The first of the rain bands from Dolly...

We had a rain band come through this evening about 7pm and you know me I couldn't resist photos of the clouds...

Ominous looking....

Yep I spent most of the morning buffing and polishing the Beast and it has water spots on it now...and No I did not go out there and wipe her down either, lol...I love seeing water bead up on a vehicle though...

This is looking South towards the Rio Grande Valley at about 7:30pm.

This is looking East towards the Gulf of Mexico at about 7:30pm...this is a huge rain band that is out in the Gulf...and yes I climbed up on the roof, lol...I just couldn't get a decent view on the ground...

LOL...oh this is a Com-trail from a jet...I looked up and saw it and thought cool...it was flying from South to North...After these photos I came in the house thinking I was done for the night but then just after I finished going through these photos I noticed the beautiful colors in the sky from the sunset...I couldn't resist going back outside...

Looking South...

I know I've got electric lines and poles in the photo but it can't be helped they are all over this place...grrr...but I just loved the colors of this photo and I didn't feel like taking the time in PSE 6 to take out the clutter...so just ignore the clutter and enjoy the colors...This is looking North.

This was directly over the house, looking up...truly awesome with the sunset hitting it...

looking WestSouthWest...

Okay I know, what is it? It's a Jack Rabbit and it was pretty dark out so not the greatest photo...but this little guy was running all over the place and I was laughing at him...Everytime I looked out towards the pasture he was running here and there and he was making me laugh...I was watching a skunk and he ran by the skunk...there were also some deer out there and he ran by them too...guess he was in a hurry to go somewhere...

I have noticed the dogs are pacing and won't settle down tonight and today I have seen quiet a bit of the wildlife moving about...I heard the coyotes howling this evening too...Guess they know there is a storm out in the gulf and can feel the pressure changes...

The newest member of the family...

One week from today Cheyanne was born. Tonight I finally got to meet her. She is so tiny and sweet!!

Cheyanne

Great-Grandma Cristi with her Great Granddaughter

Michael checking her out!

What a beautiful baby girl.

Proud Daddy and Mommy!

As I was saying in Yesterdays post...

My husband was up to NO good yesterday (Saturday)! We had gone to town to get groceries and he suggested we go over to Port Lavaca to the Dodge dealership. Since I've been in Texas that is where I go as I like the people there...I asked him what for? He said he just wanted to look at trucks, ugh! He promised me we were just looking! (Yea Right!)...I had been discussing with him that I wanted to get a small car/vehicle that was good on gas and use it to drive around in and save my Truck for when I need to haul something or work on the property...Mind you I said SMALL ECONOMY CAR!!!!!! It seems Fred had other things on his mind and it wasn't SMALL...

We got over there and he immediately headed to the trucks, hmmm, something is wrong with this picture...I told him those are NOT small cars they are NOT good on gas, he laughed!

Before I knew it he had picked out a blue metallic MEGA cab 1500 truck, ARGH!!!!!

We talked to the manager and decided to leave and talk about the deal they offered us...Well the manager didn't want us to leave and came up with an even better deal...one that was in our budget...one that I couldn't pass up...As it was trade for trade for my Mega cab, My baby, My sweet girl...shes gone, boohoo...This BEAST has replaced her...

Here is my husbands baby...sigh...It's BLUE!! Metallic BLUE at that YIKES!!

Do you know how hard it is to keep a dark Blue truck clean!! Do you know who will be cleaning this truck?? ME!! GRRRRR....Do you know why my husband fell in love with this truck? Because it is Blue like the Dallas Cowboy colors, oh GOOD GRIEF!!!

This is why it is called a MEGA cab it has room and lots of room for a growing 4 yr old to stretch out in...and a Momma that is over 5'10" tall too, lol...I have to admit I do like the interior...It has leather seats...the cloth seats in my "Old girl" were fabric and were constantly being steam cleaned every month...not kid friendly at all...Dodge really needs to do something about their fabrics...even rain would stain them!!

This morning when I walked out of the house and saw this Blue BEAST in my parking spot I grimaced...It's BLUE, ugh!! Where is my sleek silver baby the one that hardly shows the dirt?...Oh how I miss my girl!! But then my husband walked out and just beamed from ear to ear, he is tickled!! He loves the Blue Beast, he is positively glowing...Do Men glow?

Yes my husband has established this as his truck, see he already has the Cowboy steering wheel cover attached....Sigh...it's a lost cause...When I asked him why we got another gas guzzler as I have to sit home all the time to save money and not burn it up in fuel he laughed and said that was the whole IDEA!! The little imp!!

I had to throw this photo up here...My sleek silver girl is gone and this is one of the memories I have of her...She traveled well, and like me loved the Hill Country!! Now she is all alone and sitting in the dealerships lot awaiting her fate...good bye baby girl!!

