The Weekend: Hermann Park, Bingo and Two Carnivals

We spent much of the weekend outside, enjoying fall in Houston! We kicked off the weekend Friday night with a members' preview party at the new McGovern Centennial Gardens in Hermann Park.

We have been watching the progress on these gardens for the past year and were so excited to finally get a sneak peak. The gardens aren't quite finished just yet due to rain delays, but it was fun to get inside and explore a bit. What we saw was spectacular!  

This is "The Mount," a 30-foot tall hill with a spiral walkway to the top

and a cascading water feature.

View of Miller Outdoor Theater from the top of the Mount.

View of Centennial Green from the top of the Mount.

We enjoyed St. Arnold's beer, tasty nibbles and some Michael's Cookie Jar cookies for dessert.

And then explored more! 

There are winding trails in the Woodland Garden

and on the Tudor Family Pine Hill Walk.

The pagoda was moved to a corner in the park near the new rose garden.

The new Centennial Gardens in Hermann Park are beautiful and we cannot wait to go back again and check it out once all the work is completed!

Saturday was our school's annual Boo Bash Carnival. I worked two shifts and the boys played games, ate cotton candy and explored with Gene. I caught with them in time for lunch and a round of jousting!

In the afternoon, the boys went off in search of Halloween costumes and we ended the evening with a few rounds of Bingo at church! We've never been to Bingo before, but it takes place (along with a fajita dinner) the night before the annual Fun Fest carnival. We didn't win anything but we sure had fun! 

Our church's Fun Fest carnival is always the same weekend as the school carnival, so we've never done both (mostly because I am carnival-ed out by the time Sunday afternoon arrives!). This year, everyone was up for Fun Fest at church, so we spent some time exploring and playing games. 

All three of my boys tried their hands at the strongman high striker game. Gene rang the bell on his very first try!

Our weekend ended with a few more hours outside, roasting beer can chicken on the grill and finally setting up our outside Halloween decor. Happy fall, y'all!