weekend sketches

Over the weekend we had what we moved to Texas for . . . . ALL of our kids and grandkids together here for a cookout (all except for son-in-law Michael who was with his band kids in Austin). Being closer to all the kids makes it easier for everyone to get together even with their busy schedules.

I feel a bit intimidated trying to sketch our kids in person -- most of them still think my sketching is dumb. I often sketch with grandkids but this time they were much too busy! Playing croquet, a water-gun fight, playing with old-fashioned toys from Target's dollar section (and having a blast with them), climbing the tree house, toasting marshmallows for s'mores . . . .

 As always, there was also time to build with Legos. I think this knight with a jet pack was Josiah's.

I try to pick up a few new Lego sets now and then to add to the stash. This time we added a digger/excavator (sort of like the one that helped put in the foundation to Bill's new woodshop that is being built) and a train. Quen and his daddy, Matt, made these.

Judah loves rocks. He loving carried this, his latest acquisition, around with him. No one had the heart to tell him it was actually a piece of concrete that had broken off the camel rock (see below).

Josiah eagerly showed me a tiny shell he found. I showed him some extremely tiny snails that had climbed up a large crock's side. So he proceeded to pick off each one of them, ready to pop them in his pocket to take home. He "shared the wealth" by also leaving some on his uncle Jeff's bed sheets in the loft.

Josiah's new friends

Some families have heirloom dishes, silver, or jewelry. We have an heirloom rock. The "camel" rock (or Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, depending on the viewer) was first found on Bill's great-grandmother's farm, just laying on the ground. It was set upright and has since been sat on or played on by generations of kids (and sometimes even adults). So of course we had to bring Nessie to Texas with us.

We finally got it set upright and settled in over the weekend. VERY heavy and awkward! Sadly, the tail portion broke off but Bill thinks he can fix it. The nose has become fragile due to erosion; it is currently held stable with shrink-wrap until Bill can strengthen it with epoxy.

The rock hadn't been stabilized a full minute before Josiah hopped on.