TEXAS TRIP: FAMILY, FUN, FIREWORKS!

Back to the Texas tribe:  Friday's main event, and one of the chief reasons i went when i did, was that this was N's second summer with the Junior Shakespeare Players.  i had missed the performance last summer, and didn't want to miss this one.  she was Lady Capulet in a much abbreviated version of Romeo and Juliet, on a stifling Dallas evening in the full sun.  Now, of course you know i am less than objective  - way less when it comes to this kid -  but i am also a pretty good drama critic.  and Lady Capulet walked away with this performance.  she was acting from her gut, using body, face, every fibre of her being.  i was blown away, to tell you the truth.  she's been a drama queen since she was a tiny girl, and now she's learning how to really use her natural resources.  i wrote about my own drama experiences in a book journal entry some time ago, and i see that this child of my heart seems to share this particular gene.

LADY CAPULET CONFRONTING DAUGHTER

LADY CAPULET AND NURSE FIND JULIET DEAD

LADY C. DESCENDS FROM STAGE

okay, i'm supremely biased.  but i really never expected what N gave her audience.  and she loves it.  that's what really matters.  at this age to have something like this that you love and are really good at and can get some recognition for - well, it's a big bonus. 

after the kids' play the adult Shakespeare Players performed As You Like It.  i took my sister home after the first act, she had a bad headache; but all the kids (my nieces and one of N's friends who was spending the night)  stayed for the whole thing and came home with a neighbor.  they loved it.  how can i tell you how happy this makes me?

The next event was going to Austin, to meet another sister, Rob's mother, and Rob, who came up from San Antonio.  we met at Zilker Park, where we hoped to spend the day swimming in Barton Springs.  if you know Austin, you know these places and probably have fond memories of them.  however, Barton Springs was closed and the pool emptied out for cleaning because of all the rain/flooding/debris washing down the creek.  so, we played in Barton Creek instead.  we found a place where the current was running really fast, and with the older kids i establised a float-run from one overhanging tree to another overhanging branch so we could stop ourselves before we tumbled over the spillway.  this made mothers fairly anxious, and LL very jealous that she was too little to play the dangerous games - but we were safe and had hours of water fun.   as well as a delicious picnic and lolling around in the breezy shade.  even on July 4th you can cool off in Texas if you have:  water, shade and a breeze.  then we picked up our camp and moved to the section of the park where the concert and fireworks happened.  we enjoyed the music, the crowd (and what a diverse crowd it was, too:  students, aging hippies, people of every nationality, color, age, lots of bikes and babies and dogs - Austin remains itself, despite its growth in recent years), and most of all the colorful display of light and noise.

RIVER RATS

THE GUYS, RELAXING AFTER PICNIC

and is this way more than you bargained for?  but WAIT, there's more.  but not until later.  all that's left is the Guadalupe River and the Wildflower Center.  really.  and they're both so beautiful.