An Overnight Adventure: Cub Scout Campout at Lake Livingston

Our last Cub Scout campout of the season was at Lake Livingston State Park over the weekend. We had a busy Saturday morning, so we didn't leave Houston until 2 pm, arriving at the park a bit after 3 pm. The park was very crowded, but we found a spot for our tent, unpacked everything and got to work relaxing.

The boys snacked, I read, and Gene drew.  

The campsites at Lake Livingston are jammed together, so we were very close to our neighbors, both Scouts and others. I'm not sure that I would camp there again, but the boys seemed to enjoy the cozy conditions and ran off immediately to explore with their friends. Our Cub Scout pack is great and it always feels like a huge family gathering when we're together. 

Saturday evening was full of food (filet mignon for the parents and hot dogs for the kids!), a bonfire and skits after dark. 

These boys were up with the birds and once again spent the morning running with friends.

We found a web worm caterpillar making a cocoon on our tent! The boys loved watching him wiggle around inside his cocoon.

Pre-breakfast snacks and coffee.

Lake Livingston State Park is just lovely, so we set off on a 2-mile morning hike after the closing flag ceremony. 

Counting rings on a tree stump.

We chose to hike the Pineywoods Nature Trail and saw a couple ponds, little critters and birds, sticks (of course), and lots and lots of wildflowers.

We found blackberries too!

Our hike was a lot of fun and we were lucky to get it in before it got too steamy hot.

As always, camping is great fun for our family, but it's exhausting too. Take a look at my boys on the drive back to Houston!

Will is just resting but Henry was out!

And now our camping gear is all safely tucked away in the garage til next fall when the weather is cool again in Texas and we can set off on another camping adventure.

Lately: School Projects and More

The month of April has been full of school projects, home projects and enjoying Houston's beautiful spring weather. Here are photos of some of our activities this month:

Will worked really hard on his Animal Habitats project! He chose to learn about the komodo dragon, and had to make this tripanel display, write a five-paragraph essay, create a diorama and present to the class! Parents were invited to the cafeteria one morning to check out all the kids' hard work.

While Will was working on his big school project, Henry also had several projects, including his state project on Maine, his pursuit of passion project (Henry's passion was hiking and exploring nature!) and this star student project. We had to make a poster (he cut the pictures and I glued them on) and bring in a favorite book and toy. He chose All the Water in the World for his book and Magformers for his toy.

This month has been a busy one at school, and it was busy on the home front as well. Our biggest project was finally replacing our 24-year-old roof. We knew it was nearing the end of its life when we bought the house, but we managed to get three extra years out of it. This year, though, the roofing company said there was nothing more they could do to fix it, so we got a new roof instead and it looks great! It was loud and messy around here for two days and I only managed to snap a couple of photos of a roofer's shadow. He was up on our roof and cast a shadow on the neighbor's house.

Will's first communion is coming up in two weeks, so Gene and Will went shopping for Will's first suit. So big!

Our backyard is absolutely lovely in the evenings, so we eat dinner outside often. 

Local food! Roasted carrots and Brussels, green salad, and polenta rounds topped with carrot-top pesto, sundried tomatoes and Parm, with a Shiner Farmhouse Ale on the side.

Gene came home last Friday night in time to join us for dinner outside. We were just sitting and chatting when this butterfly landed on his head and stayed there for a good five minutes or so. 

After a busy day at work and school, the boys love to wind down with one of Gene's famous Captain Silly Beard stories. He's been telling them for years and they focus on Captain Silly Beard, the silliest captain to ever sail the Silly Seas. His ship, the Slippery Seal, only sails backwards and Captain Silly Beard's beard grows in as different kinds of food. The stories are always silly and creative and laughter-inducing. This is Henry's illustration of the story of the search for the 8th mate, who had been missing for years; Captain Silly Beard (CS) finally found him sleeping at the bottom of the ship.

April has been busy but it's been a whole lot of fun too!

Easter Weekend

Our Easter weekend was full and fun and spent with family. We started off Easter week with Portuguese sweet bread from Nana. It was a special breakfast treat for the boys!

The boys were supposed to be in school on Friday as a makeup day due to our winter storms earlier in the year, but we decided to take the religious holiday off instead. The boys and I went to Hermann Park in the morning because it was a beautiful day.

We rode the train and checked out all the art in the park. 

Meanwhile, back at home Gene was busy making a full recipe of sweet bread.

In fact, Gene baked all weekend long, cranking out about eight loaves of sweet bread, sandwich bread, a crusty sourdough loaf, crackers, and these poppy-seed-topped buns. 

We spent Saturday afternoon at my parents' house. 

The Easter bunny left clues for an Easter scavenger hunt that took them all around the house and up and down the four flights of stairs. Afterwards we all enjoyed a delicious dinner in their new dining room.

We get up early on Easter morning to get to 7:30 Mass. The boys came downstairs to find their Easter baskets filled with books and a new CD.  

We spent Easter afternoon at Nana and Pop's house. The boys were excited to go on another Easter egg hunt with their cousins.

The kids found eggs and the robin found worms!

Each kid had a giant egg with a wind-up chicken inside. She wanders around and lays candy eggs!

This was little David's first Easter!

All three cousins were sitting with Jess on the steps after their Easter candy snack, so we called Mike outside and I snapped a few pictures of their family of five.

After the egg hunt, we got down to the business of cooking Easter dinner. Gene made bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin and buns, I made roasted carrots and mashed potatoes, and Jess made green beans and pasteis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts). What a feast! While we cooked, the cousins played together. They all get along beautifully but Henry and Mary have a special bond as evidenced by these notes, written by Mary, that came home in Henry's pocket.

We enjoyed the perfect family weekend, full of delicious food, plenty of sunshine, and jelly beans for everyone!