Weekend Fun!

Isaac flew in Thursday night for the weekend. He surprised the Hash kids by showing up there just in time to say prayers and help me put them down for the night. They were all so excited to see Mr. Isaac. Miss Laura was excited to see Mr. Isaac, too!

Friday night started out rainy, and our street flooded. Eventually the water went down, so we went to Will, Michelle, and Maddy's for a game night with Ashley, Deborah, and Sean. We each made our own pizzas for dinner. It was really tasty. Deborah and Ashley made us cookies, and we all played some hilarious rounds of Catch Phrase. I don't know why we haven't had more of these super fun nights, but they need to become a habit! I love these friends! Of course, the biggest celebrity of the night was baby Bella. She's too cute!

Isaac meets Bella for the first time.

Sean and Bella

Bella took a nap with Mom after greeting everyone.

Then Bella took another nap with me!

Bella turned into a monkey, climbed on my shoulder, and fell asleep again.

Deborah and Ashley made yummy cookies!

Deborah brought her cookie cutters.

Bella and Bear

If you look close, Bella is chewing her daddy's jeans. :)

Getting serious with Catch Phrase.

Saturday started out cloudy, but not rainy, so we had hope for a nice day out, until we looked at the radar. Bailey had time for a nice, leisurely walk before the floods came.

This is how it looked for several hours.

Thankfully, we didn't end up with any water damage in the house. Yay for a new roof from Ike! However, my classroom was not so lucky. I had water in it again. The lesson to be learned? Don't build schools with cinderblocks!

Anyway, Isaac and I camped out in the house all day, making cookies and watching movies. When the water finally receded, we walked down to the Cagles for a 'cook-in' and games with friends from work. It was a great night, and a fun way to let out some pent up energy from being stuck inside all day!

When Isaac bought his plane ticket to fly down for this weekend, all we wanted to have planned was a trip to the beach. Bailey loves the beach, we love the beach, and we just wanted to go. Of course, Galveston isn't Flordia, where we were spoiled for 6th days in March, but waves are waves, and sand is sand. And for Bailey, anywhere he can run to chase birds without a leash is Heaven. Sunday dawned a little overcast, but the weather man promised it'd clear up, so we packed our lunch and headed south.

I'd gone to Galveston once since Ike before Sunday. The 'touristy' parts are fairly back to normal, execpt for a few lost landmarks that we all miss (Murdoch's, anybody?). However, the residential areas are another story. The beach is yet a third story. The Seawall beaches are fairly well put back together. I don't like the Seawall beaches though. I like the West end of the island, away from the traffic, noise, and tourists. The pocket beach we've been going to for 20 years is damaged and not currently open, but the public access road right next to it is still there, so we drove down to the beach, parked, and had a grand day.

The sand was all wet and mushy from Saturday's floods, so we picnic-ed in the bed of the truck, which nearly killed Bailey. As soon as we were through, we let him down, and off he went. No bird in sight was safe from Bailey! We let him go for four miles before heading home, but he still had energy. Good grief! While Bailey chased, Isaac and I hunted for shells. God washed up tons of shells in the storm on Saturday. We found shells I had never seen in Galveston before. We also saw two small, dead sharks, and one huge jelly fish. There are a ton of houses down there that need demolishing. The beach on the west side is being rebuilt, slowly. The dunes were being built up as we walked, which was nice to see. It's so odd to know something so well for 20 years, and then to suddenly have the same piece of earth look so entirely different. What a wonderful reminder of how changeable life is, while only God remains constant.

Bailey waiting for us to finish lunch.

Bailey's tent.

Isaac flew home tonight. I'm tired of driving to the airport. He's tired of flying back and forth. We have 4 more times to do this before Isaac moves here permanently. However, we both think it's worth it. :)

Tomorrow is Muster. I get to go to Aggieland to hear Dr. Gates speak as we remember the Aggies we have lost this year. It's also Holocaust Rememberance Day. Please, don't forget.