Hi, Mama & Daddy! Love, G & L

Well, as you know, because you read my daughter's blog, she and Cletus are in Las Vegas right now on a much looked forward to, much needed (and oh, by the way, never had a honeymoon!) trip. Which means that DH and I have the kids to ourselves on the home front.

There was some concern that Gilly might have a bit of a hard time letting her parents go. (She told me quite firmly, one day last week, that mamas were not supposed to leave their little girls!) So I was all prepared to do the "sing and dance and aren't we having fun!" routine at the drop of a hat.

Yesterday afternoon, she wanted to go out in the backyard for a little while and noticed her bike sitting on the patio. So we left her papa at home to be with Baby Luke and she and I hit the sidewalks for a big bike ride. I was quite impressed with her endurance. Riding a bike uses different muscles than walking and she really had to work hard in the areas that went uphill a little bit. Every time we got to a corner where we could take the short way home, she said she wanted to ride more. So at every corner we took the long way.

I was watching it get darker and darker to the east of us, and then when we were about 2 blocks from home, the wind picked up and the temperature began to drop noticeably. Just as I opened my mouth to tell her that we'd better head home because we might get some rain, I felt a splat--about the size of a silver dollar--on my back. And the skies opened. I yelled at her to hold her feet away from the pedals, that we were going to make a run for it. She stuck her legs straight out and I hunch over this little tiny bicycle and we ran down the street, laughing like maniacs. And it rained like it can only in Texas, from nothing to cloudburst in just seconds. By the time we got home, which wasn't more than just a few minutes, we were both soaked to the skin. I had raindrops dripping off my eyelashes and mascara running down my face. But it was so much fun and the rain changed an ordinary bike ride into something we will both always remember.



















And, oh that sweet baby, he went to bed about 10:00 and didn't wake up til 6:00. Gilly didn't go to bed til 11 and I didn't climb in til close to 12, but then we all got to sleep til morning. A GOOD first day! And we all woke up cheerful and rested.















So, have a good time in Vegas, Mama and Daddy! We love you and miss you, but we're doing just fine :-)