Monday - end of 4 weeks - lazy day

• cool, breezy morning; temp 51.
• (last Saturday was a big day in my life; but I wasn't even able to attend the celebration; my eldest grandson, Garth Nolan Meyer, graduated from college. So in recognition of that life altering event, I've included a few pictures of the event and of Garth; congratulations, Garth; we are very proud of you; pictures are below.)
• this noon, Denise & Diane & Candy attended a women's luncheon & style show at the Hall; Jim & Dan & I did room setup & teardown.
• in the afternoon while napped, Denise, Diane, Nolan, & Jim returned to LaPlaza Mall for shopping they didn't get done yesterday.
• Denise cooked supper of wonderfully delicious stuffed peppers and a dish of fresh fruit; mmmm . . . . . good.
• this evening, Jim's playing cards while Denise, Nolan & Diane go swimming (temp: 55); and I played photographer.

Style Show Decorating Committee or . . .

Denise's wonderfully delicious stuffed pepper.

tough looking group - Texas Holdem'?

Whatdya think their game is?

Jim's in the far back right corner.

Didn't seem to playin' much cards.

it's cold out here; brrr.....

the hot tub's a little better, Mom

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Sunday - cold & wet

• well, the weather has certainly changed; this morning it is cold, blustery, wet, cloudy, & rainy; temp 51; high to be 52; rained all night.
• strange how we can go from a day at the beach with lots of hot sun to the opposite today.
• La Plaza shopping center before stores were open.
• Don-West flea market - cold.
• Chuck E Cheese.
• Nolan insisted that Mom go swimming with him upon our return.
• Super Bowl party at the Hall.
• evening weather improved as rain stopped & wind died; temp still only 50.

Mom, do I look pretty now?

Nuttin' to drivin' a car. Heh. Heh.

I can do it! I can do it! I can do it! Oh, no!

Mom, it hurts so bad.

Pro'ly needs a little more setup.

Saturday - on South Padre Island

• another warm, mostly clear, breezy morning; temp 73; high to be only 78.
• breakfast at the Hall as on all Saturdays.
• drove the 75 miles to South Padre Island for a full day of fun.
• first we spent an hour or so on the beach getting lots of sand in our toes.
• then we had a wonderful lunch at Parrot Eyes; yum, yum.
• attended the Kitefest; beautiful & very unusual kites.
• then we went to the park on the south end because it has a shelter (shade); temp was hot 85; bright sun.
• then had some ice cream at the gift shop; and while we were there heard a severe thunderstorm warning.
• so on our way home we were drenched; had to slow to 30; but no rain by the time we got back to Pharr.
• Jim & Denise went to play Bingo at Pharr South.
• Enjoy the many pictures taken by yours truly (last 2), Denise (middle 18) & Diane (first 3).
• after driving 150 miles today, I'm too tired to think up captions; just enjoy the pictures.

Friday - zoos are sure fun

• another warm, cloudy, lite breeze morning; temp 72; high today 87.
• by 9 we were on the road to the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, about 40 miles east.
• wonderful day at zoo; Denise & Diane took lots of pictures which are shared below.
• all went swimming upon our return; except me, I took a nap as I did all the driving.
• spaghetti dinner & auction this evening; didn't buy a thing.
• had to wait for the auction to finish before we could go swimming this evening.

but Grandpa, your hand is cold.

how long do I have to stand here?

nice kitty!

but, Mom, 10,000 feet is a long way down!

Mom, your squeezing too hard.

please don't throw me off the bridge.

I told you to brush your teeth really good this morning!

ooo... that sun is so bright.

little birdies have to eat too.

dippin' dots are for kids!

Thursday - our first guests arrive

• another warm, clear, calm morning; temp 70; high today was mid 80s.
• men's breakfast at Taco Fiesta.
• made a True Value run to get rain gutter for Dan & Candy's home.
• Jim went bowling while Diane & I napped.
• met Denise & Nolan at the airport; stopping on the way home for some good Mexican food; guess where? yep, Taco Fiesta.
• and everybody always wants to know what we do in South Texas all winter; recently we ran across an article that describes it very accurately.
• at the request of my daughter, Kathy, I'm including the report - see below.

we can finally get off that airplane.

ooh, you're so sweet.

. . . now, who again is great-uncle Roger?

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Written by a third grader, on what his grandparents do.

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school. One child wrote the following:

We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live in a big brick house, but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Arizona. Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass. They ride around on their bicycles, and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore. They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there, but they don't do them very well. There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on. At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts. Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And they eat the same thing every night - early birds. Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck. My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and, says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too. When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.

Forward to all your "retarded grandparent" friends. Or just your "retarded" friends.

Wednesday - haircuts & entertainment

• another warm, lite breeze, cloudy morning; temp 66; high to be 86.
• after coffee at the Hall with the men, we drove over to Alamo for a $5 haircut.
• lunch at the Hall (before the Jam).
• I stayed for the start of the Jam. The first song was an instrumental arrangement of Down Yonder which was my father's favorite song. It was most entertaining. But that was the end of the entertainment. After that, they started calling people to come up on stage and sing. And their singing was awful at best. So I was hoping for another instrumental piece, but left after 5 vocalists. 
• after a nap, biked 2 miles; nice after noon; temp 80
• this afternoon, I moved a large potted plant to the back yard for Diane to paint the pot. (see pictures)
• while we were doing this, Candy was staining the new door on the closet where the old furnace use to  be.
• evening's entertainment show are the Fab 4 with Tammy & Jay; very enjoyable show of 50s music.

Down Yonder (Instrumental).

Vocalist 1

Vocalist 2

Vocalist 3

Is this the way you do it?

Oh well, here goes nothin'.

Another beautiful sunset.

Eloise, across the street, rebuilt her fountain.

Tammy & Jay and the Fab 4 - very entertaining.

Song 1 - can't remember it's name.

Song 2 - also can't remember it's name.

Song 3 - would you believe that I can't remember the name of it. Ugh.