Getting Out and About

Houston weekends have been a washout this fall! November has been warm and WET and we have been stuck indoors way more than we like. With two wiggly boys, we need to be outside!

Last Saturday, we had a Cub Scout outing planned in the morning at Sheldon Lake State Park. It was drizzly when we left our house, and that drizzle turned into heavy downpours on the way to the park. Fortunately, by the time we arrived, the rain was letting up and we were able to continue on with the program. Best of all, most of our Scout friends showed up!

The Webelos Scouts (and siblings) learned all about bird migration for their Into the Wild elective. The boys played a couple of games, including a migration obstacle course that included getting through a hurricane (jump rope), past poachers and cats, through spider webs and bridges, and finding a mate and making it safely to the winter nesting grounds.

After the program, the boys hiked (Henry is at the top of the tower) 

and then enjoyed a picnic lunch in a covered spot. Despite the crummy weather, the boys all had fun and learned a lot (and earned another Webelos pin!).

The boys got out of school early yesterday, Gene had the day off, and we all wanted to get outside again as the forecast for our long holiday weekend is once again warm, wet and dreary. Gene suggested exploring the new and improved Buffalo Bayou Park and I am so glad we did because it is just gorgeous! As we pulled up, Will commented that it looked an awful lot like San Antonio's River Walk (the newer part, past the busy downtown section). He was right! 

We ate lunch at The Kitchen at the Dulavy, which currently has a limited menu before their official opening on December 1. The food was fresh and delicious and we really enjoyed the venue, overlooking Buffalo Bayou.

Buffalo Bayou might not be as pretty as the River Walk but we enjoyed the trails nevertheless.

We watched this beetle scurry across the path, leaving tracks in the sand.

Henry and Gene

Lost Lake

I took lots of pictures of my boys. 

Field Day face tattoos

We ended our adventure at the Fish Family Play Area, which is an organic, natural play area like the one at the Houston Arboretum. Some of the play structures were being refurbished, but it is still a unique playground and the boys loved it!

This area has a stage and grassy green for performances.

We really enjoyed exploring Buffalo Bayou Park and can't wait to go back again soon!

Lately: How Is It Mid-November Already?

This year...  it has just been so busy for us! I'm not sure where the fall has gone, but I feel like it should be mid-October instead of mid-November. Between activities and projects and starting to tour middle schools, it seems like we are always on the go.

Back-tracking a couple of weeks, here's a peek at what we've been up to lately:

Popsicles on the playground: we celebrated the opening of the new front playground at the school.

Cub Scouts: We visited the Rothko Chapel with Henry's Cub Scout den on a wet Saturday. The boys were learning about reverence and proved themselves to be very reverent. Two of the guides said they were the best-behaved kids they'd ever seen!

Family fun at the MFAH: After visiting the chapel, we headed over to the MFAH to see "Mark Rothko: A Retrospective," which is on exhibit til January. The boys really enjoyed seeing the progression of Rothko's work from his early pieces to the chapel, which was one of his last works. We also built with Legos in the lobby of the Law Building.

Projects, projects, projects: Will has had FOUR projects to complete over the last four weekends. He had two science research projects and he made a PowerPoint about Davy Crockett for his Language Arts class (after reading a biography). This one was a huge project -- a salt map of the regions of Texas!

Art: The boys both had Hands On Art classes last week. Henry created a self-portrait in the style of Roy Lictenstein

while Will created a dreamy landscape in the style of Marc Chagall. 

Field Trip: Henry got to visit the George Ranch with his class last week, but unfortunately was stung twice by an asp (a hairy caterpillar). It was quite painful for him and made for an unforgettable field trip, for sure!

Herb Fair: Will read about an Herb Fair in the newspaper,so we all went after our weekly farmers market visit. We came away with plants and other goodies and it made for a fun Saturday outing. 

After weeks of projects and warm, wet weather, we are looking forward to some downtime and outdoors adventures in the coming weeks!

Halloween

Halloween weekend was wet and wild, but fortunately the big storms moved through Houston in time for all the little ghouls and goblins to pound the pavement. And pound did they ever! We passed out over 600 pieces of candy this year!

Houston is so warm and humid that we wait til Halloween day to carve our pumpkins. The boys picked out pumpkins at the farmers market this year; a fat round one for Henry and a tall skinny one for Will.

We always save the seeds to roast later. Mmmm!

 

This boy!  Henry is a ball of energy lately, always running and throwing things into the air! And he craves being outdoors like no one else. 

Will's surprised jack-o'-lantern

Gooey insides

The annual photo of my boys with the jack-o'-lanterns.

Some Gnarly Head vino for Halloween.

Halloween dinner was Bloody Mary soup (fresh tomato soup) with jack-o'-lantern quesadillas.

This year, we all dressed up. Henry was Gandalf, Will was Merlin, Gene was Dumbledore and I was the Wicked Witch of the West (without a green face). 

I hope your Halloween was more sweet than spooky!