Rye a few miles from Portsmouth in New Hampshire. Here's a few photos of the beach on a bleakish day - with the series in there that reminds me of Zorba the Greek.