It's a Twister!

This title applies directly to my past week of family vacation in Texas. We took a whirlwind tour of the state, zipping through New Braunfels, Gruene, Houston, and Galveston; all the while being chased by the threats of Hurricane Dolly. During the hours in the car we listened to "The Wizard of Oz" on tape. And finally to fill the long evening hours at our Bed & Breakfast, my family of 5 played Pictionary - the word was "Exhaust." I drew furiously, a cloud of smoke from the tailpipe of a car, and then a very tired stick figure. I was like a tornado. My dad guessed just about everything but the actual word. Game night is always interesting in my family.

I remember one Christmas in the late 90's. Our cousins, or at least some of them, were playing a rousing game of Scattergories with us. In this game you record a word that begins with the letter rolled and gain points through the votes in the room. Say #1 happens to be "a color" and you've rolled an O as your letter. Most of the people in the room will record the color orange. A rather clever (read sarcasm) person might call out "orange-orange-red" only to have the entire room turn on them.

The best moment was when the letter happened to be P and the goal was to list "something you shout." I have a feeling we heard many exciting responses that night, but the only one quoted to this day was my mom's answer..."POLLUTION!" We still shout pollution every time we see it. She explained that she yelled it at the large trucks and their dirty exhaust. We returned home only to have my mother pick up the phone some months later and hear one of my cousin's shout through the phone, "POLLUTION!" and then hang up abruptly.

Highlights from this most recent trip include:

-Clay talking about "The Dark Night" in most conversations.

-"Floating" the Guadalupe that was only 3 inches deep in some portions

-Clay ordering duck and quail for dinner

-The interesting time of people watching at Schlitterbahn

- Almost winning in Pictionary

-Pulling into the fancy B&B looking like something out of the Grapes of Wrath (hood of the car smoking)

-Watching Mom dump her drink all over her plate instead of the BBQ sauce

-Going to the beach with a 2 year-old

-Mama Mia! It's not for everyone, but we loved it!

-Seeing Mom pull out her wedding dress for the first time since 1979

-Enjoying Texas and my favorite Texans for almost a whole week!