Ike

Bev and Wayne survived Hurricane Ike! The eye of the storm went right over their house in Houston and up-rooted the two biggest trees in their yard. One knocked out the brand-new fence in the back. The other is laying on the roof. Fortunately, the entire house is made of brick and Wayne boarded up the windows a long time ago. Structurally, all seems okay. But they still don't have power or phone service and the constant rain has made it impossible to climb up and remove the huge tree. Cell service is spotty, except for a place by the airport - their new hang-out. :)  They are surviving on energy from a generator, Rum and Skittles. The generator has enough power for two refrigerators, an a/c unit and a small TV, but it runs on gasoline. Most of the city is out!  A friend of theirs drove 40 miles to bring them some gas. 

Apparently, much of downtown is destroyed. And Galveston Bay. Poor Galveston. They just re-built the whole dang thing! These pictures are from the Boston Globe website. (boston.com)  I thought they were amazing. They told me everything I needed to know about the level of destruction. It's gonna be a LONG clean-up!  We offered to go down there, but as Wayne put it, "Then there would be FOUR of us in the house, trying to kill each other."  I guess we'll wait 'til Christmas. 

Image of Hurricane Ike on September 10, 2008, taken by the crew of the International Space Station, 220 miles above Earth.

A view of the flooded waterfront in Baracoa, eastern Cuba, where Ike visited prior to Texas. 

A horse grazes beside a house near Winnie, Texas. 

A fire destroys homes along the flooded beach of Galveston Island. 

 
An alligator is seen crossing the road in Sabine Pass.

Flooding over access road 523 to Surfside Beach.

Homes and businesses on the Clear Creek Channel in Seabrook are surrounded by rising water from Galveston Bay.

With Hurricane Ike offshore, Michael Gardner walks in high water in front of a burning warehouse in Galveston. Fire fighters could not reach the structure so they allowed it to burn.

People ride in the back of a pickup truck through floodwaters. (idiots.)

A single home is left standing among debris in Gilchrist, Texas. Floodwaters were reportedly as high as eight feet in some areas causing widespread damage across the coast.

A house sits among debris, piled up by storm surges in Crystal Beach.

A high school football field in the town of Delcambre, Louisiana.  (Texas football fields would never have let this happen. Don't Mess with Texas Football!)

An apartment complex in Galveston. (Also, a really horrible parking situation.)

A woman walks through a flooded neighborhood street in Orange, Texas. Ike's surge overcame the levee along the Sabine River that flows by Orange causing widespread flooding to the city. (All I can think about is that alligator picture. Look out for alligators, lady!)

A man inspects the damage in front of the JP Morgan Chase Tower in Houston.

A cemetery flooded by storm surge in Galveston.  (not cool.)

The Hollywood Community Cemetery in Orange, Texas is seen with several caskets scattered about after surfacing due to flood waters. (creepy and horrifying)

A house burns uncontrolled in a flooded neighborhood in Galveston. 

photography

Three of the most stunning images I've ever seen. Well done, Lindsay!! Don't say you don't know what you're doing with that camera. This lighting is gorgeous.

More Jayhawk goodness

Last weekend was the second KU home game and the weather really tested our fortitude. It started off really nice. Then it got rainy. Then it got COLD and rainy. By half-time we were soaked and freezing. So we rode the shuttles back to Shannon and Bobby's for some hot chocolate and bubble baths. (everyone under the age of 5 took bubble baths. The rest of us just watched more football.)


The KU band, looking for another bowl-game travel opportunity (seriously doubled since last season! I don't blame them. That's how I got to see Hawaii in '95!):

Ryan gave Grant a ride on his shoulders and Grant held on! Ryan said Grant even guided him at one point (Ratatoille style).:


Whitney + Delaney + Cute little cheerleader outfit + lady behind them, sloshin' it up!:


Shannon + Anneliese + another cute little cheerleader outfit + awesome sling carrying thing (because walking from 19th & Alabama to Memorial Stadium is no easy task, even when you're not carrying a small child!):


The Lockwoods! (Bobby, Emily, Grant, Shannon, and Anneliese) + Park, Perry and Zach behind them + Ryan's left shoulder:


The free shuttle + Whitney + Delaney + Whitney's co-worker, Bethany + Bethany's daughter, Sophie (all wet and weary from the freezing cold football game):

Kickball Season begins

Ryan and I put together a kickball team! After years of sitting in the stands (and feeling a wee bit guilty that I can't play sports) Ryan decided it was time to find something we could both play. We assembled a team of friends who don't mind gathering on Friday nights to drink beer and humiliate ourselves. We arrived at Blue Valley Rec with matching t-shirts and lots of enthusiasm, but quickly lost our first game, 2-23. It was unanimous that we didn't care if we lost, as long as we had beer. Also, a great team name helps:


Our next game is this Friday at 9:30. We will have practiced twice by then! Wish us luck!

KU vs. Florida International

The MUCH anticipated first football game of the season! We had gorgeous weather and we won. What more could you ask for? The kids had fun too. (And I was MORE than happy to entertain them...or distract them...whatever became necessary to avoid meltdowns and early exits.)

Woo Hoo! Another touchdown!  Wave the WHEAT!

A VERY full stadium!!  It was thrilling, actually. Not an empty seat in the whole place.

After half-time, Whitney and my mom came over with Delaney. They had some seats up in the rafters and decided to join us. Here's where the game simply became background noise to the REAL entertainment:

 

Three-in-One!

We had the great pleasure of celebrating three important birthdays in one weekend (August 22-24). Every one of them took place in Lawrence. From the Red Lyon to Henry T's to Shannon's living room. We were all over the place. And completely exhausted by Sunday. I also managed to fit a little wedding dress shopping in there (my brother's wedding, not mine - though I have the perfect dress all picked out if we decide to renew our vows!) I can't post any pictures because it would ruin the surprise, but Sarah found a stunning dress. STUNNING!!

Friday night (August 22), was Stu's 31st Birthday. Sorry, Stu. I just took the one picture:



Saturday afternoon was Emily's 3rd Birthday. (It was a "SkippyJon Jones" theme. Everyone wore masks and nametags depicting a character from the book. Pick it up if you have no idea what I'm talking about. It's brilliant. A siamese cat who thinks he's a Chihuahua. Emily requested a cake with "grass and sticks" so that's what you're seeing there):



And on Saturday evening, we celebrated Nick's 29th Birthday:



Incidentally, Ryan and I also celebrated the anniversary of our first kiss that weekend but I don't have any pictures of that. You wouldn't want to see them anyway.

Stay tuned for awesome Labor Day weekend pics and the first KU football game of the season. Here's just a preview: