Hurricane Alex Coming Near

Since it was dark last night, John walked down to the beach early to see what was happening. The winds have been very strong and high seas, but only the very edge of the Hurricane! The water is way up past the parking posts and tons of seaweed have come ashore.

It's pretty much an inside day today! Let's start with kolaches for breakfast--and donuts for those who don't favor the Czech pastry. The on to lots of play and paper airplanes. Then back to the beach to see what's happened..

Laughing Gull everywhere.

Check out the hair on Becky...little breezy.

Jordan contemplating...

Tyler and Avery wading along the high beach.

John and Judy took Jordan and Avery to Shulenburg for the ride to Houston and some time with the other side of the family. We'll miss them at the beach!! The rest of us had a fun day playing inside.

To the Cunningham Beach House we go...

Judy, John, Jean and John are heading to Becky's (niece's) beach house on Mustang Island to celebrate Tyler's 7th birthday on July 4th! Hurricane Alex is on his way, but hopefully all we will have is rain and wind. I've never been to a hurricane party before....hope this one is a non-event. Not sure about internet access there so keep checking back for pictures etc.

We stopped at the Yardarm Restaurant in Corpus Christi for John's belated 65th birthday celebration! An outstanding place! I had the best boullibaise I've ever tasted! YUMMY! Then on to Becky's.

Hiking the Canyon

Judy and John are both Certified Naturalists and work closely with the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department on development of new lands. There was a new area that they were doing an endangered plant search for today that we went on.

Getting instructions

We were looking for 3 specific plants along a small canyon on the property.

Texas Pinks (not what we were looking for, but beautiful).

Measuring a mystery plant.

This was a LOJ (live oak and juniper) forest. An occasional pool of water and a little running water, but pretty dry.

There were some beautiful dragonflies along the streambed.

We saw lots of nandina, which is an unwelcome invasive plant so they would check the location on their GSP so they could come in and treat them later. The plant counts will help determine if this will remain nature preserve where there is no public access or if they will put in public trails.

This is wild Texas hill country and downed trees stay down etc so the going was a little challenging at times, but very interesting! The only drawback for the day was the bug that found Judy and Jean that leave a bite that ITCHES FOR DAYS!!

Treated ourselves to Mexican food for dinner. Another great day!

Wedding Day!

It was a beautiful day in San Antonio for a wonderful celebration of marriage of Lynn Linhart and Dave Archer at The Little Church of La Villita at 7pm. The Church, located in historic downtown San Antonio, is a small Gothic church built in 1879 of stone blocks quarried nearby, now surrounded by wonderful artists, craftsmen, shops and restaurants.

The girls gathered at the Diaz House on the grounds of the Marriot Plaza San Antonio in the early afternoon for preparations for the wedding. The House is located a few blocks from the church and where the reception was held. The results of preparation were stunning....

Jordan

Avery...

Tyler and Annie...

Becca and Jordan...

cousins, Ashley and Taylor and Aunt Katherine from Houston
came to assist Avery and Jordan in their preparations...

and our lovely bride, Lynn.

Father and bride.

After a brief walk through the parking lot and down the street to the smiles and best wishes of total strangers, they all arrived at the church. The girls had to wait behind the church until all the guys, who had arrived just minutes before, got settled into their respective roles.

The Ceremony

Nelva was the organist, Aunt Kathy and Becca sang the prelude...

the bridesmaids processed down the aisle...

then a short walk down the aisle with Dad...

and the happy union.

Following formal pictures taken by Bob (Dave's Dad) and Laura (sister), the group returned to the Marriot and to the reception.

Let the Party Begin!!

Guests were treated to heavy hors d'oeurves and margaritas....it's San Antonio!! Then the party began!

The bride and Groom...

Judy and Bob, mother of bride and father of groom...

Lynn and Avery...

followed by a toast by Zack and Nate...

and the

cake!!

Judy and John get in one last dance before...

the dancing really began and the kids ruled the dance floor!

A little line dancing...

a short water break with Mom and Dad for Tyler and then...

the action really began as the kids all celebrated their new life together!!

Congratulations Lynn and Dave! Have a wonderful time in Costa Rica!

Rehearsal Events

After a busy day of wedding related errands and happenings, most everyone gathered for the rehearsal at The Little Church of La Villita.

Zack ushering Judy down the aisle.

Jordan and Annie going to light the Unity Candle...

John and Lynn...

The lovely ladies...

Sweet!!

Meanwhile, while all this was going on, there was action on the home front! Aunts Laura and Jeanette had arrived in town and settled in at the hotel and returned to the house to join Aunt Jean to finish preparation of the wonderful baked ziti for dinner. We had a great time getting to know each other. Again much in common, down to the point that we all went to the same Girl Scout Camps when we were little!


With the rehearsal over, everyone headed back to the house and in lightening speed the kids finished up and with prep and we were ready to serve!

Annie and Nelva mixing those salads!

Almost ready...Nate, Jeanette, Kathy, Annie, Becca, Laura & Grandma Nelva.

Great food, great conversation, great reason for all to gather!

A special treat was a short selection of songs by Annie! Great job!!!

It was a wonderful celebration and all are looking forward to an even greater event tomorrow!!

Dinner at Becky's with both families

The guys picked up Tyler and Dylan and met up with Avery and headed to the Botanical Gardens for a morning of fun and exercise. John got there with his camera, but unfortunately, the camera must have been on and no battery...hence, no pictures of the playhouses and the fun morning. Meanwhile, Judy and Jean got started on the Chicken Enchiladas and had a fun morning in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Jordan was collecting on her birthday present from Aunt Becky with a make-over and was joined by her mother, the bride and Becky. Busy morning for all!!

All the boys and Avery returned for lunch a little after noon and then Dylan had a nap, Tyler and Avery played nicely together between tickle monster fights with Papa and the girls finished up cooking. We headed for Becky's with food, table, chairs etc about 4ish and got things set up for the "family" dinner.

(Technical note: If you his Control and + you can enlarge the text and picture size :-)

Dylan had a great time with bubbles...some blown, some swallowed :-)

Papa and Dylan in deep discussion during prep time.

It was quite a lively evening with the groom, Dave, his four children, his parents and sister as well as multiple Wolcotts, Willards and Cunninghams - total of around 19.

The cast of characters is quite outstanding.....

Wolcott side (Jean's sister's family)
Judy & John - parent's of the bride
Lynn Linhart - Bride and daughter of Judy & John
Jordan and Avery - Lynn's daughters
Becky and Ernie Cunningham - daughter & son-in-law
Tyler and Dylan - sons of Becky and Ernie

Archer side
Dave - the Groom
Zack, Becca, Nate and Annie - Dave's children
Nelva and Bob - Dave's parents
Kathy, Laura and Jeanette - Dave's sisters

We are gathered together for the marriage of Lynn and Dave...

The bride, Lynn, and groom, Dave....

Dave and Lynn, Aunt Jean and Zach

Jordan, Annie and Nate with Dylan in the foreground...

Guess who!

Bob and Dave

l-r: Becca, Nate, Lynn, Becky, Annie,

Sisters Jean and Judy..

Dave and daughter, Annie

Ernie and Dylan

Becky, Jordan, Becca and Aunt Kathy.

Nelva and Bob....

Jordan

Lots in common as Dave's family is from Denver area, have CSU connections, his folks winter in Arizona and his daughter goes to University of Arizona in Tucson.

In San Antonio tradition we had chicken enchiladas, black bean salad and the margaritas flowed. A great time was had by all!