178/365 A braid

A braid...of the cherished Elsa style, only for my sweet and sassy niece, the one with my name in the middle of hers, the one who looks the spitting image of the sister I shared a room with and put masking tape smack down the center of, marking the separation between us like a battle line. But that line isn't there anymore. And instead I get to braid her daughters hair in twisted spirals of interlocking silky blonde ropes. Lines again but each one hugging the next close and complicated, knotted together and sure, history and future embracing each other.

177/365 Texas Cousins, Part Two

176/365 Top Down, Texas Nights

175/365 Texas Cousins, Part One

174/365 Hello Texas

173/365 The Coolest

 On our way to Texas and we made a one day stop in the exciting city of St. Louis, Missouri. Actually, there is probably so much more coolness there than I am smart enough to know about, but we did manage to stop at one place that came highly recommended and did not disappoint. In fact, it so far exceeded our expectations even after the rave reviews we heard that I have to pass along the wonder and excitement and absolute genius and beauty that is The City Museum. Go there. It is amazing. One part historical preservation/celebration/education of the city's architecture and history and one hundred parts exploration and creative awesomeness, all four of our kids could have stayed there all day. And we had a ton of fun and enjoyment of all that it had to offer as well.

Second part of the day was another special adventure, simple enough as it was. We trekked a few more hours to our hotel, soaked up a pool all to ourselves, had hamburgers and greasy fries at a locally owned diner, and experienced all that a six person family staying in one hotel room together has the pleasure of knowing: dad in his underwear, spiders crawling on your arm when you're trying to sleep, kids fighting for room on the bed, women's world cup soccer, wrestling and giggling and yelling.

172/365 From Here to There | a Desk Story

We took a tour of dad's work history today. I remember a few rare times as a kid, visiting him on the job. This foreign feeling land called a substation where there were vast, gated fields of electrical towers and transformers, and the office was paneled and smelled of bad coffee and mothballs. He was a hard worker then, and as the years have gone by, his honesty and committment to doing the right thing has elevated him to roles of leadership. 

We looked at an old desk in a now-deserted office where he used to sit when he was a supervisor. We looked at the current place he just moved into, and saw our pictures on the wall with string pointing to all the places his kids live in the world, the quotes that have stayed with him from influential people over the years, the large empty desk and the hard hat hanging on the wall. He talked about the path that has taken him to this place today, the different positions and bosses, the way he was encouraged to keep his integrity no matter what, and the call to be the type of leader who does what is right, now what is expedient or gets you the most likes. It was all the kind of thing you want your children to hear and see in the flesh from a man you call Dad, and to know that it was this quality and so many more that breathe a kind of buoyancy to your own life, and give a beautiful shape to his.

171/365

Two on two soccer tournament as a last hoorah before the cousins head out.