Pool time

Love being lazy in the lazy river at our community pool...

Good times!

Bambi

While with Amelie in San Antonio for her 5 day Dive Camp.

Amelie and I went to visit a french friend of mine.

She had rescued a little fawn on the side of the road and was taking care of it, 

before releasing it onto her huge property in the San Antonio country side.

She was so adorable!!!!

More Pictures at Dusk

Traveling Home, Goodbye & Bathroom Remodeling

As all good things come must come to an end, we took the road home back to Houston.

We did stop a couple time to eat.

I got to catch Jean-Claude with his die hard "Boulette"

La famille, et amis proche, connaissent bien cette boulette!

La voici donc documentee pour la posterite!

A cute Restaurant in the middle of the Texas Hill Country.

I love that area of Texas!

The next day, Jean Claude & Nathalie's visit also came to an end.

They returned home to France.

We really loved having them share these 2 weeks with our family.

Even if I've been in the US for over 23 years, I still miss my family in France.

I love when I can spend some time with them.

And have my kids and hubby get to know them more...

On a side note;

I did get my half bathroom remodeled by JC! 

The wall-paper was removed and a fresh coat of lovely grayish/blue paint makes it more peaceful,

 to me anyway.

Whenever any males in my family visit, I get stuff done around the house! 

Love it!

They are quite handy that way!

Hihihi...

The Alamo

 A neat place to visit especially for history buffs like my brother. 

He knew more about what happened here than Mike!

Impromptu Photo Shoot

J'aime, j'aime, j'aime, ces photos! 

 Some of these are just...

P R I C E L E S S

San Antonio River Walk

Walking around the river walk was a lovely experience...

The trees are majestic, the plants are gorgeous, abundant and obviously well taken care of.

I love the architecture, a lot of great looking buildings.

Good restaurants.

It is definitely a Beautiful place to visit!

Make sure you have comfy shoes...

Fell in love with it!

And it was a bonus to discover it with family...

San Antonio and a Love Affair with Root Beer...

JC, Nat, Mike and I spent a week-end in San Antonio.

This is where we stayed right on the river walk. The Western.

 Jean Claude and his passion for Root Beer

( I never aquired a liking to Root Beer, I think it tastes like mouthwash)

He tried so many different brands of the elixir simply to find the best ones.

Everywhere he went he asked for it.

This french man does not do wine tastings ( you know being Mormon and all), 

he does Root Beer tastings.

This one was homemade in this very packed German style restaurant where we had breakfast. 

It got a big thumbs up!

And him and Mike got free refills just because... well, it's them and they are charmers!

Splashtown

We all spent a day at Splash Town!

What a day that was!

The kids and uncle Jean Claude (well besides his moment of culpability towards Nat) had lots of fun!

Nat and I had fun for about 30mn, then got on a way scary water ride for her. 

(She is not comfortable in water at all, 

never been on water rides but a small one at the pool this past week )

We all told her it wasn't too scary... And we would be together.

I had been on it once and didn't remember it was so intense!

As soon as we got to the first dip, I saw right away the expression of terror on her face.

I felt every jerk and sensation as if I was her and was terrorised myself!

It was as if time was in slow motion and there was nothing I could do to make things better!

I was powerless! 

I wanted the ride to end, or better yet to never have happened!

She trusted us not to put her on such a ride.

There are no words for how I felt. 

I betrayed her, I let her down, didn't protect her...

I thought she was going to go home early and our friendship would be damaged forever!

Sometimes our actions and mistakes are not reversible... 

We are powerless and at the mercy of the other party to forgive us when 

we do not deserve forgiveness...

I felt that she was never going to forgive me.

But she did.

******

It brought back memories of when we were teens and I went over her

10 story apartment balcony banister with nothing to restrain or protect me.

I just held on tight to the banister.

I could have fallen to my death!

I thought it was funny to scare her... 

Well it was not.

I scared myself years later when I had my first child and rethought of the moment of 

stupid unsafe dare devil prank!

Please think twice before you do dangerous stuff that might hurt those you love or yourself!

******

Nat felt better after some rest in the shade, some water, some ice cream, 

a dip in the lazy river, lunch at Panera Bread and a trip to the mall.

She really had her breath knocked out of her!

*******

Now whenever I drive by Splash Town and see the giant ride where this happened 

I think of how powerless I felt, and I think of Nat and how terrified she was 

and also of her willingness to forgive...

Merci Nat!

Holocaust Museum Houston

We spent a morning in remembrance of the Holocaust, reading stories and History, 

watching documentaries and contemplating unbelievable pictures 

of people's lives and souls dashed and crushed to pieces...

This Museum is well worth your time.

Very well done and the admition is free every day!

I will be bringing Amelie here when she is a little older.

The reality of the material contained within make this hard to view.

There is no special effects here or makeup or pretend.

This is

 The Raw Truth!

Stone Inscription:
Though there is anguish deep in my soul-
What if I must search for you forever?
I must not loose faith,
I must not loose hope.
Elena Synkova age 16, Thereseisenstadt

Inside an authentic Holocaust wagon car.
Feelings of sadness for humanity and of unbelief;
How can such atrocities have happened?