Doc Holliday Was Here

We spent this afternoon in old downtown Denison.  

We were there for

We watched a parade

laughed at this guys goofing off with his beard,

and voted for our favorite beard/mustache.  The winners are l for most unique combination, crowd favorite, longest beard, best overall.

Several people dressed for the occasion.

We stopped to watch the local artisans,

perused the store fronts, 

and noticed some old signs.  (American Pickers, eat your hearts out!)

Every western town worth beans has a Realto theater.

This one also had an Ivanhoe.  This is a town with culture!

I liked this store--Two Chicks and Some Paint (plus decor).  The little sign to the left of the door says "Doc Holliday Painted Here."

 Everyone revealed his/her true identity.

We oohed over our first close-up of a great Dane.

Stopped for a haircut

or two,

(had to do it--blue tongues are always funny!)

and enjoyed some playable street art.

Back home Grandpa and the girls relaxed with some tv.

A boy, a stick, a mud puddle.  Nuff said.

We were treated to a fashion show.  Ava dressed with graceful elegance and Emma showed off  her inimitable style.

We topped off the day with a yummy grilled steak dinner cooked by Jr and Brandey, then a movie with popcorn.

Only one more day of fun.  I wonder what we'll think of to do next.

Louise and Duane

Birthday Girl

I experienced a nice quiet morning for me with the house all to myself while Duane went to play pickleball.  After lunch we caught up on our missed tv shows via computer, then headed out to hobnob with the family.  Brandey and I planned to attend a women's fellowship evening.  The guys were thinking of attending a cattle sorting.  In this event, a certain steer has to be separated from the rest of the herd by a contestant on horseback.  Turns out that another of those severe storm cells complete with tornado warning moved in and everyone ended up in the neighbors' safe room!  This passed quickly, as it usually does in this part of Texas, and we were soon back at the house for a surprise hatched up by Brandey .  We had a birthday party!  (originally planned to take place at the women's fellowship, but, hey, we bloom where we're planted.)

Happy Birthday To Me

We all ate our broccoli so that we could enjoy cupcakes.

Emma had a raffle

Grandpa won a prize!

Grandpa won a grand prize!  It was a tube that you can talk through or wear on your head.  

Ava thought the raffle was a good idea and had one of her own.  Birthday Girl won the grand prize!

After the raffle we had a dance.  The girls dressed for the occaison.

First was a father/grandfather dance. (Music provided by DJ Momma and her rockin' phone)

A fast dance

Sister dips sister

Chicken dance

Momma shows us how to dance to "Cotton Eyed Joe"

After the dance Ava sang "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen.

Best birthday party ever!

Only two more days of fun left!

Louise and Duane

Potpourri

We had a busy day doing important stuff.  We started off with three hours of pickleball followed by two hours of laundry with lunch sandwiched between (oooohhh, I am sooooo  punny!) before we headed over to hang out with the family for the evening.

A (belated) birthday surprise for me!  

The best present--customized coloring pages, signed and dated.

Enjoying my bubbles

Beautiful jewelry creations from my make your own jewelry kit.

Also in the bag were:  six pair of wildly colored socks (I don't wear any other kind!), a little plastic solar powered flower (rocks in it's pot), five gel pens in five bright colors (the only kind I write in!),  a large bar of very yummy dark chocolate, and three pencil puzzle books--word find, Sudoku, and crossword.  What a haul!!!

Thank you  Duane Jr, Brandy, Emma, Ava, Alyssa and Coy for a very fun birthday present.

I hope you enjoyed it too.

Louise and Duane

PS  Since Duane has been wearing his new shoes--both court and walking, his knees have quit bothering him.  

Something New

Brandey sent me the final wedding picture.  Much better.

No pickleball today.  At 11 am Duane, Brandey and I went to eat lunch with the girls.  They each had a friend who joined us.  We were having so much fun that I forgot to take any pix!  After lunch we borrowed the girls from school for the afternoon.  We went to the town of Whitewright to the local theater for a movie.  The town is small, but the downtown businesses were open and seemed to be doing well.  The theater is on the left.

I'm always on the lookout for the strange/ interesting/different. I found this wonderful Ford Mustang right on the street.

The theater is called the Odeum.  This is an old word for theater, originally Greek or Roman.  This one had an Egyptian theme.  A nice theatergoer took this pic for us.

The ladies was Cleopatra's Throne Room.

Yes, I found something unusual in the restroom besides its name.  I know what to do with these;  just hold your hand under it and it works.

I had trouble with this one.  I kept feeling around underneath and came up empty.  It took me a while to figure out I had to pull it out the front!  A new one for me.

Here is another unusual sight.  Alyssa usually seeks comfort from women.  Today she chose Capaw (her word) for solace.

The girls had riding lessons today.  Emma is getting more comfortable at a lope.

Instructor and students repeating a pattern.

Last night after I posted a horrendous storm cell drenched us with rolling thunder, continuous lightening, and wind driven rain.  After the worst of the rain was over, the tornado siren went off.  We ran across the parking lot for the safety of the Elks' Club building.  Later we learned that a tornado had touched down about 5 miles away, leaving considerable damage behind.   Today was perfectly beautiful with cool wind, warm sun, clear blue skies.  A wonderful bike-riding day.  This evening the ride home was very pleasant.  We leave when the girls go to bed, usually 8:30, when the sun has just set and dusk is settling in.  I love riding along watching the sky darken and reveal the stars.  This evening the air was full of the scent of honeysuckle.  

Just a few more days left before we move again.

Louise and Duane