Brotherly Love

Breakfast at our house is usually an animated experience. In other words, the boys like to start in depth discussions in order to stall on doing chores or getting ready for school. They think I don't know this, of course. But this morning, Tutone actually came up with a good one.

He said, "I really wanted to be a Longhorn (University of Texas) but needs to be an Aggie (Texas A&M) if he is going to be a Vet and I don't want you to be confused on who to
root for on Game Day, so I guess I will just go ahead and be an Aggie." And he heaves a huge sigh.

I told him, "It's ok, Buddy! They have special flags made for just this reason. It's called 'House Divided'. One side is UT and the other side is A&M. But no matter what college you go to, I will root for whichever team you are playing for. And when is competing in something I will root for his school. Does that sound fair?"

He looked so relieved.

I thought it was so sweet that he would be willing to give up what he wanted for his brother. Usually it's Super that makes all the sacrifices for Tutone. Maybe I am getting through to him. LOL!

Meanwhile, I would be thrilled if Tutone was able to play football for any college team. Of course, I can't blame him for picking the Longhorns!

Bird Watch

On one of our frequent trips to the beach in July, we went to a popular bird watching spot, Goose Island State Park. The park is well known for being a winter home to a large variety of birds. Of course, July is not as active. We were happy to catch a glimpse of the local wildlife.

We happened upon a cardinal, which happens to be Super's favorite bird. He has seen many cardinals and happily reports that he has even seen several female cardinals when we lived in VA, as he says, "which is rare." I think it was probably the same female cardinal several times but in any case these sitings have made it his favorite bird.

So this day in July, we sat in the shade of a tree in the park for a while and watched as the cardinal ate his lunch.














Later in the week, we were fortunate enough to see some American Oystercatchers! I was surprised since they are reported to leave the Gulf of Mexico in the summer months. But I have picture evidence that for whatever reason this small group did not. You can read more about the American Oystercatcher here.
American Oystercatcher

You can read more about the park and it's winter friends here.
Goose Island State Park

I knew that my friend Molly would have enjoyed going with us but of course, she was very busy being chased by sharks and stuff. Oh well! Maybe next time! But if you enjoy birds like we do, you can read all about her birding adventures with her sons on her birding blog at
The Birding Family blog.

On a Break!

We took a big break over the summer to spend time making memories instead of just sitting in front of the computer blogging about them. LOL! But we are back now and in full swing of school, so while the boys are working away at their books and computer, I will have time to catch up!

During July, we took a big vacation to the beach. Our at home vacation activities consisted mostly of swimming, bowling, playing the Wii, and going to the 50cent movie theater.

In August, the boys went to Pre-teen camp. I spent most of the time preparing for school. The rest of the month was spent getting Mike ready to leave for college. Last week, the whole family drove to Colorado to drop him off.

I will post more about all these things in future blogs!

Hope you all had a safe and fun summer too!