I do have to say my husband is thoughful...He knows the hell I went through in the first chapter of my life and how I never had a reliable-dependable vehicle...It is a nice to have peace of mind while traveling down the South Texas roads...

(On anther note I made a deal with the Manager at the dealership that hopefully in the not to distant future I will be back for my economy vehicle and he quoted me a price that was a bit hard to refuse...we shall see what the future holds)

Shhh it's a surprise...

My sister in law, Bernice is celebrating her 40th Birthday and we had a little dinner for her tonight! She thought she was just going to dinner with a few family members so was a bit shocked when a LARGE group met her at the restaurant!!

The photographer was late, oops, but more on that tomorrow!

I used a lens that I don't normally use and was very disappointed with the photos, sigh! I can see I have a lot more to learn and quiet a bit of practicing to still do...These are some of the better photos I took...

Birthday Girl!!

hmmm wonder who drank that? he he he...it was delicious and well deserved after the stunt my husband pulled today!

My in-laws!

Ohh la la there were even Mariachi's there to sing to the Birthday girl!!

I wonder who this gorgeous couple was...I never see them together often!

Wow and here is Tia Annana (Diana) and Uncle Larry...

There are more photos on my flickr site if you'd like to take a peek...

Photo Challenge ~ Negative Space

We went to the Park today and I had a model, Jordan.

Jordan is my buddy and he loves to help me take photos, today he was my subject and we had fun!!

Of course I took other photos too and this is what I came up with today for negative space.

Hopefully I'll try some more before the challenge week is over!

The other park photos are on my flickr site as Quinton, Kaden, Jordan and Michael were all at the park together!!

July 15 slideshow of Michaels photos AWR

Here are some of Michaels photos from our July 15th trip to Aransas Wildlife Refuge. Oh and one photo he took of Dacey this past weekend.

Rebels first trip to Arnasas Wildlife Refuge

After Michael's dentist appt. I decided to head over to Aransas Wildlife Refuge in Austwell Texas. Michael loves looking for Alligators and other wildlife and I wanted to see what the Rebel could do...we arrived at about 4:30pm, the lighting was still a bit harsh but with a 4 yr old you aren't able to sit around and wait for long...So I took photos knowing that most were not going to turn out...I think possibly a morning at the refuge sounds like a better idea! It was also very Hot and very Muggy, not my favorite kind of weather!

I was also a bit shocked as to how dry everything was at the refuge. Our favorite places to visit are Jones and Hog lake but they were almost dried up and instead of lakes large mud pits.

Dagger Point, at one time there used to be a house out here.

Yellow Lotus at Jones Lake.

Button Bush Bloom at Jones Lake

The view from the observation deck. We could see a lot of wild hogs, racoons, and birds but again just to far for my camera and lens to get a decent photo.

This is a juvenile Egret or Heron I am not sure what type as the photo was not the greatest. At this point I was a little disgusted with my son. We were walking out onto the boardwalk and there were tons of birds and Michael started running and yelling...well kiss all the birds goodbye! Michael is normally so good about being quiet but NOT this time! He is forgiven though as I was still proud of him about his dental check up, lol.

Whistling ducks in the muddy water at Hog lake.

At Hog lake we finally saw Alligators. The lake itself is pretty much dried up but there is still a little swale hole by the boardwalk. Michael was whining and caring on when an 8 to 9 ft alligator came swimming up...That got Michael to hush up pretty quick, especially when it swam right up to the deck.

Then an even bigger gator came up behind the boardwalk, 10 to 12 footer. I think it was dinnertime and they were looking for a free meal. We also saw a baby alligator and it was chased by the 8 footer. Not sure if it was going to be dinner or what? There wasn't a lot of water there and I am sure not enough room for everyone. The 8 footer finally turned and started stalking the whistling ducks. We left soon after so not sure if the gator had duck for dinner or not.

This is a new boardwalk/pier they put out over the San Antonio Bay. Michael wanted to stop and get bird photos for Momma as Momma wasn't able to get many herself. I decided to switch from wildlife photos to Michael photos at this point.

Black Vulture sitting in some Grape vines. Not one of my favorite birds but it is a bird, lol.

This is the whitetail deer up near the front office and homes of the conservation officers. Every evening they come out and surround the area.

There were wild turkeys out too...

And more deer...Small buck with fawn.

This was the same buck above and he was being chased by one of the does...soon after this photo he jumped the fence (blurry photo for me) and ran away...Not sure what he said to that doe but she was not Happy and didn't want him there, lol...

We saw quiet a bit of wildlife but with the wind, heat and humidity I wasn't having to much fun with the camera...ahh well there is always another day and time.