BIG high school!

Here are some photos of the high school where Parker and Austen will be next year. It'll be Austen's senior year and Parker's freshman year. The district and school are expecting over 3,900 students for the 2010-2011 year! Yikes!!

Main entrance

The front of the school and one of the parking lots

The new Ninth Grade building - just completed!

The auditorium at the left and the front entrance toward the right

Looking through the trees at the band hall and the marching band's practice area - which also serves as the bus parking area before and after each school day.

The band hall, closer up. Orchestra and choir have their practice halls nearby.

On the other side of the band hall is another wing of classrooms - and yet another parking lot!

Tennis courts are behind the green fencing.

Track and field

Needless to say, it's a BIG high school!

Kira's Tenth!

Our major celebration of Kira's tenth birthday was last Sunday, July 18, when all the Linehans plus Abbi and I went to Houston's Downtown Aquarium. We've been there several times, but we don't seem to get tired of it! There are lots of things to do there, indoors and out.

Here is a view of the grounds outside the aquarium itself. The carousel is at the left, the ferris wheel is obvious, and the Lighthouse Dive is behind the trees at the right.


Ken, Parker, Kira, and Abbi went on the Lighthouse Dive (making sure they did this BEFORE we had lunch!):

Views of the city from the ferris wheel:

Somewhere across the ferris wheel are Anne, Ken, and Parker!

Views of sharks from the train ride as it went through the "shark tunnel"!!

Inside the aquarium:

The White Tigers! Beautiful!!

The girls were playing in the water fountains, cooling off before we headed for home.




And here is a short video of the girls making the hula hoops go 'round and 'round while playing in the water fountains!

Trip to San Antonio

On July 13 and 14, I went with Austen, his friend Beth, and Beth's mom Kathy to San Antonio so the two almost-seniors could tour two universities there: UT San Antonio and Trinity University. After the UT tour on Tuesday afternoon, we went into the city to see the Alamo, walk along the River Walk, ride a boat on the Rio San Antonio, and go up in the Tower of the Americas - with time out for dinner in a nice restaurant that faces the River Walk. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The tours of the two universities were very enlightening - a good beginning for Beth and Austen.

Views of the Alamo, which was once a mission and is built in the shape of the cross:





Views of various buildings and other sights from our boat trip on the Rio:











Photos from the observation deck of the Tower of the Americas. It was VERY windy up there, but we needed to get cooled off! The views from 750 feet up were just wonderful, too.