Chara Takes Texas Bluebonnets

What says Texas more in nature than bluebonnets? Okay, and rattlesnakes & oak trees & big blue skies, but also, bluebonnets. Every year the highways are lined with them & it's a sight to see. They're beautiful. Though I've grown up with this beautiful flower my whole life, I'm still intrigued by it's details & color. I knew, for our first Spring back in Texas in 4 years, we had to take some bluebonnet pics. In light, of the 4th coming up & all the red, white & blue that will fill our nation that day, I give you some more white & blue. :) 

 We try so hard to get her looking directly at the camera, it just doesn't work. 

So we'll settle for a snuggle bear pic & side glance.

 Also, group selfie pictures with the dog just don't work. Either she's cut out, we're cut out, or we have to awkwardly force her to put her head up.

But when Zachary's taking the picture, Chara's all smiles & of course, looking at him. It's precious to see the way she watches him. Sometimes, I just watch her watching him. It's cute the way her head goes back & forth as he walks by.

 Forced weird snuggles.

She loves running around free in nature! So many smells & new things to see.

 I know, I know, there's so many pictures. I just love them. She's so happy. :) It was a good day.

 

Isn't it idyllic? 

 A white blue bonnet. An albino blue bonnet?

 Chara loves following Justin around because he goes off the path & explores & finds new things, like a discarded Christmas tree. haha.

 Sometimes I have the patience to take good photos. I never seem to have the patience to edit them, though. And also, I don't really ever have patience to take good photos. I'm pretty sure I just used the macro-auto setting.

 Rasberries! There's a whole field of rasberry bushes behind my parents neighborhood. Justin gathered a huge bowl of them this Spring, they now sit in our freezer waiting to be made into something delicious.

 "Let's go Chara!!" "Here, I come guys!" Hehe.

Do you usually take bluebonnet photos with your family or pets? If so, don't be scared to post them a season later! ;)

Turn Around, Don't Drown

You guys the weather has been crazy here in Texas! Tornadoes everywhere, 5000+ lightening strikes in 15 minutes, storms all through the night, hail & tons of flooding! It's insane. Memorial Day on our drive home from my Papa Ted's house we saw tons of questionable clouds, drove without seeing past 5 feet in front of us because of the crazy rain & slowly drove through tons of flooded roads! Just when we made it home, they shut down the road we had traveled home on. Cra-Zee.
Have you heard the saying, "Turn Around, Don't Drown." That's the flash flood saying in Texas, reminding people to NOT drive through flooded road ways or cross roads. Flash floods are crazy & their under currents can sweep vehicles and people away. Is this a saying just in Texas? Or do all States have it? Check out what we drove through on our drive home. I know, I know. We drove through them, kind of doing the opposite of the Texas flash flood saying, but these flooded road ways were not flooding from a creek or river going over it's banks, but from the side ditches filling up and over with water, so there was no where for us to really be swept away to.

Insane. I know! Parts of Downtown Austin were flooded to. Shoal Creek ran crazily over it's banks flooding parts of Lamar and ruining tons of businesses. I heard on the radio yesterday though that Whole Foods, which has a huge store on Lamar, is offering a million dollars in interest free loans to those businesses that were destroyed. That's awesome, I think. :) Here's some photos of Lamar. How lame is it that I actually thought, "Hey, I should go down there are take some photos." Zachary would have killed me had I wasted gas on driving down town to take pictures of the flood. I can't help it, it's the curious blogger in me!

Source: Kvue.com
source: Kvue.com
And of course there are also TERRIBLE floods in other parts of Texas that people have lost loved ones, too. My heart breaks for the family that was swept away by flash floods in Hays County. 12 people were in their lake house and the entire house was swept away. My grandma told me yesterday that she heard that their other family members had said that they were all a family of faith and trusted God & knew they were all in His hands, which is so encouraging, but still heartbreaking. One of the ladies in the house called another family member and asked that she tell everyone that they loved them and good bye. She called from a cell phone, while they were in the house being swept away. It's devastating. 

Pray for the 400 families who lost their homes in Hays County. Pray for Van, where a tornado devastated their town and destroyed tons of homes. Pray for the 9 people still missing. Pray for all the people's families who have lost loved ones in these floods. And keep praying for Texas,  the looks of things on the weather channel don't look promising. We have a full week ahead with heavy storms and no where for all this water to go. 

Also, remember, turn around, don't drown! I've always thought it was kind of silly. I also thought the "flash flood" warnings on the weather channel were pointless before but now I'm seeing how serious it can be. So, I'll say it again, "Turn Around, Don't Drown!"